Hey Everyone, I noticed (as a Minox brand ambassador) that there is a general lack of "long term" reviews available for their scopes. Many users will claim to have used one when they first released or have tried a buddies, but not many have run them for months and taken the time to sit down and review them.
This review has been almost a year in the making! I feel that I have adequately evaluated a lot of the performance of Minox ZP5 tac 5-25x56 to the best of my abilities. I will be the first to tell you that I am no optical expert, but here is my honest opinion.
Full review can be found here
"Before I start this review of the Minox ZP5 5-25×56, I’d like to mention that I am a brand ambassador for Minox Optics and Go Big Tactical. Both of which I am very grateful for, and am extremely fortunate to be able to represent. To be upfront, I am biased towards these two brands, but I will not let them sway my opinion. I aim to provide you, the reader, with an in-depth and analytical review of this optic. As I have a lot of time behind this glass, this is going to be a long read, but bear with me. Now, without further adieu, here is my review of the Minox ZP5 Tac 5-25×56 scope!
Spec Sheet
This post has been an ongoing evolution and I have tried to sit down and write it more times than I can count. I originally wanted to do some initial impressions back in October, 2018, but that came and went. Then I was going to do a new build report in January, 2019, but that also came and went. Now we’re at the tail end of 2019, I have almost a year of use on this scope and it seems a fitting time to properly sit down, take some time and write a review.
Where I am Coming From
For the majority of the 2018 season, I was using my build as described in other posts, with a Vortex Razor Gen1 scope on it. That scope worked well for me. It traveled to matches around the continent without losing zero, tracked to take shots out to 1400+ yards and provided a lot of lessons. I however very quickly discovered that it was not the “be-all-end-all” scope for me. This realization came on the first day of the 2018 Meaford Long Range Steel Challenge PRS match in Meaford, Ontario, Canada. The reason for that quick realization was two-fold; the switchy winds made for some interesting reticle holds and, as stupid as this may sound, my brain doesn’t agree with “dot” reticles all too well.
Now don’t mistake my words here. I am not saying the Razor 5-20×50 is not a good scope (because I think it is) I am just saying that it was not the right scope for me, for this intended application. What I discovered is that I needed the following:
Once I had discovered why the Vortex was not going to be the scope I wanted to use for the end of 2018 and the off season, I started to search for a replacement. Before going to Meaford in early September, I had seen a post on a Canadian gun forum of someone wanting to trade a Bushnell DMR-i for a Vortex Razor. I was tempted, but thought “eh, the Razor works for what I need” and dismissed it. After the MLRSC PRS match, I took him up on the offer.
Once the Bushnell arrived, I mounted it onto my 6.5 Creedmoor Tikka and began evaluating it’s performance. Again, there are many things I like about the Bushnell DMR-i 3.5-21×50 G3; such as the tall, clearly marked turrets, solid construction, short profile and built in throw lever. However, it did not solve the issues that I was encountering with the Razor, and I knew another change had to be made.
About the same time as all of this was happening, I was put in contact with Tom at Go Big Tactical who interested in supporting a match/series that I was running. Long story short, I ended up with the opportunity to represent Minox and Go Big Tactical so I jumped on it without hesitation.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56 MR4, Defiance Deviant Elite, MDT ACC, IBI M24 26″ 6mm Dasher
Minox ZP5 – Initial Impressions
The Minox ZP5 arrived in October 2018, right as I was getting ready to build a new action and caliber. It was perfect timing and allowed me to really get comfortable with them both over the off season.
Upon taking the ZP5 out of the box, I immediately began to play with it and test it next to other optics I have at my disposal. From reading forums, talking to experienced shooters and asking as many questions as I could, my expectations were set quite high for this scope and boy, did it deliver!
I was concerned at first as the biggest complaint that most had against the ZP5 is a stiff transition to the second revolution of the elevation turret. Second to that, others had complaints about odd reticle issues and warranty concerns. Out of the box, my ZP5 did have the stiff transition from 14 mil to 15 mil, but it was not really noticeable when you’re dialing through. As for the rest of the scope, I could not find any errors reason for concern.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56 MR4, MDT LSS-XL Gen2, Tikka T3, IBI Custom Contour 6.5mm Creedmoor
First Range Trip
The first rifle to have the ZP5 mounted to it was my tried and trued, trusty old Tikka T3. That rifle now had a new-ish barrel and was soon to transition to my backup gun as my Defiance Deviant Elite was on order. After mounting it up, I ran a tall target test and ensure the scope was tracking true out to 18 Mil. Finding no issues and perfect tracking, I started to just run the scope as I had been with the Vortex and practicing over the off season.
