mwarren: Reasonable men will differ.
I admit I am very new to the whole Schmidt/Bender thing despite having owned 3 of them. despite having killed game for 40 years with Leupold products, I find myself wanting better optics in a scope than I did when I was younger.
But first and foremost in my mind when I choose to spend close to $2k on a scope is mechanical reliability, which trumps reticle style, optics (within reason),whether you have turrets to spin,and other considerations. This because a scope that's unreliable is worthless,and warranties are nothing but a formality if the scope craps in the field on a hunt.
I have successfully broken Swaro, Zeiss, and Leupold variables. In a box next to me is a Campfire pet that I had on a new 7 mag,and a 7mm Mashburn.. The rifles both shot like dog crap. I replaced it with an SWFA 6X Super Chicken. The 7 mag shot a 1.5"group at 300 yards two hours ago.The old scope went back on the Mashburn and it returned to normal.So....
I'm sure it happens, but I have never personally known anyone who returned a S&B because it broke down.
So there are other considerations when it comes to spending money on a scope.
I read on here that the wide reticle will not draw your eye to the reticle center if you have to shoot fast. I do not think that's true and is simply a question of familiarity.I had to shoot fast Monday,off hand, at a big buck. None of the problems materialized, I found center easily and dropped the buck first shot.
One of the most anal people I have spoken with when it comes to scopes is DArcy Echols. He is very picky because he sees broken scopes all the time. He is not wild about the reticle either, but go on his blog and see what he says about the mechanics of the Summit. I'll live with the reticle.
I bet it NEVER costs me a single opportunity at an animal.
OTOH, a Swaro with a "better" reticle cost me a very big mule deer....the kind I spent over a decade looking for.
We all tend to judge scopes based on what we can see when we look through them.That's easy. What worries me is what I can't see from the outside(mechanics).. YMMV and just my own opinion on the matter.
