My positive impression began when I opened the high-quality cardboard box, finding all sorts of accessories inside. In addition to the usual flip-up lens covers, quick-shift lever, microfiber cloth, and Allen keys, there's:

• a front lens hood
   
• scope rings in a well-made plastic case with two spare screws
   
• a cleaning pen with a brush and a nanotechnology lens cleaning pad
   
• even a set of scope squareness wedges in a plastic case for easy and proper installation of the scope on the rifle.

This is a really nice touch, as the wedges make installing the scope easier, even for a beginner. At this point, the only thing missing is a level ring with the scope, but considering the price, the amount of accessories in the box is already more than impressive.

Finally, there is a compact card with all the main characteristics of the optic that you can put in your rifle bag, and a quality control sheet with a long list of checks performed on the optic.

The first impression when handling the scope is that it's solid... and heavy, but you can't be solid and light, especially in a high-magnification scope.

The tube is made of thick-walled aluminum alloy. The turrets are large, with pronounced knurling that makes them easy to use even with thick gloves, and they have very tactile and firm clicks. The mechanisms are metal, making them solid, precise, and durable.

Tracking quality control indicates an error of less than 1%, and in some tests on an optical collimator, I found no visible wobble or deviation. In fact, without much more sophisticated laboratory equipment, it would be presumptuous of me to question the quality control sheet. This in itself demonstrates the scope's performance.

The optical quality is very good. No perceptible distortion, even at the periphery of the field of view at low magnification. No color banding in high-contrast situations and only slight distortion at maximum magnification when moving slightly outside the eyepiece pupil.

Zeroing the elevation turret is very easy compared to other scopes in the same price range or higher, thanks to the large locking screw. The scope has a hard-stop zero, which is also very easy to set. Just be careful not to overtighten the screws. Simply adjust and tighten them slightly—that's all it takes.

The magnification ring is solid but not difficult to use, and the focus ring also has a soft pull, allowing for easy focus adjustment while preventing blurring caused by occasional rubbing on the ring itself.

The parallax adjustment is simple and well distributed along the arc of the side knob, allowing you to easily focus, especially on distant targets, without having to adjust with the careless adjustment typical of a shower faucet that goes from arctic cold to supernova in half a millimeter, as found on some other optics I've tested.

The reticle is a well-made classic "Christmas Tree" reticle, graduated in MILs as all modern riflescopes should be, and is crisp and easy to see without cluttering the view even at high magnifications. The reticle is well-proportioned for the magnification range, but reaches full coverage at about 17x, meaning that at 25x the reticle extends well beyond the scope's field of view and you can only utilize 4 of the 9 MILs of extra elevation the reticle can provide, and windage adjustments are equally limited.

This is unavoidable due to proportionality and the laws of optics: a full coverage reticle at 25x, while allowing for even greater additional elevation, would be almost unreadable at low magnification, while the one provided remains easily readable going down to 6x, and 6x to 18x is the range most commonly used by experienced shooters in tactical and PRS applications, with the higher magnification ranges used primarily for confident target identification.

I usually feel uncomfortable when I have nothing negative to say about a product, lest I sound like a fanboy or someone with a vested interest.

Fortunately, Discoveryopt provided me with an easy target for criticism: the reticle illumination. Powered by a CR2032 battery and adjusted via a knob coaxial with the parallax dial, graduated from 1 to 5 with a detent between each level, the reticle illumination presents a few problems. First, only the central portion of the reticle is illuminated, rendering the rest of the Christmas tree useless in low-light conditions. Second, the five illumination levels are so close together that the variation is difficult to perceive.

However, it is in very low light that the main problem with the illuminated reticle becomes apparent, in the form of a distinct halo around the reticle itself. Keep in mind that this is a problem with most scopes in the low to mid-price range and is difficult to fix, especially at higher illumination levels, but other scopes I own in the same price range have a fully illuminated Christmas tree reticle that only begins to show a slight haze at full power. So, here's something Discoveryopt can improve.

This is the only issue I've encountered with the scope, and let's face it, I'm being picky about a minor sin in a scope that will rarely (if ever) be used in very low light. The problem goes away even in moderate ambient light.

The icing on the cake: the package also includes mounting rings, complete with wrench and even two spare screws. They're well-made and clearly labeled with the tightening torque. They're just a little higher than necessary compared to the objective bell, but when rings are included with the scope, it's better to be safe than sorry.

In conclusion, the Discoveryopt GEN2 5-25x56SFIR FFP-Z would be a great package even at a higher price. But at its list price of €360? It's simply fantastic.

If you're looking for a scope for casual shooting, to try your hand at PRS, and you're on a budget or don't want to waste your hard-earned money, at the time of writing, the Discoveryopt 5-25x56 is one of the best value scopes on the market, and a very good scope overall.