I’ll cover this again later, but the initial image quality, crispness, colour and huge field of view (FOV) blew me away. I haven’t owned many high end optics, but this one was above and beyond everything I had owned or spent time with. Additional to the image, the turrets on this scope have 15 Mil per rotation, which allowed me to dial my 6.5 Creedmoor out to 1300+ yards in one revolution! The downside to that is that coming from the tall turrets and widely spaced clicks of the Razor, this took some getting used to.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
Top down view of the ZP5 5-25×56 mounted on my Defiance Deviant Elite. Solid features and impeccable build quality all around.
The fit and finish on the Minox ZP5 5-25×56 is above industry standard and it’s almost hard to describe. When you’re behind it, all of the adjustments feel “solid” and purposeful. There are no weird protrusions or snag points. There are no odd illumination dials. Nothing seems out of place, yet all the controls are where you want them.
Let’s start front to back. The scope comes factory equipped with Tenebraex scope covers which are both well designed and very durable. The 56mm objective is fairly standard now among top tier optics and will clear most barrels with a medium (1.00″) set of rings. A 34mm main tube is again, a standard and, we’ll cover this again later, provides excellent FOV as well as rigidity and plenty of internal adjustment.
One of the features that took some getting used to was the zoom ring, which is a little on the stiffer side, yet not too stiff that it is hard to adjust. This has worn in over use and the little, integrated throw lever is a great addition, albeit a little small.
Turrets
The ZP5 has three, standard turrets protruding from the erector housing: windage, elevation and parallax/illumination.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56, MDT One Piece Mount, Defiance Deviant Elite LH, Hoptic USA Quiver, MDT ACC
Elevation
Seeing as this is the turret that most shooters will interact with frequently, the Minox ZP5’s elevation turret is an interesting design. As I previously mentioned, switching to the 15 mil/rev turret took some getting used to coming from the big, tall turret of Vortex Razor Gen1 and Bushnell DMR-II. Most users of a Schmidt and Bender, US Optics or Zero Compromise optics would not notice the difference as the clicks are spaced quite similar.
On the topic of clicks, the ZP5 has very distinct and positive feeling clicks for each 0.1 mil. There isn’t a deep “thunk” like some of the other brands out there, but once the turret has been adjusted, there is a very unlikely chance that you will bump it out of position. Additionally, the elevation knob is laser engraved and the turrets have very little backlash, a perfect combination for precise dialing.
A cool feature of the elevation turret on the Minox ZP5 is that second revolution indicator is built into the housing and changes from black to white after one full revolution of the turret. Additional to the window changing colour, there is an intentionally stiff, tactile response at about the 14 mil mark to let the shooter know they’re about to enter the second revolution. Of the year of PRS/NRL/RTC competition use, I have only had my ZP5 past the first revolution once (whilst on the clock) with my 6mm Dasher at 1450 yards!
A final note on the elevation turret is that there is a built in zero stop which is by default set at 0.7 mil below your intended zero. The scope turret can be reset in under a minute by loosening two (2) set screws, lifting the turret and resetting the knob to zero. I have done this procedure many times over the last year and the screws have never backed out or failed/stripped.
Windage
The windage turret on the Minox ZP5 is much like the elevation turret. All clicks are 0.1 mil, and the adjustment ranges from R 6.0 mil to L 6.0 mil, giving you 12 mil of wind adjustment just on the turret.
The process of zeroing the windage turret is the exact same as the elevation turret and I have seen zero issues with mine so far.
Seeing as I barely dial any windage and prefer to hold using the reticle for most stages (except for movers) having an exposed windage turret initially worried me. I was hoping the ZP5 would have a capped windage turret like the Leupold Mark 5 HD or Nightforce ATACR series of scopes, however, it does not. After testing out the windage dial after the first few outings, I found that whether intentional or not, it is a much stiffer adjustment than the elevation dial.
