New vs used Euro Glass…educate me please

[Apthorpe]

Schmidt 8x56

See this for sale on here. (Nothing to do with me.) I'd be very inclined to snap it up in your shoes, although perhaps I'm more budget conscious than you.

 

[TheCornishman]

The simplest or cheapest option may be to try an S&B 8x56 for perhaps 250-350ish which you can always sell on for what you paid for it.

Picking up an illuminated S&B 8x56 as an interim but really after something with zoom

 

[TheCornishman]

Those 6-24x56 Diavari's are brilliant scopes..... after using various S&B and Swarovski fixed and variable scopes over the years, my first 6-24x56 (which had a 63 Ret) was the first scope nearest the light gathering of my Swaro 8.5 x 42 bins for last light performance on foxes.

As a result, I have more than one......

That 63 Ret in the Sales section isn't the later Flouride glass but I've never noticed the difference.... not that I ever compared them. And it has the finer 5mm clicks as opposed to the later 1cm click adjustment.

Edit.... I'm sure there was a 63 in the sales, perhaps I didn't go back far enough but came across this 43 mildot at a good price.

Sold: - Zeiss diavari 6-24x56

Hi I have a Zeiss diavari 6-24x56 for sale. Lovely scope 9/10 condition just few surface marks to body, can send more pics on request. £1150 posted insured

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

But there is a 63 on eBay... the first place to show signs of use is the Zeiss label on the parallax dial and its only showing the around the edges of the label where it rubs in and out of slips, so it looks like it's not had a hard life (Compare those to the turrets on the 43 for an example but that doesn't mean to say that the 43 has had a hard life or been abused). The turrets can get a bit loose but if the clicks are positive and the spring is decent that nothing to worry about. It's priced at £1400 but I put it in my watch list and got an offer for £1300

Zeiss Victory Diavari Rifle Scope | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Zeiss Victory Diavari Rifle Scope at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Cheers

Fizz

Thanks for the input

 

[nun_hunter]

One thing to bear in mind is the percentage of light transmission. In an article I read last year it pointed out that those claim are based on what light frequencies are actually tested for. The article found that just because a scope has 98% light transmission doesn't mean it's better than one with 92% transmission if the "extra 6%" is not visible to the human eye.

An £1800 set of Swarovski binoculars will definitely perform better than a £300 pair of Hawke binoculars but compare them to £900 binoculars designed for low light performance too and I bet the difference changes from 30mins extra to less than 5 mins and those 5 mins are probably only worth that £900 extra to a very small select few deerstalkers.

 

[Andy RV]

How about the S&B Zenith with the flash dot reticle? I have 2.5-10x56, with the mag right down and the ‘dot’ on a high power it’s like a red dot sight. The reticle is very fine which is good for target work. They’re available with BDC turrets if that’s important to you.


As a couple of posters have already said, I’d consider any European scopes within the last 10 - 15 years as ‘current’.

 

[Pine Marten]

Have a look at Kahles too. Superb quality, oldest scope manufacturer in Europe, but don't command the brand premium AND are named after the legendary founder of the imaginary Klingon Empire.

 

[enfieldspares]

Lead, lead, lead. Older Euro optics used lead in the glass. Newer stuff doesn't.

 

[308rws]

Difference between SCHOTT HD glass and other HD glass??

 

[Craigsaun]

Swaro z6i job done !! I use leupold which I highly recommended BUT if I was to upgrade it would have to be a z6i . There’s a couple of friends use them and I have to say , very Nice indeed

 

[Freeforester]

Fixed mag Zeiss Diatal, Swaro or S&B in 8x56mm have fewer lenses to lose light transmission than variable models, and are far less expensive. If changing to something more expensive later, you’ll lose less on the trade in.

 

[20-250]

Zero retention in Swarovski scopes is often very poor.

That's not my experience. Must have owned over a dozen. Never had an issue with a wandering zero in a single one.

 

[Border]

Have a look at Kahles too. Superb quality, oldest scope manufacturer in Europe, but don't command the brand premium AND are named after the legendary founder of the imaginary Klingon Empire.

Agree with PM. The new Helia range offers great value for money. I have the 3.5-18x50i which I am very happy with. Several have come up in the classifieds.

 

[TheCornishman]

Have a look at Kahles too. Superb quality, oldest scope manufacturer in Europe, but don't command the brand premium AND are named after the legendary founder of the imaginary Klingon

qatlho!

 

[TheCornishman]

Swaro z6i job done !! I use leupold which I highly recommended BUT if I was to upgrade it would have to be a z6i . There’s a couple of friends use them and I have to say , very Nice indeed

It’s a 3-9x50 VXR With duplex fire dot I am looking to upgrade from funnily enough

 

[TheCornishman]

Agree with PM. The new Helia range offers great value for money. I have the 3.5-18x50i which I am very happy with. Several have come up in the classifieds.

Cheers Boarder….hope all is well with you my man

 

[DRN]

Try and have a look through all 3 brands that you are set on. You might find that one or two of them are less suited to you. I have never looked through a Zeiss scope and thought wow. But that's just me. Swaros and S&B suit me better. That said most of my scopes are none of the above and I haven't felt let down at last light.

 

[Malxwal]

Agree with PM. The new Helia range offers great value for money. I have the 3.5-18x50i which I am very happy with. Several have come up in the classifieds.

Hmmm, if they had, I'd have swooped....

 

[Miki]

That's not my experience. Must have owned over a dozen. Never had an issue with a wandering zero in a single one.

Slash gets a little 'wayward' when it gets cold and it's been below zero for a few days now .... his imagination starts to take over.
I've never heard of Swaro's losing zero regularly either.

 

[palo]

I would keep a lookout for a good used European scope in the classifieds.
I picked up a mint Zeiss v6 for my mate here a while ago. I have a V6 and a couple of V4 Zeiss scopes. The V6 has
Superior glass to the V4 but the V4 is still good. All my scopes have elevation and windage turrets as I also enjoy shooting steel with them as well. Take your time and look at as many scopes as possible before buying.

 

[Malxwal]

Slash gets a little 'wayward' when it gets cold and it's been below zero for a few days now .... his imagination starts to take over.
I've never heard of Swaro's losing zero regularly either.

No ? I've sent two back, one a near new Z6i.