First time buying SWFA

[edevans]

Looking for a scope that can be used for my primary hunting rifle (6.5 CM) and used for NRL hunter.

I do have a deposit down for a S2H scope but that won’t be coming till December (I believe, bought as part of the fourth drop)

I currently own a vortex scope and I have that on my PRS gun. But after this last year I will not be having a scope for hunting that doesn’t have a capped windage dial.

Through my reading of forums my two biggest needs with a scope is dependable (drop test) and capped windage (at a fair price).

Through my research it seems like SWFA 3-15 may be a good option. My only worry is that I am not seeing many people talk about (besides this forum) and I am getting flack from my friends saying buy a known brand

So would just love to hear thoughts on this scope (or others scope options) and SWFA products as a whole.

Thanks for the advice and help!

 

[Coleredding00]

Bushnell LRHSI (capped windage) or LRHS2 (locking windage) are solid options. LRHS2 is available under 1k new from GA precision. This scope is supposedly what they wanted to start out with design wise for the S2H scope until LOW told them they had a newer design that was improved.

But you cant go wrong with a SWFA either.

 

[43.6N]

It’s a good scope.
Your friends will get over it.

If they were ford guys, and you drove a Chevy, they’d still give you grief for picking the wrong brand.

I’ve got a few fixed powers, the 3-9, and the 3-15.
The 3-15 is the best choice of the lineup for NRL Hunter.

Anything specific you want to know?

 

[flyfisher117]

3-15 would make a decent enough NRL Hunter Scope. The new Gen 2 V 2 reticle would be worth the extra $50 in my opinion. It’s a Christmas tree but not too obnoxious for hunting either.

Glass and eyebox suffers in the last little 12-15x range. Though you likely won’t be doing much in that region.

 

[Okie_Poke]

Looking for a scope that can be used for my primary hunting rifle (6.5 CM) and used for NRL hunter.

Buy for one or the other. If you want to shoot NRL Hunter with your hunting rig, great, but buy the scope you want to hunt with. Or buy a separate scope for NRL Hunter specifically if you want to game. Just my $0.02.

But after this last year I will not be having a scope for hunting that doesn’t have a capped windage dial.

I have the 3-9 and not the 3-15. But if capped windage is a priority, is the swfa’s giant honking turrets getting you what you want?

Through my research it seems like SWFA 3-15 may be a good option. My only worry is that I am not seeing many people talk about (besides this forum) and I am getting flack from my friends saying buy a known brand

Do your friends have the kind of experience hunting and shooting that you value their opinion on this? Other forums talk about swfa at times too (or used to—they definitely aren’t the new hotness). But glass snobs don’t like them. Pick your priorities.

 

[Sully_44]

SWFAs are awesome. Especially for the price. I’d make fun of your friends for falling for marketing BS.

 

[1000yards]

My only regret with SWFA is that I didn't sell all my Leupolds and Swarovskis and buy SWFA sooner. They are really good scopes. And for the money they're excellent.

I took the whole light transmission issue to the logical extreme and took my day scopes hog hunting at night (with a thermal spotter). The 3-9 SWFA I used was not limited by the glass, but by the lack of an illuminated center dot. I still got some kills with it. If it came with an illuminated center dot it would be just as effective as my Schmidt and Bender. I'm not saying it would look as good, I'm saying it would be just as effective. And for legal shooting light in dark timber, it's more than enough.

 

[Big_wals]

SWFAs are awesome for the price. Currently have a gen1 3-15 and two 6x. They hold their value pretty well, if you buy one and aren’t happy you’ll have no problem selling it here.

 

[43.6N]

You can always buy a NF QC sticker to out on your scope. So your friends know you’re legit

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I have had a hard time convincing my old-fashioned shooting buddies to check out SWFA. They can’t get over the name brand or MOA. But yesterday, a mistake on EBay gave me the perfect solution. I was flipping back and forth between auctions, got confused (as I often do), and I accidentally bought a SWFA demo 3-9x40 in MOA. The horror. The horror. So, I am going to loan that to them until one of them buys it.

