Thoughts on Swarovski Scopes for Hunting

[Excavator]

My z6i and z8i's have zero stop and you can order custom yardage turrets direct from Swarovski for both models, if that is the way you want to go. An they will still have mills on the bottom. My biggest complaint is the mill turrets and moa retical. Can not wrap my head around who though that was a good idea. So what I do is order a custom yardage turret. Then set my br2 for BCD correction. That way it will give me wind reading in moa. If I program it to mills for correction. It gives mill wind hold outputs. If that makes sense?

 

[FURMAN]

I would never own a z for a long range hunting rig period. The X5 is a completely different ball game and one of the best scopes available to long range hunters.

 

[Riflehunter1776]

I don't think the tube is the issue as they are great in low light. My issue was the amount of turret adjustment. It's very limited in some models. I was only able to get one or two revolutions from a z5 3.5-18 if my memory serve me correct.

there is always a trade off. if you take 2 otherwise identical 1" tube scopes, and one brand has much more travel than another, it means that they used a smaller erector system. So sure, you get more clicks out of it, but at the expense of a poorer image and decreased light transmission.

And it's not like the old days, as far as Cabelas and their "experts". When they became an open stock company, their philosophy changed from a dedicated, respectable company of hunting aficionados to more of a blanket Home Depot mentality. And since they were taken over by bass pro? forget it. You might as well ask the kid at the gas station which optic he prefers.

 

[kiwikid]

John C, the Z3, Z5, Z6 and Z8 with ballistic turrets all have a zero stop. Once you sight your rifle in at your preferred range there is a small ring that you turn that sets that as your zero stop. The factory ballistic turrets only allow one revolution once they are set up. To find out how much elevation this will allow you go to the Swarovski Ballistic program and input your data for either the hand load or factory load you are planning on using. If you click on the table icon it will tell you how many clicks to the various ranges. http://ballisticprograms.swarovskioptik.com/Ballistic-Program

Have fun!
Kiwikid.

 

[Barrelnut]

This ^^^. I'm just reiterating what others have already said, but it's something I think a lot of people have misconceptions about, so I'll emphasize a bit. The size of the objective lens, divided by the magnification, defines the exit pupil size (EP). So a 50mm objective set at 10x magnification produces a 5mm EP. This is the size of the beam of light coming through the scope and available to your eye. You'll notice 5mm is a lot smaller than the 34mm or 30mm or 1" tube size (and the size of the EP is unrelated to the tube size). Cranked down to 5x magnification, the EP is only 10mm.

So bigger tubes don't allow more light (*One caveat noted below). Manufacturers have three options when they make the tube bigger:
1) Increase the amount of space in the tube available for reticle movement,
2) Increase the thickness of the tube walls (toughness), or
3) Increase the lens diameter (*This is the caveat. Larger lenses won't increase the EP diameter, but they can increase resolution).

From what I see, most manufacturers seem to lean toward increased reticle movement and wall diameter (toughness).

The pupil of the human eye ranges from about 1.5-2.0mm in bright light up to about 7-8mm in near darkness. Compare this to the size of the EP, because even if your EP is 10mm, it's not doing your eye any good in terms of increased brightness (the eye can only accept what the pupil size allows).

Long-winded version of what others said succinctly: larger tube doesn't mean more light (but may improve other things).

I find it amusing how many self anointed scope experts on here don't understand this.

 

[Pdvdh]

I use 2 Swaro Z5s on backpacking rifles, both with muzzle brakes.

Perfect for my use. No problems with either so far. 3.5-18x with aftermarket turrets. Dial to 1000yds. 16oz weight.

 

[Ben Keller]

I don't know what rifle your using but I've owned a Z5 and it never got close to being able to dial to 1k yards. And mine was on a hot 7 mag shooting at 3150 FPS. I only got 800 yards out of mine. It only gives you one revolution of adjustment soooo.

 

[Pdvdh]

Aftermarket turrets. More than one revolution. 20 moa picatinny rail. Zero at 250yds.

I dial and test my 980yd zero each sheep season just prior to packing in from base camp. Still have elevation turret to twist. Mine must be magical.

 

[mtank]

Can't speak for their warranty because I never had to use it but I wasn't all the impressed with the z5 I had. I had the 5x25x52 plea with ballistic turret. I also had a 5x25x50 hd5 & a Nikon monarch 5ed 3x15x50. There was nothing special about the swaro. It was 500 higher the hd5 & double the cost of the monarch & my eyes couldn't justify it. I just got in a Leupold vx5hd 3x15x56 & it's impressive at low light. (Very much so)

 

[John C.]

Thanks for everyone's information and opinions. Since I am impulsive, I bought a X5I 3.5x18 from a forum member that I believe fits all of my criteria. Now to start thinking about rail vs no rail, what rails to go with if I decide to go that route, and rings.
Thanks again everyone-John C.

 

[John C.]

I hate to bring it up to you fella's and ladies, but I think that everyone who replied is too knowledgeable to work behind the counter at a big box store!

 

[Buano]

While there are scopes with more adjustability than Swarovski optics, I don't hunt where I need more adjustability than I've gotten in my Swarovski scopes. They have less adjustment than Nightforce but better glass and weigh a lot less.

If you have stumbled across good deals on used Swarovski scopes and you decide not to purchase them, PLEASE send me the info so I can check them out. I have had optics from most of the bigger names — with Swarovski being my overall favorite.

 

[Excavator]

From the research I found. For low light hunting keep your pic as close to center of the scopes adjustment as possible. Meaning in low light most of my shooting would be inside of 400 yards. So I set my deer rifle up on 0 moa bases. The theory behind it is, that the center of the glass should deliver the clearest picture. I have a plantation in SW Georgia, we are very selective on buck harvest. So shooting past 400 in low light is not a good idea there. Now my stw, that I use out west goes to around 1075 with 0 moa bases. If I want more adjustment I can switch to 20 moa on that gun. Because I may need to shoot farther. Am odds are I would be shooting with good light.

 

[FURMAN]

While there are scopes with more adjustability than Swarovski optics, I don't hunt where I need more adjustability than I've gotten in my Swarovski scopes. They have less adjustment than Nightforce but better glass and weigh a lot less.

If you have stumbled across good deals on used Swarovski scopes and you decide not to purchase them, PLEASE send me the info so I can check them out. I have had optics from most of the bigger names — with Swarovski being my overall favorite.

Again you seem to be speaking only to the Z scopes. The X5s, especially the 18x, compare quite well.