Rifle Scopes Why isn’t Meopta Included among the Best?

Weatherbee

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May 16, 2018
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Meopta, from what I’ve read and seen, is a premium European Manufacturer of high end optics. It seems that they make, grind and coat their own glass. I own a Meostar, their entry level scope, and was amazed by the contrast and brightness of this scope.

I also own a Vortex Razor and have compared a Meopta ZD that a buddy of mine owns to it, and the ZD blows away my Razr.

I was just wondering why they aren’t mentioned along with Schmidt, Swarovski, Nightforce, Kahles etc. they seem to be cost affective and high quality. I don’t get it. Am I missing something?

KOSHKIN or someone else please enlighten me.

Thanks
 
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Meopta makes great optics and great products. Up until about 9 months ago, or so, they did not concentrate at all on promoting their own brand. They are the company that made the Zeiss Conquest line of riflescopes for years, which was essentially a re-wrapped Meopta Meopro. They make various optics for Cabelas as well, however, they spent no $$$ marketing their own brand. Stupid IMO.
Towards the end of last year they hired a top guy, who was with Nikon for over 20 years, and put him in charge of the Sports Optics division.
He immediately started to implement changes to get the Meopta line of offerings starting with their binoculars. He understands the best way to get folks to use a product is get it into their hands so they can see how great it is. He immediately cut the prices of all binoculars 20-30%. You can now get a Meopta Meopro 10x42 for under $500.00 and the Meopta MeoStar 10x42 HD for under $1,000.00. They have enhanced their offerings of riflescopes too. They have also hired a few great people for tech and customer support.
All great steps in a short time.

Please feel free to give a call to discuss which Meopta is right for you and keep an eye on them as I do believe the next couple of years will bring exciting changes to their offerings.
 
I understand the increase in marketing. Meopta isnt marketed like the big names I listed above. Thus the reason Meopta gear is half the price of all other European made optics, which there are few left.

My question is to why there arent't many people advocating for them that actually shoot in the PRS world etc. Seems like if you can get their Equivalent or comparable option to the PMII, Razor, ATACR, etc for half the cost, more people would be doing it.

I also heard/read somewhere that Swarovski-Kahles gets their glass from Meopta do to the fact that it is cheaper to get it made by Meopta in Czech Republic than in Austria. So that really made me question why people pay 3300 for a K624 or 25I Kahles if i can get the same glass with better coatings from Meopta.

I don't need to be sold and convinced on their quality, I can dial and shoot accurately with their Meopro out to 800 easily. I could only imagine what the ZD would bring. I just want to know why nobody speaks of them, uses them or even writes reviews for them. I can't seem to find very much out there where someone has used them in PRS or hunting applications. Everyone is quick to brag on their 3K scopes or advocate for said scopes, just don't understand why there is not any data-reviews on the ZD line etc. Maybe I am missing something, but if it performs to similar levels as all other lines of optics, why not pay half the cost for 100% made European Scope?

I guess what I really want to know is if there is anyone out there that can talk me out of spending the $1800 or so on the 6-24X56 Illuminated ZD before I drop the cash on it versus ATACR, PMII, Kahles or SWARO

I was leaning towards the new K625I from Kahles and ATACR before I stumbled upon this information. With 3K scopes, am I going to pay for a better scope than what Meopta Offers or am I going to pay for their Marketing?

PS - I'm new to all this stuff and don't have the money to be jumping from scope to scope.

here is a link to that scope
https://www.meoptasportsoptics.com/us/produkt/zd-6-24x56-rd-728/

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,Bee
 
I think probably the reason you haven't heard much of them is probably because not many people have them.
As an unknown, people are taking a chance, especially rolling the dice on resale value which is a big consideration.
For example, if you drop $3k on an S&B or Nightforce, you know you can get most of it back easily when you sell it used... if you drop that same on say an IOR, you'd be lucky to get 60% back.

My advice would be to work on providing a really top notch scope at a really great value price, get it into as many hands as possible & then go from there.

Possibly work with some dealers to offer a test service for a limited time, where people for a refundable deposit could test out one of the scopes for a week or two to see how it worked for them, then send it back for the next guy to test with.

Hopefully they don't get some idiot college puke that took some stupid branding class and tells them that they need to jack prices sky high so people think they are a high end scope and threaten their dealers... Premier tried that and went bust, IOR tried that to a lesser degree and lost market momentum.

We could use more scope manufacturers making really top notch scopes and putting the price pressure on to keep things affordable.
 
My question is to why there arent't many people advocating for them that actually shoot in the PRS world etc. Seems like if you can get their Equivalent or comparable option to the PMII, Razor, ATACR, etc for half the cost, more people would be doing it.

