Thoughts on Swarovski Scopes for Hunting

[John C.]

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!

 

[John C.]

One other thing. When I was checking out scopes in the store last week, the guy behind the counter pretty much blew them off saying the tubes were to small for low light and the reticles weren't very good. I didn't necessarily believe him, but if these are issues I would like to hear about them.

 

[snox801]

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.
I've had the guy behind the counter at Cabela's not only tell me vortex scopes are better than anything Nightforce sells. But same store different guy tried his very hardest to convince me that vortex bios where far and away better than the Leica geovids. Lol I like vortex and all but I lost all faith in those guys after that.

 

[WildBillG]

The size of the tube does not gather light. That is the job of the objective lense and quality glass and coating on said glass. Swaros are some of the best out there in the glass department. If you arelooking to adjust your turrets make sure the scope is in moa not metric like mine.

 

[sp6x6]

Unless you prefer mils as I do,many PRS shooters use also

 

[Kimber7man]

Unless you prefer mils as I do,many PRS shooters use also

I don't shoot PRS, and still prefer mils. Must be the engineer in me!

 

[scottishkat]

I have scopes from all brands leupold, zeiss and swarovski to name a few. I have 3 swaros all but one bought used. I sent one back to swaro for repair that I bought used. It was repaired promptly and sent back to me "no charge". IMO those guys at swaro are interested in one thing "your satisfaction with their products". On buying used swaro's I have learned because of their light weight tubes they are more critical about mounting than some other scopes.

If somebody doesn't do a very good job mounting the used swaro you purchase and you mount it properly on a new rifle they can be damaged. When mounted on properly checked rings they can be moved rifle to rifle without a lot of trouble.

They have quite a few reticles and even the Z3 has an adjustment turret that can be zeroed.

Their glass is as good as any out there and their warranty is better. Choice in optics is a personal thing though.

From my experience I personally would not hesitate to purchase another.

Good luck and shoot straight yall.

 

[Fubarredz]

I just replaced my nxs 5.5-22x56 that was absolutely horrible in low light with a Swarovski Z6 5-30x50 4w BT that's absolutely amazing, I find it far superior to the nxs for hunting purposes.

 

[jebel]

The size of the tube does not gather light. That is the job of the objective lense and quality glass and coating on said glass.

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).

 

[John C.]

Thanks everyone for the input. I have always been a swaro fan (bought a swaro spotter and binos as soon as I could afford) but didn't want to be brand loyal if it wasnt on par with other options for this particular setup. Please keep any other thoughts coming

 

[Excavator]

I have 3 nsx 5.5-22's setting in the safe that have been replaced with 2 z8i's and a z6i. The best scopes I have ever hunted with. Few things I have found. You will get more adjustment out of other scopes. The illuminate retical is unbelievable in the Swarovski. The turrets on the z8i and clicks are nicer then the z6i. That being said my STW shooting 195 elite hunters on 0 moa bases will get me out to 1075 yards. Plenty for me. That being said now that hunting season is over. I will be putting nsx back on my 6.5 for range work and fun shooting. Hope this helps.

 

[werth338]

I have ran Z5s and thought they were excellent. I recently bought a Zeiss V6 but that was an agonizing debate between it and the X5. Biggest reason I went V6 was weight and quite a bit cheaper. That said, I still think Swaro is a great scope and use their binos and spotting scopes. I am a MOA guy mostly due to that is what I had in the safe and don't want to have to worry about switching between Mil and MOA. I have an itch for a FFP at the moment but don't know if it is justified for hunting but that is another debate. At the end of the day, I wouldn't question using a Swaro scope for hunting. I still have my Z5s as they will be going to different builds.

 

[John C.]

Do the recent models of z6 and z5 has zero stop turrets? I cant find a mention in the spec sheets that I have looked at

 

[Truk505]

I just did I whole bunch of research on optics for a new rifle I just purchased, Swarovski, Zeiss, Nightforce, and Leupolds. In the past I've owned the AV series, Z3's and Z5's. For my latest rifle I wanted to dial turrets so I was really leaning towards the Nightforce ATACR, that was until I had the chance to play with it along side the X5i while they were mounted on rifles.

I read countless reviews on the X5, and they've been around for long enough now that I figure if there was any chronic problems I would hear about them. So far none.

All my Swarovski's have been flawless.