Rifle Scopes Looking for Input on 2nd FP Eastern Whitetail Scope

[Baron23]

Yeah, its another of those "this product or that product" threads....sigh.

I'm not a big time deer hunter. I'm 71, live in MD, hunted waterfowl for a very long time (but now...screw those ice covered duck boats! haha), and once a year I get to hunt whitetails on my buddy's land in Georgia with box blinds, 200 yard shooting lanes, and feeders. Yep, country club hunting for the aged! LOL

Was down there recently for my once a year hunt and my Vortex Viper PST II (3-15) shit the bed. Its on a Rem 700 5R in .308. Its with Vortex now and I expect them to fix it or replace it but I got down there and the damn rifle was shooting 2' low and the elevation turret was binding!! Loss of zero would be an understatement. I do not want to trust this Viper on a hunt again, and frankly I don't think a 1st FP with a tree reticle was the best choice.

So, I'm thinking of replacing the Vortex. I'm a mil vet so I get pretty good discounts from Leupold and Europtics (for the Swarovski).

I'm looking at these two scopes and would be interested in anybody's first hand experience with them. Particularly, glass quality (brightness) and reliability in a hunting situation:

1. Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44

2. Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44

a. Alternative is VX-6HD in 3-18 either 44 or 50 (50 seems a bit big for a hunting rifle, no?)​

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Thank you

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[shmuckatelli]

Just sold my old Swaro to buy a Leupold. 50mm will get you a couple minutes at the beginning and the end but the new VX3-HD 40mm I bought is great, bright, and crystal clear. That being said, the old Swaro Hibacht 6-18 was no slouch. I would vote for the Leupold 3-15. I’ve been watching and reading about it and if it’s as good or better than my new VX3, you’re golden. CDS system is pretty awesome too, not that it matters much 200 and in.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Just a heads up, we have Leupold VX-3HD's & VX-5HD's on sale

 

[Nik H]

One of my best friends is an avid hunter and has that exact Swarovski. It is a really nice optic

 

[Baron23]

CDS system is pretty awesome too, not that it matters much 200 and in.

Thanks for the reply. Ah, yeah....you can get a ballistic turret on the Swaro also for another $90 or so but I don't see needing it. 200 and in, point blank. 250, I need to hold 4" high or dial up a bit. Not going to be shooting anything further than 250, I believe.

Just a heads up, we have Leupold VX-3HD's & VX-5HD's on sale

Thanks Doug....very nice prices on the VX-5's. Looks like I have until xmas to pull the trigger, right?

One of my best friends is an avid hunter and has that exact Swarovski. It is a really nice optic

Thanks Nikki....hope you and yours are well and you have a great holiday season starting with Thanksgiving next week. Remember, eat until you founder and start dieting again in Jan! hahaha

Cheers

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Thanks Doug....very nice prices on the VX-5's. Looks like I have until zmas to pull the trigger, right?
Cheers

Yes sir. As always, please feel free to give us a call, 516-217-1000, to discuss what's best for your use and what we can do for you on anything that's not already part of our Black Friday Sale
Happy Thanksgiving

 

[FNG1001]

Yeah, its another of those "this product or that product" threads....sigh.

I'm not a big time deer hunter. I'm 71, live in MD, hunted waterfowl for a very long time (but now...screw those ice covered duck boats! haha), and once a year I get to hunt whitetails on my buddy's land in Georgia with box blinds, 200 yard shooting lanes, and feeders. Yep, country club hunting for the aged! LOL

Was down there recently for my once a year hunt and my Vortex Viper PST II (3-15) shit the bed. Its on a Rem 700 5R in .308. Its with Vortex now and I expect them to fix it or replace it but I got down there and the damn rifle was shooting 2' low and the elevation turret was binding!! Loss of zero would be an understatement. I do not want to trust this Viper on a hunt again, and frankly I don't think a 1st FP with a tree reticle was the best choice.

So, I'm thinking of replacing the Vortex. I'm a mil vet so I get pretty good discounts from Leupold and Europtics (for the Swarovski).

I'm looking at these two scopes and would be interested in anybody's first hand experience with them. Particularly, glass quality (brightness) and reliability in a hunting situation:

1. Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44

2. Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44

a. Alternative is VX-6HD in 3-18 either 44 or 50 (50 seems a bit big for a hunting rifle, no?)​

​

Thank you

​

​

I have a Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44 mounted on my Win M70 in 30-06. Great hunting scope imo. Lightweight, clear, and affordable. It's using the simple duplex reticle as I rarely dial for anything greater than 300 yards.

