I've been looking at these on-line and they seem to get good reviews. I haven't seen a lot of bellyaching about their performance or durability, but it could be that I'm looking in all the wrong places...who knows. I did buy two of them a while back, one a 36x that was just waaaaay too much scope for my purposes and the other an SII that I ended up selling to a young coworker before I ever got a chance to use it. I thought the SII was pretty nice, optically but only had it outdoors one time during bright daylight.

So, first hand experience---good or bad? How reliable and durable are they, and how well does Sightron back up their products?

Friend had an Sii that he spoke highly of. I picked up an Si 3-9 for a walking varminter, easy to get behind, like the HHR reticle, tracks very well, glass is mediocre, but hey it was $79.99. A steal for that price. I was going to buy a Sii as I’ve heard others speak highly of the glass, but they are discontinued. Everybody wants a 6-24 anymore I guess.

They adjust per stated value.
They RTZ if ya wanta play with different loads and record the dope.
They hold zero.
The glass on my SII 3-9x42s (3 of em) is clear and crisp edge to edge.
The eye box comes up easy and doesn't black or white out without delibrately trying too.

They do all 3 things a leupold wont do basically.
Adjust per stated value ,rtz, and hold zero...

Lifetime warranty for original buyer.
Price difference upgrade for discontinued models.

Plenty of discontinued models out their for sale.
But now they go for top dollar.
I purchased one nib from a place in ND for 135 shipped.
And 2 from members on here NIB for 125 to 135.
Just keep your eyes open
Sierra trading post had a fire sale on the SII,s last year.
Guys on here were snagging em like crazy.
I drug my feet and they was gone.
I have seen em online from 175 to 280 ish now, used and nib.

I have seen SII,s 1.75-6×42,s
Big sky 3.5- 10 x42,s

I used a SI 3-9x40 on my daughters H&R USH 20 ga
Shooting Hastings 410 gr slugs.
Hardest recoiling gun I ever shot honestly.

Shot alot and I mean alot of those rds.
That scope never lost zero

Really the only issue i have with some of their models is short tube main body lenght
On my mod 70 ot6 and my 8mm sako mauser
I have about 1/8th to 3/ 16ths ring clearance on the ends.
But their are off set rings for that also if ya need that.

I agree with everything above,but have been told by a Sightron customer service rep that the warranty is not limited to the original owner...

I had a S2 6X HBR with fine crosshairs for a number of years on one of my .22’s and I was pleased overall on the performance. If I had to nit pick, the eye box was a little critical in my opinion. The tracking was spot on and it held its zero without fault. Overall very nice experience.

That's cool then.
I thought it was for original owner.

SIII's have very nice glass!

IMO there is always a better option than Sightron

Such as?

I have no interest in FFP or spending two grand on a scope. I might spring for a Nightforce SHV or three down the road but not anytime soon. I'm interested in scopes in the $350 to $700 price range.

What is your actual experience owning and using Sightron scopes?

I have one on a muzzleloader. Put it on in the mid-2000s and haven’t touched it since. It has never moved a bit. I don’t find it to be as forgiving as a Leupold to get behind but haven’t had any issues. Mine is a 1.5-6x42 and I like it but I’m not a dialer, long range shooter and I live in the east.

I've got an 8-32 SIII that I've had for years that sits on a prairie dog rifle. I just got back from a hunt and I carried it along with a rifle scoped with a Nightforce 8-32 NSX. I'd never had them out side by side but shooting several days that had a lot of mirage I came to the conclusion that the glass in the sightron is every bit as good as the Nightforce. Not bad for a scope that cost 1/3 the price of the nightforce. I also had a rifle with a 5-25 burris veracity and I just ordered a sightron 6-24 SIII to replace the burris, the glass in the burris just isn't workable in the mirage, the sightron impressed me so much I'm giving the 6-24 a try.

The sightron doesn't have the features of some high dollar scopes like a zero stop, illumination, and high speed turrets but my 8-32 has always tracked perfectly and has held up perfectly too, I've had no problems at all with it. The number of guys using them in F class and long range benchrest shows how much faith they have in them.

