Got the 3-20 UltraShort mounted up but won't have a chance to do any shooting with it for a bit so I don't have much to comment on at this point but I can give you some initial thoughts.
Physical dimensions:
Its a not all that short as the name might suggest but its pretty streamlined however. The turrets are low profile. It's longer than the 5-20 UltraShort but a lot shorter than the 5-25 PMII.
Here's a couple of crappy pics for comparisons purposes:
Controls:
The Windage turret is capped, underneath the cap you have what is almost identical to the traditional PMII windage turret, same look, same click spacing and feel. There is a "MTC" on the "0" position, I like this feature, makes it very quick to dial to exactly zero without even looking at the turret, since I hold for wind this really is a moot point however.
The Elevation turret is a locking design with what appears to be 36MRAD of adjustment. Its a double turn turret but unlike the other DT PMII's Ive had it has a pin on the top that pops up after the first revolution rather than the windows that turn yellow. I much prefer this new style with the pin as its easier to see in all light conditions and if in the dark it can be felt, great design from S&B. One thing that I was surprised about is the clicks on the elevation turret are not what I've been used to on the other PMII's I've owned. I guess this is to be expected since they stuffed 36Mils into two turns. I certainly wouldn't say they have a bad feel to them but its not the super positive stiff clicks that I love about the others. The 3-20 UltrShort feels almost identical to Nightforce clicks just maybe a bit more positive than the NF. This scope also has "MTC" clicks on ever full Mil, this is not a option from S&B(they wont make it without it). I've had one "S&B" with the "MTC" function in the past and didn't like it at all however they have changed them to a less aggressive MTC and it's not really a hindrance any more. I would still prefer to not have it and its still almost impossible to hit X.1 or X.2mils without blowing past and dailling back but it's not as bad as the old design, kinda hard to explain. The locking function is pretty self explanatory and works well.
Parallax looks and feels just like other PMII's except the indicator mark is toward the top of the scope rather than in the middle. This makes it easy to see and adjust from behind the scope without breaking your cheek weld, nice little feature. It's marked at 25m as its lowest setting and this seems to hold true at the higher magnification but at lower magnification I was able to focus down to 5yds.
Illumination is the same as previous PMII's, works well, no surprises here.
The magnification ring is now a metal design as compared to the rubber style that PMII's have had in the past, I believe this is now standard on all PMII's. It seems a little bit stiffer than the others but not too bad. If I were to use this scope in a timed match where I might expect to change it on the clock I would want a switch view lever or similar.
I can't give much or any optical opinions at this time but one thing I noticed is the eye box seems more forgiving than my 5-25 PMII. I haven't measured it but it looks to be physically bigger in diameter and longer so this makes sense.
I'll try to answer any questions anyone might have, I'll report back after I get some more time behind it.
