How does the Sightron S1 compare to.........

[JimG]

Nikon, Leupold, etc? I actually dislike Leupold but was a big fan of Nikon until they started putting odd reticles on eveything. I just like simple reticles. Looking at purchasing 3 scopes. One for a .22Mag and one for a .243Win and one for a .308Win. I want the good AND bad on these. I could afford the S2 series but am mostly looking at the S1's right now. Also country of origin on the Sightrons? I heard Japan. Does this include the S1's too?? Thanks.

[LanceR]

Jim, I can't speak to recent production Nikons but my sons, nephews and I have recent production Burris, Leupold and Sightron scopes.  All three of those companies have no nonsense, no questions asked warranties and outstanding service.  Over the last 4-5 years I've had reasons to return scopes to all three that either I or our 5 sons have damaged or bought used and wanted checked out.

All three companies did not care if we were the original purchasers or whether we had damaged them.  The uniform response from all three was on the order of "The sooner you send it to us the sooner we'll fix it and send it back".  Both Burris and Sightron used the same line "We warrant scopes, not buyers".  I would not hesitate to recommend any of them.

With that said.  Except for a few specialty long range precision scopes I now use Burris and Sightron scopes on all my personal center fire rifles, my muzzleloader and my slug rifle.  The sons and nephews have a flock of Fullfield II scopes and mine is a Euro diamond which is in a far higher price range.

I have SI, SII and SII Big Sky Sightrons.  In my mind and for my money the SI is a little better overall value than the VX-I Leupold and I like the adjustments better since the SI has 1/4 MOA click adjustments and the only VX-I scopes I've ever used had no clicks in the adjustment.  The VX-I may have a little better glass but if it does I've not been able to see it.

The SII (3-9x42) is, to my eyes, better than the the Full field II or the VX-2 and the SII Big Sky (also a 3-9x42) is clearly better than my VX-III.

We've been very happy with the Burris Fullfield II line and I feel that they are almost the equal of, if not as good as, the VX-II scopes and a lower price point.

I think the Sightron scopes tend to have a more elevation and windage adjustment available than the others.  The SII 3-9x42 has 80 MOA of adjustment and the SI has 70 MOA.  My only bitch about the Sightron line is that they no longer make any low power SI, SII or SII Big Sky scopes and I really like scopes in the 1-5 to 2-7 range.

I hope some of this rambling helps.

Lance

[JimG]

Thanks, I did call Sightron this afternoon and the nice CS lady told me that the S1's are assembled in the Phillipines from Japanese components and the S2's are wholly Japanese manufactured.

[original]

I had the SI 3x9 and had to send it back to the factory after less than one year of use.    I mounted it on a new 270 handi and started to sight it in and break in the barrel.  It seemed like the shots were not grouping all that great (couple inches at 100yrds) was not sure if it was the scope or due to the fact it was a brand new rifle.   Anyhow on the second day of my hunt with it I went to adjust the magnification and when I did the cross hairs rotated inside the scope, being 4 hours from home I am glad I brought a backup rifle.  I did send it back to the factory and had them upgrade it to the SII and paid the difference which I was shocked after what I went through that they charged me the full amount between the two and didnt even send it with covers.   The customer service was very friendly and very easy to work with and after I got to mount the SII and take it to the range I forgot all about the cost difference and the bad experience with the SI.   The SII is very clear and is a great match with the 270 handi and the groups improved a lot. 

[sweetwyominghome]

The standard Nikoplex reticle remains Nikon's most popular and is widely available. Does your dealer just not carry anything else besides the BDC???


The S1, Leupold Rifleman and Nikon ProStaff are very similar, but the BuckMasters is in another league of quality altogether and -- in general -- is priced lower than comparable models from either Sightron or Leupold.

[JimG]

I ended up buying a Nikon with a Nikoplex reticle.

[Joe S.]

I have a Sightron SII in 2.5-10x32. It is a great clear scope and has held zero so far, altho i have very few rounds thru it at this point so my opinion is still very inexperienced. Main complaint (and it aint really much of a complaint) is it has less eye relief and doesnt seem as bright as my nikon prostaff.

But it gives me the magnification i want with the small objective diameter i need compared to my 2-7x32 prostaff.

[mtbadger]

I have 3 3x9s and 1 4x12 S1s and they are fantastic scopes.  I will say I am not a fan of Leupold though.  I did hear a bad rumor yesterday (at Cabelas) that Sightron does not have the over the counter replacement any more.  The only other scope I have is a Nikon Buckmaster that is in my opinion on the same line as the Sightron....