Sightmark Presidio: Impressive Performance and Price in a Riflescope

There are more optics companies offering up products than at any time in my life, but few companies offer as diverse a product portfolio of affordably priced optics as Sightmark. The company’s Presido scope line offers a 6:1 zoom ratio and just about everything a shooter could want in an affordable package.

Presidio scopes are available in 1-6X, 2.5-15X, 3-18X and 5-30X, so no matter the hunting or shooting task you face, you should be able to find one that works for you. The 3-18x50mm Presidio I tested has a 30mm main tube body made from high-grade anodized aluminum. Presidios feature multicoated lenses, and the scopes are nitrogen purged, shockproof and waterproof. They’re also IPX7 waterproof and dustproof rated. Operating temperature is listed as -20 to 160 degrees.

My sample came with the LR2 reticle, which is an illuminated mil Christmas-tree reticle in the first focal plane, but Sightmark also offers the 3-18x50mm with an MR2 illuminated reticle. This reticle features windage and holdover stadia lines on the horizontal/vertical axes, but there’s no wind-hold “tree” in the bottom portion.

The LR2 is an etched reticle offering short, 0.5-mil stadia lines on all four axes and taller one-mil lines. The even-numbered mil aiming points are marked. The reticle provides 10 mils of left/right/under hold and 11 mils of holdover.

Long-Range Power

The LR2 features six red illumination settings and is powered by a single CR2032 battery. Accessing the battery requires removing a threaded cap on the left side of the scope where the illumination setting is located.

There are intermediate off positions, and the settings are clearly marked with the illumination-level setting and a zero for the off settings. This makes it very easy to determine what power setting you’re at, and it’s simpler than having to toggle through settings to find the desired brightness. The illumination setting is integral with the side-focus knob, and the side focus is adjustable from 10 yards to infinity.

The exposed top turret of the Presidio 3-18x50mm features a zero stop and claims 26 mils of adjustment, although when testing the optic I managed more than that—about 31 mils before stopping. That’s more than enough elevation and windage adjustment for almost any shooter. To put the elevation capability into perspective, a 6.5 PRC firing a 147-grain match bullet drops about 16 mils at 1,600 yards when zeroed at 100 yards, so the Presidio has enough adjust to shoot beyond 2,000 in this example.

The Presidio’s turret arrangement is among my favorites. Each full turn of the elevation and windage turrets adjusts a total of five mils, and a trio of white lines helps keep track of rotations. The knobs are large enough that they’re easy to use, and the texturing around the top is aggressive enough so you can quickly make large adjustments.

Crisp Adjustments

Clicks are audible and tactile, and the numbers and the aforementioned revolution indicators are bold and easy to see. Windage turrets feature “L” and “R” indicators to help orient your adjustments properly and prevent spinning the dial in the wrong direction.

I found the texturing on the magnification adjustment to be more difficult to grasp than that on the turrets, but Sightmark offers a solution with the included throw lever. There’s nothing fancy about the throw lever, but it works and doesn’t have the tendency to unscrew like some other levers.

I mounted the Presidio on a 6mm Creedmoor using Sightmark’s 30mm Weaver/Picatinny rings. At 31 ounces, the Sightmark isn’t a particularly light scope, but it also isn’t too heavy for field use. Overall length is 13.5 inches with scope caps in place (13 without caps), so despite being heavier than some competitors, the scope is relatively short.

First-focal-plane reticles change size with magnification, and the 3-18x50mm’s reticle and its hold points can sometimes be difficult to make out. At the 3X setting, the reticle itself is hard to discern, although illumination helps. For me, the holdover points became visible and useful at about 8X, although you may find you need more or less magnification to see them. At 100 yards, I could easily make out the reticle on 8.5X with illumination on setting three.

Strength and Reliability

The Presidio is rated up to .338 caliber, so the mild 6mm Creedmoor’s recoil didn’t test the optic. A massive snow and ice storm dumped over a foot of snow on the range, and temperatures fell to the teens. Despite the miserable conditions, the Presidio did well. Clouds and the bright blanket of snow gave everything a blue luster in late evening, but I was able to see clearly without excessive distortion.

Low-light performance was good, and because I was shooting at my home range, I was able to test the optic in wooded conditions against other optics. There were several takeaways. First, the Presidio’s clarity and color fidelity are excellent for a scope in this price category.

Eye relief is about 3.8 inches, and the eye box was not as forgiving as some other scopes on 3X. Since I was limited to 100 yards and the scope is in mils—and one mil is about 3.6 inches at 100 yards—to test tracking, the best I could do was adjust one mil, 10 clicks, in each direction.

The results were consistent, and the Presidio tracks in the proper direction and roughly the proper amount. Plenty of affordable scopes track poorly, but the Presidio doesn’t have that issue.

An Ultimate Value

Costing about $400 and offering a limited lifetime warranty, the Presidio is one of the few sub-$500 scopes with mil adjustments and a first-focal-plane layout that’s relatively user-friendly. Everything is simple to operate and well-designed. Color fidelity and edge clarity are very good for this class.

This is the ideal scope for someone who is interested in trying out a dedicated long-range optic without having to pay $1,000 or more.

Sightmark Presidio Scope Specs

• Power x Objective: 3-18x50mm (tested)
• Length, Weight: 13 in., 31 oz.
• Main Tube: 30mm
• Reticle: LR2 (tested) first focal plane; red illumination w/6 levels
• Adjustments: exposed turret; 0.1 mil adjustment; 31 mil travel (measured); zero stop
• Battery: CR2032, 500-hour life
• Eye Relief: 3.8 in.
• MSRP: $400
• Manufacturer: Sightmark, sightmark.com