Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Schmidt Bender Pros & Cons

I have a S&B 4x36 fixed power scope, with a 1" tube. It is one of the two best scopes I've ever looked thru. It's size is just right for a fixed 4x.

tomk
Cant speak about the Zeiss.But the old S&B 4a I had covered .68 on the thin part of the reticle at 100 yards.That always seemed to be just about double what I saw on the Swar PHs I looked at.
.68 looks ever so good on a deers chest at 400 yards.
TCS will kill your ability to make low light/twilight shots because you cant make out your aim point.It'll get dark enough that you just cant see it.
The advantage of the Flash Dot is, it doesn't matter how dark it gets.You always have an aim point.The Flash Dot is also great for running shots in broad daylight.

dave

Thanks for the reply, I was afraid that you were inferring something to the low light potential of the glass itself, rather than just better reticle clarity.

Dave, I assure you that I have been in the darkest of situations--with the right scope and the right electric-free reticle I can make the shot as long as I can still see thru the glass....

My concern over forking over the dough for a Summit, is that its a second plane and the #7 reticle looks like it has fairly narrow heavy posts like the Swaro.

This is my light carry mountain rifle...built by GA Precision. Topped with a 10X42 S&B PMII. It weighs right at 7 pounds right now. I have a pair of Talley LW rings in 30mm on the way. That will lighten it up another 4 to 5 ounces.

That scope is bomb proof and gives me the option of shooting long if I need to.

Bear I shot last spring with the above rifle at 575 meters...

tom: My Summit has the Duplex,and it is thin at center....but I have had it at our range a few times at last light;and I can't seem to lose the reticle against dark woods,last light.

That said maybe it may be too thin for you....I dunno.

To me, there is not a better scope on the planet than a S&B!!

I have tried Zeiss, US Optics, Leupold, Kahles and Swarovski scopes - they have all been sold and I will only us S&B scopes from here on out. I have 6 S&B scopes to date and never had a mechanical failure with any of them. They are as good as it gets!!

Here's a couple on my rifles:

The SFP is the Summit killer for me,I dought Ill ever own one.To many good FFP hunting scopes around.
.....My Flash Dot has been excellant.
dave

For those of you who are not yet true believers there is an article in the September 2009 American Hunter about the S & B Classic 2.5-10x56 scope. The author calls it the "Scope of Scopes", and explains the reasons why.

I have this very scope and it is indeed superb.

scenarshooter 300MAG
Very nice.

dave

mrmarklin,
Been toying with the idea of a 2.5-10x56 Flash Dot.Or a fixed 8x56 with the PH knob and a lit reticle.
I cant make up my mind.
dave

If you dont mind.What are the specs of the rest of the rifle?
dave

Yeah Bob, I like the #4 Euro style.

If the light gets low enough you eventually lose the crosshairs, but by then you aren't shooting much for distance anyway...:) If the three heavy posts are thick enough they give you plenty of guidance...provided their ends terminate close enough to one another. To me, in very low light, the two horizontal posts flow together into one and you use the vertical post for centering the shot.

No doubt good electronics would help clarify but that is just another gadget too far for me.

Too bad that #1 isn't isn't available in the Summit. I emailed S&B and asked for the subtensions--the #9 posts looks heavier on their webpage than the #7 & 8--kinda of a weird reticle--but heavier posts.

Yeah, it is getting right in the price range of the Zeiss and heavier by an ounce to boot.

Damn choices.

Dave, this is getting off the track of the original post.
Just cause you've never heard of a similar incident doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Why didn't I send it back, as in my previous post cause S&B wouldn't accept it as defective, I still have the receipts for the upgrade to the Zenith ocular from the factory.
As to the older S&B having the edge over the PH Swaro, not in my experience.
Back to the original post, for around a third of the money, I'd give serious consideration to the Kahles.

Dave,

Out of interest, have a look at the Swaro Z6 range with the illuminated reticule. It is by far the best illuminated reticule I have ever seen..Its only a shame those scopes are all SFP :-( otherwise I would own one in a heartbeat..

Regards,

Peter

Pete E
Will do.
dave

I remember that deer (picture taken in my back yard)

Dave, did you gut that one or did I gut that one?

Don

The cons of S&B are price and weight, otherwise they are superb.

A few friends have 2.5x10x56 S&B's, I think the youngest of them is about 10 years old. I have a swarovski PV 2.5x10x56 rail mount that is about a year old, my swarovski is brighter to my eyes than any of the S&B's, but I haven't looked through a new S&B so it may just be the age issue.

I really don't think you'll go wrong with a S&B, swarovski, or high end Zeiss. I think the new one's from any of these three makers would all be about equal in optics and toughness. The schmidt will be a bit heavier.

The hardest thing to accept about a S&B(+the other Ultra premiums) is that there is a visible difference in resolution.

Is it twice as good as a scope half the price? No. Is it immediately discernible under all conditions? No, but, once you become used to it, most every other scope just doesn't look "right". Therein lies the "big problem".

The second "problem" in regard to the variable power big game scopes is once you get used to the FFP reticle situation you very well may distain second focal plane scopes altogether.

In a nutshell, the size of the "problem" is directly inverse to the thickness of your wallet.

My circa 1999 1.5-6x42, magnum eyepiece/ cammed elevation turret, and #4 reticle.