Optic Review: SIG SAUER Whiskey6 3-18x44mm Riflescope

When Jeremy handed me the SIG Cross rifle I hunted with this last season, the SIG SAUER Whiskey6 3-18x44mm riflescope was already mounted on it.

Jeremy commented about the image quality when I picked up the scope.

“I think it’s one of their less expensive lines, but it’s really clear glass,” he told me.

He wasn’t wrong. Especially at this price point, the edge-to-edge clarity of the glass is exceptional. Under bright and clear conditions, the SIG Whiskey6‘s clarity held up well against optics twice as expensive.

What’s even more impressive about the Whiskey6 — and what usually sets lower priced optics apart from high end models — is how well it handles low light conditions. I have no idea how, as SIG doesn’t list any specific light management coatings they may use, but this Whiskey6 remains crisp and clear with a bright image, long after other scopes anywhere near this price range are too dark to use.

The low-light image capability of this Whiskey6 scope is the reason for missing mommas and poppas in a lot of wild hog families this year. Instead of being in that “between time” when it’s too dark for a regular optic, but night vision still gets washed out, I was able to stay in the glass with the Whiskey6. Animals I simply couldn’t make out with the naked eye because it was too dark popped with clarity through this scope. When it comes to low light clarity and light transmission, the Whiskey6 is hands down best-in-class.

Although image clarity and low light transmission are exceptional, glare management is not. No specific anti-glare coating is mentioned in SIG’s literature, but they do include a large screw-in glare shield with the scope. I rarely need a glare shield with most scopes, but if you’re shooting into the sun, even at an indirect angle, you’re likely to need it with this Whiskey6.

Since I’ve been shooting this scope for over six months now, I’ve gotten plenty of opportunities to ensure the turrets track. With several outings at The Ranch TX shooting range, I had plenty of chances to engage targets out to 1,000 yards. With a trued muzzle velocity and an accurate firing solution, my rounds landed predictably where they should, and right where either the reticle and dial said they would.

I also performed a tall target test and just fiddled with the dials a bunch to see if they would return to zero. They did, every time.

The feel of the turret adjustments is pretty good. It’s a solid “thunk” instead of a sharp “click” with each turn, but it’s a big “thunk” both in feel and sound. With gloves or cold hands, I had no problems getting exactly the number of clicks I wanted. That said, stay out of the habit of counting clicks. The dials are well and obviously marked so just dial to the setting you need by sight.

The turrets themselves are capped. The Whiskey6 sits firmly in SIG’s hunting-focused line of scopes, and does an excellent job there. The assumption is then that you’ll be moving through brush, dirt and mud, and it’s more important to protect the turrets than to have quick adjustments.

Although I don’t like to have to remove turret caps, mostly for the fear of forgetting them and losing them, I’ll concede that I very, very rarely had to actually make any turret adjustments on a hunt. In fact, after hunting with this scope all season, I think I only did it once, when shooting over 400 yards with a crosswind and I only wanted to hold one axis. I dialed elevation, and held for wind.

Resetting the turrets is pretty simple, with one single screw on the top of each turret. SIG supplied the correct hex key with the scope and a “quick start” guide.

There are no markings for the number of revolutions you’ve made, so you’ll have to pay careful attention to that when making big adjustments.

The magnification adjustment moves well, but stays in place, and SIG includes a removable throw lever for quick and easy movement. I thought I’d remove that lever, but it never caught on brush and it’s pretty helpful moving magnification in and out without disturbing the rifle while on target.

There’s no doubt about the durability and weatherproofing of the Whiskey6. SIG specifies the waterproofing standard as IPX7, which means the optic should be able to be submerged in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. My test was simpler. It involved dunking the scope and swishing it around in my bathtub, remounting it on the Cross, fiddling with the turrets, and shooting. Water didn’t leak into the scope and a wipe-down of the lenses with the supplied cloth cleaned it up just fine.

Although the scope also passed the simple test of a night in the deep freeze, the more important test was passed when it sat in my truck during the late summer months, baking at well over 100 degrees, and then also hunting with it all winter, getting down to the mid teens. I never had any issues with the scope in any way.

The Whiskey6 includes Sig’s “Infinite Guarantee.” As it states in the Whiskey manual . . .

We will repair or replace your SIG SAUER product in the event it becomes damaged or defective, at no charge to you. If we cannot repair your product, we will replace it with a product in perfect working order of equal or better physical condition. It doesn’t matter how it happened, whose fault it was, or where you purchased it.

I’ve seen that guarantee in action on a different Sig scope. A friend of mine had one of his turrets stop working right at the beginning of a competition we were at. He used his reticle for holds, but called SIG immediately. There were zero questions asked, other than where to overnight a new scope and it arrived the very next day. (Too late for the competition, but still impressive.)

The Whiskey6 is a pretty bare bones scope. There’s no illuminated reticle. The reticle options are pretty simple and completely adequate for hunting purposes. Usually, lower-priced scopes give you lots of features you likely won’t actually use and sacrifice the quality of the glass itself.

Sig did the opposite. They built an outstanding hunting scope and nailed the most important things that you absolutely have to have. They also did it without attaching a brick to your lightweight hunting rifle, as the scope itself weighs just under 23oz.

If there’s one request I get from readers more than anything else, it’s “budget” optics reviews. If you need a hunting scope under $1000, the Whiskey6 3-18X44 is my pick.

Specifications: SIG SAUER Whiskey6 3-18x44mm Riflescope  

FOCAL PLANE: Second
RETICLE: MOA Milling Hunter 2.0
ADJUSTMENT INCREMENTS: 0.25 MOAOVERALL LENGTH: 12 5/8″
WEIGHT: 22.8 oz
MAIN TUBE DIAMETER: 30mm
TRAVEL PER ROTATION: 25 MOA
FIELD OF VIEW LOW (FT @ 100 YARDS): 34.9
FIELD OF VIEW HIGH (FT @ 100 YARDS): 5.8
EYE RELIEF LOW (IN): 3.9
EYE RELIEF HIGH (IN): 3.7
EXIT PUPIL LOW (MM): 8.2
EXIT PUPIL HIGH (MM): 2.4
DIOPTER ADJUSTMENT RANGE: +/- 2
WATERPROOFING: IPX7
OBJECTIVE OUTER DIAMETER: 51.4
INTERNAL GAS PURGE: Argon
ILLUMINATION: No
TOTAL ELEVATION TRAVEL: 78MOA
TOTAL WINDAGE TRAVEL: 78MOA
OBJECTIVE LENS DIAMETER (MM): 44mm
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Assembled in the Philippines
MAGNIFICATION: 3-18x
Price: $809.99 (On Sig’s website, or even less at SIG SAUER Whiskey6 3-18x44mm Riflescope  )

Overall *  * * * ½
At the $1,000 price, this would be a good buy. The clarity of the glass is great and the light transmission, especially at dawn and dusk, really sets this scope apart from the competition. It’s lightweight, tracks well, and at $810 directly from SIG, the Whiskey6 is truly exceptional. Half a star off for no revolution count marking and not great (or non-existent) anti-glare coating.