Thoughts on Swarovski Scopes for Hunting

[Ingwe]

I have an X5 and it is the best scope I ever looked through. Zero stop, calibrated turret available, with plenty of adjustment.

I guess if you want to be "tactical" and cool and hit rocks at 2,000 yards then maybe you need a NSX with mediocre glass and lots of adjustments but for a hunter the X5 is PERFECT

 

[Spd522]

I am putting together my first long range rifle set up (30-318...there is a separate thread with more details) and have come across a couple of lightly used Swarovski scopes that I may pursue (z5's and z6's). However, I can find a lot of information on them, and from what I gathered from online searches is that the warranty may not be as good as some of the main brands that are most frequently discussed (NF, Leupold, Zeiss). I have two swaro scopes on my current rifles and really like them, but would like opinions on use for long range hunting compared to others.
Thanks!

I have a Z5 with the BT turret. It is on a 300 WM. The glass is great and I love the 3.5-18 flexibility. I have a 200 yd zero and settings for 300/400/500. But if I need to shoot beyond that, I have to dial for it above the presets.

I was confronted with a shot at 825 on a nice 6x6 bull elk. I did the math on the number of clicks left in the turret, ballistic calculations from two sources, and the chart I had taped on the stock and came up with the same conclusion. I couldn't dial to where I needed to be. It pretty much maxed out at 600 yds.

I was pretty sure where the holdover would be and had it been a piece of steel, I would have taken the shot. But I didn't want to risk a bad shot and just wound the elk so I passed. It has me considering moving the scope to a rifle I know I won't be shooting as far and putting something with more adjustment on the 300WM.

 

[drborsos]

I have a Z5 with the BT turret. It is on a 300 WM. The glass is great and I love the 3.5-18 flexibility. I have a 200 yd zero and settings for 300/400/500. But if I need to shoot beyond that, I have to dial for it above the presets.

I was confronted with a shot at 825 on a nice 6x6 bull elk. I did the math on the number of clicks left in the turret, ballistic calculations from two sources, and the chart I had taped on the stock and came up with the same conclusion. I couldn't dial to where I needed to be. It pretty much maxed out at 600 yds.

I was pretty sure where the holdover would be and had it been a piece of steel, I would have taken the shot. But I didn't want to risk a bad shot and just wound the elk so I passed. It has me considering moving the scope to a rifle I know I won't be shooting as far and putting something with more adjustment on the 300WM.

You did the right thing.

 

[drborsos]

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).

You are dead on. Jim Borden explained that to me years ago and most people today have forgotten about the exit pupil. If you call Swarovski in Rhode Island (their repair shop) they will say, that if you are hunting, you don't want to go beyond 18 power. I tried their 5x25 power and found out they were not giving out bad information. Ended up returning that for a 3.5x18 and found it to be the best balance for hunting, not punching paper.

 

[dougduey]

I own a Swaro Z5 5-25 with the BT (have a custom turret built by Swarovski, too). It's on my 300 WSM and it gives me 775 yards of dial up. It does have a zero stop. The scope is great. Great glass, light weight and I love the 4 W reticle. I wouldn't hesitate buying another one if it fit my needs. I own a couple of Zeiss (V6 and HD5), 2 NightForce (NXS and ATACR) and a Sightron SIII. All are great scopes. The Zeiss V6, NF NXS & ATACR, and the Sightron on sit on longer range rifles. They are all much heavier than my Swaro Z5
Figure out how far you realistically plan to shoot, if this is more of a scope for a mountain rifle and if weight is an issue (or not), and what your intended purpose is for picking a certain scope (sheep hunting? antelope and deer? elk?)

 

[otisdog]

I have a couple of swaro's and they meet my needs. As to warranty, I was sitting on the tailgate attempting to make an adjustment to the ballistic turret on one of them I pulled to hard and pieces went flying into the grass. I lost a few. Contacted Swarovski and they quickly sent me the missing pieces along with an instructional video for reassembly No Charge. Couldn't ask for better service

 

[BoomFlop]

I have a Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 4A reticle on my Remington Police LTR in 223 and love it. It is my coyote rifle and I can easily see well past shooting hours and I hunt at night a lot too with snow.

