Rifle Scopes ZCO vs TT regarding reliability and known issues (if any)

utah_longrange

utah_longrange

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May 7, 2023
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#1
Not looking for which one is better optically or which one has better turrets. I'm mainly looking for how reliable each one is and are there any known issues with either?

I've heard people say early TT's had zero shift issues and early ZCO's hard turret issues.

Any long-standing issues for either?

For reference, I have a ZCO 527 10 mil non locking mpct2x and just picked up a TT 525 gen3xr. I'm trying to decide which one I like better but want to weigh any possibly issues into my decision. They will be used primarily for PRS with one or two ELR matches per year. Whichever one I don't like as much I'll sell to fund another one of the one I like. At the moment I'm leaning towards the TT since I like the higher magnification and turrets but if TT has zero shift issues sill I'll pass.
 
#2
Both are clear ALPHA scopes, They both have teams that stand behind anything that may go wrong. I would say that there would be lots of noise if a significant issue came due to the shear numbers of top competition shooters using them. There were weird things like dropping the rifle and seeing temporary POI shift, but I really doubt these were design issues. Both are nearly identical in magnification (yes the ZCO is 2 X higher). Which retical do you shoot better? That and your use of the turrets should be the factors. Make the decision about which you will use based on which will move you up the leader board.
 
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#3
oldrifleman said:
Both are clear ALPHA scopes, They both have teams that stand behind anything that may go wrong. I would say that there would be lots of noise if a significant issue came due to the shear numbers of top competition shooters using them. There were weird things like dropping the rifle and seeing temporary POI shift, but I really doubt these were design issues.
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The people I talked to at a recent PRS national match (some top pros) had all switched from TT due to zero shifts. They shot them when they first came out though and multiple admitted it has likely been fixed since. Just curious if anyone still has noticed this. I shot a Burris XTR pro previous to this and it did have zero shift issues so I do want to go back to that.
 
#11
utah_longrange said:
ha ha, I have multiple rifles so once I pick which one I like both I'll get another.
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Honestly you really can’t go wrong with either. Tool less turrets are really nice on the TT. Pick what features you like best and go with that. Lots of guys at the club I shoot at have never had issues with TTs and zero shift.
 
#12
You’re already off to a bad start by doubting the equipment cause others have had “issues” with that optic.
I’ve been running TT’s for about a decade. When they first came out. Haven’t had any zero shift. Regardless of what platform they were on.
And this is more than a dozen of their optics from 315P/ 525P to 735P


Maybe I got lucky 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
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#13
Have both. have had the tangent fall mid match from my shoulder to the hard dirt floor right on the scope bell. Scope has a pretty bad dent and Didn’t experience any impact shift. It probably has more to do with the mount you’re using (spuhr). Had my ZCO 5-27 15 mil glass crack in the safe once and happened to another friend of mine also. Zco took care of it and haven’t had or seen this issue with the 10 mils yet
 
#14
NoLegs24 said:
You’re already off to a bad start by doubting the equipment cause others have had “issues” with that optic.
I’ve been running TT’s for about a decade. When they first came out. Haven’t had any zero shift. Regardless of what platform they were on.
And this is more than a dozen of their optics from 315P/ 525P to 735P


Maybe I got lucky 🤷🏻‍♂️
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That's why I wanted to get more opinions. thanks for your insight. I plan on trying them both out before committing to one or the other.
 
#15
Curahee19 said:
Have both. have had the tangent fall mid match from my shoulder to the hard dirt floor right on the scope bell. Scope has a pretty bad dent and Didn’t experience any impact shift. It probably has more to do with the mount you’re using (spuhr). Had my ZCO 5-27 15 mil glass crack in the safe once and happened to another friend of mine also. Zco took care of it and haven’t had or seen this issue with the 10 mils yet
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That is pretty impressive! At a match earlier this year a tripod fell on a buddies ZCO and it jacked up the sunshade. It bent so bad he couldn't get it off. ended up with a zero shift though. I was getting zero shifts with my burris xtr pro's mid match almost every match. That's without even bumping it. I had 3 of them total and all did it. It was always subtle though like a 0.2 mil shift in any given direction. I would start missing right or low and go back to the zero board and it would be off from the morning zero. Haven't had that once since switching to my ZCO. If the ZCO had a larger FOV I wouldn't have got the TT to try out.
 
