Rifle Scopes Minox ZP5 turrets not aligned

[Jackomason]

I picked up a used ZP5 off the PX here, initial impressions are good except for a few areas.

The parallax seems to have been ruffed around a lot and the knob has a very slight bind in it (what I'd expect in a used scope I guess) and the parallax doesnt seem all that forgiving but it does work.

But the main issue I've noticed was the turrets dont always line up with the corresponding hashmarks. It looks like the previous owner learned to live with this and slipped the turrets so they were offset ever so slightly when zero'd leaving the indicator arrow dead center when further on in the first rev.

I slipped the turret to line up perfectly on zero. I start to see it wander at 5 - 5.5 mils and at 10 mils lines up with the 9.9 mark (yes, I counted every click).

Anyway all this to say, have you guys seen this before? Was there anything you could do to fix this or was Minox/Blaser willing to fix this? I've emailed and called them but it seems no one is home. Which is understandable. I hope its user error but I dont know...

If I have to live with it. What is the best strategy? Do I just shoot my dope? Or enter the offset into my software?

No tracking test just yet.

 

[Jack's Dad]

I would not worry about it. I've never tried that test on mine but even if I saw the same "problem" the insignificance of the issue would be immediately forgotten.

 

[Jackomason]

Alright, I appreciate it. I guess I just expected perfection when it comes to a scope like this. But for the price I paid I'm happy and I'm sure I wont have problems hitting targets. Just wanted to iron everything out when I first got it so I'm not dragging my feet a year into owning it.

I took one more picture of the turrets set at 10 mils.

 

[Pilotscrappy]

Honestly if it were me I would keep trying blaser /minox.. regardless of what you paid for it ,its still a expensive optic in the upper echelon of rifle scopes. I would expect the turrets to line up perfectly.. but to each his own ,if it doesn't bug you just keep blasting away.

 

[never_summer]

Is it mounted in rings? If they are slightly overtorqued you might get some binding in the parallax knob.
The alignment on the turrets is a known issue. Mine does it also where it’ll be slightly off from the indicator, but the tracking is always good.

 

[Jackomason]

Is it mounted in rings? If they are slightly overtorqued you might get some binding in the parallax knob.
The alignment on the turrets is a known issue. Mine does it also where it’ll be slightly off from the indicator, but the tracking is always good.

No it's not in the mount yet, I've got an MPA mount on order. That's good to hear. Just playing with it it comes back around and lines up beyond 10 and into the second rev but back at it around 5-5.5 mils. So it shouldnt be too bad to keep in mind.

The parallax drag is very minimal but noticable when you are trying to get it just right.

 

[Glassaholic]

I just sent my older ZP5 back to Blaser USA who shipped it back to Minox. Never had an issue with the turrets but there was slight play and clicks not as distinct as my brand new ZP5, I had some other scopes to fill the gap so figured why not. Took Minox Germany 2 months to turn it around and during the craziness of the Chinese virus to boot. The new turrets are outstanding, very little play and very distinct clicks. All this to say I’d recommend sending it back when you know you won’t be shooting for a while or you have another scope for temporary use. This is an alpha class scope and should function like one so I would not tolerate any error. The biggest downside to the ZP5 is the extended wait time for repair, but they will take care of you.

 

[Tac Beard]

My ZP5 has a slight stiff spot in the parallax knob, right about at the spot where parallax is perfect for 100 yards.

I don’t know if it’s a design feature or a glitch, but I find it useful for setting parallax to 100 yards quickly without staring down the tube.

 

[Jackomason]

I just sent my older ZP5 back to Blaser USA who shipped it back to Minox. Never had an issue with the turrets but there was slight play and clicks not as distinct as my brand new ZP5, I had some other scopes to fill the gap so figured why not. Took Minox Germany 2 months to turn it around and during the craziness of the Chinese virus to boot. The new turrets are outstanding, very little play and very distinct clicks. All this to say I’d recommend sending it back when you know you won’t be shooting for a while or you have another scope for temporary use. This is an alpha class scope and should function like one so I would not tolerate any error. The biggest downside to the ZP5 is the extended wait time for repair, but they will take care of you.

