Views on Z6 please

[countrybumpkin]

Hi,

 

Have decided on a Remington VSSF II in 22-250 for foxing with T8 mod. Have spent hours on the web researching scopes, and there are so many different opinions, but at the higher end it seems to be between Swaro, Schmit&Bender and Nightforce. I have also been advised that Nightforce is more of a tactical scope.

I am seriously considering buying a Swaro Z6 in 2-12*50. There are a lot of very positive reviews on the web and my local gunsmith has recently ordered one for himself and cannot speak highly enough of it.

Does anyone have any opinions on this scope. Its a lot of money to spend and I want to make sure I am making the right decision.

 

Many thanks

[tulkyuk]

If your only going to use the rifle for foxing then a Z6 is an absolutly supurb scope and i'm very jealous - but if your also going to use it for long range stuff like rabbits and vermin, a higher mag scope will be a much better option

But with your choice of scopes ( Swaro, Ziess, Etc, Etc) you wont go far wrong with any of them.

[countrybumpkin]

If your only going to use the rifle for foxing then a Z6 is an absolutly supurb scope and i'm very jealous - but if your also going to use it for long range stuff like rabbits and vermin, a higher mag scope will be a much better option

But with your choice of scopes ( Swaro, Ziess, Etc, Etc) you wont go far wrong with any of them.

 

Thanks for your advice. Do you think I would really use a higher mag. Many of the posts seem to suggest that many shooters only use *8 mag for 98% of their shooting. I have permission from three farmers surrounding my house to shoot vermin and fox on their land. They are very large open fields and small woods with loads of rabbits (overall about 750 acres). Have been using the shotgun previously to keep the rabbits and pigeons down as they have been doing major damage to the oil seed rape in the two fields around my house.

The fox population has gone mad around here recently as they havent hunted this season. One recently got into the chicken runs and wiped out about 50 hens.

Only looking to buy one decent rifle and a decent scope that will hopefully see me through for many years. So obviously want to make the right choice, but also not go completely over-board.

 

Thanks

[Dunkield]

A friend of mine (and very occasional PW'er) has that very same scope with the TDS plex reticle.

 

Optically, it is, in a word, stunning.

 

 

His only criticism is that the cross hairs are very fine and they could dissapear in low light (they are in ocular plane so they stay the same regardless of magnification)

[wy111]

Stick with a fixed mag.7X50 or better 8X56. I use an S&B 8X56 and it's a long time into the dusk/dark before I need my NV. In a good moon, whatever I can see with my bino's, 8X56, I can see through my scope. As a lot of previous posts have mentioned, they leave their's on 7 or 8 if a variable is used so why bother in the first place. Get one with a decent reticule, mine's a No. 8, 4 thick cross hairs but thinner at the cross and have no problem picking out a fox quickly.

[countrybumpkin]

Thanks. Any views on the illuminated recticles. My gunsmith seems to feel that they are not really worth the extra £200'ish.

[wy111]

Any views on the illuminated recticles.

 

Never used one and cannot see the reason for them personally, but someone will probably have had better experience with them and let you know. £200 extra, ouch!

[duey]

Hi

I use a remmington 22-250 VSS with T8 moderator and a leupold 8.5-25 LR scope for foxing with a lamp, i have it set at 14 power and have shot plenty of foxs out to a range averaging about 150 yds and one night even got a vixen at 280yds but any of the premium scopes will work fine. An 8 x 56 or 6 X 42 would work best to be honest as that gives you the best light gathering that the human pupil can cope with but i find the option to put the power up to 25 when bashing bunnies at longrange during the day a godsend ( 280 - 300yds so far).

 

ian

[tulkyuk]

i find the option to put the power up to 25 when bashing bunnies at longrange during the day a godsend ( 280 - 300yds so far).

 

 

This is the exact reason i ment - a 3-12 or even fixed mag scopes are very very good ( Swaro, Ziess, S&B etc), but some times you may need that little bit extra and as you say, you only want to buy a decent scope and only buy it once.

[Dunkield]

An S&B 8x56 reticle will blot out anything small at 200 yards, fine for deer and the like but no good for rabbits.

 

For long range stuff, look at the Swaro 4-16x50 as well, as you have a decent budget.