If I was you, if the 3-9x isn’t enough magnification for your purpose, I would get the 3-15x and try it out. I will say, however, that I prefer the 5-20x to the 3-15x. There’s one of those for a fair price on the classifieds right now. They also come up on EBay fairly often.

 

[TradLife406]

I have had a hard time convincing my old-fashioned shooting buddies to check out SWFA. They can’t get over the name brand or MOA. But yesterday, a mistake on EBay gave me the perfect solution. I was flipping back and forth between auctions, got confused (as I often do), and I accidentally bought a SWFA demo 3-9x40 in MOA. The horror. The horror. So, I am going to loan that to them until one of them buys it.

If I was you, if the 3-9x isn’t enough magnification for your purpose, I would get the 3-15x and try it out. I will say, however, that I prefer the 5-20x to the 3-15x. There’s one of those for a fair price on the classifieds right now. They also come up on EBay fairly often.

Frick, I should have kept quiet about eBay

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Frick, I should have kept quiet about eBay

You should have, but most of us already knew about it. You weren’t the first to spill the beans.

 

[RyanT26]

Go with the SWFA 3-15.
A 2 inch piece of black tape works for locking down your windage or if you wanna get really fancy, you can buy black rubber cap and use that same 2 inches of black tape totally cap it.

 

[sbaker0029]

Buy the swfa and use the shit out of it. When your friends (probably using vortex and leupolds) say buy a known brand just tell them to buy a scope that holds zero.

 

[Kaleb]

I like the 3-15. I only have the one because the 3-9 is plenty for most of my needs. I've had the 3-15 for 10 years or so and it's been flawless. It's obviously the gen 1 model and I can only assume the gen 2 with added features is a little better. I've had the 6x's 10's 3-9's 3-15 and a couple of 5-20's for a long time and never a problem.

I would sell one of the 5-20's if you are interested for whatever going rate is(selling price not asking price). Those are nice scopes just a little more scope than I typically need. Not trying to dump them by any means but I do have a couple of the S2H scopes on order and could put the money towards one of those. Scopes don't eat or take up much space so I don't mind having them lingering around since they are proven honest scopes.

I wouldn't say anything to your friends. I have two types of friends like that. The ones that now only use swfa and nf and the ones who will always use vortex because of the features price and warranty. My friends who shoot got it and the others who constantly buy sell trade and don't put more than 100 rounds through the guy will not understand or experience the vortex problem anyway. So we just don't talk about it anymore.

 

[Jimbee]

Buy the 5-20 in the classifieds

 

[Choupique]

only regret with SWFA is that I didn't sell all my Leupolds and Swarovskis and buy SWFA sooner. They are really good scopes. And for the money they're excellent.

This, minus the swarvos that i dont own of course.

I wish every scope I owned was magically transformed into an SWFA. I love them.

 

[gtriple]

I’ll be the lone detractor… I think you’ll struggle with the SWFA 3-15 in NRL Hunter. I don’t think the glass is great quality and NRL Hunter can really stress your scope’s ability to see in poor lighting conditions. I just shot a match with the Maven RS1.2 and it even struggled on the difficult lighting stages. I’m not an expert NRL Hunter shooter, but you will definitely be at a disadvantage running the 3-15 SWFA. As long as you are okay with this, then it’s a fantastic option for hunting.

 

[edevans]

I’ll be the lone detractor… I think you’ll struggle with the SWFA 3-15 in NRL Hunter. I don’t think the glass is great quality and NRL Hunter can really stress your scope’s ability to see in poor lighting conditions. I just shot a match with the Maven RS1.2 and it even struggled on the difficult lighting stages. I’m not an expert NRL Hunter shooter, but you will definitely be at a disadvantage running the 3-15 SWFA. As long as you are okay with this, then it’s a fantastic option for hunting.

I do think that I won’t be shooting any NRL hunter matches until next year now.

Do you think the S2H scope may be a better option for NRL hunter?

 

[mtnwrunner]

I have not attended NRL nor probably won't but the swfa gen 2 3 x 15 has performed great at the S2H course and if low light is your huckleberry, well, consider shooting at dark low light. (Any S2H attendees will attest to shooting low light)
I have found that image is somewhat compromised after 12 power in very low light. But it's shootable.

Randy