That's good to hear, and good advice. I may wait till November to send it in to minimize having a scope down. I've just got to remember that they are listing this scope for $3400 MSRP.

I'd assume that this is a situation that they would send it to minox Germany for repairs.

 

[dustingaunder]

Was this one in a white box?

I’ve got three of these now and I don’t think any of mine are off the marks at all once aligned on zero.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

If you wanted perfection you should have bought new

 

[DisplacedTexan]

This is one reason I sold mine. For the money it should have been perfect and I just didn't trust the scope anymore. Confidence in your gear is paramount.

 

[Jackomason]

If you wanted perfection you should have bought new

Well that's a load of crap. A factory defect and damage from the user are not the same thing and I feel that i separated the two into their categories.

 

[dustingaunder]

I yanked one of mine out of the safe. Lined up on zero I counted every 10 click to the end of travel. It was the most “off” at 10. But by off, it only slightly favors the right side of the thick line. A 10th either side of 10 and it’s still on the small marks. It’s back to center when it gets back to zero at the beginning of rev 2.
I’d send yours back to Blaser for sure. Something is amiss.

 

[Jackomason]

This is one reason I sold mine. For the money it should have been perfect and I just didn't trust the scope anymore. Confidence in your gear is paramount.

I havent shot the thing yet and I feel that after sending it in I'll feel pretty good about it. Time will tell.

 

[Bradv86]

Snagged one myself from the PX but haven't been home to play with it yet. If anything is amiss I would plan to send it for inspection and repair. The 30yr warranty is there so I will make use of it if needed.

Scuffs on a used item? No problem, it is expected and normally disclosed. Alignment error or possible tracking issues on a $3400MSRP tier 1 scope is different altogether and warrants an inspection I feel.

 

[never_summer]

That is 7.7 mils on mine. Yes it’s slightly off on the indications but it’s not like I have zero clue where it is, the scope tracks fine besides that. It slightly bugged me at first but it dials true so I just moved on

 

[thehun]

Tier 1 optic...I expect perfection...just like if I spent that much on a Tier 1 rifle...so I would call Minox and have repair it...

 

[Dthomas3523]

If you wanted perfection you should have bought new

Ummmm, the turrets don’t work out of alignment with use on a quality optic.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

I understand that but your chances of getting a dicked up product are greater when buying used. There are alot of reasons to sell an optic and production flaws like turrets or not great glass sample are pretty common. Not every unit is the same, especially with optics.

with most manufactures they only Warrant to original buyer so if you want it right with the best chance to make it right if it is dicked up, buy new.

thats all i was saying.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

Well that's a load of crap. A factory defect and damage from the user are not the same thing and I feel that i separated the two into their categories.

Then contact the seller and get a refund if you arent happy. He is the one who sold you a factory defect. i assume he didnt disclose this?

 

[CrabsandFootball]

Snagged one myself from the PX but haven't been home to play with it yet. If anything is amiss I would plan to send it for inspection and repair. The 30yr warranty is there so I will make use of it if needed.

Scuffs on a used item? No problem, it is expected and normally disclosed. Alignment error or possible tracking issues on a $3400MSRP tier 1 scope is different altogether and warrants an inspection I feel.

One of the problems with Minox is they will most likely have to go back to germany. I was down to the razor gen 2 and zp5. just about everything on the minox is equal or bertter than the razor and i love the reticle. Its about $1000 more, but worth it for those features IMO and it compares well with alpha glass. The issue is the horror stories of people having to deal with long wait times and poor coms from minox. So i bought the “lessor” scope becuse if anything goes wrong, vortex will take care of it very quickly and easily.

Its not a tier 1 scope and its MSRP is less than an AMG that sells for half. That is the main drawback of the minox, support.