Because the reticles suck, looks to be moa turrets on a mil dot reticle, its second focal plane, its only a 4x system, doesnt have a zero stop.
Its probably great glass trapped in a scope body thats 30 years behind the times.

Those other options you listed would be much preferred by nearly anyone over what the meopta zd brings to the table.

The meotac looks better across the board but it still has a crap reticle and is only 12x.
 
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Because the reticles suck, looks to be moa turrets on a mil dot reticle, its second focal plane, its only a 4x system, doesnt have a zero stop.


I Understand the MOA turret on MIL reticle. Will be dialing anyway. SFP is a wash to me.
And Spife, you ever mounted one or shot something using Meopta?

Only substantial feature I don't like is that there is no Zero Stop. FFP would be a plus, but is not needed.
 
I havent, only looked through them in stores but like I said, the optics are great.

If those other things dont matter to you then go for it. Those things matter a lot to pretty much everyone else though.
 
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My question is to why there arent't many people advocating for them that actually shoot in the PRS world etc. Seems like if you can get their Equivalent or comparable option to the PMII, Razor, ATACR, etc for half the cost, more people would be doing it.



here is a link to that scope
https://www.meoptasportsoptics.com/us/produkt/zd-6-24x56-rd-728/

because its SFP, plain reticle, and mil/moa...that scope offers nothing that the PM2, Razors, ATACR, and other scopes in that group offer, except for decent glass (maybe? never owned one, and with those specs, never will)...i doubt youd be able to sell that scope to any serious PRS competitor, would probably have a hard time giving them one for free
 
because its SFP, plain reticle, and mil/moa...that scope offers nothing that the PM2, Razors, ATACR, and other scopes in that group offer, except for decent glass (maybe? never owned one, and with those specs, never will)...i doubt youd be able to sell that scope to any serious PRS competitor, would probably have a hard time giving them one for free


I understand above. Buy my point is the above mentioned scopes are double the price. And im pretty sure Kahles and Swaro glass comes from Meopta anyway. No one has denounced that fact yet
 
I Understand the MOA turret on MIL reticle. Will be dialing anyway. SFP is a wash to me.
And Spife, you ever mounted one or shot something using Meopta?

Only substantial feature I don't like is that there is no Zero Stop. FFP would be a plus, but is not needed.
Okay, so far, every question you have asked has been answered and your response every time is to dismiss the response and again ask why it isn't on par with the top tier scopes. The answer is: All of the above reasons. If you are just starting out and want to shoot anything other than in your backyard/field for fun, all of those things matter. And they matter a lot.

I suggest that you spend a bit more time reading comparisons of the current top tier scopes and pay good attention to what things are being discussed and seem to matter to people that are in the know and actually using said scopes for something other than belly shooting for fun on weekends. Good/great glass is fine, but without the whole package it means little.

Your other option is to keep asking the same question(s) over and over again in different ways until someone agrees with what appears to be your decision already. In case you didn't know, there is a term for people who ask a question or questions with no intent to actually listen to or take into account the answers, since they have their minds made up already. That term is "askhole". Google it and you'll see what I mean.

So, just to give you what you seem to be looking for, here's my personal and profession opinion (it reads best if read in Peewee Herman's voice):
"I think that the Meopta scopes are THE cat's ass and the bestest of the best for what we do here. Anyone not using one is seriously myopic (see what I did there?) and needs to reconsider just what they are doing with those over-priced and over-hyped NF, Kahles, Vortex, S&B, etc scopes when they could have one of these in their hands and money left in their bank account. My great sister niece's cousin uses only Meopta products and is the most professional and sniperiest person on the planet. He/she/it would not use anything but the best and I trust his/her/it's opinion more than anyone on some stupid forum anyway." I really, really mean it, too!!



As a totally unrelated aside, I personally intend to have a pair of moepta binoculars one day as they really are very nice for the money.
 
I cant denounce the swaro supply thing but its also the first Ive heard of it. Even so, again, the glass isnt the issue with them, its pretty much every other thing. Harping on the glass they might make for someone else doesnt mean squat for why no one wants a meopta scope.

Also, they are 1900-2000 bucks. Not exactly a low priced alternative and way more than half the cost of the others.
 
