BSA Sweet 17 Scope!

[Lloyd90]

Anyone use one of the BSA Sweet 17 scopes for 17 HMR ? I was looking at the 6-18x40 one!

 

Some reviews for them are very good but again some are bad (same story for everything on the net!)

 

Was going to be mounted on a CZ 452 or Savage BTVS. Supposedly you zero the gun for 50 ( or 100 ) yards and then 3 clicks on the turret increase your zero by 50 yards a time. There for you can just aim straight on your target out to about 300 yards without having holdover.

 

The concept sounds fantastic but is this the reality ? Would really love to hear from people who actually have one cheers guys

[Poacher]

probably better off looking through an empty bog roll... Concept maybe good but the manufacturer isn't..

[casts_by_fly]

My uncle has one and I considered buying that one. The concept is great in theory. The turrets are marked with yardages. You zero the gun and then zero the turret to read your zero range. Then just range find and turn the turret to match. To that extent, the BSA scope works. However, the optical quality is pretty poor, especially when you start topping 12-14X. The scope gets dark and isn't clear or crisp. Also, some people have had problems with parts coming loose inside or turrets not holding zero.

 

In practicality, you don't need a rangefinding reticle for an HMR. For practical shooting in this country (where wind is everpresent), 150 is a long shot, let alone 300. You'll have a realistic limit at 200. For shooting that range there are better options than a sweet 17 scope. First, sight in MBPR +/- 1" to get you a dead on hold out to 160. Then it is a small amount of holdover for 200 yards and between. Or, a multi aim point reticle (mil-dot style) and figure out the yardages for each aim point. Or, target turrets and click up and down based on a ballistics chart. The third option is what you'll need to do if you want to shoot long range. Put the bullets over a chronograph and make a good ballistics chart. Then click up or down.

 

Thanks

Rick

[mr lee]

I have one on my CZ.17hmr and to be honest not massively impressed with it. The rubber rings work loose and rotate round the scope body rather than gripping them. Mine was on it's first outing and wouldn't zero in at all. (over a foot out leftside and massively varied shot placement) Got in direct touch with BSA and was asked to return it and they ended up sending me a replacement after testing the 7 days old one. Fair play so far.

 

Once you start to go above 12 as mentioned it does start to get a bit unclear. Also I'm not sure if it is just me or not but when out on a sunny day the eye piece lets a lot of light and reflection in which can be a pain. None of my other scopes seem to suffer this way. Wether the hood doesn't extend back as far as my other scopes or not though I couldn't say as I haven't checked.

 

Like yourself I was sold on the idea of just being able to click the turret for a direct shot after 100 yards rather than holdover etc. Yeah it works and all that but I think it will be going shortly to be replaced by something better. Out of ten I would only pass it a 5.

 

What scopes would people recommend for a similar budget? (about £100)

[casts_by_fly]

MR lee,

 

What power range do you want? If you're sticking to a top end at 10X or so then there are a few. If you want to go higher power then things get a little fuzzier.

 

Thanks,

Rick

[Peter_HMR]

Picked up a Hawke Target 6-24x50 on this forum a year or two back for 75pound cracking scope for that price can crank it right up to 24x and is still vary useable never has lost zero and has target turrets so can still print out a drop table in moa and just click up or down depending.