I’ve been on an LVPO kick for a while now, I find them to be very useful for a great many purposes. Despite my focus on precision and long range shooting, LVPO’s still make up a good portion of my optics selection. Today I want to take a look at a new to me LVPO, the Tango MSR from Sig Sauer Optics.
I have had a couple different experiences with Sig Sauer Optics starting with the Tango series of scopes as well as another LVPO the Tango 6T. I have really enjoyed these different scopes and largely I have had few problems with them, so when the opportunity to check out this Tango MSR I was very excited to get hands on it.
Out of the box
As I opened the box, I was glad to see that Sig even includes a quality ALPHA-MSR scope mount in the box. That easily narrowed down my mounting decisions.
I will say I was surprised with everything included with the scope, and I’ll be honest that going in I had only a vague idea of the price of this scope. The mount, the typical tools that come with it, battery for the illuminated reticle, and some quality flip caps were also included. They are branded Sig but look to be either Tenebrex or a really close knockoff, either way they are very nice and lay flat against the scope when open. The MSR also includes a throw lever or “cattail” as its often called, this is handy for quick adjustments of the magnification.
The Tango MSR is a second focal plane scope, that means the reticle stays the same regardless of magnification setting. The scope adjustment turrets are MOA and have .5 MOA clicks, the scope body has a centerline painted on the exterior of the tube, to help ensure level mounting I believe and it surely did that. In a very short time I had the scope married to it’s mount and ready to install on a rifle.
I happened to have a Sig MCX rifle in hand at the time, it seemed like a perfect fit for the MSR. I was more correct than I could have known. I dropped the scope onto the pic rail of the MCX, and off to the range we went. The MSR seemed to be made for the MCX as I didnt even need to adjust the scope for a good zero, I just started shooting and everything lined up like they came from the factory that way.
I spent some time shooting the rifle at fairly close distances inside two-hundred yards, but I also utilized the reticle for a few extended distances. The reticle features a typical upside down horseshoe type reticle, with several drop points and wind holds. The name suggests that the MSR is designed specifically for Modern Sporting Rifles (MSR), and the BDC6 reticle is calibrated for the most popular MSR cartridge the 5.56 Nato.
As I mentioned earlier, I purposely didn’t look at the price of this scope before reviewing it. I was previously very pleased with the optical quality of the Tango 6T, this Tango MSR is not quite as high quality, but still very clean and clear. I was surprised to see the price point after playing with it, I would have expected it to come in the 600-800 dollar range. But for the MSRP of $422.99 I think this scope is a great value.
I also bolted down the mounted scope to a bench, and measured the turret values against the reticle values which all checked out. The reticle values are handy to keep in mind, or you can refer to the owners manual where they are listed. It may not line up perfectly with the drop of your particular ammunition and atmosphere, this is why I typically don’t care for calibrated reticles. That said, if you know what value they represent you can use them for all kinds of shots and hold overs.
Pros & Cons
In my opinion, the Tango MSR is a great little scope for its intended purpose. The optical clarity is great, the magnification ring is quick to adjust and its throw lever helps make it even better. The 1X power setting allows for easy both eyes open aiming, without straining to focus. The quality accessories that are included also greatly add to the value of this scope, the mount is a perfect match for the scope as are the the scope caps.
The only thing I would change about the scope is probably the reticle, I’m not a big fan of the horseshoe type reticles. Though it does have lots of detail to allow holdovers and windage etc. which makes it certainly a very useable reticle. I also wouldn’t mind having an MRAD version of the MSR, but to be perfectly fair it’s not the type of scope you’ll be dialing all over with so it’s probably fine.
The Sig Sauer Tango MSR is a great little scope. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for an LVPO in this price range, it has a great deal of value added as well as performance capability.
-CBM