Sightron SII Big Sky 3-9x42

[6mmrem]

Hi guys,
Does anyone have one? I do, and I find that the eye relief/eye box is really critical, especially on 9x or in low light to the point of being extremely annoying. And on 5x or less it starts to get distorted on the edges, like looking through a fish bowl. Anyone else have these issues?
Cheers.

[BlueBikesBlackGuns]

Hi 6rem,

I personally use a Sightron SIII and they are excelent. A mate went out and got a SII because he was impressed with my SIII and I hate to say but the quality drops right off betweeen the two. My experence using his scope is similar to what you describe.

Sorry to say

Thanks mate, yeah the big sky glass is quite clear with excellent definition from 6x up, just the eye relief is way too touchy for a hunting rifle. On a bench it is probably fine. And the distortion on the lower powers is a bit disappointing. Cheers.

Well that's interesting. I currently have an SI-4-12x40 on my .300WM, but plan to upgrade to a SII BigSky when I can afford it/when the dollar hits parity again.

I always planned to do this - a Sako deserves a quality scope - however encouraging the swap is the fact the SI doesn't give a particularly comfortable cheek position, due partly to the cheaper scope's more limited eye relief at 12x (to be expected though) and due partly to the way the Sako mounting system limits where the bases can sit on the receiver. As such, I can't move the scope body back enough to give correct eye relief with a relaxed cheek weld - I have to peer forward a bit more. Fortunately it is not too bad at 5x-7x which is invariably where the zoom will be set when I'm actually hunting... but when shooting targets at 12x it is a little uncomfortable. Of course, being a hard recoiling rifle you want a good few inches of space between the scope and your eye socket too!

Various reviews reckon the SII Big Sky is a noticeable improvement over the SII's optics - anyone found this to be the case? Or is it just worth saving another couple of hundred and going SIII?

For what it is worth, I'm really happy with my various SI Hunter scopes.... for the money the quality is fantastic.

Cheers, Ben.

[John23]

I also cant speak for the S2 but did own a S1 3-9 and do own a S3 8-32.
The S1 is a excellent little bit of gear for the money and leaves me sorry to hear that Sightron has not been good to you.
Headwerkn is very right about the limited adjustment for the eye relief dude to the length of tube.
My one was right on its limit when fitted to a Weatherby


JH

Maybe I'm being a bit hard on it for its price($400 us), the glass is very good, a big jump up from the Redfield revolution and vortex diamondback I had, and I find it a bit better then the new VX 2 and FX 2 scopes. I don't remember it having distorted edges on the lower powers when I first got it. Can this happen from a heavy knock or similar? Maybe I should send it back and get it looked at.

Cheers.

[Pioneer Shooting]

Ive used the Sightron S1 3-9 quite extensivly when i first stated shooting and i reckon it a great bit of gear

Ive upgraded to S&B now but the sightrons are GREAT

[fxol]

I have the SII 4.5 - 14 x 50 and I reckon it is a great scope - good eye relief through the range and crystal clear optics.

The S111 and S11 big sky have the same glass treatment, just different tube size. The S1 and S11 are not quite the same standard. I have an S111 and S11, both are good, but the S111 is superior. Do not have the troubles you mentioned in either of my scopes, but are different models and magnification powers to yours. NBT