Sightron 10-50x60mm SVSS ED MOA-H Review

[Evan]

Hi all, I got my SVSS from Lance today and wanted to share my initial thoughts. First the pictures:




And next to a Vortex GE:


So it's big and heavy - as you'd suspect given the very generous proportions.

The flip caps just press on, seem to fit reasonably well, and are a flexible plastic that doesn't seem like it will break soon. The eyepiece flip cover only slides over the reticle focus ring, which means it can turn freely and change the reticle focus. Not a big deal, but not ideal.

The turrets are large, and the clicks are firm and positive. May just need a couple revolutions back and forth, but I feel like the elevation turret is slightly mushier than the windage.

Onward!

 

[Evan]

Ok, continuing on! Here's the gun with the GE:

Here it is with the SVSS:

Here is my best attempt at a picture through the scope at ~500yards distant tree branch:


I like the reticle. I like the fast focus, which is a huge improvement over anything I've ever used on any optic, not just rifle scopes. Game changer.

Despite the poor pictures, this scope is noticeably sharper and has better color than the GE. I don't see any distortion, and due to the game-changer focus, I can dial the SVSS to a much finer focus than the GE, even with my large 3D printer parallax wheel for the GE.

Dialing from 10 up to 50x the image stay bright and clear with no noticeable dimming or distortion at the edges. The same can't be said of the GE which dims noticeably and has a kind of tunneling effect when turning up the magnification.

I don't have a NF on hand to put up next to them for a side by side, and I've never had the chance to look through a Kahles or March. My gut says this is as good or better than the NF Comp I played with for a short while. I'll wait for twilight and try the GE and SVSS out again side by side and report back on how it does in poor light.

I'm going to take it out Saturday and shoot from sun-up until late morning or so and will report back on how it does as mirage comes up.

Now to the stuff I don't like. I don't like the turret markings. They're small and require some thought to interpret. The elevation doesn't have a center hash on the turret to tell you what click you're on, so you don't know which hash you're lined up on. This is almost a deal breaker. I can't believe this was allowed. I'm going to use it and see if it is actually an issue, but I don't like it.

 

[group therapy]

thanks and looking forward to the follow up!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Evan]

Oh, 2 things I forgot to mention:

1. The eyebox is way WAY better on the SVSS than the GE. This is a very easy scope to get behind and have a full sight picture. In general, I am very pleased with the glass in this scope.

2. I frequently have this trouble, cause I want that scope as far from my eye as possible, but you can see that I can't get it any further forward without "spring-boarding" the rings off the unsupported parts of the picatinny rail. Luckily, this was far enough forward for comfortable eye relief and a full sight picture.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Nice review

I agree that's crazy there is no good marking to line up with which click value the turret is on I see a mark way down on the body, but that's not very useable. It looks like they had to do it that way because of their rudimentary zero stop design. It's almost like it was an "oh shit!" moment when they realized the zero stop was in the way of a marking for the turret. Not very well thought out.

Great to hear good results on the glass, focus, and eye box tho. Should make a nice scope for target shooting

 

[beemanjohn]

I would love to see someone do a side by side of the SV and the Trijicon 5-50. By the way, what did the SV sell for? I know dealers can't post a price lower than Sightron will allow, but you can.

 

[Evan]

I don't want to create any issues, so I will say that Lance will save you hundreds on the listed internet prices. I was very pleased with the price!

 

[Evan]

Ok, update time!

I took it out this morning and shot the last 100rnds I had loaded for my burned out 22-250. I can't comment on tracking or holding POI because this barrel is gone! I'll say this: the scope can hold ~1/2 MOA which is what this gun did with the GE on it. The action goes to the gunsmith Monday to get a 22BR barrel fitted (got the call that the reamer and barrel are in the shop), and in a few weeks, I'll try it out with a fresh, and hopefully superbly accurate barrel.

So the glass is great. A noticeably improvement in color and clarity over the GE! It's hard to capture with a camera, but here's my best. Target at 150yards, dots are 3", mag is somewhere between 40 and 45x

It doesn't see through the mirage, but it is much crisper image than the GE. Mirage makes the GE look a bit muddy. Overall I'm very pleased with the glass and the geared focus on the SVSS.

 

[Evan]

On to the whole turret issue I mentioned before. This is not a scope for PRS, unknown distances, or other use where you need to dial to an exact point to make the first shot. The lack of a mark on the turret to line up with just dashes any hope of hitting the exact 1/8 MOA you want. I think you can reliably get +/-1/8 with the mark they put on the scope tube, but really, this takes conscious consideration that a competitor just doesn't want in the heat of the moment. It's inviting mistakes to be made. So for target shooting, with sighters, as one might reasonably expect for benchrest or f-class, you can dial close enough, send a sighter, and then count the clicks up or down as you fine tune. It's fine, but not great.

I consider the GE turrets to be excellent. Clear, easy to read no matter where you are in the revolution. The font is large and easy to read, the hash marks have knife edges and no matter where you are in a revolution, you can see an indicator for Up-Down or R-L. The whole thing is just really easy to use.

