22 http://www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 305A
ccurate long-range shooting
started its escalation when
laser rangefinders showed up, fol-
lowed by rangefinders that com-
puted ballistic information and
relayed it to scopes to provide
a correct aiming point. Now all
those features are in a riflescope.
Swarovski’s new dS 5-25x 52mm
P scope includes a laser range-
finder and ballistic computer that,
with a push of a button, measures
exact distance to a target and im-
mediately displays an aiming point
to compensate for bullet drop at
that distance.
The dS (digitalSmart) is fairly-
well shaped like a traditional
scope. However, integrating all
those electronics and optics re-
quires space, so the dS weighs
38.4 ounces and measures 15.87
inches in length with a 40mm
main tube.
Looking through the dS with-
out the reticle illuminated reveals
plain crosswires thickened at the
ends. It can be aimed like a regular
reticle. Elevation and windage ad-
justment dials are located underA RIFLEMAN’S OPTICS by John Haviland
sWaroVski
ds 5-25x 52 MM p
John used a Cooper Firearms .22-250 Remington to test the big Swarovski dS 5-25x
52mm P laser rangefinding scope.caps on the objective bell. A Torx
wrench for removing the caps and
an adjustment tool for turning thedials are stored inside the battery
compartment. Screws are held
captive in the caps, so there is no
worry of losing them.
The distance for which the dS
is sighted in and other informa-
tion in customary or metric mea-
surements are entered into the
Swarovski dS Configurator app
downloaded to a smartphone. The
app stores one ballistic informa-
tion profile selected from a large
selection of listed factory loads,
from A-Square to Wolf.
A handload can also be entered.
In my case, the dS was mounted on
a Cooper Firearms Raptor .22-250
Remington shooting handloads
consisting of Berger 64-grain FB
Varmint bullets hitting on aim at
100 yards with a muzzle velocity
of 3,325 fps. Also entered are ele-
vation, temperature, air pressure,
sight height above the bore and
display time of 40, 60 or 80 sec-Windage and elevation adjustments
are made in the objective housing.The small
wrench used
to take off
the turret
covers and
an adjust-
ment tool
to turn the
turrets are
stored in
the scope’s
battery com-
partment.