I can see that some shooters may see this as a negative, and hey, draw your own conclusions, but to me that is perfect! If I ever have to dial on wind, I know that I will do it ahead of a stage and be mindful about it. I am never worried about my windage ever coming off of zero and messing me up and it is a peace of mind feature!
Parallax/Illumination
As noted by a lot of reviewers and ZP5 owners, the parallax on this scope is extremely forgiving and I find myself adjusting it at the beginning of a weekend and not thinking about it again. One note is that there are no yardage indicators on the parallax dial, however, it will focus down to 35-40 yards and out to infinity from what I have tested.
The adjustment range is a smooth transition, with no hangups or tight spots. Focusing in at high power and closer ranges (50-300 yards) is quite easily done and the target and reticle are easily resolved.
Illumination is not a feature that I personally use a lot as I am a shooter that competes and practices mostly in the daylight. What I will note, in my limited experience playing with and shooting with the reticle illuminated, is that it is very usable. Even at the 7+ power setting, the reticle does not get “fuzzy” or blur out, but remains crisp. At the lower settings below 4, you can’t really see the reticle in daylight and I believe that setting 1 would be even hard to see at night! End of the day, I have only shot with the illumination a handful of times, bumped it on by accident whilst uncasing once and cannot give a true review for you hunters or MIL/LEO’s out there that depend on it.
Reticle
When purchasing a Minox ZP5 5-25×56, you have the choice of 4 reticles: MR2, MR4, MR5 and THLR Hybrid.
The MR2 reticle at 5x power. As described, an ideal reticle for all types of engagements that require fine 0.2 mil aiming points as well as a good, clear view of the target.
MR4 reticle at 5 x as pictured. The best reticle for practical rifle shooting.
As described, the MR5 is the most basic of the standard ZP5 reticles and is ideal for the MIL/LEO closer range engagements.
I’ll stand by it, the MR4 is damn hard to beat! This is the reticle that came in the ZP5 I have been running for the last year and I am extremely happy with it. Whilst there is a trend of top shooters opting for a less cluttered and more basic reticle in the PRS and NRL currently, the MR4 delivers all you need and more in a reticle.
The centre, floating dot is precise and makes zeroing painless and quick. I find myself using 0.25″ dots at 100 yards, zooming the scope to about 20-22 x and focusing on perfectly centreing the dot on the target dot.
Next, you have the 0.2 mil subtensions with the innermost “leg” of the stadia acting as your first hold, then each, subsequent sub tension another 0.2 mil. This makes holding for windage and elevation much quicker and easier by removing a of the guess work and approximation.
Moving down the reticle, you have an incredibly useful tree design that covers just about every wind and elevation condition most shooters will encounter and has fine holds every 1 mil of elevation, with gaps in between. Those coming from a Horus or Leupold CCH reticle will miss the lack of fine holding points found in their grids, however, it is still very intuitive to use. I very rarely find myself “lost” on the clock in this reticle.
Finally, there are the fast ranging/milling reticles found in all Minox ZP series of rifle scope reticles. While most will never use them, I have found the 2×2 mil reticle superbly useful on a handful of occasions. There have been team matches where you must “mil” the target of a known size to back-calculate the distance, and the 0.1 mil subtensions of the MRAD ranging reticle have saved my stage! Other times, I will leave home without a range finder, get to a shooting location, set up steel and have to mil the targets before engaging them (great practice for milling stages too!).
Image Quality
This is a big one, and one that I do not tackle lightly. If you’ve made it this far through the review, you can obviously see that I have had time behind this optic. I have fired countless live rounds using it and probably 3x that in dryfire practice, however, optical/image quality is not one of my strong suits.
Whilst some optics reviewers will spend time delving into the contrast, resolution, colour pop, chromatic aberration and countless other intangible factors, I will not be doing so. I am still learning about a lot of the in depth tests that “optics snobs” perform, and I am not a point which I feel that I have the time or patience for those tests.
In saying that, I will make note of some of the aspects that I feel can comment on.
Field of View (FOV)
This came up very early on in the review as it is one of the coolest features of the Minox ZP5 in my opinion. This optic has an industry leading FOV for its magnification range and it shows. While most people will never care to check FOV or measure it (myself included), it is one aspect of image quality that gives this scope a “big picture” feel. Getting behind this scope at the 10-15x I usually shoot most stages at, it is very easy to scan and pick up targets, even in busy target arrays.
