Thread: Whats Happening in the Scope Manufacturing World .... ?

A question for those better informed than I.

Seems that most of the ( Euro at least) scope manufacturers are moving away from 1" in favour of larger diameter tubes, and most of the larger diameter units are heavier ( even if only marginally so) and obviously bulkier than the 1" models?

So where does a Kiwi who is mindful of weight/size but still wants a top-end scope look? What am I missing here?

A z5+ and vx5 is probably about as light as I’d want reliably march are conpact or stick with original z5 hd5 I don’t see any advantage of 1” tubes for me anyway

i would think its pushed from most customers wanting more in a scope.
bit like modern cars they just keep on growing in size

Originally Posted by Maxx

A question for those better informed than I.

Seems that most of the ( Euro at least) scope manufacturers are moving away from 1" in favour of larger diameter tubes, and most of the larger diameter units are heavier ( even if only marginally so) and obviously bulkier than the 1" models?

So where does a Kiwi who is mindful of weight/size but still wants a top-end scope look? What am I missing here?

There is nothing a 1" scope does better than one with a 30mm tube. A thicker tube means more elevation travel and also better range of mounts available, hopefully increasing reliability.

34mm is fast becoming a standard which has the potential to unbalance the rifle with very large oculars also becoming a trend.

Ziess quit the scope market after a lot of poorly thought out models (which were numerous). Their V8 with the 36mm tube requiring nieche mounts was a complete failure (I had one via work) as the optical performance of the scope was poor relative to very steep price. They relaunched with a 30mm tube but the scope was already eclipsed by other models with similar or better features at a lower price.

Europe's many blunders around labour and immigration over the decades have left them uncompetitive compared to Asian countries such as Japan where pride, QC and careful assembly are hallmarks. No coincidence that their immigration is locked down tight!

Personally avoid the 'Eurotrash' brands now (Ziess, S&B, Swarovski, Minox) as their model relies on a scope that develops problems being sent back and forth to Europe incurring a lengthy wait time. Swaro maybe the only brand capable of offering a loaner in the interim.

I'd be surprised if you chose a 1 inch tube scope with no parallax, illumination, worse field of view and elevation/windage adjustment over a modern 30mm tubed scope that does all of those things. Personally would choose Element Optics as their ethos seems to be more sound than the likes of Vortex who have gone from being a cheap re-badge, re-packadging outfit to a billion dollar 'defence' company overnight... still better than the Ozzie Lightforce who managed to con the Yanks for a while into believing they were an American company

Originally Posted by caberslash

There is nothing a 1" scope does better than one with a 30mm tube. A thicker tube means more elevation travel and also better range of mounts available, hopefully increasing reliability.

34mm is fast becoming a standard which has the potential to unbalance the rifle with very large oculars also becoming a trend.

Ziess quit the scope market after a lot of poorly thought out models (which were numerous). Their V8 with the 36mm tube requiring nieche mounts was a complete failure (I had one via work) as the optical performance of the scope was poor relative to very steep price. They relaunched with a 30mm tube but the scope was already eclipsed by other models with similar or better features at a lower price.

Europe's many blunders around labour and immigration over the decades have left them uncompetitive compared to Asian countries such as Japan where pride, QC and careful assembly are hallmarks. No coincidence that their immigration is locked down tight!

Personally avoid the 'Eurotrash' brands now (Ziess, S&B, Swarovski, Minox) as their model relies on a scope that develops problems being sent back and forth to Europe incurring a lengthy wait time. Swaro maybe the only brand capable of offering a loaner in the interim.

I'd be surprised if you chose a 1 inch tube scope with no parallax, illumination, worse field of view and elevation/windage adjustment over a modern 30mm tubed scope that does all of those things. Personally would choose Element Optics as their ethos seems to be more sound than the likes of Vortex who have gone from being a cheap re-badge, re-packadging outfit to a billion dollar 'defence' company overnight... still better than the Ozzie Lightforce who managed to con the Yanks for a while into believing they were an American company

NFO is an American company based out of Orofino.


Sent from my SM-A556E using Tapatalk

Funny comment about element scopes when you realise that actually the top element scopes range come from the same factory as nightforce scopes …among others :-)

The trend is definitely away from 1" tubes, I haven't bought a 1" tube scope in over 10 years.

Most hunters seem to be taking long range shots or just shooting longer range for fun. Basically everyone wants a dialing scope now and 1" scopes are too limited in adjustment range.

