The Schmidt & Bender scopes offgrid showed me were very impressive, and the article about a new Army Designated Marksman rifle reminded me of a question I’ve had recently.

Both EuroOptic and Mile High Shooting have been advertising that S&B sights are on closeout or even “liquidation.” I realize we probably don’t have any insiders of any of the companies involved available to answer, but any speculation or hard knowledge why?

Several companies, including EuroOptic, blew out their Leupold Mark 4 scopes after they were discontinued by Leupold, so I’m curious. S&B are too expensive to keep in inventory; too hard to get certain models; the company no longer wants them to be sold to civilians; or nothing special, it just happens—?

I doubt I will be seriously tempted to get one even at a “bargain” price, but I can’t stop thinking about them. On one hand discounts are nice, but I tend to get spooked when it seems something is about to go extinct.

Thoughts?

S&B made a LOT of different reticles and limited run scopes. They are also coming out with updated (and much more expensive) glass. The "bargain" scopes are fantastic buys. I picked up a couple and they are as as good or better than any glass I've ever used (incl high end Swaro, Zeiss and Leica). Eurooptic also had an excellent price on the 72mm Hensoldt which is also great glass at a much reduced price..........

The issues with the S&B scopes were mostly attributed to the MTC locking turret models. I've owned several of the DT models and never experienced any issues with them. If I were to purchase a S&B it would be the DT models only. They have increased their warranty to 20 years as well and as mentioned the prices on close outs are outstanding.

S&B has fallen out of favor with the PRS shooters because of reported tracking issues and companies like Vortex and Kahles putting a lot of money and marketing into PRS. Those factors coupled with the $3600 price tag caused shooters to transition to less expensive options with reticles designed for PRS. I still consider them the gold standard in the tactical scope category.