Rifle Scopes Should I get a USO sr-8m or a Leupold cqbss?

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

I have been debating an a SCAR 17 optic for a while now and I think I have it narrowed down to the these 2. I love the duel focal plane and dual illumination in the USO, but the optics seem to be inferior to the leupold according to several reviews I have read including the one here on the hide by big Jim fish. I have 3 USO scopes now and really like these products and their company as a whole. If it was an even match up I would probably go with the USO. I don't want to get an inferior product (if it is inferior) because I like their other products and customer service. I would really appreciate some input from other hide members. I would love to hear from guys that have one or both of these.

Thanks!

 

[TheGerman]

After owning the USO 1-8, I have a very deep seated hatred towards it. Depending on who you talk to, they will either love or hate them. For me, it did everything 'ok' and none of them well and had a few design flaws that became very obvious very quickly.

I now have the CQBSS with the 27D reticle on my SR25 and notice huge differences between the two. The only downside for me is the price but depending on which reticle, it may not be that bad of a jump to the Leupold. I'm not sure if you consider the 34mm tube a bonus or a negative but it should be considered as well.

 

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

What do you think about the cqbss's ability to be a cqb optic? Is the illumination visible at 1 power? Does it have a large eye box?

 

[Redmanss]

Are you going with the Horus or M-TMR version? I have the M-TMR, reticle is not daylight bright but I've found that to be unnecessary. Its strength lies at 8x, but I have still run el Presidente drills with it at 15m with no issues at all. The eyebox is ample enough to be plenty comfortable.

Can't help on the USO or the Horus version, haven't used one at all, but I do love my CQBSS.

 

[TheGerman]

What do you think about the cqbss's ability to be a cqb optic? Is the illumination visible at 1 power? Does it have a large eye box?

For CQB the Leupold is fine and where initially I thought the USO would shine, the MK8 did better. USO had a less forgiving eye box and the red dot fiber optic was visibly not circular but like a bunch of random dots ontop of each other whereas the Leupold is much more symmetrical and is also daytime bright. The Leupold blacks out less easily as well.

 

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

Haven't decided on a reticle yet, but being I'm not a mil guy I was thinking about the 762 bdc reticle. I'm definitely not a fan of the reticles available in either optic.

 

[NoLegs24]

Heres a good write by Big Jim Fish on both. He also did more reviews on 1x-?x powered scopes. Just hit the home tab

Sniper's Hide » BigJimFish Review of the U.S. Optics SR-8C 1-8x27mm Scope with C2 Reticle

Sniper's Hide » BigJimFish Review of Leupold Mark 8 CQBSS 1.1-8x24mm with Horus H-27D

Heres a vid by LL too on the CQBSS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxHWCDP2msE

 

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

Thanks nolegs, I have seen those reviews but I reviewed them again. I feel like I might place the illumination and performing a red dot role a little higher on my list than the reviewers. Even lowlight put an rmr with his cqbss. I just don't know! Dammit

 

[Double3]

Even lowlight put an rmr with his cqbss. I just don't know! Dammit

That was with the M-TMR retical right? The way I understand it the H27D is like a red dot at 1x.

I recently picked up a CQBSS with the M-TMR but I haven't mounted it yet.

 

[997/2man]

FPNI.

Haters, are going to hate...

 

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

Anyone with an sr-8 want to chime in? The poll has the USO in the lead but none of the posters seem to be in favor of it...

 

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

After owning the USO 1-8, I have a very deep seated hatred towards it. Depending on who you talk to, they will either love or hate them. For me, it did everything 'ok' and none of them well and had a few design flaws that became very obvious very quickly.

I now have the CQBSS with the 27D reticle on my SR25 and notice huge differences between the two. The only downside for me is the price but depending on which reticle, it may not be that bad of a jump to the Leupold. I'm not sure if you consider the 34mm tube a bonus or a negative but it should be considered as well.

What were the design flaws you are talking about?

 

[TheGerman]

What were the design flaws you are talking about?

This was on my MK12Mod1.

