Absolute Best Low Light Scope with Illuminated Dot (No Price Limit)

[MerlinMc]

I like Blaser relatively new Blaser 4–20x58 iC. The illumination feature integrates really well if you shoot Blaser but should work with any platform. In addition to the 58mm lens diameter, it also uses a 34mm tube. First focal plane.

Blaser B1 4-20x58 iC

Blaser 4-20x58 iC. The twilight specialist – superior for sitting game and when hunting in the very last light.

www.blaser.de

 

[Mc Fraser]

Field of view is really good. No tunneling. The fine illuminated dot can get really bright and low if needed. Cons for me are i wish it was Moa instead of mil. Doesn't matter to me much but when I'm hunting with others it's easier to be on the same page. Wish the wind had a locking turret on it like the elevation instead of capped. You can get one but you have to send it to germany. None of these are really cons just wishes

On a 5k scope those are cons in my book

 

[Ranger Rick]

I'm looking for the absolute BEST low-light hunting scope with an illuminated dot in the reticle. I like somewhere in the 2-15 range with a 56mm objective.

I currently own a Zeiss Victory HT 3-12x56 Reticle 60, which I LOVE! The only downsides to this scope is the tunnel vision effect and the field of view isn't that great. However, I'm still highly satisfied with it as I mostly care about the low-light gathering and fine illuminated dot.
With that being said, I just purchased a new 6.5 Creedmoor bolt action that I plan to use next season hunting within 100 yards in Mississippi out to 600 yards or so in Nebraska and Missouri. Looking for another scope for this rifle.

I'm currently eyeing the Zeiss Victory V8 2.8-20x56 Reticle 60. I've heard good things about Nightforce, the high-end Vortex, Swarovski, S&B, etc. But, I have no experience with any of them. Doing crazy research before dropping that kind of money.

Help a brother out by dropping a few recommendations and why you chose your pick!

ModernRed,
Since price is no limit, I would have recommended a custom 6.5 PRC. IMO there is not a factory barrel on par with Bartlein or Krieger or Proof. If you want light weight, then a Proof Carbon Fiber barrel is A+. The 6.5 Creedmoor is a great round for deer, but if one has a choice, the ballistics give the edge to the PRC. What rifle did you buy? What Pic rail and mount or rings are you planning on? Those things don't impact low light but they will impact holding accuracy. PS If you're married, what's your wife getting in equal value? PS2, I worked in optics at C's, go to the optics counter, go outside at dusk with a salesman and 3 or 4 scopes mounted on a viewing stock and compare them. It's always the buyer's final decision.

 

[Glenn Tullius]

I researched this with a very open mind, but full disclosure, $1500 was a max budget. The $2000 to $3500 or higher Swarovski, Zeiss and Kahles were not considered. I was absolutely blown away by the Leupold VX6-HD. I just bought a 6.5 CM 1-1/2 years ago for a mule deer hunt. Last fall I turned the dial to 300 yards and blew his heart in half with a 130 grain Scirocco. I just bought a 6.5 PRC for longer range big game and just put it on.
With the Leuie you get a choice of reticles, Zero lock turrets, with Custom Dial System for your preferred handloads. Side focus, a lighted dot with auto level feature. It is a 30mm tube, 50 mm objective with 75 minutes of elevation, and a perfect 3x18 power range for ALL distances. Weight was also given strong consideration, and most all Leupolds are, in some cases, significantly lighter in weight than the more expensive options.
I put this 20 ounce scope on a 6.3 lb Christiansen Arms Ridgeline with one piece light, strong and very affordable Talley rings. The rifle weighs exactly 8 lbs total. Just what I wanted.
I compared the Leuie side by side to a $1500 Swarovski and a $1250 Zeiss and it was noticeably better optically for my eyes. The Leupold is about $1600 retail with a full Lifetime guarantee. I bought a one owner off Ebay for $1250, used one season. I own Swarovski and Zeiss products, and their customer service, repairs, and guarantees are NOT as good as Leupolds. Sighttron , Nightforce, or Vortex, Nikon (on the low end option) etc, are very good products, but if features, versatility, weight, and superb optically, with a aproximate $1500 price point for hunting are your requirements, just check it out. It will sell itself. Just my 2cents. Good luck, hope this helps!

 

[Simplex]

Living in a country where deerhunting at night is allowed and quite common.
King of the night is Zeiss 6-24x72. But this is mostly used on dedicated night rifles due to size. The 56mm HT is probably the best choice of normal sized scopes along with the T96. The 6x and 8x not match these.

