Religious Shooter Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 Anybody run one of these for 3Gun? A couple of questions: How easy is it to change powers on the fly? Is the power knob tight? The lit reticle option for $185.00... does it light the reticle up in bright daylight? I've seen indications that it does. Wanted to make sure. How's the circle dot reticle (if you have one) in actual use in a 3gun rifle stage? There's an $80 reticle upgrade option. What is that? Assuming you use an AR, how'd you mount it? What kind of knobs did you get? If you got the high target knobs, do you see it (jutting out of the scope body) while looking through the scope? Is the glass bright? How do you like it overall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 Is the glass bright? Unlike anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 Well I visited the table that US Optics had at the A2 3-Gun match. Apparently in about two weeks US Optics will have a "JP designed" reticle available on their SN-4 and SN-12 models. The way I understood it: - it will have a BDC (I don't know what it's calibrated for. Didn't think to ask ) on the reticle - it will have a half-circle as part of the primary aiming point. The rep didn't have one on hand so I didn't actually see it. It sounded like a modified IOR CQT reticle. IMHO, with the new reticle the SN-4 will be as near to the perfect variable 3G scope there is. -The glass was just absolutely amazing. -The power knob was big and easy to turn and grab. -The SN-4 models have daytime reticle illumination (BAC capable) --- or at least it accents the reticle in daytime. -The new slimeline model has lower turrets and the eyepice is less bulky --- both allow you to easily look over and scan around the scope. -And the SN-4 is a true 1X. IMHO, the only bad thing about it is the price (normally ~$1100-1300). The power knob (at least the one I fooled around with) took a long stroke to go from 1X to 4X. And of course the weight (though it didn't seem that much heavier than an IOR CQT --- 1 lb or so). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Skip the Ill. Reticle unless you are shooting in low light. It doesn't work in daylight. Circle dot is perfect for 3 gun. Seeing how a nice 200 yard zero works for 95% of all 3 gun matches the JP reticle is not needed. The bottom of the circle is perfect aiming point for the close in stuff. The Posi-loc mount is the cats ass if they make it high enough to work with the AR platform. Mine is abouit .25" too low for quick mounting. I'm calling today to see if they make it a little higher than mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zak Smith Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 I just handled a new SN4 last week. Glass is nice. It's BIG and HEAVY. The illuminated reticle is NOWHERE near the brightness of a TA11/31 during the day. If you rely on a brain-grabbing-bright daylight reticle, this isn't it. It actually went down below 1x magnification. -z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 How did it go below 1x? It made things farther away? Maybe below the marking but mine doesn't go below 1x. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted February 15, 2005 Author Share Posted February 15, 2005 One of the shooters at the table said he "gets into trouble" at around 250 yards with the circle dot. Bronco (with his Horus) indicates he has trouble around that range --- "Hardest targets are in the 175 to 250 range because of the center dot. " The Horus center looks like it is in the 2.5-3.6 MOA range. (Arrrrr yee matey. Hijack these pictures I did. ) I'd prefer the JP reticle assuming that the center dot is going to be around 1 MOA. I took the above picture to mean that it glows bright enough in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I have an SN-4 on my FAL. Great glass, otherwise big and heavy. I got this as part of a trade, if I was putting down cash I would get an ACOG. Customer service from US Optics is great. SOmething broke inside my old, old SN-4. I sent it back and it turned out too damaged to fix, so they sent me a brand new slimline SN-4. A bit smaller (now fits in my rifle case without taking it off), but still very large. Pics I've posted here before: Overall pic Closeup of scope Power knob is snug but not tight, can be changed on the move. It does go down slightly below 1x. Contrary to the pics below, my illuminated recticle is very bright in daytime, I would say equal of TA31. Crappy indoor pics: 1x 4x If I ever get home in daylight I might be able to take some pics outside. The batteries for the illumination do seem to run down very quickly. Edit 03/14: The others are right about the illumination not showing up against bright backgrounds, see my post below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zak Smith Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 By less than 1x, I mean that when the power was all the way down, objects were smaller through the scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rhines Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Zak - How were the batteries in the SN-4? I checked one out on the first day of the 2005 SHOT Show, and it was bright enough to be slightly distracting. I looked at the same one on day 3 or 4, and it was very dim. Turned out that it had been left on for several days and the battery was shot. - Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zak Smith Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 The SN4 I looked at was brand new, just mounted. No idea how old the batteries were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 