Schmidt & Bender 3-20

The 3-20x50 PMII scope had been somewhat like a myth in civilian circles, pictures of them kept appearing online but they never seemed to really exist until three of them at the British Shooting Show set my eyes alight. Sporting Services who have long provided the superb Accuracy International range of rifles were keen to demonstrate the new features offered and supplied one to me straight after the show to test.

PREACH TO THE CONVERTED?

I have to admit I am convinced by the range of PMII scopes enough that serious money has parted my pocket to fund my addiction. On the other hand I also see and test a lot of the competition now and am very keen to prove my continued opinion correct on the matter. So from that starting point, I was being very critical and looking to find faults rather than previously proven benefits!The one piece 34mm Aluminium main tube with central spherical saddle was perfectly executed and finished with the parallax drum on the left, the illumination drum mounted in front of the zoom control at the rear left of the tube. The build is still relatively long so allows plenty of space for mounting rings although it still finds it suited to a Weaver or Picatinny rail to accommodate the rearmost ring’s position being brought forward by the illumination controls. 

At the back end we find the expected fast focus eyepiece surrounding a 39mm ocular lens. The knurled aluminium ring is of larger diameter to fasten the provided eyepiece flip up cap onto. Similarly at the front, a ring of increased overall diameter accepts the provided clip-on lens cap but here it is threaded and can be removed for a sunshade etc.

TACTICAL TURRETS

The evolved design shows a dual-turn elevation turret that has a locking collar to totally immobilise its operation in use if needed. Rather than windows to indicate the rotation setting of the knob, a tactile central button emerges when the second of two turns is engaged. Calibrated in minutes of angle (MOA), the scope offers an adjustment of 64MOA from zero-stop in two complete turns. Each click offered ¼ MOA and the patented MTC (More Tactile Click) system gives a more defined `clunk` every 2nd MOA (8 clicks).

The locking collar can be left up to rotate or pressed down to hold position and is easy enough to use if not necessarily needed. It did leave only ¼” of knurling atop the 1.5” diameter drum for grip and as the turret clicks are firm, you needed a tight hold to operate it. The windage turret runs 14 MOA left and right of centre with a defined `MTC clunk` at centre position and as it is all in my preferred clockwise (up/right) orientation, I adapted to the new turrets quickly. Parallax on the left is marked from 50m to ∞ and the marks seemed reasonably close to the noted distances. More importantly, it snapped clearly in and out of focus which agreed with corrected parallax settings where no reticule movement appears when the eye is deliberately shifted offline.

CLICKS AND RETICLES TO MATCH?

The reticule is the P4F which is marked in Miliradian (Mil-Dot) so does not agree with the turret adjustments and as this is a 1st focal plane scope (FFP), cannot be zoomed to match. Reducing magnification on a 2FP (second focal plane) scope so that one Mil-Dot equals 4 MOA is possible but in FFP you must approximate 14 clicks to one mil spacing,  so this is not as precise as some would wish for. It makes sense to order your ideal turret and reticle dimensions to match, especially in the FFP models as countless variations are available to match your needs! Complete reticle dimension instructions are supplied and are also available online.

IT IS GERMAN!

Two or three scopes have held top places in my personal opinion for a while now. Although all eyes perceive colours and light slightly differently, German/Austrian glass has always held the edge, especially in low light. I had the opportunity to test this scope alongside some esteemed company and have to say, it is one of the best I have ever used.

At identical magnification settings, even with a smaller objective lens, the field of view was superior to my 5-25x56PMII. The field increased proportionately to magnification reduction with no obvious `ring` reduction at the lower end as can be found in the 5-25 PMII (below x7 an obvious reduction in perceived tube diameter occurs).
The illumination was just about perfect as only the centre floating cross lit up without any flare, it was visible at full magnification in daylight yet in low light at low magnification remained a distinct centre point to just aim with - if it were to be used for foxing for example. The one down side was that the 11 brightness settings didn’t have intervals for `off` and there was no auto power off so the battery could easily run flat if forgotten.

SMALL NIGGLES

The new lens caps were bulky, often interfering with the bolt operation at the rear and requiring the objective to be spaced unnecessarily high from the barrel up front. When shooting steel plates out to 800 yards with the targets often exposed in shadow, I never had a problem identifying a precise point of aim and with a reticle representing approximately 1/16th MOA on its centre cross, aiming even at the lowest magnification was assured.

After Primary sight-in, returning the turrets to `zero` was a little awkward! The locking collar had to be lowered to slacken the Allen bolts, raised again to rotate the turret which still clicks (so be warned) even though not moving the crosshairs and then lowered again to re-lock the adjustment bolts. There are a few scopes now that still click when actuation has been disconnected and it makes me nervous as you are never entirely sure that you have fully slackened off the internals.

FOR
Optical and Mechanical thoroughbred I like the MTC featureRotation indication wasneat and simpleReticle correctly dimensioned to suit the zoom ratio

AGAINST
New lens caps and mounting rings were too bulkyZero setting is fiddly2 year warranty is not reassuring

VERDICT
Optically this scope is at the cutting edge for serious long range hunting or tactical target use. The new lens caps seem to create problems, make sure you choose the correct turrets and reticule for your shooting style