After using a 4200 6-24x40sf for over 2 years

Received this scope today, but I am still waiting for my 30mm Theoben mounts.

First impressions
I hate the bikini covers, they don't actually fit the scope correctly, these will be replaced by Butler Creek as I think a scope of this quality should have better.

The one I have, has a black embossed logo in the SF and also black text around the ring on the objective lens.

The scope is true mildot at 10x magnification, the same as my previous scope.

This scope parallaxes down to 10yds with a smoothly operating focus wheel, it is a good size and there seems to be plenty of space between each marking from 10yds to 75 for FAC users, the larger of the spaces being from 10yds to 40 and even a decent gap up to 60yds. I do wonder if this scope would benefit from a slightly larger SF wheel, so, I am going to be getting a turret made up, the same as the other 2 tactical turrets to enable easier operation, this shall just sit over the original.

The turrets are tactical on this scope, whereas they were not on my previous bushnell, although they were finger adjustable underneath the caps.

Each click on these turrets seems smooth and precise with a nice click to stop, they feel very positive and will be easy to count adjustments. The 30mm tube on this scope allows for more adjustment for windage and elevation, and possibly will allow more light to be transmitted during low light operation, I will see how this compares to my previous scope at a later stage.

The scope is the usual Elite quality, very good overall finish and it feels very robust, it certainly has a good standard of finishing and engineering, the magnification ring turns freely and smoothly, no better or worse than my previous scope, there is larger gaps on the magnification between the 4x & 6x magnification allowing for finer tuning the magnification if using a nv add-on, which I intend to do with this scope at a later stage. Also, the 2.5x magnification and 10yd parallax settings should give more flexibility when using a NV add-on.

This scope also has a fast focus ocular bell as opposed to the 4200 elites adustable ocular lens, I want to have a play with this and see if altering this setting will adjust my POI to the point of having to re-zero after every adjustment. I never really found the need to re-zero the 4200 after adjusting the ocular lens, although these alterations were usually minimal.

the operation of the fast focus ocular lens is faultless, perfectly smooth with enough torque needed to eliminate accidental movement. There is no play in this area and it feels very solid, I am happy with this as I am always a little dubious of them.

The objective lens is set reasonably deeply into the objective bell (around 17mm) slightly deeper than that of the 4200, I see this as a plus point, helping save the lenses from dirt and glare. The scope does also come complete with a 77mm (approx) sunshade, although as I will be using this as a hunting scope, I cant really see me ever needing to use it.

The ret, appears to be a little thinner (maybe it isn't) than the 4200, it has the same bronze look to it, if the scope is subject to light through the ocular lens as the 4200, I like this, maybe I would prefer it silver?

This scope is on the Second Focal Plane, which is a shame, it would be nice if it was on the First, but saying that, there are advantages to both and I am used to my 4200 which was also Second.

I think the 42mm Objective lens keeps the scope in proportion from a visual aspect, especially as there is a significant increase in tube size from the 4200, still, with this magnification it is still a very compact scope although around 1/2" longer than the 4200 and a little on the heavier side, but I think the weight just sums up the difference in quality.

Just looking through the scope in the office at 16x mag and the SF set to 10yds, I can see there is much more chance of clearly take close range shots, with enough blurring of the background to highlight the smallest of variance in distance. Obviously the lower the magnification goes, the less this will be noticeable, but I will try this set at my usual magnification setting for hunting, which is 8x.

Even at 16x mag the scope is bright and crisp, even under my office lighting, which has limited daylight and is pretty subtle in comparison to being outside.

So, until I have got it mounted (tomorrow) I cant do any real in depth testing, but my first thought are, I am happy to have made the change from the 4200 6-24x40sf to the 6500 2.5-16x42 Tactical, I hope it compares well under low light and lamplight and is as robust as the 4200 as I never suffered a loss of zero with it.

So far, so good!