 

[roostercogburn98]

I’ve had my eye on a swaro z5i for a new 7-08 build for NC deer. The weight and size are very appealing to me and a “light” ish build to shoot a few hundred yards with.

I was gonna go with the 4w reticle and ballistic turret though.

 

[357Max]

Yeah, its another of those "this product or that product" threads....sigh.

I'm not a big time deer hunter. I'm 71, live in MD, hunted waterfowl for a very long time (but now...screw those ice covered duck boats! haha), and once a year I get to hunt whitetails on my buddy's land in Georgia with box blinds, 200 yard shooting lanes, and feeders. Yep, country club hunting for the aged! LOL

Was down there recently for my once a year hunt and my Vortex Viper PST II (3-15) shit the bed. Its on a Rem 700 5R in .308. Its with Vortex now and I expect them to fix it or replace it but I got down there and the damn rifle was shooting 2' low and the elevation turret was binding!! Loss of zero would be an understatement. I do not want to trust this Viper on a hunt again, and frankly I don't think a 1st FP with a tree reticle was the best choice.

So, I'm thinking of replacing the Vortex. I'm a mil vet so I get pretty good discounts from Leupold and Europtics (for the Swarovski).

I'm looking at these two scopes and would be interested in anybody's first hand experience with them. Particularly, glass quality (brightness) and reliability in a hunting situation:

1. Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44

2. Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44

a. Alternative is VX-6HD in 3-18 either 44 or 50 (50 seems a bit big for a hunting rifle, no?)​

​

Thank you

​

​

I don’t have any experience with those 2, but might be worth adding another option.
Since your current pst is likely getting replaced by Vortex might be worth asking if they’d upgrade i.e. give you a decent deal to replace it with the Razor LHT 3-15 x 42 HSR 5i mil reticle. It’s SFP with very good glass & reticle is uncluttered. Check out the specs, it has a lot going for it. 6 mil per rev on the locking elevation so large numbers & nice click spacing.
I’ve been very happy with mine & currently sits on a 6.5 Creedmoor hunting rifle. Going to shoot some 156 EOL loads this tomorrow.

 

[Baron23]

Thanks for all the input, guys. Still wondering how durable and failure resistant either of these scopes are. After a 16 hour drive to GA just to turn around with a broken Viper 3-15 (and yes, a spare scope would be smart...and expensive), durability is my main factor.

Optical performance is almost secondary as whitetail to 250 yds max is not that challenging for an scope, in my limited opinion.

 

[shmuckatelli]

Thanks for all the input, guys. Still wondering how durable and failure resistant either of these scopes are. After a 16 hour drive to GA just to turn around with a broken Viper 3-15 (and yes, a spare scope would be smart...and expensive), durability is my main factor.

Optical performance is almost secondary as whitetail to 250 yds max is not that challenging for an scope, in my limited opinion.

The Swaro sat atop a 300 wby mag for over 10 years when my grandfather owned it. He beats them to death. Banging on stands, not cased in the back seat with other gear thrown on top, rain and other elements. Never missed a beat.

Prior to that swaro, both the 300 wby and 270 wby (the one I always used) had old VX3 3-9s. Same story but with the .270 wby, add in a kid (me) 13-25 years old who used it every season. Never lost zero, never skipped a beat.

It’s just anecdotal, but any Swaro and any non-Freedom (even though they are decent) Leupold should hold up to the use you are looking for. I feel like they are a cut above the Vortex offerings but have no data to support that.

I hope you find one you like and enjoy your time down here in the south.

 

[Baron23]

The Swaro sat atop a 300 wby mag for over 10 years when my grandfather owned it. He beats them to death. Banging on stands, not cased in the back seat with other gear thrown on top, rain and other elements. Never missed a beat.

Prior to that swaro, both the 300 wby and 270 wby (the one I always used) had old VX3 3-9s. Same story but with the .270 wby, add in a kid (me) 13-25 years old who used it every season. Never lost zero, never skipped a beat.

It’s just anecdotal, but any Swaro and any non-Freedom (even though they are decent) Leupold should hold up to the use you are looking for. I feel like they are a cut above the Vortex offerings but have no data to support that.