I had mine out the day it came. You can crank that puppy up to 11 and if it is bright out you won't see the Ill. The big black circle works just as well. If you are getting it just for 3 gun in normal light I'd save the 185 bucks and get a non ill. one. It had the battery they shipped with it so unless it is an old battery I don't see the fuss. I'll try a new one but I doubt it will change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Well, I finally got the rifle out of doors on the weekend. Well sunuvabitch, the red illumination really does fade out to black when looking at the sky or other bright background. And it's none too bright even looking at dark things in the bright day. Very sorry for any confusion! Looking back, all my matches have been on at least cloudy if not rainy days. And when I get to the range to play, I don't use the illumination anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted March 15, 2005 Author Share Posted March 15, 2005 Well I guess it's not "my" perfect 3-gun scope anymore. I found out that you can only have .625(?) or 1 MOA adjustments. Probably good enough for 3-gun and gov'ment work. But not an ideal trait IMHO. The JP reticle has been delayed. I think it will be more difficult (but probably possible) to sight-in and use a ladder with the rather coarse adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 RS, no problems zeroing or shooting the SN4. MOA is plenty good for this game, after all it is run and gun not benchrest. Some Guy named Jerry seems to do pretty good with one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear1142 Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Chris, Do you have the new smaller version or the older, larger one? Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Erik, Smaller eye piece and object. Circle dot reticle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear1142 Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Chris, One more question. At what power does the small dot become usable. I noticed at 4 power, it's as large as it's going to get, but how soon does it reach that size? If you wanted to take a precision shot using the dot, could you do it on 2 power, or would you have to increase the magnification? Thanks, Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Erik, It is a front focal plane reticle so it is 3 moa at all power. The field of view changes but the dot and circle size is consistent. On 1X it is like shooting an Aimpoint ML. It will cover 3 inches at 100 yards all the time the target size just appears to grow larger as the power increases. Nice thing is the bottom of the circle works great as a aiming point in side 15 yards and corrects the bore height to sight height problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear1142 Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Chris, Thanks for the info. Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted April 26, 2005 Author Share Posted April 26, 2005 This is supposed to be the new JP reticle for the SN4. http://usoptics.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=62 Don't know when it will come out. Has a 2 MOA center dot. Hopefully Smokshwn will buy one and review it for us. Anybody recognize which bullet the hash marks corresponds to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulter6 Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 I e-mailed US Optics a few days ago about the JP reticle availability. Wendell said it would be available in about 3 months. He also said it would cost $300 for the conversion. I found, that out to 400 yards, I could use the dot very well. The 400 yd target sight picture had the dot sitting right on top of the target. I don't know if the JP reticle would be necessary since most of our target are short of 400 yds. I used my SN4 for the first time at a 3 gun match this past weekend and really liked it. Targets were from 100 to 340 yds. I placed the dot on the target at each of those ranges and didn't miss a one - had the scope set at 4X. Now, if I could just get the shotgun to shoot as well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactustactical Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 It was quite a pleasant surprise to see this new reticle adaptation. It appears to have been inspired by the "horseshoe" concept of the Valdada CQB reticle, with improvements to the current mil holdover lines to correspond to a bullets ballistic path and added some nice illumination features (necessary improvements). Fyi, we have been working with the Valdada factory most of this year to put together the Gen 2 CQB reticle and it will be similiar in a lot of ways to this reticle. I can not go into actual specifics since the reticle is still in pre-production status. We do not anticipate having the Gen 2 reticle available until the 2006 shooting season due to current factory production schedules. So, while it pains me to see a competitor produce something quite similiar to our concept, I am happy that the CQB horseshoe reticle is catching on. This reticle works if used correctly, so I am glad to see it validated and moving forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Stupid question but last time I checked CQB was close quarters battle. Unless your shooting a watermelon gun the standard circle dot is perfect out to 300+ with a whole lot less crap in the reticle. 300 aint close in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 RS, I'm a savin, really I am! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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