SWFA SS 3-9x42mm Tactical 30mm Riflescope Review (HD)

Welcome back everybody. Today we're going over this optic here from SWFA. This is the 3x9 variable power mill dot reticulum. Honestly guys, the thing is a beast, especially for the money that it costs. So what we're going to do is just keep putting some rounds down range and then get into some of the details of it, some of the specs of it, the cost, the value, all that stuff coming up next. On the bottom of the screen here you can see the basic specs of the scope, weight, length, all that jazz, eye relief. All that stuff is very easily measurable. One thing that's not really all that measurable is just kind of how it looks when you're looking through it. So what we're going to do now is step outside and take a look at the reticle. Obviously this is going to be through a camera, so it's not quite as good as it is with the human eye, but it'll just try to give you an idea of the kind of magnification you get, as well as the reticle, which I actually messed up in the intro. It's actually a mill quad reticle, not a mill dot reticle. But anyway, we'll step outside once you guys see what it actually looks like, sort of, to be looking through this optic. If the flag flies in, I apologize, but this is what the reticle looks like. Here it is on nine power setting. I'll try to zoom out here to show you guys how the reticle actually stays the same size regardless of the settings you're on. Being a front focal plane scope, it just changes in relation to what you're actually looking at. I apologize for the flag getting in the way. So that is what it looks like. Obviously the camera doesn't really do it justice because it's much more crisp in real life. Getting into the details, I guess we'll start out here at front. It is 42 millimeters up there. It's kind of a good balance in terms of scope size because it's not so large that you have to use really high rings, but it's still large enough to get a good bit of light gathering capabilities. I am using low rings on my rifle that you guys saw there, so certainly you're able to get away with it. It's going to vary rifle to rifle, obviously, but that's one thing I like. That way, generally speaking, you don't have to build up your stock to get a good cheek weld. Moving back here to the turrets, the turrets here are excellent. Considering the cost of this optic, they're excellent. Even if the optic was double the price, actually, I pretty much I would like these turrets. They are 1.1 mil increments, have a nice positive click. There's no way they're going to get stuck in like a middle position or something like that. Very positive. They give you good feedback, but yet you can still spin them if you need to get somewhere quick. The one thing I'm going to put as a criticism on this, but again, keep in mind the cost factor here, is that they don't have zero stops. What I do is I just mark it with a line as to where my zero is using a Sharpie or something like that. Actually, I usually use white nail polish because it comes out very easily should you switch the rifle that it's mounted on. You can spin them pretty quick, but if you want to go slow and slowly dial it in, you're going to get audible and tactile click each time. Another nice thing about the turrets is that they actually match the reticle. Like I said, they're 0.1 mil and the reticle is obviously a mil turret. They do actually match a lot of scopes out there for whatever reason, particularly ones that are under $1,000 will have MOA quick increments, but have a mil reticle or vice versa. In this one, obviously they match up. It's very easy to mill your target and then make the adjustments and walk it right in. Really to zero the scope takes two shots. You just shoot your first shot and then obviously mill the difference and just dial it in. It hits every time. Speaking of dialing it in, I did several tests with this out there on the range. Keep in mind guys, this scope was on a Savage Axis 308. That rifle with good ammo shoots about three quarter inch groups, if you will, at 100 meters. It's not the most accurate rifle out there, but it's good enough and it'll do a pretty good job. I did several tests. I did a ladder test with this testing to make sure that each click was actually 0.1 mil. I also did a box test in both of them, worked it up, up and down, left and right. Every time it was within about three quarters of an inch of where it should be, which accounts for the rifle and the shooter, obviously, when I set it up. I would definitely say that in tracking and box tests or box drills, if you will, it does extremely well and they're right on. Again, for the cost of this, which the retail price on this is $599. For the cost of this, it's as good as anything out there that is in that range and better than a lot, actually. On the rear here, we have our magnification adjustment here. It goes obviously between three power all the way up to nine power. Very easy, very smooth. The one thing I would wish they had, if you will, was sort of like a thrill lever, a little knob on there that you can grab onto to sort of