I purchased a Sightron SII 3x12x42 and mounted it on my Browning 300WSM. One of the main reasons for choosing this scope was Eye relief, 4 inches. Thought it might come in handy with the recoil of a 300WSM and a light rifle.

I took to the range to sight in the scope and start my load development. I fired 3 round to zero the scope, everything seemed fine. The fourth round smacked me right in the forehead. I checked out the scope and my 4 inch eye relief had dropped down to about 2 inches.

I contacted Sightron and they sent me a new scope. My question is, How well do these scopes hold up under heavy recoil. I have this nice new SII BigSky sitting here and I am kinda reluctant to mount it. What is your experience with these scopes?

I've never owned one, but I am thinking about buying one today. The vast majority of the comments on them are positive. I've been researching this for several days.

The fact that the sent you the newer Big Sky to replace your regular SII is a plus in my book. If I were you, I'd mount it and wring it out good.

Let us know how it works!

Steve

Steve, the original scope that broke was a Big Sky?????

They aren't currently offering a 3x12x42 sightron ll except in the big sky line. A 300wsm is an excellant "scope tester" for various scopes, the recoil is good enough in a lighter gun to check for any ruggedness issues. Not a good early post on the big skys.......to this point I've heard nothing but raves. Whats the word Steve......have you shot the replacement scope yet? You are one of the first testers out there, haven't been out long enough to really establish any reliability track record.

woods

quote:

Originally posted by SempreElk:
Steve, the original scope that broke was a Big Sky?????

No it was not a "BigSky".

quote:

No it was not a "BigSky".

That's what I thought but I was not sure. Based on what you have seen with the Big Sky what do you think so far?

I have an S1 Sightron mounted on an Encore Rifle with a 20" Bullberry barrel in SW460 mag but I can't fire it to test the scope durability until I recover from back surgery.

I'm not sure that I understand exactly what happened.

Did the scope slip back in the rings?

How is it that the 1st 3 rounds fired were fine and the 4th recoiled such that you got scope bit?

I'm just having trouble visualizing what happened and why.

Jeff

260 I am thinking the erector tube got banged loose inside the scope. Probably came that way from the factory. The fact that they replaced a lower priced scope with a much higher priced Big Sky says spades about their service.

I have several Sightron scopes;

3 - S1 3-9x32RFs
3 - S2 3-9x42s
3 - S2 2.5-7x32s

The S2s are good scopes, but I continue to put Leupold 2-7x33 VX2s on most of my 0 to 300+/- yard hunting rifles when things "count".

Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by 260remguy:
I'm not sure that I understand exactly what happened.

Did the scope slip back in the rings?

How is it that the 1st 3 rounds fired were fine and the 4th recoiled such that you got scope bit?



Jeff

No the scope did not slip back. On the 4th round I had to move my cheek forward to get a good sight picture. I didn't realize how far until I got "Scope Eye". Looking down at the target I could feel something wasn't quite right with my cheek weld, but with a new rifle and scope I wasn't sure what. That is until I got bit. Something must have happened to the scope during the third round.

quote:

The fact that they replaced a lower priced scope with a much higher priced Big Sky says spades about their service.

I agree,finding out the first scope was not a big sky and seeing they replaced it with one says something. Although they do not show a 3x12 in the Sll line anymore except in the big sky series....I wondered what they would do if a scope design or power range they no longer produced failed and they had to replace. A better more expensive scope in return is not a bad deal. They do build there own scopes and maintain manufacturing control, rather than put it out to the lowest bidder. And their new replacement warranty exceeds any other scope maker at this point....just want to hear somemore experiences with the new line first....

woods

I'm just trying to figure out how the internal optics could have shifted to change eye relief, without changing focus, POI, etc. That's pretty amazing in itself (not good, but amazing).

I have the SII 3-12x42 (non-BigSky) with mil-dot reticle on an 8x57 and have not had any problems so far. Probably only 30 rounds through it though. Really nice scope with bright clear optics and lots of adjustment range. I like the mil dot better than the BDC type reticles.

They guarantee to replace your scope for life, and if they no longer make the exact same scope, they don't really have much choice but to give you an upgrade. I like their attitude.

Andy