10x SWFA for hunting?

[Novashooter]

I don't understand the sudden fascination with fixed scopes at all. And now you have guys like Axlrod claiming they were big into SWFA 10 years ago? Best I can find online is forum dates from about 2020. I never even heard of them until this year. No real info on their website, says they used to be a brand of Tasco, not a good start. Some obscure stuff in the 2000's. Boom 2020 and suddenly everyone on Rokslide has one, and it's better than anything else.

Look, I've never owned an SWFA, but just step back and think about it for a second. Are you really willing to put a fixed 10x scope on your hunting rifle because some guys on an internet forum told you to do so? Go take a 3-9x scope, turn it all the way up to 9x. Look at a person 30 yards away, and you tell me that's something you wanted fixed on your hunting rifle.

My opinion, I don't think you could make a worse choice than putting that 10x on your rifle.

 

[gostovp]

From what I understood and have read, The SWFA scopes are popular not because fixed is somehow better than variable, it’s because it’s the only reliable dialer that isn’t over $1000…sounds like all other dialers in the lower price points are very unreliable ( like the similar priced vortex or Leupolds)

 

[Novashooter]

Well, consider the source and make up your own mind. If you want a SWFA, they make a 3-9x, it even says in stock. It's $600 and dials. I would never use a fixed 10x for hunting even if I were dirt poor. I would take it off and use the open sights.

 

[gostovp]

The 3-9 looks to be on Backorder. And I guess I did consider the sources… I trust WKR’s and the countless posts on other forums more than any YouTuber or Instagramer or even outdoor writer that that tries to tell me something like a Vortex Diamondback Tactical is a reliable scope. Not that I ultimately wanted an SWFA, but I was looking for feedback on a reliable dialer and unfortunately I don’t have $ for a Nightforce or Trijicon TenMile for this rifle.

 

[ljalberta]

Used a 10MQ last year for hunting. Deer and sheep primarily. Worked fine, shot animals, and held zero through all the bangups of the season.

Do I prefer something with a little more versatility? Yes. But that doesn’t mean it won’t do the trick.

I’ve got a 3-9MQ on my primary hunting rifle this season, a 6MQ on another, and I’ve got the 10MQ on my 17HMR now. I was sick of having my scopes lose zero and have been very pleased moving to SWFA and some Bushnell LHRS’.

Use it and enjoy it, and swap it out later if you wish.

 

[Novashooter]

I can't give good recommendations, I don't use target scopes. All I can say is the 4x on my 4-12x almost cost me a 40 yard shot last year, and I wont be making that mistake again. To straight up answer the question in your original post, yes, I think hunting with a fixed 10x is insane.

 

[PineBrook413]

I wouldn't be too comfortable going with more than 6x minimum zoom. All my scopes I use for hunting are 3x or 4x min zoom.

 

[TaperPin]

Oh man that was some time ago. I want to say $200 ea. plus you got rings and a sunshade maybe.

Nice!

 

[bojangles808]

All I can say is the 4x on my 4-12x almost cost me a 40 yard shot last year, and I wont be making that mistake again.

What happened?

 

[BAKPAKR]

The fine lines on the 10X MOA-Quad are really fine - .13”. I have one on a 22 that I mainly shoot at the range. I have often thought it would be too fine for me for squirrel hunting if lighting was not good. The 10X Mil-Quad is listed at .05 Mil which I think is a little thicker.

 

[Kimber7man]

I've used a fixed 10X for western hunting for 10 years now - a S&B PMII 10x42 with P3 mildot reticle. Works great even on an 80 yard shot with buck trotting. Has 13 mils of elevation if needed, and I would have no doubt it would pass a drop test - it has been dragged through plenty already.

 

[Mike Islander]

Naysayers, read the OP. He described his use case, expected game, etc. 10X is available, and shots are 40+ yards almost exclusively. 10X will work just fine.

For close shots with, say, 6X, practice works with remarkable regularity. Except for last year, I've been using 6X for everything for a few years. I don't have a problem finding/losing squirrels at 5 yards. Up close, keep both eyes open if necessary. Literally a bit of practice is all it took me.

Why fixed? Budget is a great reason. But not needing to touch the scope is another. Simplify, optimize. Mil quad fixed is one of the easiest, simplest, and fastest scope platforms to use, and utterly reliable.

 

[dreamingWest]

You're probably right about the practice. I'm just giving my opinion. I would save a bit more and try to get into a Trijicon Accupoint 3-9x40. If I absolutely needed a dialer and knew shots would require dialing, then maybe a the SWFA 10.

When I was a younger, maybe 15-16 yo, I missed an opportunity at the largest whitetail buck I've ever seen. He popped up about twenty yards away from heavy brush. I was walking back from my stand, like a dummy with my scope sitting maxed at 12. By the time I found him in my scope, he was flagging and gone forever. I've seen the same scenario play out in Montana and Wyoming deer and elk hunting with inexperienced shooters. It happens.