- It's heavy as hell. Switching back to a NF 2.5-10 and NF mount saved almost a pound of weight from the USO setup
- You practically need the extended scout ADM mount or something similar to really crane the scope forward as the eye relief / eyebox is fairly unforgiving especially at 1x and witha regular mount you'll have your stock fully extended out to use the USO.
- The extended mount puts it so far forward the rifle had the weirdest (in a bad way) balance I've ever had; was very counterproductive to using the red dot and CQB shooting.
- 2 of the ones I looked through had some sort of epoxy like seal around the objective lens; it can be seen looking through the glass.
- The way the turret housing is set up it leaves you absolutely zero room to move your optic around while in the rings/mount and any scope forward/rear adjustments on setup are done via rail space only.
- Target acquisition with the red dot is not fast due to the very unforgiving eyebox at 1x and you tend to either shoot with part of your sight picture blacking out or wait to 'center' your shot which adds time to your acquisition process
- The red dot is nothing like an AimPoint/Eotech reticle and suffers from parallax; this kind of defeats most of the purpose of it for me and offers little benefit over a different optic with a Doctor or RDS mount.
- The reticle I had (C2) had very thick lines/sub-tensions and was subtended in 1 mil increments. Combining only 8x on the high end, a small field of view, a very thick/bulky reticle and 1 mil increments this made ranging and holdoffs much much more difficult than they needed to be.
- The turrets increment in .2 mils so that is either a bonus (faster) or a negative (less precise adjustments) depending on what you're wanting.
- There is no zero stop and if you have the turret with about 2 or 3 revolutions from bottoming out, there is no visible vertical line to indicate what setting your turret is currently on.
- The red dot, from the way its built/designed (not sure how they did this) isn't actually centered and is made up of what looks like multiple dots (kind of like an Eotech). Problem is, from the 3 I've looked through, the pattern is different in each optic and some are slightly off center.
- CQBSS glass > this glass

It tries to do everything but excels at nothing.

 

[TheGerman]

Anyone with an sr-8 want to chime in? The poll has the USO in the lead but none of the posters seem to be in favor of it...

It's because most think Leupold < USO and do not know the MK6/MK8 lines are nothing like what Leupold has been associated with putting out with previous lines.

 

[Victory]

I think a DFP would be amazing on a 1x8, but it sounds like it's a tough thing to get right as USO is the only one to attempt it, that I know of. Sucks the USO didn't work better than it did for you German.

 

[Redmanss]

The new Minox 1-8x is DFP as well, but I have yet to see a definitive shakedown thread about it. MINOX - Visible Innovation: Description I would love to try it out, but I'm done chasing the 1-8x unicorn with my CQBSS.

 

[Kamkaze]

I just received my 1-8 USO today with the cdmil reticle. I haven't been able to shoot with it yet but I got it mounted in an ADM Recon X mount and I am please with the eyebox at 1x and 8x although the eyebox is somewhat picky at 8 it appears or it could just be that I need to get used to it. I would say that BigJim's review as one would expect is spot on. I've never looked through a CQBSS to compare it but I am please with my purchase so far. I will update once I can get some trigger time behind it.

 

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

Thanks German,
That is all very good info I appreciate the help. Is the illumination with the 27d clearly day visible (red dot visible) at 1x in your opinion?

Kamikaze,
Congrats on your new scope! Please do share your thoughts once you get it all mounted up and get some time behind it.

Looks like the price for the sr-8m with Horus reticle is within $100 of what the cqbss will be with their Horus reticle (LEO pricing) so price at this point is not a deciding factor.

 

[Preacher69]

Good question. I have a SCAR 17 that I use both the 1x8 and the 3.2x17 on. I have several US Optics scopes and in fact, switched from the Leupold and Schmidt and Bender lines to US Optics because of several factors. One, their customer service is second to none. I have been in this business for nearly five (5) decades and my eyesight needs a little tweaking. They actually build my scopes with an increased diopter range that accommodates a nearly +4 setting. No other company would do that for me. I spoke with several companies and they all told me that they could not (would not ) manufacture a one off for me. US Optics said "No problem." second, their scopes are incredible for the dollar spent. I even visited their facilities on one of my trips to California and they showed me their operation. Try that with the others! I know a little bit about scopes as I worked with Leupold on re-engineering the Mark 4 scopes when I found out that there was a design error in the reticle housing. I also am the only person, that I know of, that Leopold put my company's name on their box when I designed a coating to be able to coat the Mark 4's to match my rifle coatings. They sent me the parts, I applied my special coating, sent the pieces back and then they assembled them. Leupold tried to buy my technology, but I turned them down. I countered with an offer for a point per scope sold. They didn't want to do that, even though they had tried for years to do what I did. They then told me that I had to buy 100 scopes at a time or they would not be able to work with me any more. So I said fine. Try to figure out how to do what I do. They still haven't figured it out. Thirdly, I wrote the ATAP program for sniping for Department of State years ago and have been a sniper/operator/trainer for decades. What I put on my tools (rifles ) must with stand the rigors of battle and I bet my life on them. I also do not recommend a product if it puts my men at risk. US Optics have never failed me. That is one reason why I have bought/own several. I even put a 1x8 on my lady love's rifle. She does snap shooting at 50 yds with shots inside a saucer all day long. The damned things just work. You will not go wrong with the US Optics. I wish you well. Oh yes, I have trained many world champion military snipers/sniper teams and have more than a passing knowledge about optics and such.

