Ok, so first off, I've been sorely lacking on reviews. I'm sorry. We have a LOT going on and it's all good stuff, but it's taken a lot out of me. Getting gunkote up and running, learning to cut on a vinyl plotter, training an in store gun smith, and the costa buy that went bonkers all made my life a bit on the crazy side. In fact, I feel like I've been neglecting the OB a bit since the M&W board went ape**** over the costas, as well.

So, as you can see, I've been a busy (though not rabid) beaver tonight and have been working on a lot of stuff. One thing I did want to bring up is something really cool that I got to play with earlier this week: Sig Sauer's new BDX system.

https://www.sigsauer.com/store/bdx.html

The short of it is this: It's a scope and rangefinder combo that incorporates your bluetooth to make your phone a ballistics calculator. Basically, tie your rangefinder AND SCOPE into your phone, lase something with your rangefinder and the scope will automatically update your zero. It also has a digital level that will make sure you keep everything planed out right and vertical.

The long of it is: this system has potential. The lynchpin to how the whole system works is a downloadable app from sig sauer. You can download it on the google/apple appstores now and it's free. It's a ballistics calculator that you can use to calculate bullet drop. Pretty cool for it being free. Now, the kicker? You get their new scope and rangefinder and get them tied in and things get really cool.

The rangefinder is pretty standard and nothing too crazy. The magic is in the scope. The cool part is, when you look at the system, you don't see a huge hulking chunk of metal like the X-Sight (which has a similar attachment coming) but just a normal scope. When you look inside, you realize things are a bit different. For one, it has a lighted reticle. But it's different than most in that not the whole thing lights up. It has a bunch of dots that can light up individually and on demand from it's onboard computer. This allows it to have a red dot that bounces up and down the vertical crosshair. Basically, you sight in at 100 yards, lase a target at 350, and the scope will put a red dot up for you on your crosshair on where you need to shoot. Cool right? On top of that, if you are worried about batteries going dead on your phone or your rangefinder, you can actually preset the distances and leave them. Hunt somewhere where you know that the feeder is X yards away, a major deer crossing is Y yards away, and the big pecan tree is Z yards away? Cool, feed that all into your app and it will light up three dots for X, Y, and Z. The next really cool thing is the focal plane. If you want to be technical about it, the scope is second focal plane. And, for how the system works, that's a great thing. The reticle doesn't change size as you zoom in/out. However, the computer senses the power that you are at and adjusts your dots accordingly. Sig calls it a "Digital focal plane" and the name fits very well.

Sounds expensive, but it's not. Starting price for the scope and rangefinder will be $699, I think. There is a 3.5-10x, 4.5-14x and a 6.5-20x all on route.

Now, you know me, I'm not one to just sing all praises about something and not talk about the bad stuff. One not so awesome thing about the system to me and one thing that annoys me. The not so awesome thing, for me, is that these are all on the Whiskey line of scopes. They aren't bad but when you've gotten to play with their Tangos (which I will be picking up shortly for myself), you get a little underwhelmed by the Whiskeys. For the price, they are good units. Just... I'm an optics nerd and it's not enough for me. When they drop these on the Tangos (supposedly next year) I'm probably getting them. The other thing... and this is the thing I don't like... the reticle is VERY thick. It's just a simple crosshair but I like REALLY fine reticles. This is necessary for the drop changes but, for me, it's very annoying.

At it's heart, this is most definitely a hunter's scope and absolute precision isn't what they are trying for with it. As such, the negatives are easily forgiven in light of a new technology coming to market. These are dropping shortly as individual pieces and the package kits are hitting in Sept, according to my rep.

Thank you very much for this review. I've tried talking to a few friends who were at SHOT, but you answered everything I wanted to know in one post. I truly appreciate the honesty on the glass. At that price point, that is my biggest concern.

I'm not sure if this question can be answered, but just if anyone could its probably you: The rifle I am considering the Sig BDX system for has a 20 year old 3x12 Swaro on it now. I love that scope, but having to use Kentucky Windage limits me far more than my gun does. Would the Sig be a huge drop from an old Swaro, or have things progressed significantly?

I also have a new Leupold UltimateSlam- would the Sig Whiskey glass be more on par with with that level?