Swfa SS Classic 1-4 Opinions

[joedirt199]

A coworker bought one of the earlier cmr and the glass was pretty good. The 1x was not as close to 1 as other opticsbut nothing that can't get used to. Reticle was a little thin for my taste

[TomMcC]

Can anyone comment on glass quality of the SWFA Classic? If it means anything, my buddy's Burris Mtac looked pretty great to me, I've never handled high end glass.

I have an MTAC. The problem with these price range scopes is resolving power at longer ranges. The glass just isn't good enough to resolve smaller targets at something like 250 yds and out. If you're keeping your targets bigger rather than tinier and inside 250 you should be OK. Looking through a Swarvorski and then a $300-400 scope, there is a biiiiggggg difference. But most of us are budget limited....so. It would be nice if the manufacturers would build a LPV in the $500-800 range. Better glass, sturdier, but still doable. When you hit a G it really starts to cramp the budget for some of us.

[sbrown3]

Yea, I'm leaning towards saving for a few months and getting a Trijicon Accupower 1-4. I'd rather get the scope I want, rather than getting something cheaper and still having the urge to upgrade.

[mic2377]

I had 2 of these, 1 which I tried on a 300 BLK and a 12-gauge slug gun, and the other which stayed in its box. The glass was pretty decent for the $$$, and reticle was very usable both for short and long range. I found it fast on target. The illumination was not that bright but the reticle made up for this. The turrets had good tactile feel and seemed to track fine on my limited testing. I didn't have any problems with either scope, but I did find that I prefer capped turrets in a low-power variable instead of the open turrets these had. I ended up selling both here to finance a higher-mag precision scope.

I have also used the Bushnell 1-6.5's and Leupold VX6 1-6, which are in a different league optically but also 3-4x the price...

Have you looked at a Burris XTR 1-5? If I had $700-800 that would be my choice.

[oberstgreup]

I bought mine sight unseen over the Vortex PST because I'd heard so many good things about it, because I find the reticle more useful, and because it irks me that Vortex charges $60 for a throw lever that SWFA and most other makers throw in for free (and with all the Vortex scopes a throw lever is an absolute must unless you have the hands of an unusually strong gorilla.) I was very pleased with it when I arrived. The glass is as good as I've seen in the price range - meaning it looks great, but not amazing; you're not going to get Swarovski glass for $400 - and the reticle illumination was fine for anything less than full daylight. One reason I like the reticle is that at 1X it reduces to more or less a big pointed black dot that is easy to see and use in bright light and quicker for me than the donuts and semi-donuts like the Vortex has. The 1x is either true 1x or close enough that my brain can't tell the difference - definitely less distracting than my 1.5x Mini ACOG (but even that was easy to get used to with practice).

The glass is good enough for me to get consistent hits on a 12" plate at 300 yards even at twilight. Not that that's impressive accuracy but it means I had no difficulty acquiring and holding on the target in the low light - I couldn't even see the plate with unaided eyes in that light. For anything smaller or further in low light I'd want the Vortex Razor HD that's on my AR-10, but again, you're not going to get $1300 glass for < $500. In any case if you're going to want to be able to make hits on a head-sized target at >300 yards a 1-4 probably isn't enough magnification. To put it another way the scope is more than adequate for the job it's designed to do, and for any more difficult job you'd probably need to go up a level in price range and in magnification. Mine is on a .300 BLK SBR so I wasn't really looking to go past 300 yards much anyway.

All in all I'm happy with mine and would buy it again if I had it to do over.

[Rusty Pheasant]

I had 2 of these, 1 which I tried on a 300 BLK and a 12-gauge slug gun, and the other which stayed in its box. The glass was pretty decent for the $$$, and reticle was very usable both for short and long range. I found it fast on target. The illumination was not that bright but the reticle made up for this. The turrets had good tactile feel and seemed to track fine on my limited testing. I didn't have any problems with either scope, but I did find that I prefer capped turrets in a low-power variable instead of the open turrets these had. I ended up selling both here to finance a higher-mag precision scope.

I have also used the Bushnell 1-6.5's and Leupold VX6 1-6, which are in a different league optically but also 3-4x the price...

Have you looked at a Burris XTR 1-5? If I had $700-800 that would be my choice.

Not trying to thread jack however I am currently looking for a LPV under 1000$. I'm currently looking at the Trijicon Accupower (650$) and Burris XTR 1-5 (600$). i noticed you recommend the Burris earlier. Just curious if you own one and your thoughts on it. I have read that the Accupower is not day light bright. does the XTR suffer from that as well?

[Pilot1]

I had a Burris MTAC 1.5-6x40 that I did like a lot, but thought the reticle was a bit to course for my liking. I ended up selling it, and buying an SWFA SS 1-4. I like it because it weighs a bit less than the Burris, and the glass seems better to me. The reticle is also more functional for my needs. I highly recommend the SWFA. I have it mounted with an ADM Recon mount that is rock solid, on my Magpul Colt LE6920.

[sbrown3]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I came across a deal on a Burris Mtac that I couldn't pass up. I think I'll be happy with it, I spent some time with my buddy's and really like the scope.

[OdinIII]

Not trying to thread jack however I am currently looking for a LPV under 1000$. I'm currently looking at the Trijicon Accupower (650$) and Burris XTR 1-5 (600$). i noticed you recommend the Burris earlier. Just curious if you own one and your thoughts on it. I have read that the Accupower is not day light bright. does the XTR suffer from that as well?

Everything I've read says to not buy the XTR. The XTR II is better in every way and worth the extra cost.

[sbrown3]

Just an update...got in my MTAC, mounted and took to the range this morning. Put about 150 rounds through it. Definitely saw an increase in accuracy at 50 plus, but it's a little confusing for my eyes at close range with both eyes open, getting a little double vision. Hopefully training will work this out. Definitely happy overall, good glass and the magnification helps for precision shots, and the eye box is very forgiving.