Scope choice..

Tikka595

Well-Known Member
I am buying an Blaser R8 pro/success and looking for a suitable scope
i have a nightforce 5.5x22x56 great scope but I feel I would like something a little neater and less bulkie
i would still like to keep the adjustable turret system as I like to do a bit of varmint shooting and target practice out to 500yrs
i am thinking about a Zeiss DL 3x12x50 with the AVS turrets or the Z6i 3x18x50 with BT.
dos anyone use either of these scopes and can you dail them in and out with accuracy
to shoot small targets at distance
any feed back or scope suggestions would be appreciated

Cheers Tikka595
 
Ive got a Z6i on a standard R8 its a 2.5 - 15 x 56 with BT and its very versatile. I dont think light gathering is much better than the 50 though, lovely piece of kit.
 
I think the Zeiss and Z6i are perfect for shooting Deer at variable distances
but what about small targets at 400yrds plus,
could you read off a drop chart and dial them in on the turrets
Maybe I am just thinking to much about it...
but the Nightforce do's give you the confidence if your range and charts are correct..
 
In the end no one bit of gear is ever going to be perfect for every possible situation. Unless you only do one single thing then you are always going to be working with a compromise. The challenge is to decide what your "main" objective is going to be and to optimise your gear around that so that the bigger compromises always occur in the areas you think are less important. It is probably impossible for someone other than yourself to weigh up all the factors and decide what will be important for your exact circumstances.
 
I havnt ever shot a deer out past 200yards but have foxes and even under the lamp found the scope very good. When I got my Personal BT back from swaro set about seeing how good it was and set to shooting an eight inch gong out to various ranges to a maximum of 600yards and after guessing windage "walked it in" and got on it ok - well it went ping.... im no expert at all with long range shooting its just plinking really for me but the BT system works well. If your ever down this way and want to have a go drop me a line.
 
the scopes with fixed/marked ranges, bdc's, etc. etc. are really, imho, quite useless at any range and are nothing but a marketing gimmick. compensating for drop is the easiest thing in the world, but these scopes have no compensation for elevation, temperature, humidity, etc. They have absolutely no compensation for wind drift or any other factors that need to be properly brought into the equation when attempting shots on game at ranges where a standard point and shoot or holdover is no longer feasible, in turn, making the entire concept rather unethical for hunting purposes. For taget shooting, well, it's just useless.

Reticles with bdc dots below the crosshair are equally poor and usually don't match the ammunition, no correction for wind angles, temperature, elevation, etc. etc. etc.

IMVHO - if you're going to take shots outwith your MPBR, get a proper turret based scope in .1mrad or moa and learn to use it. When you start looking at the massive differences in POI that come from just changing your shooting angle, a bit of wind gusts or an elevation change, you will realise these 'coloured ring systems' etc. are just complete balls and only really work for the hunter who for the hell of it wants a plink at 300 or 400 yds at a gong on a day with no wind.

if you could get it in 1st focal plane, the nightforce nxs 2.5-10x32 or 42 would be the clear winner apart from less than perfect eye relief. However, the S&B PMII 4-16x42 .1mrad mildot 1st focal plane is therefore without hesitation the current world number one scope for hunting, long range hunting/varminting, and target shooting whether on gongs or paper.
 
I would recommend that you look at the newer 3-20x50 Schmidt PM2 scope it is a lot more compact than the older models and doesn't look to bulky. It is first focal plane and comes with dialable turrets.
 
the scopes with fixed/marked ranges, bdc's, etc. etc. are really, imho, quite useless at any range and are nothing but a marketing gimmick. compensating for drop is the easiest thing in the world, but these scopes have no compensation for elevation, temperature, humidity, etc. They have absolutely no compensation for wind drift or any other factors that need to be properly brought into the equation when attempting shots on game at ranges where a standard point and shoot or holdover is no longer feasible, in turn, making the entire concept rather unethical for hunting purposes. For taget shooting, well, it's just useless.

Reticles with bdc dots below the crosshair are equally poor and usually don't match the ammunition, no correction for wind angles, temperature, elevation, etc. etc. etc.

