Rifle Scopes Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

[JRockman]

I know I like to help other's shell out the green, so thanks for helping me spend mine wisely!

I've got a MK2 Target 6.5 Creedmoor that needs new glass. I spend about 40% of my time at the bench shooting 200 - 600 yds, 20% of my time at the bench shooting 600 - 1000 yds, 30% in the mountains shooting random targets at various distances, and 10% hunting.

Earlier in the year I tried the Super Sniper 20x scope and could never get one with good image quality beyond 600 yards. I had such high hopes and ended up swapping three of them with SWFA before giving up.

I decided I like the option of a variable power with a wider field of view when necessary. As such I've narrowed the search down to these two choices:

-Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20 x 50 w/ Rapid Z Varmint or 1000 reticle
-Sightron SIII 6-24x50 w/ Mil dot reticle

I have limited experience looking through a few Conquests, but have never shot with either of these optics. I therefore value opinions from those who have.

Thanks in advance.

 

[CanPopper]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

If you are going to shoot those distances, get the Sightron. It has much better reticle travel.

Both have beta level of glass.

 

[fw707]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

I've never owned a Sightron, but I can sure attest to the short travel on the 6.5-20 Conquest. The glass is killer, and it's a fine hunting scope, but a LR turret twister it ain't.

 

[LibertyOptics]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

Two fine scopes, 30mm tube and big knobs and 100moa of travel on the SIII, so it's made for knob turning. The mildot "dots" are a bit on the large side for some, but the crosshairs are small enough at 24x (0.1moa)

The Zeiss is made for hunting, and the Rapid Z works great to compensate for the limited reticle travel in the 1-inch tube. However, the target turrets on the Zeiss seem more suited for the bench than the field, they are large and seem they would be bumped off zero a bit easily. Just my perception.

The Sightron has big ol caps to protect the turrets in the field.

No losers here, two fine scopes from fine companies

Scott

 

[Runamuk]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

Their both really nice scopes, I own and enjoy using both of them. If you need the elevation get the sightron, if not flip a coin.

 

[Jason280]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

Sightron, no question about it. Outstanding customer service, great glass, and repeatable turrets. I've owned the Zeiss you mentioned, and its a great scope with great glass. However, it simply can't match the adjustment of the Sightron (and the SIII seems to have better eye relief), and is cheaper to boot.

 

[River Runner]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

I would not choose the Rapid-Z 1000. It is optimized for the .308 only. If you run the numbers in the Zeiss Balistic calculator it's way off for the 6.5CM. You can get the Rapid-Z 800 retical, but you have to step down to the 4.5 X 14.

RR

 

[JRockman]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

Thanks for the input. From what you all have pointed out I think the SIII offers the most flexibility. I'll take some pics and post when I get it mounted.

 

[mdbr]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

I'm about to be the proud owner of a Zeiss Victory Diavari Rapid Z1000 that I plan to mount on my FNH A1 SPR. I have not received it yet but should have it early next week. I, like you, was torn between the Conquest and other scopes. I finally decided that since it was going on a .308, and the Rapid Z1000 was set up for the .308, it would be a good choice and I decided to upgrade to the Victory Diavari as well. Like others have said, I think you are better served by a mil dot scope rather than one with a reticle that is specific to a caliber that is not capatible with your rifle.

 

[head2h2o]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

I own the SIII and 3 Conquests. I give the edge in glass to the Zeiss, but that is not to say that the SIII glass is poor because it is not. Never had any problem with repeatability of tracking. The first thing that came to mind when I read your post though was travel. You will definitley get more travel out of the SIII.

 

[Blackhawk95]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

I have had a SIII for a couple years now in 6-24x50 and love that scope! Personally i like it better than a NXS i have.

If i had the money to buy anything i wanted it would be a USO. but, since i dont, Ill get another SIII

you will like it.

 

[Tulie]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

I've got 5 of the Conquests in various configurations and they are very good scopes. The highest powered one doesn't have the windage adjustment you probably will need and the elevation is tight to say the least. I have a 4.5-14 mil dot with target turrets on a tactical setup and it works great if a person can handle the lesser magnification but it also has more adjustment than the higher magnification one and I'm not shooting out with it past 750 yards right now. Honestly, I would agree with the rest of the guys though, the Conquest line are great hunting scopes and okay target if you can deal with the adjustment limitations.

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

I'm gonna parrot what others have said. I have to give the nod to the Zeiss in terms of glass, but the nod goes to the Sightron in terms of usability. I'd go for the Sightron. You won't be giving up much on the glass side.

 

[Stcummingsjr]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SI

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TonyAngel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm gonna parrot what others have said. I have to give the nod to the Zeiss in terms of glass, but the nod goes to the Sightron in terms of usability. I'd go for the Sightron. You won't be giving up much on the glass side. </div></div>

+2....Also have both models in question and agree...with everything... a few things that “I” keep noticing:

First, the extra 4 magnification of the S3 did not really make any difference for me in most shooting situation..we have shot out to 1760yards, conquest only gets me to a little over 1400yds... it also seems that I do have to drop the magnification a bit more in low light compared to the conquest to get the same level of brightness.

Second , for me it seems that the side focus is a little more finicky on the S3… I can throw up the conquest and it seems that it stays within its focus at a given range spread a little better. With the S3, I feel that I keep wanting to fine tune it’s focus when engaging the same targets…first target at 300, then 600 and 1000yds…

 

[SkyFreek60]

Re: Spend my money! Zeiss Conquest or Sightron SIII

have a conquest 4.5-14x44 n it is excellent glass! the turrets are very well made. i have the z plex but i hear theyll swap reticles for $75. the only thing i dont like about the zeiss scopes is the limited availabilioty and cost of accessories but i guess most pepl gettin a high end scope dont mind the cost like i do. Anyway, im sellin mine since i have a baby on the way but would 100% recommend one and will def get one again in the future.

I replaced it with a 4-16 monarch i got for $200.... which seems pretty nice too but def not in same class.... theyres a reason zeiss scopes are great, they make multimillion dollar microscopes... the riflescopes are just their hobby n they are great at it!