Swarovski Z6i not holding zero

[ldmay375]

typically on forums I read there's a lot of "my team is better than your team" with info that is anecdotal at best as regards scope brands.

The amount of people just on this thread that have attested to failed or problematic Swaro's is really surprising to me given their brand strength (and hi prices.)

I will remain somewhat neutral.
There are several forums that you can pick for allegiance to a particular brand and/or model of scope. I believe all manufacturers have their lemons. Some no doubt are built stronger. Be that from design, materials, and or their execution of assembly.

I am pretty sure you can find failures in all of them. Those failures become most meaningful when it happens to your scope, or a buddy's. I have a few brands of scopes, including some of the Z6's and Z6i's, Leupold, Leica, Kahles, Schmidt & Bender, Tract, and maybe one or two others. I will not be happy over it, but I know they can all fail.

Somewhat recently, I have had one failure of one. Luckily it was on the range. That scope had well over a decade of use. Hell, it was one of my favorites, on a favorite rifle. I don't recall if I bought it used, as a demo, or new. I have bought that scope in all those statuses. Two days prior, I shot some pretty dang good groups with it. It was not a Swarovski.

The Swarovski's that I have, have not seen a lot of use. Probably the 2ea 1-6x24E illuminated on 458 Lotts have seen the most use. One was bought new and one was bought new. My others are on less recoiling rifles.

Granted shipped in the box as a failure is the biggest pisser.

 

[Short Track]

I have money for this hobby. What has Swaro quality glass, and a good mechanical system not prone to failure ? I'd certainly upgrade if there is something comparable to Swaro glass.

 

[ldmay375]

I have money for this hobby. What has Swaro quality glass, and a good mechanical system not prone to failure ? I'd certainly upgrade if there is something comparable to Swaro glass.

Not being a professional optical evaluator, I think a lot has to do with individual eyes and conditions used.

As to my eyes and use, not color chart / text size / article light; I don't see any useable difference in the upper tier Schmidt & Bender, Kahles, Leica, nor the Leupold VX-5 HD, or the Tract Toric. I am not a long range shooter, and I am not shooting eyeball size targets; but low light use is important to me. Between those, I found reticles could be more of a deciding factor than the glass.

I have a couple of non-illuminated Z6 1-6x24's with #4's. Great view, but these #4's unfortunately are not the same reticle dimensions as the illuminated versions. They were confirmed by Swarovski as the latest #4's. But, to me their reticles lack when in real low light. The Z6 1.7-10x42 non-illuminated Plex, I like lots. Leica's Magnus 1-6.3x24 L-Plex illuminated, I really like the scope, but in real low light, I do need the illumination. And on and on. I have had some 1st and 2nd focal plane S&B reticles replaced with #4's. Because without the illumination the reticles sucked for me.

Several years ago, I had one NightForce 1-4x24. In fairness, this is a very short scope, but did not give me the optical quality of a 1.1-4x24 Kahles. I returned the NightForce. But, supposedly they have upgraded their glass quality since then. I have no doubts they are tough. But, they have their lemons also.

I also hear March scopes are top tier. I give up chasing optics before they became as available as they are now.

The previously mentioned scopes that I have, add Zeiss also, Victory and HT versions. Both are some of my favorites as to low light.

 

[Daisy]

I switched to march scopes and have had no problems so far

 

[Inline6]

Not being a professional optical evaluator, I think a lot has to do with individual eyes and conditions used.

As to my eyes and use, not color chart / text size / article light; I don't see any useable difference in the upper tier Schmidt & Bender, Kahles, Leica, nor the Leupold VX-5 HD, or the Tract Toric. I am not a long range shooter, and I am not shooting eyeball size targets; but low light use is important to me. Between those, I found reticles could be more of a deciding factor than the glass.