I recently bought the same Police LTR in 308 and will most likely pair this one with the same scope.

Keep in mind, my shots are typically under 150 yards with an occasional 300, so my choice in scopes are fairly basic.

I will say that with Swarovski 8x32 EL's, 15x56 SLC HD's and my Z3....the glass is second to none and customer service is top notch!

I feel the Leupold VX3i's are probably the best bang for your buck, and customer service is excellent as well.

I feel some scopes offer more bells and whistles, but not many (if any) have better glass.

My opinion.

Steve

 

[Excavator]

I bought a pair of 10x50 Swarovski binos when I graduated high school. In 2001, sent them back this spring for fogging up. I think the issue was my fault from cleaning with T-shirt's and stuff. Had a new pair in two weeks. Not bad!

 

[drdool]

I am putting together my first long range rifle set up (30-318...there is a separate thread with more details) and have come across a couple of lightly used Swarovski scopes that I may pursue (z5's and z6's). However, I can find a lot of information on them, and from what I gathered from online searches is that the warranty may not be as good as some of the main brands that are most frequently discussed (NF, Leupold, Zeiss). I have two swaro scopes on my current rifles and really like them, but would like opinions on use for long range hunting compared to others.
Thanks!

I have used all the above and when I wanted to dial I used NF and have not had a warranty issue there (though my buddy did lose the bikini cover thingy). Max light and clarity for hunting in low light I prefer the Swaros. Only had one warranty issue in 20 yrs and was resolved with no issue. For contrast and warranty was always hard to beat the the Leupolds. I like some of their new stuff and probably worth a look. This year went to an X5 to give best of both worlds for clarity and confidence in dialing for elevation. Also like the MOA reticle in the X5 for hunting. Since you have swaros and like them others may not look as good to your eye.

 

[Toolhand]

My x5 Swaro blows my nxs out of the water when it comes to glass quality but I prefer the nightforce turrets and even Vortex for that matter. The x5 works don't get me wrong but I don't like that the hash marks don't line up with the witness mark and Your clicks are always on one side or the other(atleast mine are) It's consistently on the same side but u still have to remember which side of the witness mark is correct for your desired elevation dial. Turret also gets hard to turn for a few clicks when it gets close to full revolution bc it actually has a revolution counter that turns at that point as well. With that being said; for a hunting scope performance in low light and glass quality are a must especially when not using a spotting scope to verify game quality and the Swarovski wins there every time.

 

[Ingwe]

My x5 Swaro blows my nxs out of the water when it comes to glass quality but I prefer the nightforce turrets and even Vortex for that matter. The x5 works don't get me wrong but I don't like that the hash marks don't line up with the witness mark and Your clicks are always on one side or the other(atleast mine are) It's consistently on the same side but u still have to remember which side of the witness mark is correct for your desired elevation dial. Turret also gets hard to turn for a few clicks when it gets close to full revolution bc it actually has a revolution counter that turns at that point as well. With that being said; for a hunting scope performance in low light and glass quality are a must especially when not using a spotting scope to verify game quality and the Swarovski wins there every time.

You might want to give them a call and send the scope in...my X5 lines up perfectly and clicks are consistent too.

Sounds like something is wrong

 

[Bulletspitter]

The Swaro z5i is a really good hunting scope. I have Nightforce ATACR's on all of my match rifles, and I would put the Swaro glass up against them any day. The smaller tube won't affect the light gathering capability, but it does determine how much internal adjustment you'll have, which unless you are shooting past 1K yards with a really slow rifle, it should still have plenty. I had a student a couple years ago, with a swaro z5i mounted on a 7 mag, getting a tune up, and getting ready to go elk hunting, and I was impressed with the glass, and the weight. The only thing I really didn't like was the capped turrets, but with a good reticle that you can hold over, and hold wind, I could deal with it.

 

[Excavator]

I like capped windage turrets for hunting. Dial elevation and hold over for wind. In my opinion one less thing to worry about in the heat of the moment. Also helps going in and out of a saddle scabbard.