SWFA Memorial Day Sale Is ON !!

I bought a 20 x 42 and I may not keep it. The exit pupil is so small if you are not perfectly and I mean perfectly centered right and left up and down behind the ocular lens the image is lost.

Now I know this is probably due to the relative high magnification and the rather small objective lens (42mm) but I don’t think I can make it work.

Moral to the story inexpensive almost always requires compromise.

I will agree the scope is well constructed mechanically

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The scope forcing you to be in the exact same position every time is a pro, not a con. 

Try this little experiment with a scope that has a more forgiving eyebox. When looking through the scope, bring your head/eye to the left a little and shoot a group. Repeat that in all four directions and you'll have four groups, north, south, east, and west of your normal point of impact. 

A lot depends on the use too. If you're putting it on a pure hunting in thick brush for close shots on moving targets gun, then the unforgiving eye box is a liability. If you're putting it on a target gun to shoot tiny groups, knock down field targets, or kill mostly stationary pests at long ranges, the 20x SWFA is the ticket. 

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Yes. This is all true, but there is a way to mitigate these short comings.

The scope forcing you to be in the exact same position every time is a pro, not a con. 

Try this little experiment with a scope that has a more forgiving eyebox. When looking through the scope, bring your head/eye to the left a little and shoot a group. Repeat that in all four directions and you'll have four groups, north, south, east, and west of your normal point of impact. 

A lot depends on the use too. If you're putting it on a pure hunting in thick brush for close shots on moving targets gun, then the unforgiving eye box is a liability. If you're putting it on a target gun to shoot tiny groups, knock down field targets, or kill mostly stationary pests at long ranges, the 20x SWFA is the ticket. 

Click to expand...

I nearly sold mine also, but these tweaks were just enough for me to keep it.


First, on my 20x, I put two sunshades with helped with the milky/cloudiness that occurs on high magnifications. I could not put three because I felt it would look too stupid. So, I put a thin strip of foam on the inside of the scope's first shade. This made the image sharper and with less glare, but darker hazier in low light. In bright light it works fine.

Second, I in stalled a eye shade. This not only helps with unwanted reflections in the eye piece, but also helps find the exact eye window. Now, I know exactly how the eye cup feels on my eye when I perfectly in the eye-box window.

Third, I put a red dot on the side of the scope to better zero in on my target. I line up my red dot first, then zero in on the target with the 20x.



That's all well and good but I'm not going to go to all that trouble.

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