Years ago I was muley hunting Wyo with SHV 5-20. Having learned my lesson, I was walking around at 5X. We were hunting the windiest conditions imaginable. I spotted a buck jogging hillside inside 100 yards. The was my last chance to fill the tag on my hunt. Being super windy and needing to shoot from a quickly improvised field position, inside 100 was about all I would have been able to take. When I didn't drop him with my first shot, it became a bit of a circus to hit him again. This deer was easily recovered and tagged, but that's when I decided I wanted sporter rifles with 2-3 min variables for hunting.

Much better shooters with more experience may disagree.

 

[ndayton]

When I was a younger, maybe 15-16 yo, I missed an opportunity at the largest whitetail buck I've ever seen. He popped up about twenty yards away from heavy brush. I was walking back from my stand, like a dummy with my scope sitting maxed at 12.

I did the very same thing. I was 14 with my scope maxed at 9 power when a giant blacktail 4 point stood up in the thick brush at 40 yards. I couldn't for the life of me find the deer in the scope and he ended up taking off.
I remember vowing that day to never do that again and that when I became a dad, I would pass down this knowledge to my kids.
That encounter still haunts me.

FYI, I own both a SWFA 10x and 6x. I don't think I would feel comfortable hunting with a fixed 10x, but your experience as a shooter and the terrain really should dictate what would realistically work.

 

[Novashooter]

What happened?

Nothing really, just a deer that I had to make a shot. 4x at 40 yards the deer fills up most of the field of view. Practice or not, using too much magnification is a liability. Fixed power is never an asset.

 

[bojangles808]

Nothing really, just a deer that I had to make a shot. 4x at 40 yards the deer fills up most of the field of view. Practice or not, using too much magnification is a liability. Fixed power is never an asset.

Yea kicking up something outta their bed inside 50 and needing a quick shot I can see issues but he said open country field edges not timber so I think he'd be fine.

 

[Novashooter]

Yea kicking up something outta their bed inside 50 and needing a quick shot I can see issues but he said open country field edges not timber so I think he'd be fine.

This was wide open South Dakota, saw him trotting at me. Wind was too strong he didn't hear me yelp to stop him. He was walking a normal pace at 40 yards Luckily being wide open I had time to get on him and make the shot.

I'm not saying a 4-12x is a bad choice, it can make sense to some people. A fixed power 10x, come on now. How did we even get to a point in history this would be considered reasonable?

 

[Formidilosus]

I'm not saying a 4-12x is a bad choice, it can make sense to some people. A fixed power 10x, come on now. How did we even get to a point in history this would be considered reasonable?

Because some people actually shoot. You have already admitted that you have no experience with fixed 10x, or hunting with fixed magnification scopes at all, that you somehow can’t find a deer in a 4x scope at 40 yards, and that you believe SWFA are some new fad. The only thing that all three of those things say is that you lack experience and instead of giving advice about this, you should probably be asking questions.



Fixed scopes aren’t new, and 10x fixed powers are in fact the original standard for what the OP describes.


10x isn’t ideal for close range hunting, however it is usable, and for the OP’s stated purpose should pose no issue at all. If your index sucks, it’s hard to find targets in scopes. If however you practice your index, it is not. Someone having issues finding a deer at 40 yards with 4x has serious lack of gun-handling and index.

SWFA scopes aren’t new and they were being heavily used and spoken about nearly a decade earlier than you stated.

I am not trying to be rude here- your posts and indignation show an obvious lack of experience with the subject.

 

[Novashooter]

If that is what you think, fine. Instead of getting in the cool kids club, I went out and tried things. No, I never heard of SWFA 10 years ago, and nobody off of social media did. They don't advertise, and they don't sell in stores.

I used to read about the old timers when fixed powers were king. 4x was always the standard, and a few used 6x. I can't recall a well known hunter ever choosing 10x. Doesn't matter much though since fixed powers haven't made any sense in a long, long time.

It's s clear from my reading your posts that you are not going to change your mind. You drew your own conclusions, the way it should be. Don't sit there and tell me I'm inexperienced. Everyone is inexperienced until the day they die. No, I don't have a state or national rifle title in anything. I don't want one either since I would rather hunt. I try new gear every year. I've tried lots of scopes. Yes, I actually shoot and have for years.

 

[Formidilosus]

To provide some visual context to this thread, these are very large pack goats- as large as large deer. 40 yards away.

4x



Hardly- “4x at 40 yards the deer fills up most of the field of view”


The 10x SWFA that is the subject of this thread-



You can fit about two of them in the FOV-



10x is not optimum for 40 yard shots on moving large game, however it is far from not usable for it. 10x at 100 yards is the same as 4x at 40 yards- easy.