I have a couple of non-illuminated Z6 1-6x24's with #4's. Great view, but these #4's unfortunately are not the same reticle dimensions as the illuminated versions. They were confirmed by Swarovski as the latest #4's. But, to me their reticles lack when in real low light. The Z6 1.7-10x42 non-illuminated Plex, I like lots. Leica's Magnus 1-6.3x24 L-Plex illuminated, I really like the scope, but in real low light, I do need the illumination. And on and on. I have had some 1st and 2nd focal plane S&B reticles replaced with #4's. Because without the illumination the reticles sucked for me.

Several years ago, I had one NightForce 1-4x24. In fairness, this is a very short scope, but did not give me the optical quality of a 1.1-4x24 Kahles. I returned the NightForce. But, supposedly they have upgraded their glass quality since then. I have no doubts they are tough. But, they have their lemons also.

I also hear March scopes are top tier. I give up chasing optics before they became as available as they are now.

The previously mentioned scopes that I have, add Zeiss also, Victory and HT versions. Both are some of my favorites as to low light.

Kahles and Swarovski are the same, well I should say Swarovski owns Kahles to be more correct.


I only have 2 March scopes. One lives on a 22lr the other is waiting for my other 22lr to be finished so it can be mounted. Have been happy with them so far. They are the clearest scopes I have for the power range (max power is 40).

 

[RR 314]

This forum is obviously a larger pool than I swim in. However, in my circle of big bore friends, nobody has had a Swarovski failure. I’m quite surprised to see the numerous failures. I switched to the S&B Exos on my favorite rifles several years ago and similarly have had no issues. Subscribed for follow ups.

 

[ldmay375]

Kahles and Swarovski are the same, well I should say Swarovski owns Kahles to be more correct.


I only have 2 March scopes. One lives on a 22lr the other is waiting for my other 22lr to be finished so it can be mounted. Have been happy with them so far. They are the clearest scopes I have for the power range (max power is 40).

Yes, sold to the Swarovski family. Apparently they were family friends. At least for awhile after the sell, Swarovski basically stifled Kahles hunting lines that competed with theirs in the USA. Kahles had issues with reliability of sole importers / distributors in the USA at one time.

Swarovski does handles the repair process for Kahles in the USA. But, mine was shipped to Kahles in Austria for repairs, via Swarovski USA. Kahles has a Very long and innovative scope building history. I have a few of their Helia 1st focal plane scopes, and a couple of the 2nd focal plane.

10x is the highest magnification of any of my scopes. I really like straight 30mm tubes at 4,5,6x.

The March scopes seem to be very well respected in the scope world.

 

[ldmay375]

This forum is obviously a larger pool than I swim in. However, in my circle of big bore friends, nobody has had a Swarovski failure. I’m quite surprised to see the numerous failures. I switched to the S&B Exos on my favorite rifles several years ago and similarly have had no issues. Subscribed for follow ups.

I think the S&B's are very good scopes. I have the Zenith and Stratos lines. Though, I had the segmented push button illumination controls on the Stratos ones, changed to the rotary type like on the Zeniths. The S&B's do seem to be sturdy. I certainly have no complaints as to their low light views. I do like the Flash Dot illumination.

I have no plans to shit-can my Swarovski scopes. The ones on the Lotts have quite a bit more shooting in line for them.

I suppose regardless of brand, if you are not returning home each night, a sighted in spare scope is not a bad idea on a hunt.

 

[FlyGuy]

I have money for this hobby. What has Swaro quality glass, and a good mechanical system not prone to failure ? I'd certainly upgrade if there is something comparable to Swaro glass.

Name almost any top tier scope manufacturer and they all purchase their main lens element glass from a single company. Schott AG from Mainz in Germany.
Swaro, S&B, Kahles, Leica, ZEISS, Tract, Vortex (Razor), NF (Beast), Minox, March, USO and many others included.

It’s the Swaro lens coatings that you love, not the glass.
Their coatings favour the blue end of the spectrum, which gives them the nice crisp “look” that many prefer.

 

[Short Track]

I started reading the Swaro installation instructions. They are very clear on what causes stinging, and POI changes. The scope must be mounted to their specs. I'm not the expert, and I don't have a mini torque wrench either. I'm going to buy a torque wrench, and redo my mounts to their specs.