RolandtheHeadless
AH veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2015
- Messages
- 204
- Reaction score
- 207
I finally broke down and bought a Swarovski Z3 3-9x riflescope a year or two back. I'd always thought German glass is over-rated, a product of the overpaid German worker. I've long been a fan of the Leupold V-III series, never believed German optics would be noticeably better.
I've been wondering which rifle to mount this scope on, and the other day at twilight (the only real time to compare scopes) I compared the Swaro to the old (30+ years) Leupold Vari-X III 2.5-8x on my favorite rifle, a Ruger M77 in .300 Win Mag. To my annoyance, the Swaro seemed slightly brighter. I carefully cleaned the lens of the Leupold. Same result. It brought a tear to my eye, figuratively speaking, to pry loose that old scope, which has seen the demise of moose, deer, caribou, sheep, and a mountain goat; but I took it off the Ruger and replaced it with the Swaro.
Today I was down at the range sighting in the new scope. I got to a bench and set up, then realized I'd forgotten the spotting scope. Oh, rats! I said to myself, or words to that effect. How was I supposed to see where the bullets were hitting? It isn't usually a problem seeing the holes through the rifle scope at 25 (where I started bore-sighting) and 50 yards. But with this Swaro cranked up to nine power, I could see where my bullets were hitting even at 100 yards. Which I've never been able to do with the Leupold.
I'm still shocked.
Everyone's eyes are different. Optical quality in all makes has improved over the past thirty years, and it would be interesting to find out how the Swaro compares to a current-model Leupold. I plan to do that test later this summer. All manufacturers have improved lens material and coatings over this period. I'm not sure of the source of Leupold's lenses, but I'd bet it's Taiwan. Nothing wrong with Taiwanese glass, I'm just not as sure it's up to the German stuff as I once was. Sometime I should try a Japanese scope to be fair; I've just been stuck on Leupolds. Not any more.
On another note, I tested out a Magnetospeed Ballistic chronograph today, and am quite pleased with it. http://www.midwayusa.com/s?targetlo...nge_Supplies_Equipment_Alpha_G-_-magnetospeed Unlike the sky-screen chronographs, there are no tripods and screens to get aligned with your rifle bore. No false readings because you set up too close to your shooting position. No tripod toppling over in the wind. No embarrassing moments of shooting one of the screen struts in half, or worse, blowing the chrono itself to pieces, as I've heard tell of a few times. (Personally, I've only shot struts in half.) The Magnetospeed works great, showing the velocities of a set of shots and the average velocity of the group and other stuff I haven't figured out yet. The only problem with it is that the strap that attaches the unit to the rifle keeps loosening up on a tapered-barrel gun. Every shot or two you have to re-tighten it. I haven't figured out what to do about that yet, but it's still less trouble than sky-screens. Very simple unit. Should work out great.
So long as I don't shoot it off the barrel of the rifle.
Jim
I've been wondering which rifle to mount this scope on, and the other day at twilight (the only real time to compare scopes) I compared the Swaro to the old (30+ years) Leupold Vari-X III 2.5-8x on my favorite rifle, a Ruger M77 in .300 Win Mag. To my annoyance, the Swaro seemed slightly brighter. I carefully cleaned the lens of the Leupold. Same result. It brought a tear to my eye, figuratively speaking, to pry loose that old scope, which has seen the demise of moose, deer, caribou, sheep, and a mountain goat; but I took it off the Ruger and replaced it with the Swaro.
Today I was down at the range sighting in the new scope. I got to a bench and set up, then realized I'd forgotten the spotting scope. Oh, rats! I said to myself, or words to that effect. How was I supposed to see where the bullets were hitting? It isn't usually a problem seeing the holes through the rifle scope at 25 (where I started bore-sighting) and 50 yards. But with this Swaro cranked up to nine power, I could see where my bullets were hitting even at 100 yards. Which I've never been able to do with the Leupold.
I'm still shocked.
Everyone's eyes are different. Optical quality in all makes has improved over the past thirty years, and it would be interesting to find out how the Swaro compares to a current-model Leupold. I plan to do that test later this summer. All manufacturers have improved lens material and coatings over this period. I'm not sure of the source of Leupold's lenses, but I'd bet it's Taiwan. Nothing wrong with Taiwanese glass, I'm just not as sure it's up to the German stuff as I once was. Sometime I should try a Japanese scope to be fair; I've just been stuck on Leupolds. Not any more.
On another note, I tested out a Magnetospeed Ballistic chronograph today, and am quite pleased with it. http://www.midwayusa.com/s?targetlo...nge_Supplies_Equipment_Alpha_G-_-magnetospeed Unlike the sky-screen chronographs, there are no tripods and screens to get aligned with your rifle bore. No false readings because you set up too close to your shooting position. No tripod toppling over in the wind. No embarrassing moments of shooting one of the screen struts in half, or worse, blowing the chrono itself to pieces, as I've heard tell of a few times. (Personally, I've only shot struts in half.) The Magnetospeed works great, showing the velocities of a set of shots and the average velocity of the group and other stuff I haven't figured out yet. The only problem with it is that the strap that attaches the unit to the rifle keeps loosening up on a tapered-barrel gun. Every shot or two you have to re-tighten it. I haven't figured out what to do about that yet, but it's still less trouble than sky-screens. Very simple unit. Should work out great.
So long as I don't shoot it off the barrel of the rifle.
Jim