Scope Questions

nn76858

Button Buck
I am a lifelong hunter but want to.pick the brains of some of you gun experts. First off I just purchased a new encore muzzleloader and was contemplating purchasing a zeiss terra 3x9x50 scope with a rz6 reticle. I have a pair of zeiss bino I really like......does anyone have any experience with this scope? Good or bad reviews.

2nd question......in the market for any brand of scope to put on 300 win mag. Would like one with a ballistic turret. Looking for a quality higher end scope... Want capability of shooting out to 600 and something for open lands hunting aka out west or big fields.......I know power is personal preference but any insight on tube size.etc. would be appreciated. Thanks for all comments and advice
 

nhn2a

Ten Pointer
I'm a big fan of the Swarovski Z series with ballistic turret. I use the Z5 and being able to adjust the turret but yourself if you change ammo or guns is a huge perk. Only disadvantage is it only does one rotation on the turret but that is more than enough to reach past 600yrds.

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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Zeiss makes some amazing glass. For longer ranges a lot will be personal pref and the only limiting factor is the budget. 30mm tube is fairly standard in LR set ups and 50mm objective is better than 44mm for light transmission.
Front focal plane is generally preferred but they have drawbacks as well. For instance even though the subtentions will remain the same as you zoom in, the ret will get larger and some may blot or block part of the target. a 2nd plane scope won't do that but it the subtensions are only accurate at one specific power setting.
Bullet drop turrets can be problematic with any brand scope as they will only be accurate with a specific load and at a specific elevation/temperature.
On my long range rifles I'm running
Leupold Mark4 8.5-25x50
Vortex Viper PST 6-20x50
Vortex Viper PA 4-18x44
Sitetron 3. 4-20x50
All are well suited for LR shooting but were picked for certain rifles/applications. Other brands to look at are Nightforce, upper end Burris, and Ziess.



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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Oh and if your in the Raleigh area your welcome to get some range time with my toys if your thinking of any of those optics


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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
Zeiss does make good glass, but the terra line does nor get great reviews from many users. It's ok, but not as good as the old conquest were. For 600 yd, I would seriously look at one of the SWFA super snipers in a fixed 10X. You don't really need a variable for that range. I have a couple of those scopes that I have used to shoot out to 1k with easily on 308s. They are proven to track and adjustments are spot on. I have verified the tracking on the ones I have and the adjustments are spot on. That is the main thing you want in a turret. If you move it 1 inch that it moves the amount you moved it. Lots of brands out there have ballistic turrets, but few have accurate tracking. There are several brands that I will not use because they have failed the tall target test for me numerous times with numerous examples.



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MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
I'm no help with a long range scope but for your muzzleloader the Terra would be just fine.
I prefer the Conquest and you can find them used on the net everyday but the Terra would be fine.
Also might want to check out the MeoPro line from Meopta, its basically a Zeiss Conquest.

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nn76858

Button Buck
Thanks for the responses guys really appreciate the info......just for clarification was thinking on the zeiss for a.muzzleloader and lookING higher end for the 300......keep em coming
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Also look at the Burris Eliminator line up, you can tailor it to your specific load and it negates the need for bringing in a LRF. I have one on my 300wm for hunting, game won't always wait for you to range and then dial your hold so with the eliminator I just range and shoot.
I've shot 760yards with it and it's dead on when set up correctly.


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41magnum

Twelve Pointer
Personally, I'd put a T/C lighted reticle scope on the ML and put the money saved into a higher end Schmidt & Bender or Swarovski or Zeiss on the 300....if you're hooked on European glass...............but if not, a Shepherd 556 or Burris Eliminator would do well. I've been a Burris guy since '83.
 
