Minox ZP5 elevation "slippage" and loss of zero after hitting 2nd elevation turret revolution

[MTisfull]

Hello,

I have a brand new Minox ZP5, and after reading the instructions and reading on SH- I have a problem I have not found a solution for yet, and I was hoping someone has come across it before.

I have the rifle zeroed and everything works fine and the scope will return to zero as long as I stay under the second revolution of the elevation turret. When I reach the transition for the second elevation revolution the indicator windows turn white but I lose all clicks in the elevation increase direction. If I rotate back down in elevation I will get clicks in that direction, and once I run all the way to the elevation max hard stop I will then get clicks in both directions thereafter. I can run the elevation turret back down all the way to the first revolution (black windows) but I lose my zero- usually about 5-6 mil high as seen through the scope. This has been repeatable and the scope cap screws are tight so I do not think it is a slipping of the scope turret cap problem.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Glassaholic]

Hello,

I have a brand new Minox ZP5, and after reading the instructions and reading on SH- I have a problem I have not found a solution for yet, and I was hoping someone has come across it before.

I have the rifle zeroed and everything works fine and the scope will return to zero as long as I stay under the second revolution of the elevation turret. When I reach the transition for the second elevation revolution the indicator windows turn white but I lose all clicks in the elevation increase direction. If I rotate back down in elevation I will get clicks in that direction, and once I run all the way to the elevation max hard stop I will then get clicks in both directions thereafter. I can run the elevation turret back down all the way to the first revolution (black windows) but I lose my zero- usually about 5-6 mil high as seen through the scope. This has been repeatable and the scope cap screws are tight so I do not think it is a slipping of the scope turret cap problem.

Thanks for your help.

When you say you "lose all clicks" are you saying that above 14 mil the turret goes silent and there is no longer any definitive stop between 0.1 mil hash marks, it just spins freely as you move above 14 mil?

 

[MTisfull]

When you say you "lose all clicks" are you saying that above 14 mil the turret goes silent and there is no longer any definitive stop between 0.1 mil hash marks, it just spins freely as you move above 14 mil?

Thank you for your help. Yes, there is complete loss of tactile and audible clicks at 15.5 mil (found by trial and error) unless I decrease the elevation or go all the way up to the max elevation hard stop then down, then I will get clicks increasing elevation as well.

The turret does not spin freely and is very hard to turn all the way until I hit the hard stop and clicks return again in both directions. I can then back the elevation down to my zero and run through the elevation turret again without incident or significant difficulty, but my zero on the scope turret is out of alignment significantly compared to looking through the scope. Rezeroing the scope replicates the same problem every time. The cylinder in the turret appears to be facing the correct direction as in the manual.

 

[delfuego]

I think you might have an issue with the initial setup. I don't think you're actually on the first revolution. I have a quite a few of these and have been running them since they were first released. They have all been solid in my experience. 22, PMS, NRL, ELR, and lots of other matches.

I do recall one of them had something funky during setup. If I recall I had to get it below the 2nd rev (or manually switch it) to get it right. Sorry for no being more help, it was quite a few years back on my 3rd (?) ZP-5. Look at the turret without the cap, I believe there is a lever showing and it had to be advanced (or reversed).

 

[kskevin]

Are your hex screws on the turret tight as it sounds like they may be slipping once you hit that stiffer resistance going into second rev.

 

[Glassaholic]

OP, some good suggestions above, try fiddling with it more. If nothing fixes, you mentioned you bought it new, if from a reputable dealer they will usually allow returns within 15 days of purchase, sometimes longer - the Hide dealers have a great history of excellent CS especially with these situations. Also, a call to Richard at CS Tactical (@CSTactical ) might be helpful, even though they no longer sell Minox they used to and have extensive knowledge of the scopes.

 

[MTisfull]

Thank you all for your help everyone, I appreciate it. The cylinder in the turret was oriented the way it was directed to be in the manual. The screws were on tight- I had that thought as well kskevin but once the hard stop max was hit the clicks returned and I tightened them as much as I felt safe to. When it was quieter at night and I was obsessing on why I couldn't figure this out- I noticed there was a click- like a gear shift at the max elevation hard stop. I'm wondering if that is why the clicks returned after hitting it? I ended up trying all kinds of things including how I oriented the cap on replacement and something magically worked on the "slippage." It went away and now I have a hard stop at 15.3 mil, so just after it gets into the second revolution. I know others have posted similar results and I'm happy the scope is no longer doing what it was but does that seem correct to those of you with a lot of experience with this scope? I am running a 0 MOA rail with a 6.5CM currently, so that will get me where I need to be, but I had hoped to put this on some other rifles as well where more elevation travel would be helpful.

The scope seems pretty bomb proof so it really bothers me I cant identify why or what was causing the behavior but at least I don't think I broke it (fingers crossed). I did wonder if some factory debris in the internals may have been present on the second revolution transition which worked its way out after a few dozen rotations- just reaching at this point.

I will need to look at CS going forward.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Glassaholic]

It went away and now I have a hard stop at 15.3 mil, so just after it gets into the second revolution. ...I am running a 0 MOA rail with a 6.5CM currently, so that will get me where I need to be, but I had hoped to put this on some other rifles as well where more elevation travel would be helpful.

The Minox ZP5 offers 28 mil of travel, with a 0 moa rail (and assuming 0 moa mount/rings) you theoretically have 14 mils of travel, I would say 15.3 is within range after zeroing the scope.

 

[MTisfull]

Thank you. And yes 0 MOA rings as well.

 

[delfuego]

Glad to hear it. I like them. They track, have excellent glass and a great reticle. Those are my priorities in order. I do wish customer service was stat-side, but Germans make good scopes. I have one with +15k rounds on it (black box for all the haters). I sent it in for a checkup this year. It's been Ol' Trusty for a lot of years.

 

[MTisfull]

Delfuego, did you have to send your scope back to Germany or did someone check it out here?

Thanks

 

[delfuego]

They go back to Deutschland via Blaser US. Blaser US is the distributor and support for Minox these days. Emails and packages go to Texas, then to Minox in Germany.

I wish it was direct support with Minox or "Minox US" (if such a thing ever existed). Better working and communicating directly with the manufacturer in my opinion. More skin in the game, they want to get it right. Blaser has a lot of companies in their portfolio so their focus is split. I totally understand why it's setup like this, but I miss S&B and Premier / Optronica having US support people. Those guys were awesome.

 

[TimK]

I sent mine back during Covid. Thought I had a scope problem, turned out it was a rifle problem. Took a solid year to go to Germany and get back to me. I assume a lot of that was due to COVID stupidity, but I’ll be interested to hear how it goes for delfuego (Hi Pedro!).

I love my ZP5 and would gladly have several more.

 

[MTisfull]

Thanks guys- I was curious what the turn around time to Germany and back would be like. I agree about stateside customer service- so much easier to deal with.

I'm definitely late to the party on the ZP5, but I can see why they are well liked. I could only find them at one store, everywhere else was backordered indefinitely.

 

[delfuego]

Timmay!

Couple months, sent mine in this year. It hung a little at US customs, but the work in Germany was fast. It can't touch Vortex CS, but they got it done.

 

[MTisfull]

Thank you