Scopeswitch [Review]: Change your LPVO Magnification One Stroke At A Time

STROKING YOUR RIFLE AT THE RANGE JUST GOT LESS WEIRD

LPVOs deliver the best of most worlds with a great 1x optic for fast engagement, but the ability to increase magnification for better long range use and a greatly increased PID range.

But they actually changing that magnification while on the go is a bit more tricky. Is breaking your stance worth it? Is the time it takes to switch going to leave you missing your best opportunity?

The Antimatter Scopeswitch sets out to do something about that and make the LPVO even better than it once was. 

THE QUICK & DIRTY

If you’ve only seen the memes and Googled what the Scopeswitch is, it’s pretty simple. It’s an LPVO or MPVO mount with some fancy attachments that allow you to control the magnification level of the scope by sliding your hand backward or forward on your handguard, instead of having to break your grip and adjust it via the magnification wheel on the scope itself.

When it was first announced, the jokes wrote themselves. But with the backing of a brand that is known for making good products and some respected names associated with the design, the Scopeswitch demands a closer look.

INSTALLATION

The design is surprisingly simple, but it looks more complicated. A wheel around your magnification ring and two wires go from that wheel, under the scope mount, and connect to a thumb lever on the handguard.

Antimatter has a great installation video for you to follow, and while it seems long and like it will be hard, it only took me about 30 minutes with zero issues or surprises.

It’s fiddly, and you need to be careful, but it’s really not bad.

ON THE RANGE

The first step to using the Scopeswitch is a good amount of dryfire. This is a pretty new and strange way of using your rifle, so take some time to get good reps in.

Even with a week of regular dryfire, hitting the range still felt a bit… weird. This is a training issue, just like running a red dot after years of iron sights. Half way through the first range trip, I started to feel more comfortable with the Scopeswitch.

I had it mounted on a PSA SABRE-10 13.7” P&W .308 rifle with a SIG Sauer 1-6x TANGO-MSR, this is part of why it took a while to feel good in my hands. Rocking and rolling with a short-barrel .308 and a new scope thingy takes some getting used to.

On the clock and anecdotally, the Scopeswtich works. Period.

Adjusting your magnification is not only incredibly easy, but it’s fast and intuitive. Drilling down close targets and taking a precision shot at range is buttery smooth using the Scopeswitch. 

Finding your target at 1x, adjusting up slightly for a better look, and breaking a fast shot is quick and put a lot more control in the shooter’s hands. While definitely made with tactical shooting in mind, I think the Scopeswitch has a pretty strong place on a predator-hunting rifle as well.

Based on my testing and using some semi-round numbers, the Scopeswtich was about a 20 percent speed increase in basically every drill I could think of running. It was a flat-out improvement, always. Once it became second nature for me, it simply ran better.

The Scopeswitch also keeps you behind the optic the entire time. Not having your sight picture disturbed not only feels better, it works better.

Failure Mode

Overall, the Scopeswitch is well-built and beefy. Everything about it feels, looks, and works like a high-quality component.

That being said, mine broke. During use, the cable snapped out of its housing on the magnification ring. On closer inspection, the bolt stripped right out of the socket and it was a total loss.

I reached out to Antimatter and they sent a new ring out the same day. The issue, they believed, was due to an outside vendor’s mistake, and trying to fix the mistake but made it worse. Antimatter knew about the problem because others besides myself had this happen.

The second ring has been running with zero issues for about twice as many rounds as the first ring failed, so that’s been good.

Personally, the bolt that failed is really small. I’d like to see that part beefed up a bit.

Based on my use, I do think the Scopeswitch is well made and robust and that this was a manufacturing oops that just sometimes happens. Antimatter fixed it fast and the replacement has been working perfectly.

PROS & CONS

The mount is well made. Just as a mount, the Scopeswitch works really well. It’s easy to use, strong, great height, and rock solid. The ability to change your magnification without breaking your grip means more control over your rifle, staying on target, and changing magnification faster than before.

I even like the placement and design of the thumb slide because it provides a great c-clamp grip and gives you something to index off of when you’re at 1x.

Bottomline, the Scopeswitch works. It delivers what it says it will. And the benefits it provides are measurably useful. 

The cons? Grip, rail-estate, and price.

While the placement of the slide is great, it does force your grip to be more of a C-clamp. If you like running a barricade stop, foregrip, angled grip, hand stop, or anything else — it's possible, but for me I got a little hung up. For this rifle, I mostly ran it slick.

If you run a light and/or laser, you can still reach switches as needed with some smart placement — assuming you have enough rail space. On a 16-inch rifle with a 15”-inchish rail, it’s no problem. Even on something fairly small like a 13-inch rail, still doable but tight and will depend on the size of your switches. Anything smaller and you’ll start to run into issues pretty quickly. 

Most people don’t want LPVOs on 10.5-inch rifles anyway, so I don’t think the rail-estate is a huge deal.

The major con: the price tag.

At $600 for the 30mm Scopeswitch or $600 and some change for the 34mm version, this is kind of painful. A decent 1.93” LPVO mount will run you $150, a great mount is around $200, and Gucci mounts are in the $350-400 zone. 

The most baller 1.93-inch LPVO mount I’ve used is the Scalar Works LEAP/08 and it tops out at $440.

If you’re already buying top-tier mounts, then the price jump isn’t too bad and nets you some awesome features. But if you’re more of a dollar margarita night kind of guy, like me, jumping from a decent mount all the way to the Scopeswitch comes with some major sticker shock.

At $600+, I find it hard to say that the juice is worth the squeeze unless you’re actually in a position where the seconds saved truly matter, like LE, MIL, or high-tier competition. 

Antimatter ran a Christmas sale putting the Scopeswitch at 25% off making the price $450/$468. At that price, I’d say send it. With a top tier 1.93-inch mount and the benefits of the Scopeswitch, that price tag makes a lot of sense. It still ain’t cheap, but it makes sense. If you missed this sale, maybe next year.

LOOSE ROUNDS

I honestly didn’t think I would like the Scopeswitch as much as I do. I think I’ll move the system to a 5.56 or 6 ARC rifle instead of the .308 beast it is on now, but even on the big boomer I still really dig it.

Stroking your rifle will get you some comments at the range, but the benefits are worth it, and delivers a happy ending. 

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