SWAF question/opinions

[TAArrowood]

I'm sure I'm not the first to pose this question on the forum, but I'll ask anyway... I'd like to pick up some middle of the road scopes for some rifles I'd like to shoot, but spend very little time out of the safe... I've narrowed it down to Vortex and SWAF as two possibilities.. Just wondering if I could get any of you who have used and can give actual hands on experience with these to offer up your opinions. I'd like to get any feeling you might have +- about these.. I know both have excellent reputations for customer service, but I'd like to hear about clarity, adjustability, zero retention, etc, etc... These won't go on anything with more than 30/06 recoil, but if you have anything to say about recoil sensitivity, return to zero I certainly would like to hear it.. Also, If you feel strongly about another brand and can talk to it from experience I'd be open to hear about it... Thanks in advance..

 

[Choupique]

If nothing else they are reliable. I have a 3-15 and I find it to be a fantastic hunting scope.

 

[ETtikka]

Rifle Scope Field Evaluations

rokslide.com

Executive summary: swfa>vortex for reliability, zero retention, and price

 

[redneckbmxer24]

SWFA makes good stuff and is about the cheapest you can get a solid Japanese OEM for. Their designs are just very dated, by like 20 years.

Vortex… well you’re going to have to be way more specific because it’s not as simple, they OEM some in China which are absolute trash like all Chinesium optics, they OEM some in the Philippines which are a little bit less shit than the China models but still unreliable, and then they OEM some in the same Japanese factory as the SWFA’s are made and are good optics.

 

[Macintosh]

I think it matters which vortex you are looking at. I will say that I’ve owned several vortex scopes, all were on rifles that were babied. The inexpensive vortex scopes Ive had (crossfire2, diamondback tactical) neither held zero and glass was actually limiting at the range. I Had a razor hd gen2 4.5-27 (not mine but borrowed it for a full season) that was good, held zero and tracked very reliably. I currently own a pst g2 5-25 that is on a heavy 22. That scope adjusts and tracks, but it absolutely needs to be re-zeroed every range trip, it’s off by at least 2 or 3 clicks every time (same ammo
Lot#, etc). Once re-set it seems to hold ok for the day. Ive switched out scopes with my athlon cronus and that does hold zero, so I know its the scope. Pstg2 glass is mediocre, in flat light with any rain/snow/fog I have had trouble distinguishing steel plates after the color was shot up a little, where my athlon was noticeably easier to find same target on the same day. For me it works because its a range toy and not a big deal to rezero, but if I had it to do again would not get a vortex if frequent rezeroing was a big deal.

 

[TAArrowood]

Thanks guys for chiming in.. That's exactly the kinds of info I'm looking for from guys who have been actual users..

 

[ljalberta]

I have had multiple Vortex scopes, albeit none of the Razor models. None would hold zero.

I have had 4 SWFAs now, although I don’t have as much experience with them as Vortex yet. One SWFA came from the factory with debris inside of it.

I will likely never buy another Vortex optic. Although they’re not pretty, I prefer the SWFA scopes I’ve picked up over the vortex. I’ll likely do my own drop testing of each one this summer to prove zero retention for my particular scopes and rifles.

 

[wapitibob]

I have 2 fixed SS swfa's
glass is on par with the $250 price
clicks are decent on one mush on the other
The swfa will work and reliability is a non issue.

As far as other models, I replaced the swfa with an NX8 4-32 a cpl days ago; no comparison what so ever but neither is the price.