#16
With the few I have seen from both brands, I have not had any zero shift issues. For what it is worth, I have more rounds downrange with TTs and currently have three here: 3-15x50, 5-25x56 and 7-35x56. The 3-15x50 is the oldest one of the three and went back to the factory once to get cleaned. That's about it. No mechanical issues whatsoever.

ILya
 
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#22
hafejd30 said:
The true alpha optic for not shifting zero is undoubtedly the NF ATACR 7-35. Who would even own a ZCO with the NF standing as the clear superior optic
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#23
I have had 5 TT‘s and currently still have 3, basically I just traded around to get all with the same reticle. I had one fail at the Punisher match a couple years ago. the windage turret would sometimes dial .1 for 1 click, sometimes none and sometimes .4-.6 per click. It was extremely hot that day, well over 100 and our rifles stayed in the sun a lot, I’m not sure if that was a contributing factor or not, I was just mentioning it. TT replaced the erector set in it and I have had no more issues with any of them. To my knowledge, I have never had one zero shift. I may see the zero change .1 one way or another from one range to the next but I attribute that to DOF more than anything. I think both are fine scopes, can’t got wrong with ZCO or TT.
 
#24
utah_longrange said:
Not looking for which one is better optically or which one has better turrets. I'm mainly looking for how reliable each one is and are there any known issues with either?

I've heard people say early TT's had zero shift issues and early ZCO's hard turret issues.

Any long-standing issues for either?

For reference, I have a ZCO 527 10 mil non locking mpct2x and just picked up a TT 525 gen3xr. I'm trying to decide which one I like better but want to weigh any possibly issues into my decision. They will be used primarily for PRS with one or two ELR matches per year. Whichever one I don't like as much I'll sell to fund another one of the one I like. At the moment I'm leaning towards the TT since I like the higher magnification and turrets but if TT has zero shift issues sill I'll pass.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, in this day and age it would seem QC is not what it used to be and I think this is somewhat across the board, but maybe it always was and Al Gore's interweb is what made everyone more aware, if you belong to Fakebook then you have likely seen the gripes and complaints ad infinitum. The point being, any scope you buy today has the potential to go down at the most inopportune time, yes we can all debate until the cows come home on whether brand X or brand Y has a better "reliability" record but truth be told, Murphy's law dictates that if you bought a scope that had a 100% track record then you would be the first to have an issue. What matters more is how well a company responds and how quick a company responds and to that point I would say ZCO and TT are among some of the best when it comes to customer service and response times, sure you're going to have your one off bad situations (maybe a CS agent had a bad day) but by and large you know you'll be taken care of should something ever happen. Regarding zero shift and TT, others have already addressed, the issue is a non-issue.
 
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#25
I've had a TT525P for about 5 ish years now with the gen3 xr and I love it. never given me a hickup and the tool less zero turrets.... no regrets with this one. fwiw I use spuhr mounts on my rifles for just such reasons. I'm sure many one piece mounts are just as solid.
 
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#27
I had a problem with my first TT, which I bought... like 8-10 years ago. A small plastic ring inside the scope dislodged and became visible in the sight picture. TT said they had a supplier issue with their glue at the time. They overnighted me a replacement scope, no questions asked. I've had a few other TT scopes since then. No problems.
 
#28
I sent two brand new ZCOs I sent back to Jeff in Idaho because I wasn’t satisfied mechanically or there was another turret issue right out of the box. Once on my dime, once on ZCO’s. I have owned 3 and currently own none.

I sent one TT back to Armament, having purchased it second hand used, because the adjustment tactility was not like my other samples and somewhat muted. Armament paid shipping, replaced some o-rings, and overnighted it back. It feels exactly like all my other samples. I have bought more since then.

Optically both are good. Mechanically you’ll find oddities reported in both though rarely. Support and warranty wise I give it to Theta.
 
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#30
The night force ATCAR 7-35 is great scope, I have bunch of them but am slowly replacing them with zco. My old tired eyes just asre able to see much better with them (ymmv). I know I am in the minority but to me the NF ATCAR is an Alpha minor scope.
 
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#33
I have a ZCO 4-20 that I had several thousand rounds on and the parallax quit adjusting. i was runing it on a light 30 nosler launching berger 245's when it quit working. the turnaround was quick and it has been perfect since. I have a ZCO 5-27 with the MPCT3 reticle that I run in competition and it has been flawless for many rounds. no zero shift on either of them. Customer service was excellent.
 
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