 

[Riflehunter1776]

Lots of companies make very good scopes which excel under particular conditions, and their quality is directly related to their price point. But there really are ways to objectively test this. This was a double blind test using a group of people. If somebody could do this same test for the exact scopes that the OP is interested in, we'd be set. Notice the two top performers in each chart. They always start with either the words "zeiss" or "schmidt & bender" It seems like the OP has done his research and is trying to figure out which of the top two brands makes the brightest scope for his hunting conditions. The other brands might be "good" or "good enough" for their owner who really likes them, but the original question was "which is best"



optical clarity results:

 

[Ranger Rick]

You know it's a worthy thread when 2 pages of discussion of top-performing low light scopes focus on the real deal - Zeiss, S&B, and Swaro with a brief Meopta mention.

Thank heaven nobody started talking about their "vary-ex Leah-pold" or anything else made in China or the Philipines.

I've tried the R2 meopta and some Swaros and Leicas and was not impressed, and I have a pile of Diavari V's, Helia C's, trijicons, and a fixed power S&B, which are all fine previous-generation scopes which easily outlast normal hunting hours, but since this past hunting season had too many days of very dark overcast conditions, I was about to update my primary rifle. So I was also torn between the Victory HT and T96. I'd appreciate hearing about the t96 when you get it. You already have a Victory, so you can make valid comparisons if you test them out side by side.

and just as a guide for the quality of glass between brands, this article is interesting. https://precisionrifleblog.com/2014...ptical-performance-field-test-results-part-1/

That article is in the very different world of precision shooting. As different as apples and peach pits. N/A

 

[Ranger Rick]

Here's your scope: https://www.eurooptic.com/carl-zeiss-optronics-hensoldt-zf-6-24x72-mildot-riflescope.aspx

The Zeiss-Hensoldt scopes are outstanding, but the linked scope has a terrible reticle for hunting.

 

[Ranger Rick]

for what its worth,

1)

Schmidt & Bender 4-16x56 Polar T96 vs Swarovski Z8i and Zeiss V8 - Optics Forum

they say S&B is brighter than the V8

2)

Schmidt & Bender 3-12x54 Polar T96 Riflescope

Schmidt & Bender 3-12x54 Polar T96 Riflescope By Chris Parkin Leaving the 92% clan far behind, this scope claims an impressive light transmission and Chris Parkin is itching to test it in the field and on the range Schmidt & Bender’s T96...

www.longrangehunting.com

incomplete information. where's the rest of the test.

3)
if you go to 12:11, the girl rates the V8 as brighter than the T96. "Helligkeit" is brighness, but I dont know much german (Sprechen nicht über den Krieg), so that isn't necessarily a twilight rating. Her shooting conditions dont look that dark.

Unfortunately, there's no way to qualify the opinions here. Were these tests done mid afternoon, or at very last light. And there's a massive pile of BS drivel out there of people "evaluating" any of these scopes by taking them out of the box in their living room and handling them for the camera while quoting data from the manufacturer. Useless. Most anyone will say that these scopes are all "in the same ballpark" and "you can't go wrong with any of them" but I've heard the same thing said about other scopes I dropped money on, and then the objective testing showed them to be much dimmer, becoming useless while others were still going strong into the darkness (Leica er5, Meopta R2, and anything Leupold I'm talking about you)

Subjective is an individual's opinion and it may be backed by facts, stats and more galore. So the opinion could be valuable. The buyer has the ultimate subjective view. Self doubt or procrastination never helps. An objective opinion ala blind or double blind (more important in the legal/justice system) still can have human error and fluctuating variables.
The one article stated, "Is it the brightest? Well, that is very hard to scientifically determine, given the variety of light conditions hunters encounter with low sun, moonlight and atmospheric variables all altering colours and transmission of light before it even gets through the objective lens."
What works for ModernRedneck is what matters to him and doubt messes with ones mind. I hunted for 30 years with a Remington 700 BDL 7mm mag with a new trigger, muzzle crown & epoxy bedding. I used a Redfield Widefield 2.5-7xnn for 21 one-shot elk kills. For me that $39 scope worked well.

 

[Ranger Rick]

Agreed! There are differences in the quality of individual vision. Also, there are plenty of instances where I can still see the game but not what is beyond and ended up not taking the shot.

I agree with you 100% on choosing to not take a shot. I really prefer morning hunts, sometimes going on until mid afternoon. As a 68 year old hunter, I don't want an elk down in the late afternoon. Cheers to good hunting in MT & ID.

