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This is a field evaluation of the SWFA Gen 2 3-15x44mm scope. This scope was sent to Ryan Avery for an evaluation by a forum member. It was personally purchased. The ammunition used was Winchester loaded 175gr SMK*. The baseline 30round group with the lot of ammunition was 1.7” at 100 yards.
The scope:
Turrets:
The Gen 2 version comes with swappable capped and exposed turrets. Turrets are 5 mils revolution, elevation has a zero stop, and they are revolution indicated.
Reticle:
The SWFA Milquad reticle has .5 mil per hash subtensions.
3x
15x
Drop Evaluation RTZ and “Tracking”:
For an explanation see- Scope Field Eval Explanation and Standards
The “test” consists of three 18” drops on a mat- one left/right/top with a shot to check zero after each drop. Then the exact same thing repeated from 36”. Then three drops on all three sides for nine drops on the last part- 15 drops total. This is not “abuse”. The 18” drops are a joke really. The 36” start showing something. And when a scope make/model consistently goes through the whole thing without losing zero, and makes it through the high round count portion, failures in actual use are almost unheard of.
This one was conducted on semi packed snow, with a 1/2 rubber padded mat top.
The rings were degreased and installed with 65 in-lbs on base screws, and 25in-lbs on ring cap screws.
Zeroing:
Started with Blackhills 155gr ELD-M ammunition. Borersighted, 1 round, adjusted, then 9 more. This was the first time trying this ammunition, and it did not group well- 9 rounds in about 2 MOA-
I swapped to the aforementioned Winchester 175gr SMK, adjusted, and fired 5 rounds in the middle dot, adjusted a final time and 3 on the right dot-
Drop evaluation:
The 18” and single 36” drops had zero effect, so for the last portion I did 18 drops from 44”-instead of 9 from 36”. The last 18 drops the rifle was bouncing enough to come off the mat and ended up with a muzzle brake full of snow-
I shot it anyways.
Shot number 7 (18x44” drops) was low and right on the edge of the expected cone of the rifle. It was also the shot with the muzzle brake full of snow, but that usually doesn’t change POI.
Note: The reason that the last portion of the eval was modified is because the known “issue” if you call it that, with the Classic SWFA scopes is every once in a while bending a turret and causing a .1-.3 mil shift until bent back. This was not going to happen with the capped turrets, and therefore wanted to see it take harder impacts.
All of the shots were centered a touch low which could have been a shift, or the true zero could have been slightly low being that I did not check it with 10+ rounds. In any case, I dialed up .1 mil, and went to the RTZ portion.
Return to zero:
Next a standard return to zero check was completed. This involves 200+ mils dialed between each shot for ten shots.
No issues.
Adjustment value (tracking):
Used reticle and spotter to measure between top and bottom dot- 7.3 mils.
No issues:
Cont….
The scope:
Turrets:
The Gen 2 version comes with swappable capped and exposed turrets. Turrets are 5 mils revolution, elevation has a zero stop, and they are revolution indicated.
Reticle:
The SWFA Milquad reticle has .5 mil per hash subtensions.
3x
15x
Drop Evaluation RTZ and “Tracking”:
For an explanation see- Scope Field Eval Explanation and Standards
The “test” consists of three 18” drops on a mat- one left/right/top with a shot to check zero after each drop. Then the exact same thing repeated from 36”. Then three drops on all three sides for nine drops on the last part- 15 drops total. This is not “abuse”. The 18” drops are a joke really. The 36” start showing something. And when a scope make/model consistently goes through the whole thing without losing zero, and makes it through the high round count portion, failures in actual use are almost unheard of.
This one was conducted on semi packed snow, with a 1/2 rubber padded mat top.
The rings were degreased and installed with 65 in-lbs on base screws, and 25in-lbs on ring cap screws.
Zeroing:
Started with Blackhills 155gr ELD-M ammunition. Borersighted, 1 round, adjusted, then 9 more. This was the first time trying this ammunition, and it did not group well- 9 rounds in about 2 MOA-
I swapped to the aforementioned Winchester 175gr SMK, adjusted, and fired 5 rounds in the middle dot, adjusted a final time and 3 on the right dot-
Drop evaluation:
The 18” and single 36” drops had zero effect, so for the last portion I did 18 drops from 44”-instead of 9 from 36”. The last 18 drops the rifle was bouncing enough to come off the mat and ended up with a muzzle brake full of snow-
I shot it anyways.
Shot number 7 (18x44” drops) was low and right on the edge of the expected cone of the rifle. It was also the shot with the muzzle brake full of snow, but that usually doesn’t change POI.
Note: The reason that the last portion of the eval was modified is because the known “issue” if you call it that, with the Classic SWFA scopes is every once in a while bending a turret and causing a .1-.3 mil shift until bent back. This was not going to happen with the capped turrets, and therefore wanted to see it take harder impacts.
All of the shots were centered a touch low which could have been a shift, or the true zero could have been slightly low being that I did not check it with 10+ rounds. In any case, I dialed up .1 mil, and went to the RTZ portion.
Return to zero:
Next a standard return to zero check was completed. This involves 200+ mils dialed between each shot for ten shots.
No issues.
Adjustment value (tracking):
Used reticle and spotter to measure between top and bottom dot- 7.3 mils.
No issues:
Cont….
