Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Got a S&B Polar Ordered!

Here she is!!!

Good luck hunting with it this year.

Very Nice. Is that an aftermarket stock or did you paint it?

Thanks! DuPont, stock is a McMillan Edge fill. Like it a lot.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts. I will be using my Polar for the first time this season and I will hunt the entire legal time if I can still see. My experience in the open area that I hunt is that light gets quite poor around 40 min past sunset on a clear day, absent any moonlight. I'm interested to see if that holds true with the new scope.

Roger that Billy!

Just got back from the range and shot half-inch groups with
160 Nosler Partitions
160 Accubonds

Shot a 1.5” group with Hornady ELD-X 162

Right at an inch with 168 grain Bergers

Super clear day here I was shooting at about 4000 feet in elevation and only at 100 yards. The clarity was amazing. First and initial impression is really good and I’m excited to hunt with this scope and rifle combo.

Moses, I am super interested to hear your comparison between the Polar and the Klassic 8x56 in low light. I can't wait to hear your opinion on how big of a difference there is between the two scopes.

I’m definitely excited to see how it does in low light. The 8X56 was amazing but I really need the variable power for Woods hunting inside of 75 yards. I may be way off on this, and I no longer on the Klassik so I can’t do a side-by-side comparison, but this T96 polar is the brightest scope I’ve ever looked through. Bright and clear. I’ve never had a high-end Swarovski but I have had a couple of Z3’s and I had a Meopta R1 that was incredible. But this scope is crystal clear edge to edge and I really like the crosshair. The focus is amazing with my aging eyes. Now I just need to check lowlight clarity and brightness.

Would tonight be a good night to test it?

Would tonight be a good night to test it?[/quote]

No I will get home late. But tomorrow morning will. I will let you know for sure

Finally had a chance to do some low light testing. The scope is definitely impressive. It is clearer and brighter than my VX5 and 6. Where I notice it is that the VX-5 & 6 seem to get a little bit blurry before they lose complete light gathering ability. Not sure if that makes sense but scanning along a field edge about 200 yards away things just stayed crisp in the Polar. And went a good ten minutes longer.

I can’t compare it to the Klassik because I don’t have the scope anymore but that would be a fun comparison to do. I did, however, compare the Klassik to the two Leupolds and to be honest I felt like they were on par with each other. I know everyone’s eyes are different but we are off and running with this new Schmidt and Bender!!

The true test will come this fall an actual hunting application. My first three days rifle hunting will be the last week of October and I’m headed down to a farm in Central Georgia to hunt with some family and friends. Then here in western North Carolina I will be hunting Thanksgiving week and the two weeks following in the mountains, in the hardwoods with no canopy left. Excited to try those applications. December I’m headed to Wyoming for a cow elk hunt, and then in January I will be hunting in Alabama, again on some open fields. I’m going to take notes along the way observing light gathering in different conditions and it will be fun to do an exhaustive review after all of the seasons are over.

Moses,
Curious as to the size of the objectives on the VX5 and 6 that you are comparing the Polar to.

I’m also interested. I made some comparisons with a 2-10x42 5HD and thought the same thing. I wasn’t sure if it was the objective or the scope series.

Yes, it is amazing how varying opinions on the same scope can vary. So far, without question, the 8x56 S&B is the best low light scope and brightest daylight scope I have seen with my eyes. I have 2 other S&B's with the 4x36 being number 2, and 2 Swaro Z-6s. The 8x56 for my eyes is without a doubt significantly better.

Great comments and observations, FSJeepers. And I don’t take anything from my Klassik for sure. It was super clear. And actually looking through my notes from last year it did appear clearer compared to my VX5 and held light 5-6 minutes longer. I hadn’t remembered that when I posted earlier, so I apologize for that. That is substantial, for sure. I think this Polar is a bit clearer and brighter than the Klassik though. It is amazing.

Coyote and Billy, My current comparisons are a VX-5 3-15x44 and VX6 HD is 3-18x50. Definitely tried to compare with comparable exit pupils. My testing included comparisons on the same power, and also light gathering comparisons on the same exit pupils. For sample I tried to get an exit pupil of 5 comparison as well as a 4.

The Polar was far and away better in each category.

Although the 8x56 is big.
This is what you have to keep in mind.

Performance in twilight per dollar spent is off the chart.

Dave

MT
Welcome to the S&B family.
It's an investment you'll never regret.

Dave

Thanks Dave!!

Dave

What kind of reticle on the 8x56 ?

https://www.optics-trade.eu/us/schmidt-bender-klassik-hungaria-8x56.html

The A7



Dave