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I understand above. Buy my point is the above mentioned scopes are double the price. And im pretty sure Kahles and Swaro glass comes from Meopta anyway. No one has denounced that fact yet

no one who REALLY shoots, cares where the glass in an optic comes from...its either good or its not

you can get other scopes with those same features as the top tier optics for less than the meopta...no one wants those meopta specs regardless of the price...

you asked for reasons...THATS the reason
 
no one who REALLY shoots, cares where the glass in an optic comes from...its either good or its not

you can get other scopes with those same features as the top tier optics for less than the meopta...no one wants those meopta specs regardless of the price...

you asked for reasons...THATS the reasons

Well that makes sense. So you are saying for Hunting purposes they would not be a bad option?
 
Don't know a thing about Meopta rifle scopes, never owned or even look through one.

However I have owned their binoculars, most recently the Meostar 15x56 HD's I bought from Doug at Camera Land. What I can tell you is that to my eyes they are 98% of the Swaro's at 2/3 the price. Same for their spotting scopes. Many who have looked through both have come to the same conclusion. I think they are a bargain for what you are getting.
 
There are other high end options for under 2K (Steiner Tactical line and Vortex Razor II come to mind easily) and they have all of the bells and whistles that PRS shooters are looking for. You could also get into the Nightforce NXS series scopes for under 2K as you don't mind 2nd Focal Plane.

A better comparison would be to compare scopes with similar features for price and you will have your answer.... At that price point you could look at very nice Leupold, Schmidt & Bender, or Zeiss scopes that are 2nd Focal Plane, MOA turrets, no zero stop, etc.

Not bashing the Meostar product as I have never had one but you are comparing apples to oranges here. If you want the Meostar, get it and let us know how great it is/is not. You appear to have your mind made up and just want support for your decision. Honestly if they had the features listed by Spife and Morgan they would be getting some airtime here.
 
Optically Meopta might be on par with top-tier glass (I have an old steel tube Meopta) but feature-wise they are woefully behind the times. They may be fine for square range paper punching but for our game it's a NOGO.

They could make some inroads with binos and spotting scopes.
 
Don't know a thing about Meopta rifle scopes, never owned or even look through one.

However I have owned their binoculars, most recently the Meostar 15x56 HD's I bought from Doug at Camera Land. What I can tell you is that to my eyes they are 98% of the Swaro's at 2/3 the price. Same for their spotting scopes. Many who have looked through both have come to the same conclusion. I think they are a bargain for what you are getting.

I shoot with a guy running the Meopta spotter. Definitely gives the best spotters in the industry a good run for their money.

I'm afraid I have zero experience with their rifle scopes. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone running one at a match.
 
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I understand above. Buy my point is the above mentioned scopes are double the price. And im pretty sure Kahles and Swaro glass comes from Meopta anyway. No one has denounced that fact yet

Swaro/kahles and Meopta do their own grinding/cutting/polishing/coating.

They saw large growth in their sporting optics division 5 years ago but because of company politics more than anything that went away into the dismal number they see today. Not sure Randy coming over from Nikon was what they needed. He's already done some things that make me scratch my head.
 
I had a meostar that was a very nice scope. As far as the ZD scope, I see the scopes in the same category such as the older sightron s3, older NXS, and others that shared many similarities as well as more than usable glass. The key thing to note is the other manufactures have got on board with better reticles, matching turrets to reticles, and adding zero stops.
 
Meopta is capable of making extremely nice stuff, but the tactical side of the market has been nothing more than an afterthought up to now. I hope that is changing.

Their hunting products are indeed very good. They are a little slow to add features, in my opinion, but it looks like they are moving in the right direction, albeit slower than I would like.

Their marketing in the US has been weak. Randy being there is definitely an improvement, but he needs to build a team almost from scratch, so that is taking a little time. They recently hired a new product specialist that I have been talking to and he seems like a competent guy.

Overall, mostly positive changes, so I am cautiously optimistic.
ILya
 
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Meopta is capable of making extremely nice stuff, but the tactical side of the market has been nothing more than an afterthought up to now. I hope that is changing.

Their hunting products are indeed very good. They are a little slow to add features, in my opinion, but it looks like they are moving in the right direction, albeit slower than I would like.

Their marketing in the US has been weak. Randy being there is definitely an improvement, but he needs to build a team almost from scratch, so that is taking a little time. They recently hired a new product specialist that I have been talking to and he seems like a competent guy.

Overall, mostly positive changes, so I am cautiously optimistic.
ILya

Ilya,
I've had a few interactions with Erik, the new product specialist, and I do think he was a great hire. Seems to know his stuff and if he's not 100% he will say so and get back to me with the info.

Randy does want to make the right changes. Meopta has always been a slow cautious mover, but hopefully Randy can move things at a better pace.
 
I Understand the MOA turret on MIL reticle. Will be dialing anyway. SFP is a wash to me.
And Spife, you ever mounted one or shot something using Meopta?

