I am putting together a rifle for my 7 year old daughter to shoot NRL22 and similar type matches. I know the SWFA has a good reliability track record. I like the features of the Athlon better with 10 mil turrets and zero stop. Ultimately, I want something that tracks well. I don't want her getting frustrated because of equipment issues. At this point I don't have more money to responsibly budget towards this purchase. I am very interested in what people with experience behind both optics have to say in regards to glass quality and tracking reliability. If you were in my shoes, which would you buy? Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Rifle Scopes SWFA 3-15 or Athlon Midas Tac 4-16 for NRL22 Matches
- Thread starter MakeSawdust
- Start date
It would be our pleasure to assist you with the scope for your daughter. Special pricing today and tomorrow as well. Please give mea call, 516-217-1000
I've got both those scopes. But yes I'm a bit biased for Athlon. That doesn't prevent me from saying what I like and don't like about each scope though.
SWFA - Tracking has always been a main reason people buy these. I like that it focuses to 6M, but at my diopter setting these go out of focus past 700Y. The glass in them is my biggest complaint, it's lower on the glass scale and not up to it's price point. Reticle is simple, okay if you like .5 mil reticles. I kept one out of the 3 I bought for the simple reason it has a huge amount of elevation travel and I like to make comparisons to other scopes. I keep it on my custom 10-22 rimfire.
The Midas TAC has very tactile and audible 10 mil knobs with a zero stop, capped windage knob, very good glass, a decent reticle with some .2 holds, focuses close at 10Y. I can find only these two things I wish had been done better. I don't like line numbers off the vertical crosshair and the center dot is too small for my older eyes to see well on low power. I have mine mounted on a 6mmFatRat AR upper that I've used out to 1122Y and have been very happy with it's tracking.
Of the two the Midas TAC is a step up for the money and if I had to choose between the two, if starting from scratch, the TAC easily wins over.
SWFA - Tracking has always been a main reason people buy these. I like that it focuses to 6M, but at my diopter setting these go out of focus past 700Y. The glass in them is my biggest complaint, it's lower on the glass scale and not up to it's price point. Reticle is simple, okay if you like .5 mil reticles. I kept one out of the 3 I bought for the simple reason it has a huge amount of elevation travel and I like to make comparisons to other scopes. I keep it on my custom 10-22 rimfire.
The Midas TAC has very tactile and audible 10 mil knobs with a zero stop, capped windage knob, very good glass, a decent reticle with some .2 holds, focuses close at 10Y. I can find only these two things I wish had been done better. I don't like line numbers off the vertical crosshair and the center dot is too small for my older eyes to see well on low power. I have mine mounted on a 6mmFatRat AR upper that I've used out to 1122Y and have been very happy with it's tracking.
Of the two the Midas TAC is a step up for the money and if I had to choose between the two, if starting from scratch, the TAC easily wins over.
Swfa for tracking, which is number one. It’s built like a tank.
I have had both of these and currently have 2 Midas tac. Both the swfa and Midas are good scopes.
Dimensionally they are very close. The Midas has a few more features with the 10 mils per rev and zero stop. Both of these I rank high on the list esp for a 22 where I am regularly dialing to 12-13 mils since our matches go out to 300. The swfa would be fine but highly recommend get the shim zero stop spacers. The parallax on both are close so besides the turrets and zero stop it comes down to reticle. That is mainly user preference. I prefer the dot on the tac but I don't think they are too far apart on style.
If you give gr8fuldoug a call. You will be happy with the pricing. Offered me a great price on mine
Dimensionally they are very close. The Midas has a few more features with the 10 mils per rev and zero stop. Both of these I rank high on the list esp for a 22 where I am regularly dialing to 12-13 mils since our matches go out to 300. The swfa would be fine but highly recommend get the shim zero stop spacers. The parallax on both are close so besides the turrets and zero stop it comes down to reticle. That is mainly user preference. I prefer the dot on the tac but I don't think they are too far apart on style.
If you give gr8fuldoug a call. You will be happy with the pricing. Offered me a great price on mine
I first bought the Midas Tac and recently got the Ares ETR. Both are great scopes. The Midas is very, very close to the ETR at half the price. Athlon's customer service is great also. Highly recommend.
SWFA Happy with mine, but I don't dial when I shoot nrl22
I just bought a scope for my sons NRL22. He is 2 years older than your daughter but the same principles apply. I bought the Midas Tac for sevral reasons. For starters it is relatively light which makes a big difference at their size. Another is the zero stop. That is a really big deal for young or new shooters. It is easy to get lost spinning a dial while on the clock. The last is the 10mil turrets. Not having to spin the turret several times for this longer shots makes dialing much easier.
I ordered a Midas TAC from Doug. I have seem many posts singing praises to Doug. It is for good reason. He was very professional and great to deal with. Thanks to all who weighed in.
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