 

[DisplacedTexan]

One of the problems with Minox is they will most likely have to go back to germany. I was down to the razor gen 2 and zp5. just about everything on the minox is equal or bertter than the razor and i love the reticle. Its about $1000 more, but worth it for those features IMO and it compares well with alpha glass. The issue is the horror stories of people having to deal with long wait times and poor coms from minox. So i bought the “lessor” scope becuse if anything goes wrong, vortex will take care of it very quickly and easily.

Its not a tier 1 scope and its MSRP is less than an AMG that sells for half. That is the main drawback of the minox, support.

All Vortex products are hugely overpriced in MSRP. MSRP is not anything to go by. I had an AMG and a ZP5. I hate LTEC turrets so I ditched it for the Minox.

Currently running a TT 525P and an NF 7-35 ATACR though.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

All Vortex products are hugely overpriced in MSRP. MSRP is not anything to go by. I had an AMG and a ZP5. I hate LTEC turrets so I ditched it for the Minox.

Currently running a TT 525P and an NF 7-35 ATACR though.

We are aware of this bubba. I was responding to the dude who brought up msrp.

 

[Bradv86]

One of the problems with Minox is they will most likely have to go back to germany. I was down to the razor gen 2 and zp5. just about everything on the minox is equal or bertter than the razor and i love the reticle. Its about $1000 more, but worth it for those features IMO and it compares well with alpha glass. The issue is the horror stories of people having to deal with long wait times and poor coms from minox. So i bought the “lessor” scope becuse if anything goes wrong, vortex will take care of it very quickly and easily.

Its not a tier 1 scope and its MSRP is less than an AMG that sells for half. That is the main drawback of the minox, support.

I went in knowing that warranty or repair could take months if the occasion arose.

I am not the type of shooter that may be out of a match it my optic goes down etc. I can wait for service.

Service, warranty, and turnaround are definitely things to consider when dropping this much on an optic. Those factors also vary person to person.

 

[never_summer]

Where in Texas are you located @Bradv86?

 

[Bradv86]

Where in Texas are you located @Bradv86?

From Houston.

Working an hour south of San Antonio.

 

[Glassaholic]

One of the problems with Minox is they will most likely have to go back to germany. I was down to the razor gen 2 and zp5. just about everything on the minox is equal or bertter than the razor and i love the reticle. Its about $1000 more, but worth it for those features IMO and it compares well with alpha glass. The issue is the horror stories of people having to deal with long wait times and poor coms from minox. So i bought the “lessor” scope becuse if anything goes wrong, vortex will take care of it very quickly and easily.

Its not a tier 1 scope and its MSRP is less than an AMG that sells for half. That is the main drawback of the minox, support.

it will have to go back to Germany. Not quite sure how you “define” nightmare story but as mentioned above, sent mine back to Minox and it took about two months to get back into my hands. Yes, communication was not always the best, but I was patient so it didn’t bother me too much. I inquired once after a little over a month and someone from Germany contacted me and said they were wrapping up with the repair. A email came a short while later saying they were done and it was on the next shipment to the states. Contacted Blaser USA and they did not have information, but a bit of patience knowing things were delayed in international shipping due to the Chinese virus and about two weeks later I got a note from Blaser USA saying they received it and it would be shipped the next week, a day later I received tracking info and had it within two days, quicker than they estimated.

I do not consider the above to be a “nightmare “ story, it was simply knowing this is what happens when repairs occur overseas. Now if I go into it with the expectation that all scopes should have a week turn around like Vortex then yes, I can see how someone would be very frustrated. But if we are informed and understand each companies warranty and repair policies and also where service centers are located, I think we’ll be better off with regard to our expectations.

Again, I get that some people would be bothered by this situation or rather the length of time it takes should your scope need to be sent in. That is definitely a factor depending on the type of shooting you do. For the OP he mentions waiting until November because the scope is still usable and he can wait for that lull in shooting time to occur.

 

[never_summer]

From Houston.

Working an hour south of San Antonio.

I’m north of San Antonio. If you are at this next foxtrot match I’ll be down there if you want to compare scopes.

