Buy once cry once new optic - seeking experienced advice

[Franko21]

Have you ever got to compare your ZCO to a Valdada 5-40x56 Crusader 2 ?

Unfortunately I have not.

 

[Greyfox]

You will definitely get wider FOV at 5x, as we all know the S&B PMII 5-25×56 tunnels from 5x to 7x.
As for glass, the ZCO beats an S&B, but not by leaps and bounds. You are talking a 9.8 vs a 9.9 out of 10. I would not get rid of an S&B for a ZCO....but I would definitely ADD a ZCO to the stable of options.
I really like the ZCO 420 for a hunting rifle. 4x gives a great FOV for those closer or moving shots. 20x is still more than enough to shoot at coyote size game at 1500.

Thanks Lance. Your comments are quite helpful!
I've owned the S&B for quite a few years. When I bought, it surely fell into the "Buy once, cry once" category of my purchases….And, it did pay off in spades by delivering performsnce well beyond my expectations with very successful results. Your advice about considering the ZCO as a potential addition as opposed to a replacement of my S&B makes good sense.

 

[Justin Petrovich]

I own the K624i and the NF NX8 4x32. Both are great but when it comes time to buy another scope I will be taking home the ZCO.

 

[Reelamin]

That would narrow things down pretty quickly for me.

A few years back I got bitten by the bug and bought 5 identical scopes all by the "hottest" new maker on the block at better than 1,000.00 per scope.

Two years later I sold them all at a considerable loss on Ebay just to get rid of them because I was fed up with having to send them back for warranty work repeatedly.

I'll never drop that kind of cash on another scope without having spent some serious time looking through not just that maker's products but the same line or even specific model I'm considering with the exception of 1 and That's Leupold.

I've never felt like I got less than what I expected or paid for with a Leupold Product so they pretty well have earned my blind loyalty after more than 30 scopes over better than 40 years.

Best of all, in all of that time I've only ever had to sent two in for any sort of warranty or repair work and in both cases it was due to something I did to the scope. One had a horse roll on it and the other had a bad fall.

Both resulted in new scopes even though I told them what I'd done.

Wild rose. So funny only scope we sent back was a horse reared over backwards on the rifle in scabbard on a elk hunt. Bent and broke it like a banana. Told them exactly what happened on phone and they asked me to send it in....brand new scope less than a month.

 

[Ken61]

I settled on Leupold MK 4s a few years ago and am not sorry. I think one important thing is to have most of your "go to" scopes the same. I have other high end expensive scopes and enjoy them but standardization is important to me.

 

[TXTrained]

I have several older IOR Valdata's, they've been great and the MP8 is my all time favorite ret.

I have several older IOR Valdata's, they've been great and the MP8 is my all time favorite reticle.

Me too.And ya cant beat the 40mm main tube on extra Elevation along with a 20 moa or 30moa scope rail.Its hard to beat VALDADA in quality

 

[TXTrained]

I settled on Leupold MK 4s a few years ago and am not sorry. I think one important thing is to have most of your "go to" scopes the same. I have other high end expensive scopes and enjoy them but standardization is important to me.

Thats valid point and sound advice .Im always looking for something else is my problem I guess.Alkways wanting something better.Even if it does not always turn out that way.LOL.I do have 2 Valdada's and 2 Delta Stryker's and a couple Primary Arms PLX 6-30x56.

 

[WildRose]

I see you quoting me above but not new questions or comments from you made it into the reply.

 

[TXTrained]

I see you quoting me above but not new questions or comments from you made it into the reply.

Wild Rose ..Have you been able to compare the ZCO to a Valdada? Ive not ever looked through a ZCO.I'd like to know what you think.You and I have alot of the same stuff on several subjects.

 

[WildRose]

Wild Rose ..Have you been able to compare the ZCO to a Valdada? Ive not ever looked through a ZCO.I'd like to know what you think.You and I have alot of the same stuff on several subjects.

I have not. The IOR Valdata though uses the Same Schott glass as the higher end European scopes and I find it to be excellent. They aren't as good in my opinion at the edges as some of the glass costing much more but that has never affected my ability to use them in the field.

 

[TXTrained]

Thanks.

 

[Reelamin]

Wild Rose ..Have you been able to compare the ZCO to a Valdada? Ive not ever looked through a ZCO.I'd like to know what you think.You and I have alot of the same stuff on several subjects.

Valdosta I have looked through are awesome. Guys I know who use them and I trust say they are solid and track great. Glass is top shelf probably better than my VX5 and 6's. I'm sticking with my leupold.

 

[WildRose]

Valdosta I have looked through are awesome. Guys I know who use them and I trust say they are solid and track great. Glass is top shelf probably better than my VX5 and 6's. I'm sticking with my leupold.

As much as I like my IOR's if I had unlimited money one of the first things I would do is replace every scope I have today with a VX-6 4-24x52 or 3-18x50mm all illuminated and all with the TMR Reticle.

I might keep one of the 56mm Trijicon's for night hunting but every bolt gun I own would be wearing Leupold.

 

[TXTrained]

As much as I like my IOR's if I had unlimited money one of the first things I would do is replace every scope I have today with a VX-6 4-24x52 or 3-18x50mm all illuminated and all with the TMR Reticle.

I might keep one of the 56mm Trijicon's for night hunting but every bolt gun I own would be wearing Leupold.

Thats why we have choices and everyone gets to buy and use what they want/like.
I own only one Leupold . It is a GOLD VX-III 6.5-20x40mm.. Its a nice hunting..
What I did not like about the Leupold VX 6 4-24x52 was the Turrets were Mushy to my feel and the zero Stop made it lose over a revolution in elevation.There are several scopes that have that problem..But the Mushy Turrets were a deal breaker for myself.