 

[997/2man]

Good question. I have a SCAR 17 that I use both the 1x8 and the 3.2x17 on. I have several US Optics scopes and in fact, switched from the Leupold and Schmidt and Bender lines to US Optics because of several factors. One, their customer service is second to none. I have been in this business for nearly five (5) decades and my eyesight needs a little tweaking. They actually build my scopes with an increased diopter range that accommodates a nearly +4 setting. No other company would do that for me. I spoke with several companies and they all told me that they could not (would not ) manufacture a one off for me. US Optics said "No problem." second, their scopes are incredible for the dollar spent. I even visited their facilities on one of my trips to California and they showed me their operation. Try that with the others! I know a little bit about scopes as I worked with Leupold on re-engineering the Mark 4 scopes when I found out that there was a design error in the reticle housing. I also am the only person, that I know of, that Leopold put my company's name on their box when I designed a coating to be able to coat the Mark 4's to match my rifle coatings. They sent me the parts, I applied my special coating, sent the pieces back and then they assembled them. Leupold tried to buy my technology, but I turned them down. I countered with an offer for a point per scope sold. They didn't want to do that, even though they had tried for years to do what I did. They then told me that I had to buy 100 scopes at a time or they would not be able to work with me any more. So I said fine. Try to figure out how to do what I do. They still haven't figured it out. Thirdly, I wrote the ATAP program for sniping for Department of State years ago and have been a sniper/operator/trainer for decades. What I put on my tools (rifles ) must with stand the rigors of battle and I bet my life on them. I also do not recommend a product if it puts my men at risk. US Optics have never failed me. That is one reason why I have bought/own several. I even put a 1x8 on my lady love's rifle. She does snap shooting at 50 yds with shots inside a saucer all day long. The damned things just work. You will not go wrong with the US Optics. I wish you well. Oh yes, I have trained many world champion military snipers/sniper teams and have more than a passing knowledge about optics and such.

Does the Day Room staff know that you are here?

 

[TheGerman]

Thanks German,
That is all very good info I appreciate the help. Is the illumination with the 27d clearly day visible (red dot visible) at 1x in your opinion?

Kamikaze,
Congrats on your new scope! Please do share your thoughts once you get it all mounted up and get some time behind it.

Looks like the price for the sr-8m with Horus reticle is within $100 of what the cqbss will be with their Horus reticle (LEO pricing) so price at this point is not a deciding factor.

Completely daylight visible.

 

[CSTactical]

Both the USO and the Leupold are great scopes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBLwaP_FDHE

Mike @ CSTACTICAL

 

[augnmike]

Does the Day Room staff know that you are here?

I know they are here, as they showed up looking for you.

 

[whitebread]

After owning the USO 1-8, I have a very deep seated hatred towards it. Depending on who you talk to, they will either love or hate them. For me, it did everything 'ok' and none of them well and had a few design flaws that became very obvious very quickly.

I have the same distaste for the SR8 that I currently own. The only 1-8 scopes I have been happy with is the S&B.

 

[GUNENTHUSIAST]

We need some more votes to brake this tie!

 

[Jethatsme]

USO feels and looks great on the rifle. My preference.

 

[SRPowah]

USO feels and looks great on the rifle. My preference.

Once again, have you tried reading the dates? lol

 

[CSTactical]

I would strongly recommend looking at the MINOX 1-8x. I have owned the USO 1-8 and the Leupold 1.1-8.

https://www.cstactical.com/minox-zp8-tac-1-8x24-w-mr10-reticle

 

[shin95]

I have the USO 1-8 and its an awesome optic! Great eye box, true 1x and it does what it was designed to do. Glass is clear and sharp. People that say they hate them are nit-picking to the point where its not really noticeable. OP good luck!

 

[Foweis]

I know this is an outdated thread, but still excellent info. I would also recommend the L CQBSS, it's sitting on my SR25 and it's perfect for that platform. If I where to run a .223 I would probably look at the MK6 1-6 (got one on my sr15 and love it) or th new trijicon 1-8. If you don't mind the added weight the trijicon looks pretty awesome!