Only substantial feature I don't like is that there is no Zero Stop. FFP would be a plus, but is not needed.
It sounds like you have your mind made up. Those are not only key features for most people, theyre neccities. If you dont need them (would be surprised if thats the case, but youd know better than I), and you're fine with only getting 50%-60% of what you paid back on the 2nd hand market when you realize you want those features, then go ahead and go for it.
 
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A mixed up mil/moa setup is pretty much no go for most (Get with mil/mil with the option of moa/moa already)
Only having SFP is pretty much out of there for most serious competitive shooters (get with the FFP already)
 
It sounds like you have your mind made up. Those are not only key features for most people, theyre neccities. If you dont need them (would be surprised if thats the case, but youd know better than I), and you're fine with only getting 50%-60% of what you paid back on the 2nd hand market when you realize you want those features, then go ahead and go for it.
I have not made up my mind.
Been reading these forums for a long time and I am getting a custom 6.5 WBY built and would like input from all knowledgeable parties on here.

My mind is made up that Meopta Makes superior glass/coatings as compared to most. And I also believe that they make/coat some glass for Austrian companies. Their plants are only 300 Miles apart. Judging by the glass in SWARO/Kahles and ZD glass, My assumption is that they are one and almost the same. No one has PROVEN otherwise. And I know some on this forum know as much but will not come out and say that.

Although I feel this way, It still doesn't make up my mind that I have to get their ZD. The lack of appropriate features makes me want the others. But, it is still hard to convince myself to spend double the money on a scope that has inferior glass or glass that is bought from Meopta. I just have a hard time finding that to be ok. But most on here don't have to shoot 160" whitetail or 180" mule deer out to 800 yards + in low light conditions where optical clarity is imperative to judge said animal and be able to make an ethical shot. Being able to dial in and have zero stop on a steel target that doesnt come with a fee to hunt or can run off if wounded is a different story. I can't tell what the animal is with my nice FFP repeatable turrets, with zero stop if the "glass doesn't matter"
 
i think its a terrible option...technically you could make anything work...but a 6-24x SFP mil/moa optic isnt good for anything that im aware of...there are better options for everything especially at a 2k price point

This. These days there are sub $1k options with all of those features. If I'm spending 2K it's probably going to be a gen 2 Razor, Nightforce, etc.
 
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I have not made up my mind.
Been reading these forums for a long time and I am getting a custom 6.5 WBY built and would like input from all knowledgeable parties on here.

My mind is made up that Meopta Makes superior glass/coatings as compared to most. And I also believe that they make/coat some glass for Austrian companies. Their plants are only 300 Miles apart. Judging by the glass in SWARO/Kahles and ZD glass, My assumption is that they are one and almost the same. No one has PROVEN otherwise. And I know some on this forum know as much but will not come out and say that.

Although I feel this way, It still doesn't make up my mind that I have to get their ZD. The lack of appropriate features makes me want the others. But, it is still hard to convince myself to spend double the money on a scope that has inferior glass or glass that is bought from Meopta. I just have a hard time finding that to be ok. But most on here don't have to shoot 160" whitetail or 180" mule deer out to 800 yards + in low light conditions where optical clarity is imperative to judge said animal and be able to make an ethical shot. Being able to dial in and have zero stop on a steel target that doesnt come with a fee to hunt or can run off if wounded is a different story. I can't tell what the animal is with my nice FFP repeatable turrets, with zero stop if the "glass doesn't matter"
Maybe you'd be more at home on Long Range Hunters. Your questions have been answered many times, but you're evidently asking the wrong people if you're looking for hunting first scope.
 
lol you have no idea what most on here pay per year to shoot steel (we hunt too believe it or not)...either way done trying to help your dense ass

Nice deer. I'm going to take a few days off and observe how other members interact with each other in positive and meaningful ways.
 

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Thats a $3k minox and a cull buck from a buddy’s ranch, it was in the 120s, but i don’t remember exactly because it didn’t matter, was on the kill list

Why don’t you stalk some more and find the checks it cashed last year while you’re at it?
 
No one has PROVEN otherwise. And I know some on this forum know as much but will not come out and say that.

And no one (you) has proven that they even do in the first place! And of which it still doesnt matter. All of these scope have glass thats great. The only thing among them that isnt great is the meopta feature set!

