I've been researching scope quality and costs pretty avidly for the past 4 years so I appreciate the additional posts here and the sharing of members opinions on the quality of their various optics.
Meichele,
I'm just a little surprised in settling for some loss of clarity with your rifle scopes. I also haul a Zeiss spotting scope sheep hunting. The Spotters are mandatory. But there have been times when I get away from the spotting scope and have had to make due with my rifle scope. That's one reason I purchased 3-18x42mm IORs. Very good resolution. But they're less than ideal for packing around in the mountains as they weigh in at ~28oz.
I expect I'll switch my Sighton SIII over to my sheep rifle because at 24X, it remains sharp as a tack, and at 24 power I will see sheep horns, and count growth rings, far better than possible with my 8X Swaro binoculars or LRF. I don't plan to hunt sheep with my spotting scope 3/4 mile away, but it has happened to me more than once over the years. Hunt sheep long enough and you'll most certainly end up in a similar situation.
I haven't tried to judge the durability of the SIII in any of my posts yet, but I'm not reading about failures under recoil. I have tested my turrets and they are repeatable. Instead of 0.25"/100yds I'm getting a consistent 0.273"/100yds either up or down from my zero setting. I agree that reliability, durability, turret repeatability is key, but if I can get all those with equal or superior glass at 1/2 the cost, count me in.
My SIII weighs 21.9 oz, which for my Alaskan backpack hunting is a bonus compared to my IORs @28oz, or the similar NF scopes.
My power range preference would be something more like a 4-16 or 5-20x version, but I'm currently stuck with 6-24X. As I stated earlier, there are fewer options available with the Sightron SIII, certainly compared to NF. That's probably one method of keeping production and overhead costs down at Sightron.
If my SIII stands the test of time, I'm probably off the market for either NF or IOR. I'd rather purchase two SIIIs right now than receive one NF or IOR for the same cash. If Sightron comes out with some other power options, I will likely sell one of my IORs. I started replacing all my Leupolds 4 years ago. Now I'll start replacing the scopes that I replaced the Leupolds with.
If you spend time researching the forums and web sites, you'll learn my eyes aren't the only ones impressed with SIII glass. I provided enough links in prior posts to keep you busy for one afternoon. ILya from the OpticTalk forum flat out states that Sightron is the best scope glass on the market coming out of Japan at this time. He lives optics, and looks through and tests them constantly.
jwp475 - For the second time, no I don't sell Sightron scopes. The only thing Sightron will be doing for me is taking my money in exchange for their SIIIs. I'd like to be selling them, because they're the best scope bang for the buck - of the current scopes on the market that I'm aware of. Which means the people making and selling them are probably tickled pink.