After considerable research and deliberation I decided on the SWFA Classic 1-4x24 for my 300 BLK AR. http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-1-4x24-Tactical ... 78365.aspxDr Fumbles wrote:What makes a scope ideal for your 300blkout rifle for use above and beyond 50 yards?
What I'd like to find
1 MOA / Mil-Dot turrets with bountiful elevation & windage
illuminated
maybe 1-6x or 3-9x
lightweight (under 16 oz if possible)
(That's an LMT factory SBR lower, AAC 12.5" 300 BLK upper, and Octane 9 HD suppressor. I'll eventually want a .30 suppressor I can use with supersonics but that's not in the budget right now.)
It just arrived yesterday and I shot with it for the first time today. I was limited to 25 yards today but so far I love it. The diamond reticle is optimized for 5.56mm but I've settled on a zero that puts the center dot dead on for subsonics at 25-50 yards and supersonics at 25 and 200 yards. The top of the diamond at the center of the reticle should be about 1" high at 100 yards for supersonics and the bottom should be dead on for supers at 250 yards and subs at 75 - that gives me very quick aiming points without thinking about holdover for a much greater range of distances than I had with a red dot. Below that it's got mil hash marks and the turret adjustments are 1 .mil. Total adjustment is 55 mils, which is way more than I'd ever expect to need. Adjustment for one revolution is 5 mils which takes me out to about 175 yards for subs and 450 for supers. I'm going to mark the turret for subsonics for ranges out to 200 yards but with the rainbow trajectory of the subsonics 200 yards may be wishful thinking. I'll also take r.tenorio671's tip above and laminate a diagram of the reticle with aim points for various ranges and tape it in the rear eyepiece cover. I still need to check my ballistics charts against actual performance at the range before doing that, though. Hopefully I can make it out to do that this weekend.
The glass is very nice and 4x should be more than enough out to around 400 yards, which is about my practical limit with this cartridge anyway. Weight without the mount is 14 oz., which is about as heavy as I want to go for this little carbine. For me the weight, features, glass, and very close to true 1x for speed at close range more than make up for the limit of 4x - any range where I'd really need a 6x or more is well past the range for decent terminal ballistics at 300 BLK velocities.
The illumination is not bright enough for full daylight but that's to be expected with any scope of this type. The diamond center of the reticle is plenty to get on target fast at close range in full daylight. In lower light the diamond and center dot are very well illuminated.