People also want higher magnification ranges and good glass which leads to more weight, basically undoing any weight savings from the smaller tube.

Leupold and Swarovski are basically the only options for ultralight scope these days.

Hard to beat a little 2-7 or 2.5 -8 Lupy in the bush , don’t think they will stop making them anytime soon , I would imagine there is still a large amount of Americans that don’t do long range shooting .

Shit, in the early 90's I was pleased as punch with a 1" tube Tasco 4x32 for everything from close in bush to about 300m. Our standards certainly have crept up!

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

Shit, in the early 90's I was pleased as punch with a 1" tube Tasco 4x32 for everything from close in bush to about 300m. Our standards certainly have crept up!

My first scope and bought with my own hard earned money. Thought life could get no better 'til one day in the wet bush I looked through the scope to see it totally fogged. What a downer. Learned a hard lesson right there. My recovery was a move to Leupold where I stayed happily for many years.

I see Burris still have a lot of mid and lower range scopes with 1" tubes,
ie the Signature HD and Fullfield and Droptine ranges of hunting scopes.

Z

Originally Posted by 30.06king

My first scope and bought with my own hard earned money. Thought life could get no better 'til one day in the wet bush I looked through the scope to see it totally fogged. What a downer. Learned a hard lesson right there. My recovery was a move to Leupold where I stayed happily for many years.

Ahh to be young and poor again. We made do aye. Shin Han was my first scope, tasco and Niko Sterling were slight steps up. My first Leupold a basic 3-9. Great scope, the thin nature of the tube at the rear made the scope edges all but disappear when focussed, which was absolutely great for running shots with both eyes open. But man, get your eye relief wrong and they cut like a knife!

There has been some great improvements in scopes over the last 20 years. But.... I guess I sound like a broken record at times. One hell of a lot is marketing convincing people they need stuff, when the reality is the majority do not need the added features.

especially this is for guys starting out. The number of people I took hunting who had just bought their first rifle, and the shop had sold them a large scope with dials and stops etc, yet their hunting was going to be predominantly North Island hill country and bush fringe where shots really were not going to be over 300 meters.

This,
https://www.riverstoranges.co.nz/pro...ki-z3-3-10x42/

Is all the scope most people will need, and its dollars spent in all the right places that will achieve results in almost all hunting situations. Just choose your reticle and go.

Originally Posted by caberslash

There is nothing a 1" scope does better than one with a 30mm tube. A thicker tube means more elevation travel and also better range of mounts available, hopefully increasing reliability:

Your overlooking the weight. 25mm scopes are generally a bit lighter. Some competitive shooting sports have weight classes. Take rimfire silhouette for example.the only way I could configure a CZ MTR with a 20" barrel to make weight was with a 25 mm tube scope and a plastic mag.. We're talking 3-5 grams in this case.

I'd add to that, that you can mount a 1" scope lower to the barrel, especially when the scope has 32mm to 40mm objective. Modern high magnification scopes almost all need a decent comb or even a cheek riser to give proper cheek weld and eye position.

Originally Posted by whanahuia

Ahh to be young and poor again. We made do aye. Shin Han was my first scope, tasco and Niko Sterling were slight steps up. My first Leupold a basic 3-9. Great scope, the thin nature of the tube at the rear made the scope edges all but disappear when focussed, which was absolutely great for running shots with both eyes open. But man, get your eye relief wrong and they cut like a knife!

There has been some great improvements in scopes over the last 20 years. But.... I guess I sound like a broken record at times. One hell of a lot is marketing convincing people they need stuff, when the reality is the majority do not need the added features.

especially this is for guys starting out. The number of people I took hunting who had just bought their first rifle, and the shop had sold them a large scope with dials and stops etc, yet their hunting was going to be predominantly North Island hill country and bush fringe where shots really were not going to be over 300 meters.

This,
https://www.riverstoranges.co.nz/pro...ki-z3-3-10x42/

Is all the scope most people will need, and its dollars spent in all the right places that will achieve results in almost all hunting situations. Just choose your reticle and go.

@whanahuia
Great comments. Yes, young and poor, I remember, and glad I'm no longer there. These days I'm old, and still poor cos I keep buying hunting / handloading stuff - haha
I really like those Swaro Z3 scopes too. I now have several, all but one with ballistic reticles. Find once my rifles are set up I can be pretty good at game shots out to 400 yds with a well rested rifle. The Swaro glass quality is tops.