Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Thoughts on the Schmidt and Bender PMII 6x42

The more I ponder this scope, the more I like it as "one to ride the river with" for years to come. I am thinking a Barrett Fieldcraft in 6.5 Creedmoor with this Schmidt & Bender on top connects so many dots that a lot of other rifles will be left languishing or on the consignment rack.

Obviously, this is not a budget scope. It is a Schmidt & Bender, which is the exact opposite of "budget." There was a time, not so long ago, when I thought I would never consider a scope with this kind of price tag. Not when my sub-$500 PickYourBrand works just fine!

Well, if the same holds true for rifles, then there is no reason to buy/own anything beyond a $300 plastic-stocked fantastic that shoots sub-MOA from the factory (pretty common anymore). A Rem 870 can break clays just as well as Perazzi O/U. A Porsche and a Yugo will both get you to church on Sunday. No difference.

Except there is.

Anybody who has handled and shot a Barrett, or a Perazzi, or downshifted into curve in a 911 Carrera, can attest. And think about it, if there truly were not significant differences between super-premium wares and good wares, how long could any of those companies sustain a business model built upon presumably hoodwinking consumers? It just doesn't stand to reason.

My recent experience with a Schmidt & Bender PMII 5-25x56 has left me dang impressed. Call that an understatement! Here is the thing: just about EVERYTHING about the PMII 5-25x56 is awesome, except the price. Schmidt & Bender is not considered the pinnacle of riflescopedom by a large contingent of serious shooters and operators because they are able to hoodwink people into buying overpriced scopes that are really not much better than the competition.

Quite the opposite, Schmidt & Bender enjoys the reputation they do because they have been and are able to justify to consumers willing and able to spend the scratch that their wares are worth the high price, which is to say, they deliver! So, many will buy once, cry once.

If this 6x42 PMII is anything like its 5-25x56 big brother, and I have every reason to think it will be, then it is going to be a superb, ultra-premium scope. Not just good, not just stellar in one area or two, but world-class best pretty much across the board. The complete package. It's going to track, accurately, reliably, and repeatably. It's going to hold zero. It's going to have superb glass. It's going to hold up to recoil. It's going to have superb turrets, and on and on. There are no corners cut on a scope like this. This is Made in Germany at its technical best.

Year before last I was hunting in NE MT with a friend, and we jumped a big ol' whitetail buck and a doe at last light. We made some quick moves, and pretty soon I had what I thought was a 150-plus class whitetail broadside in easy range. Except I wasn't sure if it was him or the doe he was with through my sub-$500 36-mm objective erstwhile favorite scope. And I waited, and waited and waited, and then he was gone. It was him all right (still have nightmares about how dead-to-rights I had him!), but I couldn't ID him 100% positively through my riflescope, so I held my fire, and I lost my chance. That one trip cost me thousands of dollars. The non-resident tag alone was over $1K, before I ever left my driveway! The twilight performance of the scope I was running cost me my best chance of the trip (at a danged nice Montana whitetail!). Can you say "false economy?"

Do I wish I'd had this Schmidt & Bender on my rifle then? I can guaran-damn-tee you there is a big ol' whitetail buck in NE MT that's glad I didn't!

Hunting and fishing is what I like to do. THIS is where I spend my discretionary income. I don't require ultra-premium golf clubs or basketball shoes or sound systems. I don't play poker or the ponies, and I can spend a week in Vegas and never drop a quarter in a slot machine.

I like top-end guns, optics, fishing gear, and gundogs with blue-ribbon field-trial pedigrees, and I am willing to pay for them as and when I can.

I'll take a Barrett Fieldcraft in 6.5 Creedmoor with a Schmidt & Bender PMII 6x42 for 150 inches, Alex.

Well said, Rick.

I’m adding a walnut stock to my 6.5 Fieldcraft, but aside from that difference I completely agree. Now to come up with scratch...

I'm 1/2 way there...the other 1/2 should arrive May/June.

Well stated, Rick.

But if you'd had the Leupie 6x42 on the rifle instead, whacked the big boy just fine in low light, would you be shopping for the S&B now?

glad I brought this to everyone's attention. I still think the mil dot reticle is a great reticle for a scope like this.

Ummm, We knew before you posted about it.

Better balance with the #2 barrel contour on the 6.5x55, while maintaining the bullet choices, correct twist, and OAL to mag length advantages of the 6.5 Creedmoor.

Or maybe wait until Darrik comes out with the Barrett Special Edition #2 contour 6.5 Creedmoor!

Well written sir. Seems like a pretty bullet proof rifle scope. How does it compare to their 6x42 Klassik offering?

If you see me selling scopes in July, you’ll know why...

I’ve owned top of the line Zeis, US Optics, Meopta, but S&B is the best low light scope I’ve ever owned or looked through bar none.

I solved that problem with a plain ol' vx2 4-12 and cranked to 10x to 12x.

YEP!!

Doug,
I'll have to disagree with you. If you couldn't identify the deer with a quality sub $500 scope, it was past shooting time by a good bit. I've made plenty of shots in the first and last few minutes of legal shooting time in a thick pine forest and swamps on a cloudy day. Any quality modern scope will allow me to do that, some with more difficulty than others. Losing the reticle is a bigger problem than identifying the target. Once again a quality scope such as a Zeiss Conquest or Leupold VX3i is not a problem.

That being said, is a SB a better scope? Yes! It will outperform the sub $500 scope in every way possible.

Enough to justify an extra $1500? That's up to the user to decide. Some people just like having the best of the best and there is nothing wrong with that. Heck, I still want a couple of Schmidt and Bender scope. But for me, it's reached the price point I won't chase the dragon anymore. I feel like a good bit of the price difference is for the name Schmidt and Bender and not the actual increase in performance. Also, I'm not bird watching. I don't need the absolute best view possible. I just need good enough to shoot in legal hours, and sub $500 scopes will do that for me.

Personally, I love the Zeiss Conquest lines and those are on most of my rifles. Have several Leupolds, Trijicon, NF, and even had a couple of Zeiss Victory and Swarovski PH(Still have a Victory). I've been thinking of picking up the Leica's that have been on sale just to have because I like having the best I can afford. The alpha level glass are better, but I could hunt happily with Conquest level scopes and not feel like I missed any legal shots because of glass quality. Saying no to alpha glass is also easier when I have been able to compare them side by side in hunting conditions and knowing there is not enough differences to my eyes. Somebody with better eyesight will have a different opinion.

Binocs are another story. You'll have to pry my Zeiss and Swarovski's at gunpoint to make me give them up and hunt with cheaper glass again.

I'm sorry I didn't read all of your long winded ignorant post but it's not "Doug"...do tell more though.

He was there, and he could tell that Doug would've been able to see the deer with any "quality" scope.

Doug wasn’t even there...

Doug is selling the scope. But you guys are right, it would have been more appropriate to say Doug and Ric. Sorry, not everyone is as perfect as you guys. Hope you can forgive us lowly mortals for making mistakes and having our own opinions.

Rick’s plug morphs into a 24HCF reading comprehension exercise...

LOL