Image Crispness
Another overlooked factor that is hard to quantify on the Minox ZP5 is the image crispness, especially when shooting into high/low light or contrast environments. Rather than try and explain this one a quick story should do it justice.
A final note on the glass in the ZP5 is to do with the overall clarity when using the edges of the reticle or full extent of elevation/windage adjustments.
The edge-to-edge clarity has never been an issue for me with this scope as I am typically only focused on the centre 40-50%. There have been a handful of times (with my 22lr) that I have used a good amount of the horizontal stadia to practice holdovers, however, the glass is still plenty clear to make out your 0.2 mil holds and clearly see the targets.
As for image quality at the extents of your adjustments, this is now a test I perform on all of my optics the second they come out of the box. In my earlier shooting career, I took a scope out to the edge of it’s adjustment range and still had to hold over to make the impact. What I noticed with that scope at the time was that I was completely unable to have my head centred comfortably behind the scope and had to tilt my head to see through it at the extent of it’s travel.
Running the Minox ZP5 up to the maximum travel allows you to see comfortably through it with no eye strain or reticle/target distortion.
Eye box and Diopter Adjustment
A final note on sight picture is the eyebox on the Minox ZP5; it’s incredible. A lot of top tier scopes find a good balance between the useable eyebox and a forgiving parallax, but the ZP5 nails that combination in my opinion.
I have mentioned before that the parallax is typically a “set-it-and-forget-it” feature, but coupling that with the large eyebox and wide FOV, shooting in just about any position makes it comfortable and easy to get behind the scope.
The diopter, or reticle focus adjustment, is something that I like, but will not spend too much time on. The design team at Minox got it right when they implemented the locking diopter adjustment. I found that I have young and adaptive eyes, so typically I turn the diopter adjustment all the way in and leave it.
On this optic, during setup I figured I’d do it right and followed this adjustment guide on Sniper’s Hide. Being able to lock down the adjustment and not having to worry about it shifting on you is great peace of mind!
Sun setting on a practice day up in the mountains of Southwestern BC. Minox ZP5, MDT ACC, Defiance Deviant Elite, IBI M24 6 Dasher. No trucks were harmed in the making of this photo.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56 MR4 – Final Thoughts
Well if you’ve stuck with me this far, thank you. As you can see, this optic is pretty incredible and has a lot of features that set it apart from other scopes. The main question is; “If you were in the market for a high end, tactical rifle scope, would you buy it?”. My answer would be a resounding yes.
Pros:
Josh"
This review has been almost a year in the making! I feel that I have adequately evaluated a lot of the performance of Minox ZP5 tac 5-25x56 to the best of my abilities. I will be the first to tell you that I am no optical expert, but here is my honest opinion.
Full review can be found here
"Before I start this review of the Minox ZP5 5-25×56, I’d like to mention that I am a brand ambassador for Minox Optics and Go Big Tactical. Both of which I am very grateful for, and am extremely fortunate to be able to represent. To be upfront, I am biased towards these two brands, but I will not let them sway my opinion. I aim to provide you, the reader, with an in-depth and analytical review of this optic. As I have a lot of time behind this glass, this is going to be a long read, but bear with me. Now, without further adieu, here is my review of the Minox ZP5 Tac 5-25×56 scope!
Spec Sheet
- Elevation Travel: 28 mrad (96 MOA)
- Windage Travel: +/- 6 mrad (21 MOA)
- Adjustment per click: 0.1 mrad
- Main Tube Diameter: 34 mm
- Reticle Position: First Focal Plane
- Available Reticles (as of August 2019): MR2, MR4, MR5, THLR Hybrid
- Parallax Adjustment: 50 m (54.5 yards) to infinity
- Field of View at 5x: 7.6m @ 100m (24.93 ft @ 109 yards)
- Field of View at 25x: 1.6m @ 100m (5.25 ft @ 109 yards)
- Eye Relief: 90 mm (3.54 in)
- Scope length: 415 mm (16.34 in)
- Weight: 970 g (2.14 lb)
- Additional Features:
- Locking Diopter Adjustment
- Double turn elevation setting with visible indicator on second turn
- Illuminated reticle (auto off after 6 hours)
- 11 illumination settings
This post has been an ongoing evolution and I have tried to sit down and write it more times than I can count. I originally wanted to do some initial impressions back in October, 2018, but that came and went. Then I was going to do a new build report in January, 2019, but that also came and went. Now we’re at the tail end of 2019, I have almost a year of use on this scope and it seems a fitting time to properly sit down, take some time and write a review.