 

[Glassaholic]

One other thing to Jackomason, if I bought a scope used that had the issue you're referring to and the seller did not disclose I'd be a bit frustrated. Now it's entirely possible the original owner was never even aware of the issue, but if I sold a scope to someone and they sent me a note saying "the turrets don't align properly" and I wasn't aware of it, I'd say "if you wanted perfection you should have bought new" ha, totally joking there, to be honest I would offer to buy it back on my dime or if the buyer was willing to deal with it maybe refund them some of the cost for their troubles. But that is me and I realize not everyone on the Hide would agree or do the same. One thing I would say, is that when you do send it back to Minox/Blaser USA that you tell them the turrets have a bit of play and aren't as distinct as you think they should be (unless you're totally happy). This is the reason I shipped my older ZP5 back, turrets worked fine and never gave me an issue, but newer ones were definitely better so I thought it couldn't hurt to ship back the older scope and see what they could do, glad I did as the new turrets on the older scope are really nice. Here's a video I did a while back after I got my new scope to compare to the old.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Jackomason]

One other thing to Jackomason, if I bought a scope used that had the issue you're referring to and the seller did not disclose I'd be a bit frustrated. Now it's entirely possible the original owner was never even aware of the issue, but if I sold a scope to someone and they sent me a note saying "the turrets don't align properly" and I wasn't aware of it, I'd say "if you wanted perfection you should have bought new" ha, totally joking there, to be honest I would offer to buy it back on my dime or if the buyer was willing to deal with it maybe refund them some of the cost for their troubles. But that is me and I realize not everyone on the Hide would agree or do the same. One thing I would say, is that when you do send it back to Minox/Blaser USA that you tell them the turrets have a bit of play and aren't as distinct as you think they should be (unless you're totally happy). This is the reason I shipped my older ZP5 back, turrets worked fine and never gave me an issue, but newer ones were definitely better so I thought it couldn't hurt to ship back the older scope and see what they could do, glad I did as the new turrets on the older scope are really nice. Here's a video I did a while back after I got my new scope to compare to the old.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Yeah I'm pretty sure the seller knew. And he's fairly frequent around here (that's why I chose his over others recently posted) why I think he knew is that the turrets were ever so slightly slipped one way so that further on in its range it would line up.

It's going on a 224v so I shouldnt be dialing 10 mils any time soon but your right. Just not sure I see a private seller the same as a box store. I'll have to think about that one.

 

[Guthwine]

I would guess that this has nothing to do with tracking- or turret quality but is simply the result of the laser engraving, where the cap was not aligned perfectly on its axis.

Many other manufacturers reduce the effect by creating some distance between the 2 indicators or are trying to avoid the whole problem with differently shaped indicators. (like dots for example) A triangle right next to the line just makes it very obvious if something went wrong.

 

[Bradv86]

I’m north of San Antonio. If you are at this next foxtrot match I’ll be down there if you want to compare scopes.

Appreciate the offer! This is why SH is great.

I'll probably be back home by that time though and don't have the optic with me.

 

[SD Carpenter]

I got mine in March from the coupon deal, and after about 7 mils, it's off as far as .1 mil, jumping on either side of the hashmarks....

 

[Jackomason]

I got mine in March from the coupon deal, and after about 7 mils, it's off as far as .1 mil, jumping on either side of the hashmarks....

Do you have any plans to send it in?
How do you deal with the error?

 

[SD Carpenter]

Do you have any plans to send it in?
How do you deal with the error?

I just got word I may be sent to salt lake city for a couple months to help out with a job, so it might be the perfect time to send it in and forget while I'm working 6-7 days a week out of town.
I haven't been able to get in touch with blaser... But when I reached out to minox in Germany they told me to send it in straight away.

For dealing with it, I have my zero dead nuts, and I counted the clicks to know which side of the hashmarks it's on. I'm literally not exaggerating when I say it jumps on either side of the hashmarks

 

[Jackomason]

I just got word I may be sent to salt lake city for a couple months to help out with a job, so it might be the perfect time to send it in and forget while I'm working 6-7 days a week out of town.
I haven't been able to get in touch with blaser... But when I reached out to minox in Germany they told me to send it in straight away.

