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Rifle Scopes Differences in glass from the top makers?

hydro556

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 1, 2007
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STL, home of the Cardinals.
I only recently looked through my first USO. I was impressed and believe there is an appreciable difference between it and my $1100 MKIV (which I dearly love, and believe is in excellent optic for the money). I have not looked through an S&B. My question pertains to the differences between USO glass and S&B glass, as well as some on the other top German glass makers. Does USO use proprietary glass, or is it sourced? I seem to recall reading something about Schotts or something similar, as being a maker of high end optical glass, but searches have not turned up much. Just trying to understand who makes what and why some of it is superior to others. Where can I go to read about this topic specifically?
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

your best be may be to talk to scott at liberty optics he knows alot about exactly what you are asking.
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

Superior optics is all about the coatings... that is what separates one from another... as well as overall optical design because each lens creates a different problem for the next lens.

But not all glass is equal in coatings and design suffice to say and you'll never be able to get to the root of the issue because most don't talk openly about it.
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

Scope internals make my head spin. All I can say is when I've been using my S&B and then have to go back to my SS, I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE!!! I'm sure each ante up in cost is closer, but the difference between a "yeah, its OK scope" and a "holy SH%T scope" is unbelievable. I've said it plenty, I've never been upset after the payment about the best. If you can swing more, do it.
Only wish on my part, I would really like to have something with more power (3-12). The 25 is pretty nice and you can still dial down to 5, but I never use the 3 power on mine.
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

I think good glass is nice. However, I place a higher priority on reliability and precision of the adjustment system. I've seen some scopes with pretty good glass which had terrible adjustment systems. If it won't hold zero, it doesn't matter how good the glass is.

 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Lindy</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> If it won't hold zero, it doesn't matter how good the glass is.</div></div>
VERY well said. There are some scopes out there with unbelievable glass that I wouldn't trust on a .22.
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

The last excel spread sheet I have for optical glass available to scope manufacturers was something like 21-21 pages, discounting the coatings, some of which are proprietary if you're a"name" and about 50 or so that are available to everyone once they've decided on glass.

Having said all that, Lindy's got it right.
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

Nightforce, S&B, and Zeiss are all top notch, but the Zeiss/Hensoldt are a bit clearer than the rest. Zeiss makes their lenses and coatings, I don't know about the glass source.

(I value the reticle, ffp and adjustment logic of the S&B more than the slight image quality advantage of Zeiss. (But then again, Hensoldt makes ffp scopes too... $$$$) Anyway, all those are fantastic.)
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

Zeiss <span style="font-style: italic">may</span> be clearer than S&B, but you really have to be looking to detect the difference.
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Magnumdood</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Zeiss <span style="font-style: italic">may</span> be clearer than S&B, but you really have to be looking to detect the difference. </div></div>

Nice pun.
 
Re: Differences in glass from the top makers?

i read many times from diferent people in europe saying Hensoldt are better tan S&B, people whit good experiense whit bot brands but we have a little problem rigth here, Hensoldt are not available in US so in america very few have experiense with Hensoldt maybe thats why there´s no Hensoldt scopes around here and the best one can get is a S&B and considering the very little diference of one ever the other if this is true you still have 1 of the bets 2 riflescopes in the world.
 
Have you looked through Kahles glass? Just looked through one with the mp6 reticle, really impressed me. One of the reps said that kahles is swaro's military devision. And we all know how swaro glass is.