I have used the Burris Ballistic Plex with a .22 LR out to 150 yards. The stadia match up really well, and are fine enough to shoot at a very small target, if your rifle is up to it. The same is true of the copycat reticles on the Vortex, Minox, Kahles and Zeiss. Just as you need to shoot a rifle with turrets to learn the elevation changes necessary for each load, you have to shoot the reticles enough to learn then, and make up range cards. Last winter, I shot six targets, from 1 inch to 6 inches, first round hits, from 100 to 600 yards, with a .270 Winchester.

The real issue past 300 yards with any scope is energy, gusts of wind, and animal movement. Out to 300 yards, a simple crosshair or post is all that is needed for a precision shot, with very little holdover with a 200 yard zero, and none if field adjust from there to 300. Past 400 yards, you are really not hunting so much as shooting, and the aforementioned issues get into ethics.

Back to your assertion about no windage compensation, the Zeiss, Kahles, Minox and Burris E1 have progressively wider stadia to denote standoff for a 10 mph crosswind.

The Burris C4 has a clean vertical wire and turrets in 1/4 MOA, 1/10 Milradian, and in custom markings for your specific load ( which you order online ). The horizontal crosshair is marked to match the turret, for windage offset. So you can dial the elevation precisely and hold off for the wind. The G2 reticle and turrets are even more precise. With more than 10 mph wind at 300 yards, you have no business shooting game, anyway.
 
Shooting at known distances with plenty of time is not the same as hunting situations.
Target size is known; you have to judge game size.
Military shooting can be a lot more sloppy than ethical taking of game, and many of these turrets and reticles are for military.
The game is not going to be exactly at 300, 400, 500 or whatever odd yards your BDC stadia happen to mark for the load in your rifle.
You have to be able to estimate the range within 25 yards.
You have to estimate the average wind speed and angle across the distance and know how much to hold off.
You have to get into some solid position in very little time.
The animal has to not move while the bullet is in flight.
 
Laser ranging makes the turrets more usable. A scope with custom turrets for the load can now provide a very close to dead on hold.

Laser ranging with a BDC is helpful, but if the game is not exactly at the range where one of the stadia match up to your load, you still have to hold over between stadia, and try to interpolate maybe 7 MOA at 400 or 500 yards... not so easy or accurate. A scope like the Burris C4 4.5-14x42 AO with a custom turret is going to be much better, and very fast.

The BDC stadia have the advantage of not having to take your eyes off the game. If you are set up in an area and have already ranged it to some landmarks, when something presents itself, you can just aim and fire very quickly. The BDC is a very good for the .22 Hornet, .22 LR and other rimfires for that reason, both from a stand and stalking.

Some scopes, like the Bushnell 6500, the Burris Mil Dot Ballistic Plex, and the Nikon P-223 and M-308, have a mix of low exposed turrets, and reticles with a mix both horizontal ranging and wind offset, as well as vertical BDC.
 
I've recently fitted a custom BT to my Z6 and have found it very accurate out to 350,with a .222,leaving me with 'only' the wind to deal with. IMO,more accurate than holdover. As pointed out earlier,you do of course need to know your range.
 
A compromise scope that works really well for me is the S&B 3-12x50 Zenith with precision hunter turrets. The Crosshair on the FD7 is very fine even at 12 mag being ffp. At low light or running game the flash dot is great and the adjuster can be worked much faster than some modern rubber button jobs with micro processor. The retro fitted small single turn turrets are good enough to get you to roughly 500m with a 308.
One big advantage of the bdc type turrets and range finder is that one can still shoot very precise even with very heavy for cal bullets or slow cartridges.
edi
 
Swaro Z6i 2-12 x 50 BT

Perfect for everything from driven boar to plains game in Africa with all woodland stalking inbetween!

I've used it reliably from 30-300m...the ballistic turret and illumination cover just about every application and taking in consideration Southern's comments, once you practice, get yourself a LRF and a set of Znikiz rings you can cover all ranges/situations with confidence!
 
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