turn it fast and actually index as well where your setting is. That said, being a front focal plane, the reticle is going to stay the same size every time in relation to the target, so it's not a huge deal. I do wish they had that, though, but again, you got to keep in mind price point here. At the price point, they're trying to come in, they're saving money where they can, trying to give you the best optical clarity and feature set that they can over the money, so it's not a huge deal, but it's something that I think would be nice. I know they do offer it on other models. Maybe one day they'll offer it on this one as well. One thing you may have noticed just kind of looking at this area of the scope is that there is not a parallax adjustment on here, so some of you guys would be very concerned with that. I was a little concerned with it as well. The only time I noticed it is when I had this actually on a 22 caliber rifle, just like a training rifle, just to show some family members, some young children, you know, how guns work and stuff like that, and you want to give them a good scope so that way they can actually hit what they're shooting at. Real close in, when we're working at like 20 meters, 25 meters, it was having some parallax issues, especially with untrained shooters who don't use the proper high position each time and get the proper cheek weld, but it's not designed for that. Really, I found out past 50 meters, and I shot this out to about 500 meters, I've had no parallax issues at all, so is it a big deal? Again, you got to remember price point. For most shooters out there, we're going to be shooting in the 100 to 500 meter range, it will not be an issue. At least on this one, it hasn't been an issue at all. Here on the rear, we have the focus piece. The one thing that is very nice about this is it also has a ring here to lock it in place. Once you set it, for your preferences, you can lock it down and that way it won't move as you're taking it in and out of gear bags or walking through the woods with it. It's not going to come loose on you, you just lock it down in place with that ring, and it's good to go. I don't do a ton of long range shooting here on the channel for a couple reasons. One, because it's hard to actually film long range shooting, especially by yourself, but two, because it's just really not something that my audience asks a lot for, but those of you that are unfamiliar with the SWFA scopes, they have a very good reputation in the industry for making excellent bang for your buck type scopes. My first introduction to them was back when they had the military contract, I don't know if they still do or not, but I was in a unit where folks were using their fixed 10 power optics, and that thing, I mean, was rugged as heck, they were beat up from being in the arms room and all kinds of stuff, but those optics, they ran well. Folks always liked them, the guys behind the triggers always liked them, so certainly seemed to be a good deal. I wanted to see how some of their other private or commercial offerings were, so check this one out, and I mean, like I said so far guys, it's been great. For the money, the clarity is excellent. The glass on this is comparable to higher name brands that are selling for $1,000, $1,200, so to think that this comes in at $599 is extremely impressive. You know, it's missing some things that some of the higher end scopes have, like the zero stop, that's not illuminated, the parallax settings, etc., but in reality, most folks are never going to notice that. I mean, like I said, am I shooting out from 50 meters out to 500 meters, never an issue. Now again, you got to make sure you have your proper cheek welds and stuff, and that just comes with experience, but I mean, they're really not an issue in most practical shooting, and I like the mill reticle, that way you can swap it back and forth from different rifles, you know, like going from a .308 like we had earlier to an AR, and you don't have to worry about having a ballistic reticle on there. A mill reticle is a mill reticle, because a mill is a mill, no matter what rifle you have it on, so it's easy to make adjustments and dial things in once you understand the system, but all in all guys, I mean, it's an excellent optic made in Japan. Obviously, Japan has a reputation for making excellent optics, and you know, if you look today with the modern build quality of these optics, you can get excellent, excellent optics under a thousand dollars. You know, 15 years ago, that wasn't really the case, you had to spend high dollar on good glass if you wanted to get good clarity, good resolution, turrets that actually track properly, all those things, and nowadays, I mean, this is one that certainly does it well under a thousand dollars, so really not a whole lot to complain about. If you guys have any questions about this scope though, or anything else I test here on the channel, you can always post below in the comment section, and you can also post over at my Facebook page, but thanks for watching guys, thanks for subscribing, and I'll see you in the next video.