I know they have great glass, but do they have a reputation for holding zero, tough on impacts, etc?

For a long while, Zeiss were pretty much considered the "gold standard" in Europe...

These days if you want the very toughest and best quality European scope, you're probably looking at a S&B PM11 of some sort but that style of scope does not suit everyone.

Personally I would be happy with a Zeiss Diavari, Swaro PV or a comparable S&B as they are all excellent scopes, and I would make my choice on the features I wanted from the the models available...

The one thing I've noticed between the Zeiss, Swarovski and S&B is, for the want of a better term, the differences in color redition. The most realistic, to my eyes, is the S&B followed closely by the Swarovski and the Zeiss a more distant 3rd. I should also say that when others looked thru the same scopes (I owned them all at one time or another) the differences weren't as great and if fact my two sons (in their 30's liked the Zeiss better than the other two.

I'm looking for a new scope and it's probably going to be one of the Swaroski Z6's -- front-runner right now is the 1.7-10x42mm. Great glass with a versatile range of magnification PLUS it's a 2nd focal-plane lens which I like much better than the Swarovski Professional Hunter line of scopes which are first focal-plane scopes which I know many Europeans like.

Zeiss; durable, reliable, robust?

Definately - Yes.

I've seen all of the major scope brands fail. Was it Zeiss less than another major top brand? Well, actually, certainly much less than lesser brands but no more than any other comparable quality scope. When you pay for a reputable brand you expect it to be reliable & robust.

Like everything else some abuse their rifles & scopes and consider this normal handling; the vast majority use but don't abuse their equipment and all there's all the options in between.

Some equipment never see any hard use at all; goes broke and others not. In today's world some rifles & scopes are walked to a Hgh Seat & returned to warm, dry gunsafe; others mounted on quad bikes and seriously stressed daily. It just depends.

The most durable scope I ever put on a rilfe was a 1.5-6x42 Kahles. Could it have been any other major top brand scope - sure.

It's been around the world at least three times; been on two rifles ; a .30/06 Sprg & a .375H&H. Has more miles on it that most Senator Status Lufthansa customers will ever accumilate and has "failed" (recticle had to be replaced) once in 28 years. The failure occurred directly after I observed my two rifle cases being thrown out of the aircraft's baggage compartment onto the tarmac at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport (American Airlines). In 28 years of hard hunting it's still funtions perfectly; been on horseback, sat on, slept on, dropped, in automobiles, on dog sleds, snowmobiles, in aircraft, used in every imaginable weather conditions & been subject to thousands of rounds of recoil - never intentionally abused but used VERY hard. Am I disappointed in the one failure after all of this?

Well, no. I'da rather it didn't occur but that's life; if asked if I consider Kahles a reputable, reliable & robust scope - Yes.

Do I consider Zeiss scopes to be similar in robust quality - absolutely.

On the other hand; I've got a German hunting Buddy who has an old Bushnell scope he claims he purchased for $19.99 at a discount store on a trip to the States in the early 80's. He abuses both the scope & rifle to the point where I cringe when observed. He swears by the thing.

All scopes can (and ocasionally do) fail. That said, I have had absolutely no grief from any of my Zeiss scopes over the years.

I'm not exactly sure how many Zeiss products I currently own, 3 binocs, maybe upwards of 6 or 7 Victory series scopes, a couple of "Classics", countless Conquests and an old Diavari 3-9x36. They have all performed marvellously over the years. Not only have I never experienced problems with these products, the scopes (IMHO) have some of the best adjustments in the industry - quite apart from optical clarity and mechanical ruggedness.

I have a couple of older Swaro's which I have been much less happy with, although the newer Swaros I have worked with have been fine.

For a while, there were complaints (Internet and word of mouth) that the Zeiss Varipoints had reliability problems (illuminated, dot-type reticles). I have never owned one of these scopes, so I can't really comment on them.

- mike

quote:

Diavari 3-9x36

Mike,

Wanna Sell it?

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:

quote:

Diavari 3-9x36

Mike,

Wanna Sell it?

I understand you ask, those scopes are rugged, if ever there was a rugged scope! They were the first Zeiss scopes manufactured in the US - after, perhaps, a decade of manufacturing in Europe. Having moved the manufacturing to the States, IMHO, these scopes were the absolute best-buy at the time.

I have hunted with that Diavari from arctic to desert conditions, and it has always kept on ticking.

Occasionally, you can find these on eBay.com (US website), although they sometimes sell for more than the $500 they cost new.

- mike

quote:

Occasionally, you can find these on eBay.com (US website), although they sometimes sell for more than the $500 they cost new.

Mike,

Yeah, that's the problem.....

Earlier this year I bought a Zeiss Diatal ZA in France. Some moron had used araldite to "bed" the rings. I knew this at time of purchase, so got if for 250 Euros with the Steyr rings that were araldited on. With force it took ten minutes to get each ring off.

Sod's Law the araldite stuck fast to the body and didn't come off stuck fast to the rings.

I hoped to remove the araldite left on the body by putting the 'scope for 24 hours in my freezer then quickly bring it back to room temperature.

Bad news is the araldite didn't budge at all. Good news is as soon as the ice on the outside of the lenses melted I wiped the wet off with a cloth and could see through them perfectly as clear as day.

So. Can you drop them? I don't know. Do they fog up? No! Not even when abused as I did.

Pecar and Nickel Marburg are also good optics.

quote:

Originally posted by enfieldspares:
... Some moron had used araldite to "bed" the rings.

Bad news is the araldite didn't budge at all.

ES, sadly, the practice of glueing scopes into rings is common in Continental Europe. Good news: the scopes DON'T move under recoil... Bad news: don't ever try to remount a scope mounted such... IMHO, it is a miserable practice, there are less permanent ways of ensuring a scope does not move...

I'll try to ask around to see if there is any acknowledged trick to get the darn stuff off... I seem to remember advice given on the German "Wild & Hund" forum: industrial cold (frost?) spray...

http://www2.westfalia.de/shops...00_ml_unbrennbar.htm

This was apparently the stuff (or equivalent) used by W&H forum members, sorry link in German. There were two warnings on the forum: watch it, if scope gets too cold too quick, it might have an inadvertent effect on rubber o-rings, and secondly, don't get the stuff on your bare skin!

Otherwise, ask over on the "Gunsmithing" forum, if any member might have a trick to remove epoxy...

- mike

ES, I asked a Swiss gunsmith about possible tricks to remove epoxy. He recommended acetone, but said it was a tedious task. I'f I'm not much mistaken, acetone should preferably be used outside (or at least in very well ventilated rooms...).

Perhaps cold spray and acetone in combination?

- mike

For sure they are durable, still happy with my Varipoint which I bought back in 2002, never had any problems with accuracy or any other functionality.
I’ve swithed rifle since I bought it, so yes the are durable

Forgot to write that my brother bought a Varipoint as well and is also still very happy with it.