Swarvoski Habicht 1-4×20??

[SAFARIKIDD]

This is a 1" tube and a older model...
Considering it for a DG rifle...anybody here have or use one could tell me your thoughts on it? Thanks

 

[rookhawk]

They are pretty good for their purposes, running game or dangerous game scopes. However, their price far outpaces their quality. The Habicht above along with the 1.5-4.5x20 Zeiss made in the 1980s and early 1990s were the highest quality 1" tube dangerous game scopes that were made.

So if you have a vintage rifle that has very expensive german claw mounts and a 1" tube, you can either replace those $1200-$1500 claw mounts with new ones and use any optic you wish, or you can pay an ultra premium for the optic above that is going to be lower quality than anything new by a wide berth, but works with your vintage mounts.

Make no mistakes, they are not $400-$600 quality optics because of their clarity, they are priced as such for their utility on vintage 1" rifle claw rings. If you don't have that essential requirement, don't buy one because you're paying a lot for a benefit you do not need.

There are many superior 30mm straight tube scopes out there. I bought a Schmidt & Bender 1-4x24mm dangerous game scope on eBay for $660...many orders of magnitude superior as a used alternative.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

Judging from the picture that scope has been around a good while, that means there are a bunch of newer scopes with better glass, that are dependable and that won’t break the bank.

 

[rookhawk]

Judging from the picture that scope has been around a good while, that means there are a bunch of newer scopes with better glass, that are dependable and that won’t break the bank.

you are largely incorrect.there are no modern scopes that have 1” tubes and have a straight tube as long as this scope above or the zeiss. That’s why they cost so much...it isn’t the glass, it’s the ability to fit it to original mounts rather than spending up to $2500 on new mounts so you can spend $1800-$3000 on a new scope.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

Point taken. I was thinking about glass, not the ability of the scope to fit within the current constraints of the mounts.

 

[rookhawk]

Point taken. I was thinking about glass, not the ability of the scope to fit within the current constraints of the mounts.

Indeed. To your point, for a new optic to put in new mounts, there are 100s of superior options available today. But what for the guy that doesn't want to put $5000 into new mounts and optics for a vintage high quality rifle that has existing claw or pivot mounts? (with the rifle being worth less than the bill for new scope and mounts!) That's why these 1980s-1990s one-inch straight tube scopes have a cult following. They don't make anything like it today that will work so people pay 3x what it "should be worth". (it should be $200...but its $600)