Finally bought my unicorns.

[spamsucker]

All of the other optics I've ever had were budget constrained purchases. Not that I haven't had some really nice optics but I always got those on the secondary market and there was always my Elanor sitting out there tantalizingly on the horizon just out of reach. Raising kids came with heavy financial penalties and after all these years I was finally able to purchase not just one but two of them brand new.

So what is this unobtanium of mine that I've finally gotten? US Optics ST-10 T-PAL. They're frighteningly expensive for a fixed 10x (1500 bucks list price as configured) but they're also totally custom made to my order.

I know there are other optics out there that are peers and maybe a couple brand/models that might be arguably better but the USO's have always been just exactly what I wanted: tough, precise, made in USA, fixed 10x and with that super cool EREK system. I got them with MIL MPR reticle, .1MRAD EREK elevation knobs and .1MRAD US#1 windage knobs, and with un-lit reticules.

Anyone else a fan of ST-10's? I tell you what it was a pretty big event for me to drop three grand on glass in one day but I'm elated to never have to do that again. I've got the ones I've wanted and now I never have to pay for them again.

[spamsucker]

They arrived today after only about 6 weeks of wait. Not bad given the 4-6 week ETA I was given over the phone. Right on time and before Christmas. From me to me, here I come.

They're huge scopes especially for fixed 10x. All the pictures in the world don't do them justice. The knobs are all pretty large, the tube is big, the objective and eyepiece bells are almost the same diameter. They did come with USO flip up caps that I didn't order which is kinda cool of them.

There was a bit of a snafu with the address they shipped to. They messed up the street name spelling pretty badly and I never caught it because I spelled it at them on the phone and didn't think to double check the receipt until the box was out to be delivered and got a no such address exception. It wasn't a big deal to work with FedEx and get it taken care of and USO was very apologetic and did what they could to help and were exceptionally quick to respond. I'm going out this weekend to sight in the rifles they'll go on.

[GW]

Way cool!

[NorCalFocus]

Always satisfying to get something you've wanted for so long. Congrats!

[JMP]

Good, it's nice to see folks getting real scopes...nothing worse than cheapo optics. Fixed 10x works quite well, but you need clarity. Folks that haven't shot a real scope can't understand why their 10x power is so woefully lacking.

[spamsucker]

Thanks lads!

I got them mounted last night. I'll be taking the rifles out to do some data gathering work this weekend and get some familiarity with the new optics.

One bit of advice with this model, 1 piece picatinny base is almost a must. The scope is pretty large but the portions of the tube where you can get a ring on it are not. Had to reach into the parts bin for a 1-piece base to get the eye box where it needed to be.

[Slide Rule]

Hey spamsucker
Congratulations on your acquisition. Those uso scopes are pretty friggen nice. I'm jealous...
Slide

[mlevans66]

Congrats!

[spamsucker]

^^^ Yep. I'm one of those guys that usually has to learn the hard way but in this case I knew for 100% sure already. Astrophotography (another hobby) teaches a lot about optics and price. I had no choice but to wait and muddle around with more pedestrian glass until recently. Now that my kids are basically grown there's a bit more in the discretionary funds pile and I can buy once and cry once. I could have bought them on credit a long time ago but I wanted to pay cash because it meant I could actually afford them, I had arrived.

As I age I'm understanding more and more why people of modest means used to scrimp and save for ages to be able to purchase just one nice thing at a time. Be it a watch or a car or a wedding ring or a kitchen table or a rifle. There's an immense amount of personal satisfaction in it.

[HK Dave]

Congrats on getting one of the best 10x scopes ever created by mankind.

[spamsucker]

Here's some lookie-loo down the glass for everyone. Bushnell pic was taken mid-day, the other 2 were taken at dusk. The top 2 are looking at 500m distant targets, the bottom one is looking at the 400m line.

Bushnell ET1040 & Elite 3200 10x40


SWFA 16x SS


U.S. Optics ST-10 TPAL



We took all of my LR rifles out yesterday for zeroing and chronograph work. As soon as we got all that settled we went up to the 900m line and started banging away. The chronograph stopped wanting to play (clouds) after about 5 rounds so I ended up having to guess at MV and correct back from known BC and drop. We sat up there for hours dropping round after round and hitting consistently. The misses were almost entirely missed because of bad wind calls and gusts. After we had our fun at the 900m line we dropped over to the 500m line to have some fun with easy targets and get some photos and videos taken.

Optical quality at the 900m line was awesome. We were debating about if the shot was 900 or 800m. There was a shot up sign next to it but even with a high quality expensive spotting scope and 32x target scopes. I was able to read it (well, make out the missing number) through the USO just because it was so clear.