[Dunkield]

No idea, the website doesn't state it either:

 

http://www.swarovskioptik.at/index.php?c=p...ctive=6x%20Zoom

[duey]

also it may be worth considering the fact that a lot, but not all, of the European scopes have metric clicks on the turrents ie 1 click = 10mm but the likes of leupold/nightforce have imperial clicks ie 1 click = 1/4 inch which can make the mental arithmatic of working out clicks far easier especially if you are not metric.

also 1 click on a metric scope will move point of impact slightly further than that of an imperial scope giving better fine tuning to the imperial scope.

 

ian

[Dunkield]

also 1 click on a metric scope will move point of impact slightly further than that of an imperial scope giving better fine tuning to the imperial scope.

That would depend on the scope, I have 3 metric scopes and they all move the POI different amounts per click.

[countrybumpkin]

also 1 click on a metric scope will move point of impact slightly further than that of an imperial scope giving better fine tuning to the imperial scope.

That would depend on the scope, I have 3 metric scopes and they all move the POI different amounts per click.

 

Thanks, some very interesting tips. Can anyone advise of the best place to buy new Swarkovski. My gunsmith is quoting £1000. A quick look in shooting mags and they vary between about 925 and 1000 at discounted RRP. I have also ordered the rifle, T8, Bypod from him, so should expect to get a good deal.

[wy111]

An S&B 8x56 reticle will blot out anything small at 200 yards, fine for deer and the like but no good for rabbits

 

 

I don't use my .243 + S&B scope for rabbits, but with No.8 reticule it wouldn't be a problem, the central fine cross hairs are no thicker than long range scopes. I did, in the past, take out a prone hare at over 180yds, perfect head shot. I think you would get more blotting out with a mil-dot scope than mine.

[wy111]

Have a look Here. Have a look at shipping info as well

[Dead-Eyed Duck]

I use a Swaro 2.5 - 10 x 56 on my 0.223, and I normally leave this on 10 mag. I have used this scope to shoot foxes up to 200 yards - I probably could extend this range, but I prefer not to. I have used this scope previously on a 22-250.

 

I have used several scopes before, and as in everything, there is a compromise.

 

You need a good light pick-up at night, which is why I went for a quality scope and the big 56 lens.

 

Things can happen very quickly at night, and if you use a very large mag you may struggle to acquire the target quickly enough to get onto it ready for the shot before it beggars off. I would recommend a 12 mag maximum.

 

Fine cross hairs are useless at night - I used to have a Leupold which I think was 4-16 mag, and it was absolutely hopeless trying to place the fine cross hairs on target. The only way I could do this was to use a very high power lamp, and you need to use the minimum amount of light that you can get away with or the fox may be spooked.

 

Fine cross hairs and high mags may be fine during the daylight, but if you will be mainly going lamping then forget it.

 

Hope this helps

 

Don

[countrybumpkin]

I use a Swaro 2.5 - 10 x 56 on my 0.223, and I normally leave this on 10 mag. I have used this scope to shoot foxes up to 200 yards - I probably could extend this range, but I prefer not to. I have used this scope previously on a 22-250.

 

I have used several scopes before, and as in everything, there is a compromise.

 

You need a good light pick-up at night, which is why I went for a quality scope and the big 56 lens.

 

Things can happen very quickly at night, and if you use a very large mag you may struggle to acquire the target quickly enough to get onto it ready for the shot before it beggars off. I would recommend a 12 mag maximum.

 

Fine cross hairs are useless at night - I used to have a Leupold which I think was 4-16 mag, and it was absolutely hopeless trying to place the fine cross hairs on target. The only way I could do this was to use a very high power lamp, and you need to use the minimum amount of light that you can get away with or the fox may be spooked.

 

Fine cross hairs and high mags may be fine during the daylight, but if you will be mainly going lamping then forget it.

 

Hope this helps

 

Don

 

Thanks for all of the advice. I have managed to negotiate the price down a bit further, and have put £100 deposit down on a new Z6 - hope I've made the right choice, as this will be my only purchase of a top end scope. Only final question is which recticle. The gunsmith advice is the 4A for fox/hunting. Any views?

 

Thanks

[taffygun]

I have the S&B 8x56 with the A7 ret (3x thick posts and then down to the thinner x-hairs) also known as No4 ret and I had no problem the other day picking out a squirrel at 170yds that had run up a tree. I too was worried about the crosshairs blotting out rabbits and such but it didn't blot out the squirrel, the 50gr soft point did though :/

[Dunkield]

Only final question is which recticle. The gunsmith advice is the 4A for fox/hunting. Any views?

