S&B 2.5-10x56 still good?

[Karhumies]

So my new old zeiss diavari got stolen in the mail... i will be seeing my money back fortunately but for my 500 euro budget i doubt il find another diavari 3-12x56t* any time soon.

so my eye fell on a S&B 2.5-10x56 from what seems to be the 90s(poorly educated guess based on googling their logos) marked as germany, not west germany (mid 90s?)

my question is wether these still hold up well. No question about quality ofcourse but i mostly hunt at night with a zeiss 8x56 and am looking for basically that scope but with a little more versatility for spotting and daytime longer distance shooting.

Without an opportunity to Look trough one before purchasing it from the other end of Finland by post i hope you can at least help me compare it to say a meopta r1 for instance (looked trough those before)

I have looked trough a new production S&B klassik but i doubt they havent updated those in 30 years and this is an oldie.

 

[VIGILAIRE]

Great scopes.

 

[HonestJohn]

Having had both, the Zeiss was clearer, but not a lot, the Schmidt was better build quality and more solid reticle

 

[Karhumies]

Having had both, the Zeiss was clearer, but not a lot, the Schmidt was better build quality and more solid reticle

how about night time use?

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Depends on the Northern Lights lumen content?

 

[Karhumies]

Depends on the Northern Lights lumen content?

usually not present when iam our hunting haha. What iam wondering is wether a meopta r1 for the ssme Price would be better for the job or if a 90s S&B variable can still keep up.

 

[Heym SR20]

Schmidt & Benders are superb scopes - always have been. Night time use is brilliant. These 56mm Scopes are what thousands of wild boar were shot with under natural moonlight. Only recently has nightvision been legal in many parts of continental Europe. Previously you were not even allowed to use a torch.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Tell me about it, I remember the "kunstliches lichtquelle" law in Germany for the first 15 odd years of my time over here waiting for a car to pass on the nearby roads at night to light up the area for Zeiss 8x56s to be able to scan for what was going on. Then around 2015 it began to change, now it is all thermal spotters and front/rear add ons here.
Dedicated scopes are still not allowed though.

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

terrible scopes
will give you £50 for it and dispose of it for you

 

[Karhumies]

ha i wasnt born yesterday, not even close as my daughtee keeps reminding me.

but in all seriousness thanks for the responses. Iam quite new to alot of stuff beyond a bolt action with a fixed power and a double barrel. Over here in my hunting club everyone keeps going on about newer is better, coatings from the 80s-90s are absolute trash comparee to a modern scope, modern chinese stuff beats the old german glass like a crappy modern rifle beats a high end musket. Hard to know what is true and to what extent as context and perspective are rately defined.

for instance

my American friends will say a vortex or vector is great value. In legal shooting hours... id take an old bushnell in "legal shooting hours" and probably get it done.

Modern scopes always beat old ones, but we talking old zeiss vs new zeiss or old zeiss vs a 500 euro meosport.

i have a hard time finding my way trough all of that because people rarely quantify what exactly makes it good or bad, compared to what, and in what context.

a friend of mine swears by meopta r1 scopes and has them on all his rifles, but is that space age technology already compared to an old S&B that used to be top of the line.

 

[JockStalk]

A variable Docter Optik is similar build and glass quality

 

[Bavarianbrit]

I had a x50 Docter Optik and the ocular came loose, sold it on on bay as defective, they have changed ownership a few times since the wall came down in 1989.

 

[HonestJohn]

how about night time use?

Never tried that

 

[Klenchblaize]

The Zeiss would have been 2nd FP and the S&B 1st?

K

 

[Karhumies]

The Zeiss would have been 2nd FP and the S&B 1st?

K

didnt even check that in the zeiss, dont care for my purposes. also not fussy on reticles altho i like an old fashioned german post. All i care about is the glass/coatings and i know zeiss t* glass has never let me down. S&B is an unknown for me so far. i hope it can match my older zeiss fixed power

 

[finbar]

Have a look at nickel supra German have two
Good quality kinda s&b

 

[Bowland blades]

I doubt I will ever sell any of my S&B scopes , heck i might keep them when I eventually stop shooting LOL

 

[Klenchblaize]

didnt even check that in the zeiss, dont care for my purposes. also not fussy on reticles altho i like an old fashioned german post. All i care about is the glass/coatings and i know zeiss t* glass has never let me down. S&B is an unknown for me so far. i hope it can match my older zeiss fixed power

OK but the 1st FP S&B 3 -12x50 I own has an incredibly wide aiming reticle at max power which is great for 'thereabouts' alignment on a beast at dusk but not much else IMHO. It came with a rifle I've recently purchased and may well have to go if I can locate a 2nd FP replacement with a 57mm outside objective diameter.

K

 

[3.5mag]

I have an early 2000's S&B 2.5-10x56 FFP Precision Hunter.The light gathering is excellent & the mildot reticle is highly useable at all magnification.
At 2.5- 4 it's not too fine for close up woodland & 10x ideal for zeroing(not as target obscuring as my 8x56) & open country .
I currently use a digital Hik 4k but will never part with the Schmidt.

 

[Cyres]

Have you looked in ads? I am sure there is a Diavari for sale recently do a search.
D