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Why? SFP scopes scarcity

J.d. Popkes

Not a democrat
Silver $$ Contributor
I want a sfp 25+ power (40x better) scope for my 22’s. WHY…….. in the $&@“, is it so difficult to find one that isn’t ffp?????

Is the market going that way 100%?

People only want to see the reticle sometimes?

Do I have to buy Chinese only?

I want variable magnification. Not trying to spend centerfire prices, maybe I should?

Hate it, mad, sucks, should have kept all my s3 Sightron’s I had I suppose.
 
Lots of options in the Sightron brand, there are choices in the NF NXS line and usually used ones for sale, also NF Benchrest model, used are usually good prices, Also SFP available in the NF NX8 line in 4.5-32x, used ones are easy to find. I believe Athlon makes a higher power SFP now.
 
J.d. Popkes said:
I want a sfp 25+ power (40x better) scope for my 22’s. WHY…….. in the $&@“, is it so difficult to find one that isn’t ffp?????

Is the market going that way 100%?

People only want to see the reticle sometimes?

Do I have to buy Chinese only?

I want variable magnification. Not trying to spend centerfire prices, maybe I should?

Hate it, mad, sucks, should have kept all my s3 Sightron’s I had I suppose.
Click to expand...

People are learning how to actually use the reticle for more than a center aiming point and FFP is a much better option for that so the market is following.

That said there are still SFP out there. As mentioned the SFP PST Gen 2 but if you wanted more power take a look at the Vortex Golden Eagle. It’s a SFP 15-60x scope with a couple reticle choices.
 
Go to any retailer and you can filter by reticle position, here is a quick short list:

Nightforce NX8 4-32x50 F2
Nightforce NX8 2.5-20x50 F2
NIghtforce Comp 15-55x52 F2
Nightforce ATACR 5-25x56 F2
Nightforce ATACR 7-35x56 F2

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50 F2
Vortex Viper HD 5-25x50 F2
Vortex Golden Eagle 15-60x52 F2
 
J.d. Popkes said:
I want a sfp 25+ power (40x better) scope for my 22’s. WHY…….. in the $&@“, is it so difficult to find one that isn’t ffp?????

Is the market going that way 100%?

People only want to see the reticle sometimes?

Do I have to buy Chinese only?

I want variable magnification. Not trying to spend centerfire prices, maybe I should?

Hate it, mad, sucks, should have kept all my s3 Sightron’s I had I suppose.
Click to expand...
I’m with ya. Yes there are several SFP options but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the waterfall of FFP offerings.
 
Rob01 said:
People are learning how to actually use the reticle for more than a center aiming point and FFP is a much better option for that so the market is following.
Click to expand...
Hoping beyond hope this doesn’t turn into an argument.
Some applications for some people just require a SFP. I know how to use a FFP and gave it a go. The concept of Christmas tree subtensions remaining on-point at all magnifications had great appeal to me. But what I found was at long distances when high magnification is required, the hashmarks turned into fence posts and completely obscured the target (prairie dog).

IIRC in earlier days all scopes were FFP but eventually one manufacturer (maybe it was Weaver?) released SFP due to complaints of massive crosshairs at high magnification. Then SFP was all the rage. Times change. Now FFP is hugely dominant. It’s all good but now folks who prefer SFP scopes are left with relatively few options.

Don’t even get me started on front AO.
 
Last edited:
Tommie said:
Hoping beyond hope this doesn’t turn into an argument.
Some applications for some people just require a SFP. I know how to use a FFP and gave it a go. The concept of Christmas tree subtensions remaining on-point at all magnifications had great appeal to me. But what I found was at long distances when high magnification is required, the hashmarks turned into fence posts and completely obscured the target (prairie dog).

IIRC in earlier days all scopes were FFP but eventually one manufacturer (maybe it was Weaver?) released SFP due to complaints of massive crosshairs at high magnification. Times change. Now FFP is hugely dominant. It’s all good but now folks who prefer SFP scopes are left with relatively few options.

Don’t even get me started on front AO.
Click to expand...
Truer words cannot be spoken!!! There was and still is a reason ffp scopes went away in the late 60's to mid 70's. Now if we could just get the internet crowd, I better quit at that! What Tommie said is perfect!
 
