Schmidt and bender meta 3-18x42 short review

I thought I would share my thoughts on this scope as not too much info around on them.

My criteria for a scope is as follows
- good glass
- reliable dialing with capped windage
- NO mushy turrets!
- center dot aiming point, in this case illuminated and has to be fine #aim small miss small
- good low mag and up to 15x

When it first arrived the thing that stood out the most was the build quality. It is not a cheap unit so was great to thr see attention to detail put into this high end optic

So far I have only shot at the range but I am very impressed with the quality of glass and fine aiming point.
The turrets are easy to use with solid audible clicks.

It would be comparable to a z6i but with the well known S&B dialing.
The turret is not quite as stiff as a NF but solid detent clicks and very positive. I do like the locking system which is very similar to the Leica Magnus.

Look foward to getting it into the hills!

All the tech info is online if you Google it
Attachment 253696
Attachment 253697

I foresee one of these in my future


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30mm tube and 700g at 18x zoom looks like a great scope

Yeah it think it's a really good all rounder if you have that kind of dosh to spend. Also nice and short but plenty of mounting room for a long action by the looks.
Looking around at how much the rest of the world pays for S&b it looks like we are on the best rate, kinda like the old prices we got swarovski for

Thanks for short review Gkp....

Have also purchased one of these, but as yet havent had the opportunity to try it out. Good to hear your positive comments about it though...
This model does tick a few boxes for me personaly,, just looking on Gun City website I see they are sold out of them. Can only hope they will get more on order...

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Originally Posted by matagouri

Thanks for short review Gkp....

Have also purchased one of these, but as yet havent had the opportunity to try it out. Good to hear your positive comments about it though...
This model does tick a few boxes for me personaly,, just looking on Gun City website I see they are sold out of them. Can only hope they will get more on order...

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I believe they only had 2 in stock to begin with.
Well done you will love it. Seriously good bit of glass!

I like the look of this scope. Small compact and high quality. I just wish in the future that they would have some sort of wind hold reticle for it like the swarovski 4W.
Would you take a Z8i or the Meta if you had the chance? I've looked through the Z8i but haven't had the chance with the meta yet.

Yep thinking this is the best option for my k95 .308 barrel
At the moment I have the nx8 (2-20) a little bulky, but only just.
Did handle one last time in GC and what you say is all correct.

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Originally Posted by Kiwihunter

I like the look of this scope. Small compact and high quality. I just wish in the future that they would have some sort of wind hold reticle for it like the swarovski 4W.
Would you take a Z8i or the Meta if you had the chance? I've looked through the Z8i but haven't had the chance with the meta yet.

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I haven't handled the Z8i but a quick look at the specs tells me they are way too long. I like a short scope especially on my short action.
The other thing that I assume will let it down in my eyes would be the turret. I don't imagine it is tactile and I wonder how plastic they use in the mechanisms

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Originally Posted by BOPR93

Yep thinking this is the best option for my k95 .308 barrel
At the moment I have the nx8 (2-20) a little bulky, but only just.
Did handle one last time in GC and what you say is all correct.

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Yeah they are a bit slimmer. About the same length too

If only FFP!

Mates got an older S&B on his Lapua mag and the clicks can only be described as industrial. Zero mush!!

Thanks @Gkp

When you follow up, would you be able to post a pic of the reticle ? One in low light with the illumination would be interesting.

Of course, we want to see a test of zero holding different mag eg 4x and 18x and also a dial and return to zero over say 50 cm/100 m . What is the total adjustment range in your scope ?

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Originally Posted by gimp

If only FFP!

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Possibly not a problem as there are no hash / dot on the reticle ? It does mean you have to use the dialling a lot …

The S&B looks that part in the conventional stockAttachment 263740

Do you carry the rifle slung on your shoulder? Is the parallax/illumination turret an issue being so big?

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Originally Posted by Shearer

Do you carry the rifle slung on your shoulder? Is the parallax/illumination turret an issue being so big?

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It normally does have a sling.
Doesn't cause any issues, it's rounded so Doesn't seem to catch

Reading on here the other day there was so quite harsh commentary on some of the euro warranties.
What is S+B like?
Moot point for me as I have no fundage for this At all. Just wondering

Need more pics of your chassis @Gkp :D

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Originally Posted by csmiffy

Reading on here the other day there was so quite harsh commentary on some of the euro warranties.
What is S+B like?
Moot point for me as I have no fundage for this At all. Just wondering

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Not sure. Had no problem with it. I know kahles and swaro are good with returns

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Originally Posted by hotsoup

Need more pics of your chassis @Gkp :D

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I don't have too many pics of it to be fairAttachment 263808

Quote:

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Originally Posted by csmiffy

Reading on here the other day there was so quite harsh commentary on some of the euro warranties.
What is S+B like?
Moot point for me as I have no fundage for this At all. Just wondering

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Sent a old pmii back that shat the parallax. No cost to me to have it repaired.

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I see this has been released with a FFP version at shot show

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Originally Posted by gimp

I see this has been released with a FFP version at shot show

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Nice. Must have a look what reticle

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Originally Posted by Gkp

Nice. Must have a look what reticle

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There is a thread on Snipers Hide that shows the reticle - looks useable.

Shuddering at the thought of what it will cost though.

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Originally Posted by Ross Nolan

There is a thread on Snipers Hide that shows the reticle - looks useable.

Shuddering at the thought of what it will cost though.

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It looks great. There is also a pdf on the S&B web site.
Release is in September. Slightly heavier with the new turret. I reckon they will be the business!

So it weighs 780g.
There is a special SBX christmas tree reticle for precision rifle shooting but not for NZ hunting. Hopefully it will be available with standard mil dot like the P3 and P4f as well. Symmetry and big thick outer bars all round is the story for shooting in the forest. Fine hairs on the innermost 1 mRad would be good. Remember a hunting scope will mostly be dialling rather than using elaborate holdovers for long range and wind.

The low profile 12 mRad turrets look best for our hunting.

S&B would do well to offer a 21st century update on the Klassik 3-12x42 with parallax for older hunters and hopefully a bit shorter but still built like a brick.

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

So it weighs 780g.
There is a special SBX christmas tree reticle for precision rifle shooting but not for NZ hunting. Hopefully it will be available with standard mil dot like the P3 and P4f as well. Symmetry and big thick outer bars all round is the story for shooting in the forest. Fine hairs on the innermost 1 mRad would be good. Remember a hunting scope will mostly be dialling rather than using elaborate holdovers for long range and wind.

The low profile 12 mRad turrets look best for our hunting.

S&B would do well to offer a 21st century update on the Klassik 3-12x42 with parallax for older hunters and hopefully a bit shorter but still built like a brick.

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I was out with a mate with a 3-12x50 Klassik with the illuminated P3L - pretty much perfect for NZ. The x42 is perfecter.

Interesting to note that the other night the s&b scope had a good 15 minutes of light over my leica 3200s