I hope you find one you like and enjoy your time down here in the south.

Thanks for the great input. Yep, it seems that they are very comparable and its just going to be a matter of picking one.

I do have a Mk5 5-25 on a bench gun and it has been great and hasn't presented a single problem. My buddy with the land in GA strongly favors Swaro and has been hunting with them for decades. Maybe I'll just roll dice or throw at a dart board to pick! haha

Personally, I thought that the Viper 3-15 was a pretty decent scope but of course it soiled the bed at exactly the wrong time and cost me a hunt. Just undermined my confidence in this unit. By the by, Vortex emailed me that its on its way back to me but I won't know what the issue was until I receive it. They put hard copy from the service tech in the box. Kind of weird that a company as big as they are doesn't have an online service request form that uploads into their trouble tracking system and gives the customer online access to status/data relating to their service. Its not a cutting edge capability by any stretch but they do not have anything like that.

Cheers

 

[blacklab1]

I hunt in Pa and every year we take a trip to Maryland for their January season. I have the VX 5 3-15 on my 308 and it fits the bill perfectly. I also use the same gun in Kanases every year for white tail and it never let me down.

 

[Baron23]

I hunt in Pa and every year we take a trip to Maryland for their January season. I have the VX 5 3-15 on my 308 and it fits the bill perfectly. I also use the same gun in Kanases every year for white tail and it never let me down.

Thank you. Great input. Appreciate it.

 

[howl]

Those are fine. Take the 50 so you can turn the mag up to 7x at last light. Deer get nocturnal on feeders. You'll want to shoot up to the last second. If the feeders are closer than 200 and the cloud cover isn't extraordinarily heavy those are better than you need.

I think eurooptics sells the Trijicon 2.5-10x56 models. Worth considering for durability. It looks like you're in Schmidt & Bender Klassik territory with your budget. S&B are better than what you have listed.

 

[TheBigCountry]

Are you wanting a MIL FFP scope?

If so, Burris XTR3i could fit the bill

If not, many a deer has been taken with a 3-9 optic, especially in the NE.

For 200 yards and under, a used Leupold 3-9 would work, especially if you can find one of the VXR 30mm models with the firedot

 

[FuhQ]

Yeah, its another of those "this product or that product" threads....sigh.

I'm not a big time deer hunter. I'm 71, live in MD, hunted waterfowl for a very long time (but now...screw those ice covered duck boats! haha), and once a year I get to hunt whitetails on my buddy's land in Georgia with box blinds, 200 yard shooting lanes, and feeders. Yep, country club hunting for the aged! LOL

Was down there recently for my once a year hunt and my Vortex Viper PST II (3-15) shit the bed. Its on a Rem 700 5R in .308. Its with Vortex now and I expect them to fix it or replace it but I got down there and the damn rifle was shooting 2' low and the elevation turret was binding!! Loss of zero would be an understatement. I do not want to trust this Viper on a hunt again, and frankly I don't think a 1st FP with a tree reticle was the best choice.

So, I'm thinking of replacing the Vortex. I'm a mil vet so I get pretty good discounts from Leupold and Europtics (for the Swarovski).

I'm looking at these two scopes and would be interested in anybody's first hand experience with them. Particularly, glass quality (brightness) and reliability in a hunting situation:

1. Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x44

2. Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44

a. Alternative is VX-6HD in 3-18 either 44 or 50 (50 seems a bit big for a hunting rifle, no?)​

​

Thank you

​

​

The Zeiss V4 is on par with Zwaro Z5, but the Zeiss has better turrets and reticles, IMO...

Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16x50mm ZMOAi-T30 Illum #64 Ext. Elev. Turret Riflescope 522945-9964-080

Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16x50mm ZMOAi-T30 Illum #64 Ext. Elev. Turret Riflescope 522945-9964-080 For Sale at EuroOptic.com! | Call (570) 368-3920

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Zeiss Conquest V4 6-24x50mm ZMOAi-20 Illum #89 Ext. Elev. Turret Ext. Locking Wind. Riflescope 522955-9989-090

Zeiss Conquest V4 6-24x50mm ZMOAi-20 Illum #89 Ext. Elev. Turret Ext. Locking Wind. Riflescope 522955-9989-090 For Sale at EuroOptic.com! | Call (570) 368-3920

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