I consider 3.5” to be a healthy minimum eye relief for a scope used on hunting rifle that generate much recoil, and I’d prefer more like 4”. Get very far below that 3.5” threshold, and bad things tend to happen much more often, especially when positions get awkward, which is something that happens in hunting scenarios. Mounting a 3.1” eye relief scope on say....a Barrett 30-06, and shooting uphill from a hasty prone position over a pack is a recipe for a bloody brow. It’s just getting too close for comfort.
I’ve seen enough guys get scoped, and had it myself enough times to know that it’s not just an unpleasant experience and an embarrassing moment if it happens in front of friends - getting scoped hard is a surefire way to develop a flinch, which takes a lot of time and ammo to get over. Even worse is if the first shot doesn’t go as planned on a game animal and you scope yourself, a follow-up shot is even less likely to go the right place when your dominant eye is blinking away a stream of blood.
Not sure why the comparison was made to PRS scopes, as that’s an entirely different ballgame than the use this S&B is likely to see (i.e. scopes mounted on heavy, light kicking rifles with brakes or suppressors, vs a scope likely to be mounted on lighter, harder kicking hunting rifles that need more ER).
Looking at other scopes in the S&B’s magnification range, the Leupold 6x42 has 4.4” of eye relief. The Leupold 6x36 has 4.3”. The Meopta 6x42 has 3.7”. The SWFA 6x42 has 3.5”. I’m a fan of the SWFA 3-9, but on harder kickers I consider it a 3-6, and at 6x it has around 3.5” of eye relief.
