My first impressions of the Taipan were extremely positive. The thing which struck me most was the smoothness of the controls - the side parallax adjuster, the magnification ring and the fast-focus ring. With the Viper, the smoothness of these controls was something of a lucky dip. Of my three Vipers, two had stiff controls. One became smoother with time, while the other never did. Luckily the Taipan is not affected by any such drawback, with the controls being smooth and precise from the outset.

Full first impressions review here together with photos.

And an in the field follow-up here


So did I like the scope? Hell yeah! I'd always said of the Viper that it was a brilliant-value scope with loads of features - but I'd be prepared to pay just that little bit more for extra quality. Well it seems the shooting gods listened to my prayers, and the Taipan was born. Who would want one? Well, with the Taipan parallaxing down to 10 yards - and being rated to .308 Winchester - it's hard to see who wouldn't want one. If I was a pure hunter, or did a lot of night shooting then I'd definitely go for the SCB ret, but I do like the extra precision offered by the AMD for most other types of shooting.