Is glass quality in scopes actually a factor?

[Gstew1930]

WAIT WAIT WAIT!! O-ring? Does it keep the turret from "wandering" when you breath on it? I've benched the Maven for the SWFA for this exact reason... Is it just a larger auto O-Ring or something from maven?

yeah Ninebanger came up with a fix for it, theres a thread around here somewhere about it

 

[Wprinkle]

yeah Ninebanger came up with a fix for it, theres a thread around here somewhere about it

And just like that @Nine Banger is getting a Christmas card!!!

 

[Nine Banger]

I’ve often wondered why folks set their optic to go below zero. What is the use case behind this?

My most current use case:

- 6 creed zeroed for 115/112 Match Burner loaded to Quick Drop but I was shooting a lot of full speed 95gr TMK too @-.2 mil

 

[Gstew1930]

And just like that @Nine Banger is getting a Christmas card!!!

he prefers feet pics

 

[Kyguy]

My neighbor has a 65 acre field across the road and the long dimension is 753 yards. I can put a SWFA fixed 6 and a SWFA 3-9x42 on his sturdy fence posts and discern a marked difference in glass quality at and after sunset.

I can't see much of a difference between the Maven Rs1.2 and the SWFA 3-9x42 tho.

The Maven is a whole new animal with a fat o-ring on the elevation turret if you're in on that. Mine went from an untrustworthy black sheep to back to my favorite.

I think my closet looks like GStew's closet. The ATACR glass is better/best but it was essentially a 30oz fixed 10x for me with Mil-C.

Can you make the shot with the 6x? Is the glass impeding you in any way? Or is that the 3-9 is just better, since it's HD glass?

 

[Bluumoon]

@Gstew1930 @Wprinkle

Y'all send me an address, and I'll mail you what you need. I think I have 10-12 O-rings left

 

[Nine Banger]

yeah Ninebanger came up with a fix for it, theres a thread around here somewhere about it

And just like that @Nine Banger is getting a Christmas card!!!

It was @Shortschaf that saved the day.

 

[Gstew1930]

@Gstew1930 @Wprinkle

Y'all send me an address, and I'll mail you what you need. I think I have 10-12 O-rings left

Thank you!

 

[Nine Banger]

Can you make the shot with the 6x? Is the glass impeding you in any way? Or is that the 3-9 is just better, since it's HD glass

There's a point in the evening where you can still see "deer" with the 3-9x set at 6x and just "dark shapes" with the 6x.

The fixed 6x is grainier prior to that time.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I will say that specifically for coues deer hunting I do care about the image quality (contrast/resolution/etc) of my scope. When you're looking into a shaded spot on a grey looking hill and the deer is basically the same exact shade of grey it's really freaking hard to see things well. I've had glasses since I was 11 so my eyes didn't exactly start off great though so it may not be an issue for other people.

 

[Kyguy]

There's a point in the evening where you can still see "deer" with the 3-9x set at 6x and just "dark shapes" with the 6x.

The fixed 6x is grainier prior to that time.

That's interesting. I'd say that's a resolution issue, so it makes sense that the HD makes a difference.

Another thing that I've noticed is that each individuals eyes can make quite a bit of difference. Some eyes and glass work well together, some doesn't.

 

[Kurts86]

I will also say if I can get 2 scopes that are both sufficiently durable I will take the one with better glass quality. With modern consumer products we are spoiled for choice and don’t have to make major compromises to get just one feature.

 

[Johnwell]

I think the level of scopes discussed here all have way better glass than is needed. I remember being happy with my Nikon buck master and vortex viper back in the day before I was a glass snob.

Heck, my dad used a bushnell banner wideview for decades and never had an issue with glass clarity..

I lent a spare 3-9 swfa to a friend last summer and he said it was painfully bright to look through compared to an old leupold he was using.

I think the vast majority of hunters would be absolutely tickled with the glass clarity of even the lowly 6x and 10x swfa. The gold standard ‘good’ scope in most hunting camps I’ve been to is almost always a leupold vx3.

A $500-1k scope is just not something most guys in my area would even consider.

 

[Rich M]

I completely "see" why glass quality is top concern for spotting optics, zero argument here. But with aiming devices is it that important? I honestly can not really say that the glass difference between say SWFA, Leupold, Nightforce SHV, Swaro or Maven is enough to even be a factor. I

Look thru them 15-30-45 minutes after sundown and see what you see. Should clear things up real quick.

Better glass shows details, color, depth of field, and will show animals in the shadows when other scopes have quit for the day.

Vx-3 was the standard for deer hunting scope back in the day. Still have banner scope on a rifle.

Bought an Alpha scope this year cause it’s time to quit screwing around. Getting too old to brush off loss of opportunity cause scope on gun aint working and it is legal time.