I bought this scope from another BBS member for not a great lot of cash.
It's to replace the Deben-Hawke Pro-Stalk 3x9-50 which was on my TX when I bought it 2nd-hand five years ago or so. Nothing much wrong with the Hawke, but it's a big lump of a thing, the optics aren't that great and the eye relief is not variable - in other words you have to be in exactly the right position to see the reticle clearly. Too near and you can see way too much scope innards. Too far away and your field of view is drastically curtailed.
Simmons WTC were all the rage a few years ago, despite their being a budget (top-end budget) scope. The Philipines-made ones are more highly regarded than the later Chinese ones due to their supposed superior build quality, but I've never tried a Chinese WTC so can't comment. The older ones have been around a while now, so logically while they may not be perfect cosmetically the glass, design and general build should still stand scrutiny.
The scope.
This is a WTC WA (stands for wide angle), as opposed to a WA AO (adjustable objective). This means that the scope has a wide angle of view, and will be in focus from about 17 yards out to infinity, which is actually the case. It is out of focus at shorter distances, but in fact the rifle can be aimed as low as 7 yards with this scope without any trouble. I guess the scope is shorter and lighter because it does not have the extra components to allow it to focus, and I think this is a fair trade-off. It sits well on the TX, and looks the part. It's certaily smaller and lighter than the Hawke.
The eye-relief adjustment is nicely machined, smooth, and quality.
In use.
The scope has the Simmons Truplex reticle. Like a Duplex reticle it's crosshairs with thicker crosshairs, no mil-dots, ladders or illumination.
It comes up to the eye easily, and if you are a bit out (too near/too far away) that makes very little difference.
The resulting picture is bright, the reticle stands out well, and the focus is sharp from around 17 yards out.
All in, a nice scope. Streets ahead of the Hawke Pro-Stalk in terms of use, performance and build quality.
Clearer and sharper than the 3.5x9-50 Richter scope on the S200.
Not far off my binos (Leica 8x40) for crispness.
Simmons made a big thing of the light gathering qualities of the WTCs when they first came out. I don't find it any better than the Hawke in that respect, but perhaps its a shade better than the Richter? They were probably better than some of the similar-priced scopes of the time.
Worth buying?
Yes without hesitation if it was to be mounted on a PCP. I like the scope very much, but I don't know what the TX recoil will do to it - this very much depends on previous scope use/abuse, which I don't know about.
However, I think if you want a good scope for not much money it's worth taking a punt on one of these.
I'll report back when I've used the rifle/WTC combo more.
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