Took delivery of the Ziess 2.5x10 illuminated reticle today. The scope will not fit the rifle. The tube is just too short in front of the adjustment turret. You cannot get proper eye relief. The objective bell is too big and hits the rear sight on my Chapuis 9,3 double.

I plan on using the illuminated reticle for cats in Africa pigs, and bear in the States.

It looks like I will have to go with a scope in the 1.5x6 class. I am torn between the Ziess and the Swarovski.

Several of my friends have the circle dot reticle in the Swarovski and I kind of like it. I have shot it at twilight and darkness.

What do you think?

Maybe zeiss 1,5-6x42 varipoint could be the best choice!

I must admit to not liking the varipoint which (correct me if I'm wrong) doesn't have an ability to function without batteries. I also really don't like the reticles.



The Swaro with the new BE3 is the first to be able to function in the day and in low light. It also has a reticle that functions if the batteries fail. You also gain the advantage of the sprung eyepiece, which in the heat of the moment I have had cause to thank with my 9.3x62



I have measured my own swaro 1.5-6x42 which has 2.5" of tube twixt turrets and the start of the bell. The total length of tube and bell in front of the turrets is 5.8". To my knowledge these dimensions have not changed.

I have the Swarovski 1,25-4x24 with circle dot and can warmly recommend it.

N E 450 No2



I had an Zeiss 2,5-10X50, V series. I had great problems with it. The illuminated reticles didn't worked properly. Zeiss says, corrossion on the electric components inside the scope The scope was in for repair three times Now, I only have Swarovski scopes



I have looked at the Swarovski scopes with the grid reticle. It is very nice, perfect for driven hunts. In general, I disslike electonic gadjets, they tend to give up when they are most needed



My favorite scope for general hunting is 3-12X50 with reticle 4 or 4A.



Cheers

/ JOHAN

450, it really is a pity the 2.5-10x50 did not work, it is a great scope otherwise. Are you going to use it on another rifle (it is worth it!)??

I know the problem with not being able to mount scopes far enough to the rear, it happens to me all the time. Probably a combination of the fairly LOPs common here in Europe and my head position on the stock. Usually, I live with only having a perfect FOV at the lower magnifications, having to stretch my head a tad at the high(er) XXX.

I know this is an impossible piece of advice to an American, but a scope (including the Zeiss 2.5-10x50) with a mount rail *might* just do the trick for you. The mount rail offers you some extra leeway in terms of scope mounting - see picture from Andre above. Now, I don't know if you could get a rail equipped scope, nor whether you could go this route in terms of cost and mounts??

In any event, before you go down the path of getting another scope, you have got to make sure your next scope will mount correctly. So I guess any scope you consider will have to be at least held up against the rifle in the position your mount will allow. I doubt anybody can advice you much as to what will work and what will not. Hopefully, you have a dealer with a lot of scopes in stock...

With regards to reticles, we have discussed this previously, so I'll just quickly reiterate my position on the illuminated reticles. IMHO, you need a reticle that will work well without being lighted - otherwise you become dependent on a bunch of batteries and electronics. So, first choose a proven reticle design, then see if illumination might add a bit of time in low light conditions.

Good luck - mike

N E 450 No2,



I hope you're not stuck with that scope if it does not fit as i suspect that would make for an expensive mistake!



I am not sure if it is feasible or not, but what about "extended bases"? Or maybe one of those claw mounts where the front ring is around the objective?



Pete

I'll second Mike. My "battue" reticle is the plain one, not illuminated. I hate to depend on electronics and batteries and never missed them as my reticle as such is bold enough to be picked up even in dim light (I might think otherwise if I was culling boars at night, like in Germany).

The battue reticle is absolutely the fastest scope to use I've ever tried. I had a 1.5x6x42mm Swarovski Pro-Hunter on my 375 and it was unbelievable on running game.

The only thing I didn't like was the perspective change when changing powers.

Varipoint works fine even without a battery. When illumination is switched off, the dot is black.

But if you don,t like zeiss, schmidt & bender flash dot models are great too.

NE 450 No 2,



You might consider the 1.5-6x42 Schmidt and Bender. Mine is a rail scope with an EAW twist front.







mike

I too would suggest looking at the Schmidt und Bender in that size range.

You might want to contact Euro Optics.

Gentlemen
Thhaks for all the replies. Here is the "rest of the story". Today I took the Ziess back to the store and got a Swarovski 1.6-6x42 with the Illuminated #24N [the circle dot]. I would have got this scope from the first but I thought a little higher magnification might come in handy. I like the circle reticle [used a AUG quite a bit] and use the circle dot in a Leupold CQT. I already have a Leupold 2.5-8 on the Chapuis pivot mounts so this other scope must use rings that fit those bases, that way I have 2 scopes sighted in for the rifle. As I have stated previously, in a perfect world ALL scopes would be rail mount. You Europeans are WAY ahead of us on that one.

mstarling...
VERY NICE looking rifle.
S&B is an excellent scope I have some. I actually have met Hans Bender, he is a very fine fellow.

Also let me add that the one thing I like about the Swarovski Circle Dot reticle is that it works good at low power on fast and running shots, and does not hide too much of the game on high power. Even with the "power" turned off the reticle works good. [I have shot this scope on a friends 416 Blaser R-93].
Also you can take the light source off for a trimmer package for day hunting, and you can carry an extra battery in the windage turret.
This scope is vairly light and compact, might be just the thing for the Chapuis.
Will report range results.
Thanks again for the info.

Gentlemen, thanks again for the scope info.
I mounted the Swarovski 1.5-6x42 PV-1 on my Chapuis with the Chapuis pivot mounts. My 2.5-8 Leupold is in the same type rings, which gives me two scopes for this rifle.
I zeroed the rifle at 100 yards with no problems. There was no change in the "Regulation" of the rifle with the new scope. It was a cloudy day and my best groups were shot with the reticle illuminated.
So far I like this scope a lot, but we will have to see how it "hunts". I will take it on a pig hunt soon. and I will also shoot it at 200 and 300 yards.