 

I would say the 4A is best for target acquisition and general hunting, but you need to decide what is best for you, not the gunsmith.

Have you had a good look through one of these scopes? it's a hell of a lot of money to shell out it you haven't

[countrybumpkin]

Only final question is which recticle. The gunsmith advice is the 4A for fox/hunting. Any views?

 

I would say the 4A is best for target acquisition and general hunting, but you need to decide what is best for you, not the gunsmith.

Have you had a good look through one of these scopes? it's a hell of a lot of money to shell out it you haven't

 

Honest answer is no I haven't looked through this type of scope, but I think they are quite hard to get hold of at the moment. Many of the dealers I called said that they had none in stock, some quoted 3 month waiting list. I am new to fox shooting, but have been regularly shooting clays, wood pigeons and game for 20 odd years. Have had some experience over the years of rifle shooting, but mainly on a range.

Have been out pigeon shooting this morning behind the house, and killed a few. Two buzzards came to clear them up. A little later the fox came over to pick at the remains. Spotted him from the house but once outside I could only get to about 50 yards with the shotgun before he was off.

Have done a considerable amount of research on rifles and scopes over the last couple of months and gleaned a lot of info from pigeon watch. Wanted to get a decent shooting outfit without going over the top, and hopefully the VSSF 22-250 with the T8 and Swaro Z6 will do the job. It will be a long term purchase, I don't tend to swap my guns, have a T Newton 12 bore side by side and a Miroku 12 bore over and under for 25 and 15 years respectively.

 

Really appreciate all of the advice from pigeon watch, and am looking forward to getting started. Would appreciate any further advice on foxing/lamping.

 

Best Regards

[duey]

that set up should do really well but one note of caution with a 22-250, because it is a fast round 3700-4000fs it can burn the barrel out in about 1200-1500 rounds at which point the accuracy will start to fall off. that amont of round may sound a lot but it will soon start to mount up if you enjoy shooting it and go target shooting and bunny bashing as well so its just a good idea to keep a record of rounds fired to give you an idea if the accuracy does start to fall off. also i would recomend that a good barrel cleaning regime s carried out as fast shooting .22 centerfires can suffer from poor accuracy due to fouling. it doesnt take long to get into the habbit so dont worry, just some pointers for you

 

Ian

[molhunter]

I have the z6i in 2-12X50. Great scope. Love the reticle. Looked through at both the standard cross-hairs which are nice and fine and don't take up too much of the view.

 

The TDS is not calibrated for anything - you really need to shoot out far and back calibrate what distances the bars correspond to. Pain in the butt and I don't think particularly practicle.

 

For a flat shooting calibre such as the 22-250 I think a standard reticle is the business - acquire target and go for it.

 

As far as the magnification is concerned - people will shoot with what they have - but I would want at least 16 on the top end. I'd gor for a 4-16 or 6-18. Important to have a reasonably open lower end.

 

As for rabbits. Get yourself a 17HMR with 6-24 scope. That is an incredible tool. The bunnies don't know the sound. They hear a 10/22 semi auto they run. They hear that - they are simply surprised - will wait around a little - so you can shot one or two more before they scarper.

[nav54]

Im looking at a z6 at the mo the 2-12*50 non ir in a 4a ret it will be used on a .243 for foxes and deer. These scopes i have to say even though i do normally prefer zeiss are the dogs danglies. the optics are so clear and the field of vision is extremely wide if you can afford one then they are the scope to have thats the problem i cant afford one but my other half has said she will pay for half as an early birthday present so what am i waiting for.

[moses]

Im looking at a z6 at the mo the 2-12*50 non ir in a 4a ret it will be used on a .243 for foxes and deer. These scopes i have to say even though i do normally prefer zeiss are the dogs danglies. the optics are so clear and the field of vision is extremely wide if you can afford one then they are the scope to have thats the problem i cant afford one but my other half has said she will pay for half as an early birthday present so what am i waiting for.

 

Go for it Karl,

 

They are an awesome scope, my mate has one with the IR on his Sako 85, it's the dogs!

 

Only problem is you can't get a butler creek big enough for the end you look down! he has two objective lens caps on it!

 

Moses