I've got a Big Sky Sightron and it's a good piece of glass.

I've had a few Sightron SI's over the years and still have one. I would compare them to a Leupold Vx-1 when they made them. I honestly would buy the higher end Sightrons if I could find a local store that carried them since I haven't seen one in person in about 12 years.

That is the magnification I have seen used for sale every now and then.
I thought it's high end was 7.
You are correct.
I would like to find one in really good shape and put it on my ml.
1.5 mag would be perfect for me . 6 to zoom up and check racks at distance.

You can get a really nice SII or SIII Big Sky model NIB online in that price range. Just gotta surf and hunt one down.

I bought 2 S-TACs from Optics Planet when they were on sale ($302 for the 4-20 and $245 for the 3-16), nice glass, I haven't used the 3-16. I put the 4-20 on a Ruger Target/Varmint in 6.5 Creedmoor and sighted it in. Shots 6,7 and 8 went into the same hole. I then took the rifle to shooting school and dialed out to 900 yards hitting smaller than usual gongs. I did run out of elevation at 1000, I needed 31.3 MOA and I only had 30 MOA , if the scope had zero stop it would have been no problem. I dialed 30 MOA, then Kentuckied at 1000 yards and hit. I shot in the pouring rain for two days straight and cleaned my scope lenses by pouring water on them. Always returned to 100 yard zero. It was a bit dicey remembering where zero was. Glass is clear, for $300, you can't beat it!

Sightron scopes just work.Nothing flashy,no bells and whistles.True value for the dollar that is usually not found in the riflescope industry...

I've had 2 S-II's over the years, a 3-9 and a 1.5-6. Both were nice clear scopes, for me 3x on the bottom end is a little tooo much and I put it on a rifle that I swapped for a duck boat from my buddy, he likes the scope and it has been reliable for him. Now the 1.5-6x42 is one of my favorite coyote hunting scopes. I have four 1.5-6 scopes from different makers and the Sightron stays on my goto pelt hunting rifle. Like most things that really work well for me, it was discontinued.

Rank pelt but the scope worked perfect

I wonder if guys like Formidilosus have torture tested any Sightrons.

The ones that interest me are the SIIIs in 3.5-10x and 6-24x. The 6-24s are priced a bit higher than I what have in mind, but they're do-able---given time.

Still interested in alternatives, too. Just want to avoid Chinese stuff and probably most Philippine stuff. Not interested in Vortex but may look closer at Tract and Burris.

I believe the S-TACs are Fillipino made (IIRC) but I could overlook that if the workmanship and durability are there.

Good comments so far and I appreciate it.

I've had a Sii 3-12 on my main deer rifle for almost 20 years, I tried to swap it out for nicer scopes, but I always end up putting the SII back on. Just picked a new one up in 4-16AO for a 22 target shooting. 180 shipped...great scope for the money. There should be some good deals at there on them with just a little bit of searching.

As far as a torture test, not really, mine did take a hard fall when we had a four wheeler flip on us once. It made it through that just fine and didn't lose zero.

My S-II is bulletproof after several years.

Yeah, mine is a 6x42 and I really like it.

I am afraid I bought maybe their only lemon model . A 3-12x42 sii. Was bright, tracked perfectly, nice clicks but just an awful eyebox. Appears I wasn't the only one with the issues- but as far as anything I read other models didn't have this problem. Most love their Sightrons.

My SII's and Big Skys are great. It's a shame that they, along with Nikon and most others, have abandoned light- to moderate weight quality hunting scopes.

Agreed, PA Bob. I went to their website and did not see anything that tripped my trigger. RJ

I have a new S111 8-32 with that tiny little speck for a dot in it I was going to use on my 280 Ackley for long range fun. I have it mounted on the gun and it has sit there for 2 years and not been used yet. I need someone to shoot with is my main problem. ANYWAY... I am sure I love the scope... I JUST DON'T KNOW IT YET !! HA !! Some one needs it for $800 + shipping, they could talk me out of it.

