Is this the best budget scope for HFT shooters?

Andy McLachlan gets hands-on with the Discovery HD 10×44 SFIR scope and finds an affordable option for HFT shooters

Discovery HD 10×44 SFIR scope

Cost: £239.99 including mounts, sunshade and battery

Contact: Sure Shot Airguns

The Discovery brand of scopes is not one that I have been familiar with until I attended a recent UKAHFT round at Cambridge. Sponsoring the event was Matt Jackson, director of the dealer Sure Shot Airguns; his stand displayed some of the excellent product range of rifles, gun bags and rifle stocks, as well as an example of this particular scope, which I considered worthy of a closer look.

The scope in question is in many ways ideal for use as an HFT competition optic. It possesses side parallax adjustment, lockable target turrets, an illuminated reticle and a fixed 10x magnification along with a 44mm objective lens that clearly lives up to its ‘high definition’ description.

Many of the more expensive optics that are used within the HFT competition shooting community offer smaller objective lenses, such as 32 or 36mm. This means that they possess a greater depth of field and display greater image clarity at more ranges than scopes with larger objectives normally do. However, with the very odd exception, most scopes falling within the more affordable range of optics under £300 possess objective lenses of 40 to 44mm, as does this model from Discovery.

Physically, the scope is not large and the 30mm body tube provides a chassis that certainly feels a lot lighter than the competition

What I can tell you is that the particular configuration of lenses specified for this scope model provides a stunningly clear and crisp image that frankly surprised me, particularly at this price point. In addition to the genuinely first-class image, the reticle is absolutely ideal for those of us who like to partake in HFT competition shooting. The DTLW ret is very similar to my own preferred milliradian ret, but possesses an additional couple of hash marks surrounding the central dot. Essentially, this works out as providing the shooter with not just half-mil hashes, but quarter marks to allow for even more precise aiming points in that important area surrounding the crosshair or, as in this case, central dot.

Physically, the scope is not large and the 30mm body tube provides a chassis that certainly feels a lot lighter than the competition. The body is finished in matt black, with the controls all operating crisply. The turrets use a clever method of locking where a central screw is rotated anti-clockwise to release the adjuster. This is then clicked into position as normal for establishing a zero, then the central screw is simply re-tightened to allow the turret to be completely locked.

In addition, this particular model in the Discovery range also comes with both a diffuser-type sunshade and a set of decent quality mounts along with a battery for the illuminated ret.

I used this scope on my Brocock Compatto to establish a swift zero and can confirm that it performed as well as I suspected it would. In my view this really is a great-value package for a shooter wishing to purchase an optic that is not only suitable for competition, but will work just as well on a hunting rifle. Highly recommended!


This article originally appeared in the issue 101 of Airgun Shooter magazine. For more great content like this, subscribe today at our secure online store: www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

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Posted in Features, Gear, Optics, Reviews, Target Shooting

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