Tommie said:
Hoping beyond hope this doesn’t turn into an argument.
Some applications for some people just require a SFP. I know how to use a FFP and gave it a go. The concept of Christmas tree subtensions remaining on-point at all magnifications had great appeal to me. But what I found was at long distances when high magnification is required, the hashmarks turned into fence posts and completely obscured the target (prairie dog).

IIRC in earlier days all scopes were FFP but eventually one manufacturer (maybe it was Weaver?) released SFP due to complaints of massive crosshairs at high magnification. Times change. Now FFP is hugely dominant. It’s all good but now folks who prefer SFP scopes are left with relatively few options.

Don’t even get me started on front AO.
Click to expand...
This. Said what I meant, way better.
 
jghoghunter said:
Truer words cannot be spoken!!! There was and still is a reason ffp scopes went away in the late 60's to mid 70's. Now if we could just get the internet crowd, I better quit at that! What Tommie said is perfect!
Click to expand...
Yes. I don’t wanna zoom to 40x and have a reticle that looks like electrical tape and under that a mess that looks like a trigonometry problem

I want a tiny dot that’s smaller than a 22 hole or similar in size

If the Athlon comes in stock I will get a couple. If not I’m gonna have to raise the bar. NF BR. S3 Sightron, etc.

Just me bellyaching. I should be used to it, seems everything I want is rare back ordered and expensive
 
Tommie said:
Hoping beyond hope this doesn’t turn into an argument.
Some applications for some people just require a SFP. I know how to use a FFP and gave it a go. The concept of Christmas tree subtensions remaining on-point at all magnifications had great appeal to me. But what I found was at long distances when high magnification is required, the hashmarks turned into fence posts and completely obscured the target (prairie dog).

IIRC in earlier days all scopes were FFP but eventually one manufacturer (maybe it was Weaver?) released SFP due to complaints of massive crosshairs at high magnification. Then SFP was all the rage. Times change. Now FFP is hugely dominant. It’s all good but now folks who prefer SFP scopes are left with relatively few options.

Don’t even get me started on front AO.
Click to expand...

That comes down to the reticle. The Vortex FFP reticles I use have a .03 mil line and dot and that only subtends 1.08” at 1000 yards so will not cover most targets being shot at that distance. I have used them to shoot a 12” steel at a mile and no issues using the holds.

All comes down to what people want and I know some just need a center dot so a high power SFP will work fine for them but seems like more are seeing an advantage to using the reticle for faster holds on any power. Shooting sports like PRS are driving this. Been shooting that style matches before there was a “PRS” and have watched FFP scopes become a larger share of scope makers catalogs.
 
Bill Norris said:
I tried one of these a few months back. Windage adj. was wonky and would not adjust crosshairs when dialing the knob. Sent it back.
Click to expand...
I just decided to get a couple S3 Sightrons coming. I just think that they check the boxes for what I need. Still have that athlon on back order through my dealer and I might take a look at it for $315.

Right now I have one of my trijicon 10 miles on it and man I’d like to have a couple more of those. But they gone up too, dang! I been out of the scope market for maybe 5 years, and wow, they don’t get cheaper!
 
J.d. Popkes said:
I just decided to get a couple S3 Sightrons coming. I just think that they check the boxes for what I need. Still have that athlon on back order through my dealer and I might take a look at it for $315.

Right now I have one of my trijicon 10 miles on it and man I’d like to have a couple more of those. But they gone up too, dang! I been out of the scope market for maybe 5 years, and wow, they don’t get cheaper!
Click to expand...
Well I have never had a problem finding SFP, scopes to fulfill my needs. Good choice on the S3s, I have a fleet of them, you will be happy. Bunch of guys I shoot Springer airgun benchrest with bought Athlons several years ago. They have all been replaced but one.
 
Rob01 said:
That comes down to the reticle. The Vortex FFP reticles I use have a .03 mil line and dot and that only subtends 1.08” at 1000 yards so will not cover most targets being shot at that distance. I have used them to shoot a 12” steel at a mile and no issues using the holds.

All comes down to what people want and I know some just need a center dot so a high power SFP will work fine for them but seems like more are seeing an advantage to using the reticle for faster holds on any power. Shooting sports like PRS are driving this. Been shooting that style matches before there was a “PRS” and have watched FFP scopes become a larger share of scope makers catalogs.
Click to expand...
You use FFP scopes when shooting prairie dogs?
 
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