The SVSS turrets are huge. And I don't feel like they've used the real-estate available very well when it comes to the design of the hash marks, numbers, or directional indicators. With both windage and elevation, you can get it turned to a point where you can't see the indicator for Up-Down or R-L from behind the rifle. Not awesome if you click a lot.

As I mentioned before, the click feel is different between elevation and windage. Windage is firmer and louder. Takes more effort to turn and makes more noise, like the detents are stronger. The elevation is smooth, with less effort and a less audible click. Both feel great, excellent tactile feedback with both, they are just slightly different. This may be a design feature; I'm not sure.

That Zero-stop. Functional, yes, but ugly when utilized. I honestly wish they hadn't included it. I don't see it being a must-have feature given this scope's clear design intent but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe a bunch of people asked for it and this is the rudimentary system that Sightron decided could be retrofitted without an extensive redesign.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Thanks for the continued review

How much windage do you have left with that Sightron zeroed in on that rifle? Might want to bed the base rail then lap and bed the scope rings. Glass will be even better with the turrets set closer to center. With lapped and bedded rings and bases, I've never had to use more than 1 or 2 MOA of windage from dead center turret adjustment to zero a rifle on target. Often times it only takes me two or three 1/4 MOA clicks on the windage to zero. Just some food for thought

 

[Evan]

Thanks for the continued review

How much windage do you have left with that Sightron zeroed in on that rifle? Might want to bed the base rail then lap and bed the scope rings. Glass will be even better with the turrets set closer to center. With lapped and bedded rings and bases, I've never had to use more than 1 or 2 MOA of windage from dead center turret adjustment to zero a rifle on target. Often times it only takes me two or three 1/4 MOA clicks on the windage to zero. Just some food for thought

I ended up all the way over at the left edge of the adjustment - 4MOA remaining in that direction. I'm using Burris signature rings, and if I weren't stripping this rifle tomorrow to take the action to the smith, I would have rotated the inserts to bring it to center instead of dialing. I like the Burris rings for this reason. I plan to bed the rail when I get it back from the smith. I put the rail on a short while ago so I could put the GE on it; it used to have an old fashioned dovetail/rear screw base with an old 1" Burris 8-32 Signature scope.

 

[group therapy]

great job

 

[earlcurtis67]

I don't want to create any issues, so I will say that Lance will save you hundreds on the listed internet prices. I was very pleased with the price!

Who is Lance? I take it he is a dealer?.... E

 

[X-Caveman]

The 2 of these that I know of that have been on scope checkers both passed - reticles held under live fire. While that doesn’t guarantee anything, I think it’s worthwhile/ pertinent info.

 

[RampedRaptor]

Evan, your review matches mine. I’ve had limited time with my SV but I’m growing to hate the turrets and zero stop more and more.

The zero stop, when used, is ugly and looks like a 20 dollar attempt at adding the feature to a 2400$ scope. The fact that the threads aren’t even coated black is mind boggling.

The turret markings are very hard to read and for a scope that weighs 40 ozs we should not being having this issue.

On top of the zero stop there is some writing “zero set.” I aligned the letter “T” with the line on the scope tube that’s suppose to be used to index your turret hash marks off of. I then use the letter “T” to make my elevation adjustments as it’s closer to the actual lines on the turret. In my case the scope will only adjust a moa or so below actual zero set up like this.

This gives the user a better chance of making the correct adjustment but come on, really sightron?

 

[Evan]

I may try to take the zerostop off and use the laser etcher at my work to add a vertical hash. I dunno if it can be safely taken off though to do that.

 

[CharlieNC]

I've had the SVED for approximately 9 months now on my Fclass rifle. It replaced a couple of GE's that I struggled with for over a year and just could not see clearly, more so as the match progressed. For me the Sightron ED glass is so much better that there is no comparison. Everyone's vision is different, and the Sightron glass (including the standard SIII) suits mine well.

 

[loud_noise]

This is an excellent review, thank you!
Looking at this and the S111 10-50 that I own and use at mid range in my .223, it seems Sightron make great scopes but then make stupid decisions on the detail and small things that make should be inherently obvious on F-class scope.
The lack of a mark on the turret Is very surprising.

Similar to the S3 10-50 shipping with only 10MOA turn...and then selling 20MOA turrets as after market products.

 

[Evan]

This is an excellent review, thank you!
Looking at this and the S111 10-50 that I own and use at mid range in my .223, it seems Sightron make great scopes but then make stupid decisions on the detail and small things that make should be inherently obvious on F-class scope.
The lack of a mark on the turret Is very surprising.

Similar to the S3 10-50 shipping with only 10MOA turn...and then selling 20MOA turrets as after market products.

I really like Vortex scopes. I feel like they get the mechanicals and features really right but they don't have the glass in them that other scopes do.

I'm currently opposed to buying S&B, March, Kahles, any of the big buck stuff. That may change as I continue down this rabbit hole though

 

[Link]

I have 3 SIIIs and x3 on the turrets, my only complaint. A great scope for the $$$.