 

[Ranger Rick]

I researched this with a very open mind, but full disclosure, $1500 was a max budget. The $2000 to $3500 or higher Swarovski, Zeiss and Kahles were not considered. I was absolutely blown away by the Leupold VX6-HD. I just bought a 6.5 CM 1-1/2 years ago for a mule deer hunt. Last fall I turned the dial to 300 yards and blew his heart in half with a 130 grain Scirocco. I just bought a 6.5 PRC for longer range big game and just put it on.
With the Leuie you get a choice of reticles, Zero lock turrets, with Custom Dial System for your preferred handloads. Side focus, a lighted dot with auto level feature. It is a 30mm tube, 50 mm objective with 75 minutes of elevation, and a perfect 3x18 power range for ALL distances. Weight was also given strong consideration, and most all Leupolds are, in some cases, significantly lighter in weight than the more expensive options.
I put this 20 ounce scope on a 6.3 lb Christiansen Arms Ridgeline with one piece light, strong and very affordable Talley rings. The rifle weighs exactly 8 lbs total. Just what I wanted.
I compared the Leuie side by side to a $1500 Swarovski and a $1250 Zeiss and it was noticeably better optically for my eyes. The Leupold is about $1600 retail with a full Lifetime guarantee. I bought a one owner off Ebay for $1250, used one season. I own Swarovski and Zeiss products, and their customer service, repairs, and guarantees are NOT as good as Leupolds. Sighttron , Nightforce, or Vortex, Nikon (on the low end option) etc, are very good products, but if features, versatility, weight, and superb optically, with a aproximate $1500 price point for hunting are your requirements, just check it out. It will sell itself. Just my 2cents. Good luck, hope this helps!

Mr. Tullius, I agree with you! I went with a Leupold VX5-HD CDS with the fire dot illuminated reticle. With a quality rangefinder and the spot on CDS turret, it's good bye elk.

 

[Gone Ballistic]

I have a Nightforce NXS 3.5X15X56 with the Velocity 1000 reticle that delivers the fastest target acquisition I have found. Once sighted in it delivers spot on accuracy without ever touching elevation or windage adjustment knobs. If you are wanting spot on fast acquisition of your target, I, personally, don't think you can find anything close to this sope.

 

[PNWdude67]

Here is some reading that might help you. Having both of these scopes I can tell you that the Zeiss is far superior. The 36mm tubes are amazing. You might also look at a new player in the game called (ZRO) Zero Compromised Optics.

http://randywakeman.com/Why Riflescope Light Transmission Percentages Mislead.htm

Yes, the Zero Comp 420x50 is an absolute beast of a rifle scope in a compact design. I have compared it at low light in field conditions to the S•B 5-25 x 56 and Leupold Mark 5 5-25 x 56 shooting a 8 inch steel target at 600 yards. Was able to clearly see impacts on the target with the Z Comp at the highest power setting when the others were dark. When zooming from 4-20 power there was little loss of light transmission. I was surprised the 420 z comp with a 50 mm was better than the others and was also surprised the Leupold mark 5 was better than the Schmidt. The Z Comp also has the ability to illuminate red or green with infinite adjustable brightness and a sleep mode that turns the illumination off to save battery life. It is a first focal plane milradian reticle offered in 3 configurations.

 

[edward hogan]

Very impressed with my Trijicon Accupoint 56mm.

Also remain impressed with the Leupold 4.5-14 50mm. Even the 1" tube models are great in lowlight conditions; Plus, they are superb choice when weight is a concern. The mark4 has great illum control and side-focus at 20oz. "Great Glass" is always some heavyweight stuff. Really figure to be making Long Shots after dusk? Got your special blood tracing gear in your backpack?

While it's one thing to aspire to own the newest and bestest, hunting ain't sniping. Sniping isn't what it's evolved into either. Saw some BS about how the Army's new folding stock boltgun by Barrett will make the 7.62x51 (.308win) a 1200 to 1500yd performer. Really? That'd be news to the Palma shooters.

One thing to be aware of about European optic houses, Zeiss and the others do optic formulations to optimize contrast over the Japanese optics. More a philosophy of lens making thing carried over from photograpic and binocular lens making. Color balance is notably different. Gonna carry the extra 3lbs of a 34mm tubed, great-glass scope and pay $3k more for "The Best"?

At the end of the day, we're hunters, not hunters of gunmen. The weak link in every hunting designed rifle is the scope mount. An integral picatinny rail is one feature that differentiates hunting rifles from tactical purposed pieces. Another "end of the day" fact is that a riflescope is merely a sight. If hunting Leopard, a Leopold mark4 1.5-5x 30mm illum scope is a great choice. It ain't 56mm for light gathering, but within a hundred yards on an animal of cat size, it is beyond sufficient. Lugging a 14lb rifle in dense woods is a mistake in understanding basic purpose. Probably won't get you killed, but a heavy rifle with hugely oversized optic isn't a fast response piece of gear.