Hello all

Does anyone have the new swarovski z6 scope and if so what do you think of it

Hi Guys,

A mate of mine is doing a special deal on these at the moment for their launch. He has a 2-12x50 going on one of his rifles today for a thorough testing. I'll ask him to post a report later this week. Drop me a PM if you want more details.

1-6x42 Z6 RRP£995 reduced to £810
1.7-10x42 Z6 RRP£1,070 reduced to £850
2-12x50 Z6 RRP£1,150 reduced to £925

Best regards,
FB

FB

Is that Richard W? I hadn't realised he'd left Potters. I now have no one I'm willing to do business with.....

These look very interesting.
I find it amusing that, about a year or so ago, I got into an argument on 24hourcampfire about European scopes when I said that the better ones were optically & mechanically excellent but almost all were lacking in eye relief.
The hounds were immediately released -- the pack led by someone using 'Roe Deer' as a screen name -- and some really weird reasons were given to defend the idea that more eye relief was NOT needed. (RD stated that, in Germany, short eye relief was preferred for 'safety' in order to allow the maximum field of view because, that way, as the hunter brought the rifle to aim, he could see more 'around' the target and ascertain that no one was standing near where he planned to shoot! LOVED that one! lol) Now it seems that Swarovski is admitting that they needed more room between their scopes and the people standing on the back ends of rifles equipped with them! I wonder how many scarred eyebrows were needed before that was realized?
Anyway, with Swarovski quality and Leupold-like eye relief, these new scopes sound very promising.
I'll look forward to hearing the actual field reports from FB's friend...

Nomad,

I have the regular old style 3-12x50 with IR and really can't fault it. Apart from the part about it hitting me on the eye brow each time I fire it. It's on my 308win which isn't excessively punchy to start with, but I'd hate to have it on one of those superdooperultramagswerve thingies....

I think Added Eye releif is the only thing I would trade my scope in for. I also run an 8x56 on my 243 and the eye releif on that is much more comfy.

or perhaps I'm just a wimp....

Rgds,
FB

FB,

I've promised myself that I'm through arguing on the 'net so that incident on the other site is behind me...but the idea of looking for people or things that you don't want to shoot in the field of view AFTER you point a loaded rifle in their direction was so ridiculous that I have to admit remembering it! lol

Anyway, I think very highly of Swarovski optics but always regarded that spring-loaded ocular as a strange solution to a problem better corrected at the source -- and their engineering folks have apparently come to the same conclusion.
Your friend's comments and evaluation will be received with both interest and appreciation.

In the UK and probably Europe most stalkers will swop a small amount of eye relief for extra field of view. In the UK literaly no-one uses a magnum and a 30-06 is considered a big boomer.

I crane my head forward and never had a problem with scope eye, on a couple of occasions my 9.3 touched due to poor technique but the sprung eyepiece meant there was no hurt. The sprung eyepiece was an excellent way of having ones cake and eating it when it was a case of eye relief or field of view. It seems the Z6 is able to increase both (the field of view at 1.7 is a huge percentage greater than the old model at 1.5!)

Field of view is IMHO a safety issue in the UK. Of course no-one would mount a rifle without having checked it's safe but once mounted the greater distance one can see around the target the better. Bear in mind we are a much smaller country with a much higher population density and no criminal offence for trespass. Our deer are quite used to humans so it would be perfectly possible to have someone walk into the danger area as you're about to shoot....

Do higher magnifications have an effect on feild of view??

On a variable scope does this mean that the feild of view alters depending on the magnigfication you have it set at? I should be able to answer this myself but I have never really looked to check.

Rgds,
FB

FB,

FOV varies with magnification in a variable scope -- as you increase the magnification within a given scope, the FOV DECREASES.

1894,

As I mentioned, I'm of the opinion that arguing on the 'net is a waste of time -- much like being kissed by an elderly aunt lol -- so, if you have to hunt in situations where you might have people 'walk into the danger area' AFTER you have a loaded rifle pointed in their direction, then I can't say much other than that I feel for you!

I'm just happy that the Swarovski engineers decided that they needed more eye relief and did something to fix the problem.

At any rate, I'm eagerly waiting for field reports on the Z6s. My silhouette gear will likely continue to wear high magnification Leupolds but I might switch on a couple of hunting rigs.