Although I feel this way, It still doesn't make up my mind that I have to get their ZD. The lack of appropriate features makes me want the others. But, it is still hard to convince myself to spend double the money on a scope that has inferior glass or glass that is bought from Meopta. I just have a hard time finding that to be ok. But most on here don't have to shoot 160" whitetail or 180" mule deer out to 800 yards + in low light conditions where optical clarity is imperative to judge said animal and be able to make an ethical shot. Being able to dial in and have zero stop on a steel target that doesnt come with a fee to hunt or can run off if wounded is a different story. I can't tell what the animal is with my nice FFP repeatable turrets, with zero stop if the "glass doesn't matter"

Jezus, You can judge deer at 800 yards just as well with a vx2. And shooting an animal in low light conditions is something that no one has to do. But youre going to be much more hard pressed to make an ethical shot on an animal at that distance, much less a follow up shot, if you have to do all this calculating in your head because you made a poor choice in your piece of kit. If youre having to judge deer that far just get a spotter thats sort of meant for that purpose after all.

The meopta compares well to a mk4 in 1995 or a unertl, it doesnt compare at all to the scopes of this day and age. Its antiquated before the box ever even gets opened.

Glass quality is arguably the least important part of a rifle scope. Seeing the highest resolution in the world doesnt matter if the scope itself cant stop tripping over its own feet in its actual job. Its a rifle sight. Not a spotting scope. Those things you seem indifferent to about other scopes is what makes them good and the meopta not.

Suffice it to say:
 
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I have some of the Meopta Binos - wicked for spotting and really well made from what I can tell. It is too bad their scope options are so terrible.

As @spife7980 mentioned they do have one scope that could work but it is only a 12X and 4X erector - so they are a bit behind the times.
 
I'm not trying to sell or advocate for Meopta. I own one Meopro, about a $900 Scope. Not Like a 3K Minox. I was just wanting to know why they dont get used as much as others if the glass is as good as it is. Y'all have answered those questions for me.

I actually own two Swaro Z5's and one NXS.

As far as new to this, I meant new to long range steel shooting. I have been hunting my whole life and just built a 1000 Yard Range on my place. 800 yard hunting has come as it has presented itself. Elk in Idaho, which I missed, Mule Deer in Colorado, Whitetails in Texas. Most shots are not 800 but plenty have been in the 500-600 Yard Range. Longest shot on a taken animal was on a cull doe at 813 using the Z5.

And as far as stalking goes, I didn't do any running of my mouth until you did. You are the one with your name in your username. Ill be in Corpus Christi next weekend to do some fishing if you would like to talk more.
 
U asked why they weren’t used in PRS and you got told why, by multiple people... then continued on your kick about glass...there’s more to an optic than the glass...it has to put the bullet on target when it counts...My name is there for a reason, I don’t have to hide behind anything...if i said it, I meant it, ain’t hard to find either
 
Hi,

So because 2 companies are only 300 miles from each other and you cannot tell the difference in the glass you are saying that the company in the cheap country is making glass for the company in the expensive country?

You do realize the Chris@interstateguns pretty much puts his hands on more scopes a week than most people do in 5 years?
You also realize that he speaks from experience of touring optics facilities and not just assumptions right?

Edited To Add:
The old saying of "It does not matter how many industry people you have phone numbers to but rather how many industry people have your phone number" comes to mind here....Plenty in the optics industry have Chris' phone number :)

Sincerely,
Theis
 
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I really like Meopta optics as stated above, but I would be surprised if they make Swaro's glass. I can tell the difference, even if minute. What proof do you have to support your assertion?

You cannot ask those you disagree with to prove a negative, not logical.
 
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A few comments:
-Best I recall, Meopta is the largest contract lens and optic manufacturer in Europe.
-I would not be surprises if they make certain lens elements and subsystems for a bunch of people out there.
-What you see, the image quality, is largely determined by the overall system design. Individual optical elements are made to spec, usually by contract manufacturers who specialize in such things (like Meopta).
-The fact that you look at two scopes and they both look good to you is not in any way an indication that they are similar in any way. Swarovski does not make a 6-24x56 scope.
-If I were to guess, ZD 6-24x56 is Meopta's own design. If I recall correctly, while it hasn't been available to the public, they have been making it for quite some time because crusty doofis in Czech military learned to shoot with SFP Mil/MOA scopes back in the stone age and requested that specific configuration. Czech military being the primary customer for this, Meopta simply did what was asked of them.
-ZD 3-12x50 is a newer design made in response to more recent developments. Spec-wise, it is a little behind the times in terms of magnification range and coke can elevation turret (I advised them to go with a different turret design when I first saw the prototype a couple of years ago, but they chose this one for whatever misguided reason they had). I will get my hand son the scope later this year and see how it stacks up otherwise. I suspect the current version is made for some military customer in Europe based on the turret design and the reticle. It is a little archaic, but it should work fine. I'll see how it does and if I can talk them into some additional reticle designs.

ILya