Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting SWFA 12x42 MRAD Review

I recently made a switch to the SWFA 12X MRAD scopes on a couple of my rifles. There are a couple reasons I went this route.

- I wanted to transition to mil/mil
- the rear-parallax SWFA is perfect for a southpaw to reach all the controls from prone/bipod
- a whole bunch of erector travel (43.5 mils, or 149.5 moa)
- a nice modern reticle with 10 mils below horizontal
- excellent pricing, I got these like-new from the SWFA Sample List
- all the features I need in a LR scope.

The extra gravy from selling the MK4s I rolled into a Vortex Razor 65mm spotter and a nice tripod. So for me it was a win/win all around.

I was able to look through one of these scopes last spring at the Icebreaker, and was really impressed looking at targets out to 2000 yards. I have had one of the older mildot/moa 16X for a number of years and it has been 100% reliable. So I went into these 12X with full confidence.

I just got these in the mail today and got them mounted up. In the near future I'll get them out for zeroing, and run them out to ELR distances. I'll be going through my own learning curve using mils, instead of moa, but looking forward to it.

Eye relief is very forgiving on these. 3.3" is published, but there is a lot of lattitude.

Here are a few pics.









These reticle pics are not representative of optical clarity. I was shooting the pic through a double-pane window at an oblique angle, at hills about 4-5 miles away. Just want to illustrate the reticle.











These pigs will get slathered in Krylon when it warms up outside. 308 top, 30-06 bottom. These are both mounted on 45 moa rails, and I expect to have over 30 mils/100 moa after 100 yard zeroing in the erector, plus the 10 mils/34 moa in the reticle.

Looking forward to your review! Though I will say I don't know what I'm more impressed by, the reticle or the view from your house! Congrats, sir, on living where you do!

PS- A 10X or 12X version of that scope would work great for pronghorns!

Very nice Shane! I bet you'll like the mil/mil system and the reticle in practice. The owner of the one I brought to the Icebreaker last year remains quite pleased. He's since converted ALL his rigs to SS mil/mil setups.

40 mils of elevation?! That's got to get you well into the transonic range, doesn't it?

This is good stuff. I have an older 10X SS that I need to send back and I was going to ask them if I could upgrade to the newer version.

I'm switching to mil/mil also.



Travis

When the dust settles, I think I'll have a lone 6x42 Leupold that has MOA anything.

That's what I'm working toward. It is tough to sell the 6X42's though.



Travis

Fixed 12x is my personal favorite... I'm running one on the Rock .260 and a 10x on the .243 . Coupl'a pards are running 12x on 7RMs and .300 RUMs. They all have enough travel to make 1400 yds easily... and mine are in low Talleys.

Dexter the .260...

Been thinking long and hard about one of these for the 700 5R to replace a two year old SS 10x. I really like the reticle and wouldn't mind the extra bit of power. Think I'll stick with my 20 MOA base tho...

Definitely keep us posted. You're one of the few guys on here I would give credence to on this review. Thanks.

Carl, yes it was the 12X that you brought that influenced my decision.

I expect to have probabaly 30-ish mils available in the erector with a 100 yard zero. I did some QuickTARGET calcs and it looks like 30 mils would take my 208 AMax/2600 fps 308Win load out to about 2000 yards on erector travel alone. That should be more than plenty, and there is the extra 10 mils in the reticle too. In reality I've played with my 308 with reasonable good results out to a mile or so, but it kind of falls apart beyond that distance. The nice thing is that the scope will not be the limiting factor in how far out I can shoot.

I'll get these zero'd soon and share the actual el available.

Shane

Adding these 12X's puts mil/mil on all three of my serious LR rifles. The third being the 20.5" 308/HTG/Bushy 10X mil/mil.

I've still got MOA turret scopes on my sporter '06, heavy AR15, and 10/22. That will probably remain for a while.

Traitor.

I was watching those scopes on the sample list. Planned to buy one as soon as I got paid for coyote furs. That money came yesterday. Oh well, wait for another one to show up or find one used.

When I saw them on the Sample List there were five available. I scooped two, and the rest were gone in a couple days. It's a pretty good deal.

I'm running more and more mil/mil these days too. I have some of the midway vortex 3-15's, the midway weaver 3-10 mil/mil and SS's in 3-15, 3-9, and fixed 10. None of them are real expensive scopes but they all work.

Bb

Running my 10x for the second time today, and I have to say with some concern, the clicks are feeling a little mushy. I hope it works in as I use it more.. Nice glass, and I love the reticle. I can't wait to get it out to the prairie dogs..

I went out today to zero these scopes, and shoot a few rounds at distance. Broz joined me at a nearby shooting location.

The rifles are two that I've had for a while. A 308Win, and 30-06. Both are Rem 700.

The 308 is a factory Rem 1/12 varmint barrel, McMillan A5, Timney trigger, with Badger Ordnance bottom metal, brake, 45 MOA rail, and rings.

The 30-06 is wearing a Douglas #7, 1/10 stainless steel bbl, McMillan A2, tuned old style Rem trigger, and Badger Ordnance bottom metal, brake, 45 MOA rail, rings, and bolt knob.

Ammo for both rifles are my own handloads. Moly'd 208 AMax, over RL17, in both rifles.


Here's a couple pics of the 30-06,







We zero'd both rifles at 100 yards. There was a good level of consistency between scopes/rifles. After zeroing, both rifles had 33.X Mils 'up' available.

When I made the final 100 yard adjustments, I re-zero'd the turrets, then cranked the turrets top to bottom, stop to stop, twice, then went back to zero, and fired a check round at the 100 yard target. Both rifles/scopes centered the check round, dead-center. Here's a pic of the target, with the check round circled.







Next we took the rifles to distance.

The 308 we took to 1110 yards. Conditions were 5-15 mph wind from 2 oclock, 35F, 25.5 Hg. 10.2 mils put us a tad high. 10.0 mils put us right on target holding 1.5 mils wind.

The 30-6 we took directly to 1 mile. Conditions were not letting us see splash at that distance with the frozen ground, wind, and fairly depleted energy of the bullet.

Overall, I'm very happy with these scopes.

Great review! More please..

Thanks for the review!


How would the reticle work for low light evening/morning hunts?

The reticle wouldn't be my choice for low light conditions. As you can see it is pretty fine.

I believe the traditional mildot, heavy duplex, or post type reticle would be superior in low light.

I have heard this a lot, but if anyone wants my $0.02, I haven't had a problem with it. I shot an elk at opening light at 450 yds in a saddle and had no problem with the reticle. I was using the 3-9 set to 9. I could barely make out his horns, but had an easy time putting the crosshairs on his chest.

I may be missing the point of what you are saying, and I don't like to contradict people who have a lot more experience than me, but this is my experience.

Disclaimer: My $0.02 is only worth about $0.005 on the open market....