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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
You guys do realize that the higher end Schmidt and benders, Zeiss and even Swarovskis are in the 3 to 5k range? And also not needed for the OPs stated purpose. 600 yds is really not that long of a shot in the long range game. In fact I'll bet he could do it with a ballistic reticle and save himself a lot of time and money learning the load and reticle. I kind of get tickled a little bit when I see so many people thinking that to shoot 'long range' they need all kinds of fancy high dollar scopes and gadgets to make a shot. The majority of the time a deer isn't going to give you a lot of time to range, figure out your dope, dial your scope and get settled and pull the trigger. Hell the $300 super snipers I have on a couple of guns were good enough for the seals to make bad guys have bad days for years and years.....they are as good as any thing I have used or shot, and that is lots of optics under 2k. There was a time and place where optics were a place to spend your money, but given the almost light speed of advancement made in the last few years I believe even that particular truth is falling by the wayside. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of high powers variables on the rifles I shoot out to 1k, but they are not 'top' shelf 3 to 5k glass. In fact I don't know that I am currently running any glass that is over $900 on any of the 'long' range rigs I have. If the op wants to spend several thousand on a scope, he can certainly get the high end brands. But to me the value is not there for the high dollar glass now like it was just 5 or 10 years ago.
I will say that the Burris eliminator makes the most sense of any of the long range stuff I have seen. The combination of laser range finder built in to the scope with a ballistic reticle is a dandy idea. I have never ran one of them, but the theory make sense to me.


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41magnum

Twelve Pointer
You guys do realize that the higher end Schmidt and benders, Zeiss and even Swarovskis are in the 3 to 5k range?


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The OP set the high standards.
I agree that they are not needed.
A guy could buy another entire gun/scope combo...........
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
There's high end and then there's crazy high end, that's why I put options from $400 to $2000. Only reason I don't recommend a fixed power scope for hunting is in the off chance your shot ends up being 40 yards instead of 400 your not stuck with a tiny field of view. I agree you don't need to spend crazy money for a quality scope but I would steer clear of a name brand that's unknown to save $$. Besides quality lenses the only other thing good long range scopes have in common is repeatable turret movements and most of the economy "sniper" scopes won't cut it. The SWFA Super Sniper line up is some grade a stuff


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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Just saw the Leupold vx2 with cds dials for 350 in the classified section. That would make an excellent LR scope


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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
There's high end and then there's crazy high end, that's why I put options from $400 to $2000. Only reason I don't recommend a fixed power scope for hunting is in the off chance your shot ends up being 40 yards instead of 400 your not stuck with a tiny field of view. I agree you don't need to spend crazy money for a quality scope but I would steer clear of a name brand that's unknown to save $$. Besides quality lenses the only other thing good long range scopes have in common is repeatable turret movements and most of the economy "sniper" scopes won't cut it. The SWFA Super Sniper line up is some grade a stuff


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I will say that I have seen more reports of issues with tracking from numerous brands of scopes. One is the well known established American scope company, one is the hot new up and comer and one is a famous German brand. All scopes are mechanical devices and as such will fail, but I continue to see numerous reports from these three brands that leads me to look elsewhere. I will say that I have played around with the athlon line of scopes and have found them to be good and to have reliable adjustments and tracking is spot on. No idea on durability yet so the jury is still out. Like I said you don't have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on optics like you did at one time to get incredible features and glass now a days.


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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
As to the fixed power and hunting scopes....I hunt with several fixed powers and have never had an issue with loosing a deer in the scope up close


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2boyz

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I will say that I have seen more reports of issues with tracking from numerous brands of scopes. One is the well known established American scope company, one is the hot new up and comer and one is a famous German brand. All scopes are mechanical devices and as such will fail, but I continue to see numerous reports from these three brands that leads me to look elsewhere. I will say that I have played around with the athlon line of scopes and have found them to be good and to have reliable adjustments and tracking is spot on. No idea on durability yet so the jury is still out. Like I said you don't have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on optics like you did at one time to get incredible features and glass now a days.


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^^Very good post. Those that have shot enough years are familiar with having to "shoot in" the scope change. The issue is still alive and well.
 
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