Where I am Coming From
For the majority of the 2018 season, I was using my build as described in other posts, with a Vortex Razor Gen1 scope on it. That scope worked well for me. It traveled to matches around the continent without losing zero, tracked to take shots out to 1400+ yards and provided a lot of lessons. I however very quickly discovered that it was not the “be-all-end-all” scope for me. This realization came on the first day of the 2018 Meaford Long Range Steel Challenge PRS match in Meaford, Ontario, Canada. The reason for that quick realization was two-fold; the switchy winds made for some interesting reticle holds and, as stupid as this may sound, my brain doesn’t agree with “dot” reticles all too well.
Now don’t mistake my words here. I am not saying the Razor 5-20×50 is not a good scope (because I think it is) I am just saying that it was not the right scope for me, for this intended application. What I discovered is that I needed the following:
- finer subtensions than 0.5 Mil
- less dots, more lines or a grid (think H59 or something similar).
Once I had discovered why the Vortex was not going to be the scope I wanted to use for the end of 2018 and the off season, I started to search for a replacement. Before going to Meaford in early September, I had seen a post on a Canadian gun forum of someone wanting to trade a Bushnell DMR-i for a Vortex Razor. I was tempted, but thought “eh, the Razor works for what I need” and dismissed it. After the MLRSC PRS match, I took him up on the offer.
Once the Bushnell arrived, I mounted it onto my 6.5 Creedmoor Tikka and began evaluating it’s performance. Again, there are many things I like about the Bushnell DMR-i 3.5-21×50 G3; such as the tall, clearly marked turrets, solid construction, short profile and built in throw lever. However, it did not solve the issues that I was encountering with the Razor, and I knew another change had to be made.
About the same time as all of this was happening, I was put in contact with Tom at Go Big Tactical who interested in supporting a match/series that I was running. Long story short, I ended up with the opportunity to represent Minox and Go Big Tactical so I jumped on it without hesitation.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56 MR4, Defiance Deviant Elite, MDT ACC, IBI M24 26″ 6mm Dasher
Minox ZP5 – Initial Impressions
The Minox ZP5 arrived in October 2018, right as I was getting ready to build a new action and caliber. It was perfect timing and allowed me to really get comfortable with them both over the off season.
Upon taking the ZP5 out of the box, I immediately began to play with it and test it next to other optics I have at my disposal. From reading forums, talking to experienced shooters and asking as many questions as I could, my expectations were set quite high for this scope and boy, did it deliver!
I was concerned at first as the biggest complaint that most had against the ZP5 is a stiff transition to the second revolution of the elevation turret. Second to that, others had complaints about odd reticle issues and warranty concerns. Out of the box, my ZP5 did have the stiff transition from 14 mil to 15 mil, but it was not really noticeable when you’re dialing through. As for the rest of the scope, I could not find any errors reason for concern.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56 MR4, MDT LSS-XL Gen2, Tikka T3, IBI Custom Contour 6.5mm Creedmoor
First Range Trip
The first rifle to have the ZP5 mounted to it was my tried and trued, trusty old Tikka T3. That rifle now had a new-ish barrel and was soon to transition to my backup gun as my Defiance Deviant Elite was on order. After mounting it up, I ran a tall target test and ensure the scope was tracking true out to 18 Mil. Finding no issues and perfect tracking, I started to just run the scope as I had been with the Vortex and practicing over the off season.
I’ll cover this again later, but the initial image quality, crispness, colour and huge field of view (FOV) blew me away. I haven’t owned many high end optics, but this one was above and beyond everything I had owned or spent time with. Additional to the image, the turrets on this scope have 15 Mil per rotation, which allowed me to dial my 6.5 Creedmoor out to 1300+ yards in one revolution! The downside to that is that coming from the tall turrets and widely spaced clicks of the Razor, this took some getting used to.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
Top down view of the ZP5 5-25×56 mounted on my Defiance Deviant Elite. Solid features and impeccable build quality all around.