Boringly dependable scopes that work, I have one on a rim fire and on the old Ruger 06 that my son & nephew have dragged through the woods hunting deer & elk. If those 2 can’t knock it off zero gorillas & water buffaloes don’t stand a chance. S2 3-9x42 is the model that has been so resistant to clumsy young men who cover lots of ground in rough country.

Recommended one to a buddy he was disappointed- not from lack of function or performance- this scope is boring was his complaint. Not the most practical man he had lots of trouble with cheap scopes and didn’t like his Leupold. He isn’t a great rifle shot but kills lots of elk & deer. To my knowledge he has not sighted in his rifle (300 Weatherby) in 3 years - killed a bull all 3 years - I’d say that is good performance.

They are solid scopes...but incredibly lacking in relevant features such as FFP, zero stop, decent turrets, etc....

The current models are offered in ffp, with a zero stop.

https://sightronusa.com/riflescopes/siii-first-focal-plane-series/

I realize that, but its a very limited and not exactly breathtaking assortment.

I've wondered about how they would fare.

I've had a couple but only one that's really been beat on. It's an OLD 2.5x32 fixed power. It's been on a bunch of guns, the longest time was on a turkey shotgun shooting heavy loads. The tube and bell are dented. It's never lost 0 and has adjusted perfectly. It's on an AR now.

The S-TAC 2-10x32 looks interesting to me as a set and forget scope.

I would disagree with the decent turret part.

I now have two SIII's, and 8-32 and a 6-24. I can't comment on the rest of their models. It's true that they don't have all the features that the tactical market wants but to be fair they weren't designed as tactical scopes, they're designed as basic long range target scopes that track reliably and have good glass at a reasonable price. For my purposes, long range plinking and prairie dog shooting, they work great because I don't need the mentioned features.

I just got the 6-24 a week or so ago and it replaced a burris veracity 5-25 which does have all the cool features but unfortunately didn't possess one of the most important features, that is glass that doesn't look like you're peering through the bottom of a coke bottle. I got increasingly frustrated with it on my last PD shoot with it's poor image quality and mirage handling. When I got the SIII I took the burris off of my 20 practical and mounted the sightron. I put it on the bench, took the bolt out and bore sighted it at 100 yds. Fired one shot, it was 5" left, dialed 20 clicks right then the next shot took out the center of my target dot. I fired four more shots in rapid succession and the 5 rnd group was about 3/8". Pretty boringly simple when the scope does what it's supposed to do and having just removed the burris I was grinning from ear to ear after looking through the signtron, the difference in glass quality is night and day.

I haven't put the 6-24 through it's paces but my 8-32 has been dead on reliable in it's tracking in the years I've had it, I trust it as much as my nightforce which is something I can't say about any other scope I have. I hear people say they don't trust the sightrons to be as durable as a nightforce but I've never heard of anyone actually breaking an SIII, they usually follow up it up by saying they feel that way because they're not as heavy as a nightforce. I'm sure someone has broken one, just like some have broken nightforces, but you don't hear about it much.

Anyhow, there seems to be a $2000 price point that it takes before you can get all the features you want and have good glass with spot on tracking in a higher magnification scope. If you can live without the zero stop and FFP then the SIII's have quality glass, tracking & reliability for a lot less than that.

I've been running a SIII 6-24 or 8-32 with LRMOA reticle as my go to scope for several years. Never had an issue with any, and I have several. The only feature I'd like that they don't have is a zerostop. I get around this by using Burris sig XTR rings and using the spacers to bottom out the scopes travel just below my 200 yard zero. This leaves me the scopes entire travel available and provides a poor mans zerostop.

Also, Sightron makes a FFP SIII 6-24 with simple holdover reticles or Horus type reticles. They also have SIII models with illumination now.

I have one new in box with plex reticle I'd sell. Too many scopes and no place to put them.