Originally Posted by cumminscowboy
Originally Posted by GrimJim
Originally Posted by cumminscowboy
I would wager money if your not a turret twister you will like the toric scope. its a LOW built scope. if your a set it and forget it guy, that is not much a challenge for a decent built scope. Think bushnell elite series. but then again why not just buy an elite instead? I would quite honestly. Even though vista outdoors sucks and is terrible for bushnell, The brand is still likely to be around for a while. Tract, who knows. Like I said already Tract needs something else in this competitive market than # me too. Video each scope being tested. Give some to tactical shooters and internet wannabees, Get them posting their experiences. This is how you build and optics company from nothing and take it beyond boutique. It has to offer something. Right now I don't see enough of an advantage to push the buy button. just looked at tracts web site again. the toric is $725, at that price point I am buying a nightforce SHV or a zeiss V4, just being totally honest, yeah the v4 is probably a bit more but there are places where you can get one for about the same as the tract if you look around. The V4 is stunning in person. Its got a zero stop turret as well. both those brands offer resale value and aren't going anywhere if you break the scope. Why again would I buy I tract? I wouldn't unless I am convinced I need to.


When you are not a turret twister, other factors have more priority. I looked at the SHV 3-10 for my needs. It looks like a nice compact hunting scope without some of the features I don't need. I can't get it with the No. 4 reticle NF offers in other markets. It's eye relief is a stated 3.5" which is about 0.25" too short for me. I would have to try one or at least look through one on a rifle to be sure I could use it, but I have not kept any of the scopes I have tried with a 3.5" eye relief after shooting with them.

If I could get the SHV with a tad more eye relief and the No. 4 reticle, I probably would have taken a plunge on an SHV. The Toric meets most of my expectations and exceeds my expectations for the image. It's advantage is in value for the money. I did look at the choices for 10x magnification, 4' eye relief, fast focus eyepiece, no parallax adjustment and a hunting reticle. It seems to me there was more choice for this simple a scope a few years ago. (Zeiss V4 goes from a 1-4x to a 3-12x56 or 4-16X44, both with 3.5" eye relief, and long range reticles.) The scope that meets my needs perfectly on paper is the Schmidt & Bender Summit 2.5-10x40 with a No. 4 reticle. I don't know if they are still being manufactured. If you do find one, they cost around $2K. The Toric 2-10X42 with its glass, the T-Plex reticle and a cost of $725 is great value compared to that.


are you needing this for a magnum rifle? there is a downside to extra eye relief. there is not cheating or avoiding the optical triangle. more eye relief less FOV. Also the image is further from your eyes which makes the scope power setting appear less, I mount my scopes so that I have to slightly move forward a touch. basically pull the gun into my shoulder pocket just a bit for the best view at the highest power. Lower powers eye relief is less critical which is most of my shooting off hand. most of the other times I am shooting on high power maybe I am prone. in this case I am not having to snug the gun to my shoulder rather I am more over it. I think careful mounting can really help. I never have a problem personally, but I don't shoot magnum boomers either. my hardest recoil is probably 280 ackley loading full house.

leupold and many of the euro stuff has more eye relief. I don't really like it. I prefer the way japanese optics typcially are. which is to say shorter eye relief generally.


Thanks for a courteous and civil reply on this particular series of posts.

I became accustomed to more than 4" of eye relief with Leupold 6x36's and 6x42's for most of my life. I mostly shoot .308 Winchester although I have added 7.62x39 and will add 6.5 Creedmoor later this year.

Others have mentioned the need for longer eye relief when shooting prone or uphill but that does not apply to me, so I can't comment. Eye relief does vary with position. I notice the difference in shooting from the bench and from offhand.

Eyeglasses affect the usable eye relief and the effect on the optic triangle varies with the prescription. Its the scope hitting the polycarbonate lens in my eyeglasses less than an inch away from my eye that gets my attention. The Swarovski PH 1-6x42's and 2.5-1042's that I used for a couple of years had 3.5" of eye relief and spring mounted eye pieces that gave and rebounded if they hit your eyebrow or glasses. In my case, they did hit and rebound. I was never comfortable with that.

I am quite willing to trade FOV for eye relief in scopes. In binoculars, FOV is more important to me but I still look for 18-20mm of eye relief. I find that the larger eyepieces common on scopes these days take care of image size issues even if you have to mount the scope a bit higher to clear the bolt. I was worried about the Meopta MeoPro 6x42 with its 3.75" of eye relief after using the Leupolds and Zeiss Conquests with 4 inches of relief, but the Meopta is very accommodating to varying vision needs. The Toric in my limited use so far accommodates vision issues well.