The fit and finish on the Minox ZP5 5-25×56 is above industry standard and it’s almost hard to describe. When you’re behind it, all of the adjustments feel “solid” and purposeful. There are no weird protrusions or snag points. There are no odd illumination dials. Nothing seems out of place, yet all the controls are where you want them.
Let’s start front to back. The scope comes factory equipped with Tenebraex scope covers which are both well designed and very durable. The 56mm objective is fairly standard now among top tier optics and will clear most barrels with a medium (1.00″) set of rings. A 34mm main tube is again, a standard and, we’ll cover this again later, provides excellent FOV as well as rigidity and plenty of internal adjustment.
One of the features that took some getting used to was the zoom ring, which is a little on the stiffer side, yet not too stiff that it is hard to adjust. This has worn in over use and the little, integrated throw lever is a great addition, albeit a little small.
Turrets
The ZP5 has three, standard turrets protruding from the erector housing: windage, elevation and parallax/illumination.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56, MDT One Piece Mount, Defiance Deviant Elite LH, Hoptic USA Quiver, MDT ACC
Elevation
Seeing as this is the turret that most shooters will interact with frequently, the Minox ZP5’s elevation turret is an interesting design. As I previously mentioned, switching to the 15 mil/rev turret took some getting used to coming from the big, tall turret of Vortex Razor Gen1 and Bushnell DMR-II. Most users of a Schmidt and Bender, US Optics or Zero Compromise optics would not notice the difference as the clicks are spaced quite similar.
On the topic of clicks, the ZP5 has very distinct and positive feeling clicks for each 0.1 mil. There isn’t a deep “thunk” like some of the other brands out there, but once the turret has been adjusted, there is a very unlikely chance that you will bump it out of position. Additionally, the elevation knob is laser engraved and the turrets have very little backlash, a perfect combination for precise dialing.
A cool feature of the elevation turret on the Minox ZP5 is that second revolution indicator is built into the housing and changes from black to white after one full revolution of the turret. Additional to the window changing colour, there is an intentionally stiff, tactile response at about the 14 mil mark to let the shooter know they’re about to enter the second revolution. Of the year of PRS/NRL/RTC competition use, I have only had my ZP5 past the first revolution once (whilst on the clock) with my 6mm Dasher at 1450 yards!
A final note on the elevation turret is that there is a built in zero stop which is by default set at 0.7 mil below your intended zero. The scope turret can be reset in under a minute by loosening two (2) set screws, lifting the turret and resetting the knob to zero. I have done this procedure many times over the last year and the screws have never backed out or failed/stripped.
Windage
The windage turret on the Minox ZP5 is much like the elevation turret. All clicks are 0.1 mil, and the adjustment ranges from R 6.0 mil to L 6.0 mil, giving you 12 mil of wind adjustment just on the turret.
The process of zeroing the windage turret is the exact same as the elevation turret and I have seen zero issues with mine so far.
Seeing as I barely dial any windage and prefer to hold using the reticle for most stages (except for movers) having an exposed windage turret initially worried me. I was hoping the ZP5 would have a capped windage turret like the Leupold Mark 5 HD or Nightforce ATACR series of scopes, however, it does not. After testing out the windage dial after the first few outings, I found that whether intentional or not, it is a much stiffer adjustment than the elevation dial.
I can see that some shooters may see this as a negative, and hey, draw your own conclusions, but to me that is perfect! If I ever have to dial on wind, I know that I will do it ahead of a stage and be mindful about it. I am never worried about my windage ever coming off of zero and messing me up and it is a peace of mind feature!
Parallax/Illumination
As noted by a lot of reviewers and ZP5 owners, the parallax on this scope is extremely forgiving and I find myself adjusting it at the beginning of a weekend and not thinking about it again. One note is that there are no yardage indicators on the parallax dial, however, it will focus down to 35-40 yards and out to infinity from what I have tested.
The adjustment range is a smooth transition, with no hangups or tight spots. Focusing in at high power and closer ranges (50-300 yards) is quite easily done and the target and reticle are easily resolved.