For dealing with it, I have my zero dead nuts, and I counted the clicks to know which side of the hashmarks it's on. I'm literally not exaggerating when I say it jumps on either side of the hashmarks

That's exactly what mine does. I know that its shy from 5 - 10 and from 10 -14 its past, the closer I am to 10 the more confusing it is. It's not off much but with 15 mils per turn it doesnt have to be far to confuse things.

Most my targets will give me that much forgiveness but itd be nice to have it irond out none the less.

 

[Jackomason]

Well we'll see if this fixes it. Hope it does!

 

[Bradv86]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Well we'll see if this fixes it. Hope it does! View attachment 7338917

Hope so! That would indicate what @Guthwine mentioned, a simple error in the laser etching if it corrects the problem.

 

[Kickin45]

Alright, I appreciate it. I guess I just expected perfection when it comes to a scope like this. But for the price I paid I'm happy and I'm sure I wont have problems hitting targets. Just wanted to iron everything out when I first got it so I'm not dragging my feet a year into owning it.

I took one more picture of the turrets set at 10 mils.
View attachment 7337588

that would drive me insane on a $700 scope.
Id lose my crap on a $3k scope.
Send this pic to Blaser and see what they say

 

[generalzip]

I had my Minox do the same. And another had some
Of the worse glass I’ve seen (way worse than the one with crappy turrets). It was at this point I said I’d never own a Minox product again. Once ok. But twice (brand new) you lost my business. Never had a Schmidt or NF or even Vortex have issues like this so why deal with the headache. send it back for repairs or sell it and buy a known quantity.

 

[never_summer]

@generalzip were both of those zp5 scopes?

 

[generalzip]

Yes. Zp5 5-25. It’s hit or miss you get a great one or something obv wrong with it. The QC is some of the worst I’ve seen from a German company

 

[Glassaholic]

I had my Minox do the same. And another had some
Of the worse glass I’ve seen (way worse than the one with crappy turrets). It was at this point I said I’d never own a Minox product again. Once ok. But twice (brand new) you lost my business. Never had a Schmidt or NF or even Vortex have issues like this so why deal with the headache. send it back for repairs or sell it and buy a known quantity.

And what is the purpose of this post? Just so you can share your opinion of how horrible you think Minox is?

 

[One1Bravo]

And what is the purpose of this post? Just so you can share your opinion of how horrible you think Minox is?

He does this in every thread about the ZP5.

 

[MOUNTIC]

He does this in every thread about the ZP5.

What I have seen also. Gets old. We get he doesn't like them. Guess he still has a bone to pick with them.

 

[generalzip]

And what is the purpose of this post? Just so you can share your opinion of how horrible you think Minox is?

To share a real life example of QC issues with a top tier scope manufacturer 100% relevant to the OPs situation and how I ultimately dealt with the problem and how I’d recommend he deal with his issue. Sorry you have an issue with honesty and sharing personal experiences.

 

[generalzip]

Just don’t understand why you guys think it’s only ok to share your positive views and experiences. Why can’t I share my negative experience to make a buyer draw their own conclusion? A lot of these threads influence how people spend their money. I’d be happy to have more data points prior to a 2-3k+ purchase.

 

[dustingaunder]

It’s been pretty well established that the QC and turrets have greatly improved. Your story doesn’t tell the story anymore and no one wants to hear it anymore.

 

[MOUNTIC]

To the OP. Losen the set screws and tighten them back in small increments. Sometimes if one is tightened down too much first it can tilt the cap (like on the mk5s) and it will be off at some point in the rotation.

I had one that was a little off. I pushed the cap all the way down when tighting the screws and then it was lined up perfect. Could be something simple. Dial up a few mils losen screws and rezero it. Tighten and see what happens. I wouldnt just send it in just yet.