Illumination is not a feature that I personally use a lot as I am a shooter that competes and practices mostly in the daylight. What I will note, in my limited experience playing with and shooting with the reticle illuminated, is that it is very usable. Even at the 7+ power setting, the reticle does not get “fuzzy” or blur out, but remains crisp. At the lower settings below 4, you can’t really see the reticle in daylight and I believe that setting 1 would be even hard to see at night! End of the day, I have only shot with the illumination a handful of times, bumped it on by accident whilst uncasing once and cannot give a true review for you hunters or MIL/LEO’s out there that depend on it.
Reticle
When purchasing a Minox ZP5 5-25×56, you have the choice of 4 reticles: MR2, MR4, MR5 and THLR Hybrid.
- MR2: A simple reticle, that is uncluttered and easy to use. The reticle featured a 1 x 1 MRAD centre crosshair and no open centre, however, the subtensions are still divided into 1 mil, 0.5 mil and 0.2 mil increments for precise aiming. The crosshair spans a 5 x 5 mil medium thickness crosshair before thickening up to a heavy bar on each of the 4 main stadia. The centre, fixed 1 x 1 crosshair is the only portion to illuminate if needed. Features two quick ranging scales as well. This reticle is very useful for the MIL/LEO professional, as well as a competitor or hunter that requires a full view of their target and surroundings, while maintaining precise holds.
The MR2 reticle at 5x power. As described, an ideal reticle for all types of engagements that require fine 0.2 mil aiming points as well as a good, clear view of the target.
- MR4: This reticle was designed around the “ambitious long range shooter” and is “tailored to the requirements of dynamic long range and tactical competition shooting“. With a “Christmas tree” style design, windage and elevation holds at 1 mil and every 0.2 mil, as well as cascading 0.2 mil wind holds at every MRAD down the main crosshair (to form the Christmas tree). An open centre with a “floating dot” ensures a precise hold when zeroing. The MR4 reticle spans fine adjustments for 2 mil up, 10 mil down and 5 mil side to side, making it extremely useful. There is also an MRAD ranging feature that will resolve to 0.1 mil if needed. When illuminated, all fine adjustment points (the full tree) lights up.
MR4 reticle at 5 x as pictured. The best reticle for practical rifle shooting.
- MR5: A simplified version of the MR2 and more open for a better view. The MR5 opts for 0.5 mil and 1.0 mil subtensions and no Christmas tree design. There is a fixed, centre crosshair and the two ranging reticles found on the MR2 are present again. 0.5/1 mil holds from 0-4 mil in all directions with the distance between 4-5 mil being taken up with finer, 0.2 mil increments. When illuminated, the whole thinner section of the crosshair will light up.
As described, the MR5 is the most basic of the standard ZP5 reticles and is ideal for the MIL/LEO closer range engagements.
- THLR Hybrid: A hunting/target crossover reticle that has usable holds for most, quick engagements when dialing is not possible. It is a very new reticle and I have not had much time with it, so I cannot comment too much on it. There may be some future content on this reticle, so stay tuned!
I’ll stand by it, the MR4 is damn hard to beat! This is the reticle that came in the ZP5 I have been running for the last year and I am extremely happy with it. Whilst there is a trend of top shooters opting for a less cluttered and more basic reticle in the PRS and NRL currently, the MR4 delivers all you need and more in a reticle.
The centre, floating dot is precise and makes zeroing painless and quick. I find myself using 0.25″ dots at 100 yards, zooming the scope to about 20-22 x and focusing on perfectly centreing the dot on the target dot.
Next, you have the 0.2 mil subtensions with the innermost “leg” of the stadia acting as your first hold, then each, subsequent sub tension another 0.2 mil. This makes holding for windage and elevation much quicker and easier by removing a of the guess work and approximation.
Moving down the reticle, you have an incredibly useful tree design that covers just about every wind and elevation condition most shooters will encounter and has fine holds every 1 mil of elevation, with gaps in between. Those coming from a Horus or Leupold CCH reticle will miss the lack of fine holding points found in their grids, however, it is still very intuitive to use. I very rarely find myself “lost” on the clock in this reticle.
Finally, there are the fast ranging/milling reticles found in all Minox ZP series of rifle scope reticles. While most will never use them, I have found the 2×2 mil reticle superbly useful on a handful of occasions. There have been team matches where you must “mil” the target of a known size to back-calculate the distance, and the 0.1 mil subtensions of the MRAD ranging reticle have saved my stage! Other times, I will leave home without a range finder, get to a shooting location, set up steel and have to mil the targets before engaging them (great practice for milling stages too!).
Image Quality
This is a big one, and one that I do not tackle lightly. If you’ve made it this far through the review, you can obviously see that I have had time behind this optic. I have fired countless live rounds using it and probably 3x that in dryfire practice, however, optical/image quality is not one of my strong suits.
Whilst some optics reviewers will spend time delving into the contrast, resolution, colour pop, chromatic aberration and countless other intangible factors, I will not be doing so. I am still learning about a lot of the in depth tests that “optics snobs” perform, and I am not a point which I feel that I have the time or patience for those tests.
In saying that, I will make note of some of the aspects that I feel can comment on.
Field of View (FOV)
This came up very early on in the review as it is one of the coolest features of the Minox ZP5 in my opinion. This optic has an industry leading FOV for its magnification range and it shows. While most people will never care to check FOV or measure it (myself included), it is one aspect of image quality that gives this scope a “big picture” feel. Getting behind this scope at the 10-15x I usually shoot most stages at, it is very easy to scan and pick up targets, even in busy target arrays.
Image Crispness
Another overlooked factor that is hard to quantify on the Minox ZP5 is the image crispness, especially when shooting into high/low light or contrast environments. Rather than try and explain this one a quick story should do it justice.
Edge-to-Edge Clarity and Image Quality at Extreme Adjustments
A final note on the glass in the ZP5 is to do with the overall clarity when using the edges of the reticle or full extent of elevation/windage adjustments.
The edge-to-edge clarity has never been an issue for me with this scope as I am typically only focused on the centre 40-50%. There have been a handful of times (with my 22lr) that I have used a good amount of the horizontal stadia to practice holdovers, however, the glass is still plenty clear to make out your 0.2 mil holds and clearly see the targets.
As for image quality at the extents of your adjustments, this is now a test I perform on all of my optics the second they come out of the box. In my earlier shooting career, I took a scope out to the edge of it’s adjustment range and still had to hold over to make the impact. What I noticed with that scope at the time was that I was completely unable to have my head centred comfortably behind the scope and had to tilt my head to see through it at the extent of it’s travel.
Running the Minox ZP5 up to the maximum travel allows you to see comfortably through it with no eye strain or reticle/target distortion.
Eye box and Diopter Adjustment
A final note on sight picture is the eyebox on the Minox ZP5; it’s incredible. A lot of top tier scopes find a good balance between the useable eyebox and a forgiving parallax, but the ZP5 nails that combination in my opinion.
I have mentioned before that the parallax is typically a “set-it-and-forget-it” feature, but coupling that with the large eyebox and wide FOV, shooting in just about any position makes it comfortable and easy to get behind the scope.
The diopter, or reticle focus adjustment, is something that I like, but will not spend too much time on. The design team at Minox got it right when they implemented the locking diopter adjustment. I found that I have young and adaptive eyes, so typically I turn the diopter adjustment all the way in and leave it.
On this optic, during setup I figured I’d do it right and followed this adjustment guide on Sniper’s Hide. Being able to lock down the adjustment and not having to worry about it shifting on you is great peace of mind!
Sun setting on a practice day up in the mountains of Southwestern BC. Minox ZP5, MDT ACC, Defiance Deviant Elite, IBI M24 6 Dasher. No trucks were harmed in the making of this photo.
Minox ZP5 5-25×56 MR4 – Final Thoughts
Well if you’ve stuck with me this far, thank you. As you can see, this optic is pretty incredible and has a lot of features that set it apart from other scopes. The main question is; “If you were in the market for a high end, tactical rifle scope, would you buy it?”. My answer would be a resounding yes.
Pros:
- Reliable, tough and solidly made
- Incredible glass quality and image output
- Huge FOV, forgiving parallax and easy to find eyebox
- Arguably the best reticle design for PRS/NRL style competition
- Tactile turrets that are repeatable and track perfect
- Standard 5-25 zoom range making targets easy to identify and see at all powers
- 30 year warranty
- 15 mil/rev turrets can take some getting used to
- Integrated throw lever is a little small
- Slightly stiffer turrets than other top tier optics (personal preference)
- Second revolution indicator stiffness (personal preference)
Josh"
