Swaro z8i with Detachable Turret

[silent_varmintor]

This one is for a friend of mine, he doesn't use forums or computers so i said i would do this on his behalf.

 

He has recently bought a new Swaro Z8i, he had this for around a month or 2 and was consistently shooting foxes some out as far as 300+ yards without any trouble on his .243

 

He then got a hold of the detachable turret that simply just pops in place. We went out to my shooting permission as its got a nice flatish ground out to around 400 yards. The aim here was to see how many clicks it would take to reach various distances that are within his shooting capabilities. His previous Z6i had the various aim points below the crosshair and thats what he used to work off of.

 

We started off by checking zero at 100 yards, no issues it was right on the money. Then we unscrewed the cap and replaced it with the turret. Our 1st mistake was not double checking zero at that point but in my opinion if you are paying nearly £2700 for the set up you would bloody well hope it stayed on zero. Ill come back to that in a minute.

We then went to 200 yards, 250, 300,350 yards. Once we had all clicks in place and noted we went back to 100 yards as i was starting load development on my new rifle. We had 2 targets set up at 100 one for me with my load development target and the other was his. As i got through some rounds he went on to shoot his target at 100 yards again, it was about 2" high and about 1" to the left !!!

He never touched the scope at all that would have accounted for that to happen so obviously it got us thinking. I finished my rounds down range and packed away my stuff to concentrate solely on this problem. He shot a 3 shot group and all high and to the left. I obviously said well we need to zero again because something has happened. We popped off the turret and adjusted the clicks accordingly ( as you can't do this with the turret on ) and before we put the turret back on he shot another 3 shot group to check, they were all low and to the right !!

Then it clicked that by placing and removing the turret on and off it was having an effect with the POI. As these were now shooting low and right, we put the turret back on again, hey presto bang in the centre. We actually had to zero the scope purposely low and to the right so by putting the turret on it would take the POI back to centre of the target.

 

The scope is back with the RFD where he bought it and is now back at Swaro for investigation all the while he has now got no scope for his new 7x64 rifle that he's dying to get out and shoot.

 

Has anybody got any ideas or heard of anybody having issues like this with this scope ?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

Craig

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chanonry]

My idea would be to get rid of it right now.

 

Much better scopes available for £2700 than this.

[rhhudson]

Should of gone with a zeiss v8. I love mine. Wouldnt swap it for anything!

[bowji john]

Will defo check mine now that this has come to light ...

 

Please keep us in the loop with what Swaro says and does to rectify

[silent_varmintor]

Thanks for the replies lads.

 

Chanonry - What scopes would you recommend ?

 

At the mo its still in the hands of Swaro.

 

Bowji John - I would also be interested to hear if you experience any problems with yours. I will however repost here when my pal gets an answer back from Swaro.

[Chanonry]

Not sure I would say I am qualified to recommend much but if you have a look at Kahles (Swaro sister company, 'light' for given functionality ) or Vortex (may be on the heavy side?) you will find first focal scopes with good reticles and good glass.

 

I am not a huge Swaro fan as I tend to the view that a 'scope is a sight not a telescope so I don't run with the view that glass is everything. I think a 'scope has to improve my hit percentage when I get to the target and if that means I hump a bit more weight then so be it. Saving a few ounces but then having to guess holdovers seems silly to me, particularly if I am being asked to pay absolute top $. The second focal scopes with a max power of say 22x also don't make sense to me for stalking as the reticle can only be used when you are looking down a 'straw'. Done that, PITA.

 

I currently run a Kahles fwiw. Also have Nightforce/Leuopld but glass isn't to Swaro class so may not be for you. K was light for its functionality, solid reputation for mechanicals, decent choice of reticles, FFP and had a good field of view. Also got a deal on it - £1800 from rap of £2600 ish. I think I saw some on Swilingdon Shooting Supplies for similar prices the other week. Not as popular as they deserve to be.

 

Personal view, happy for others to have a different one as it depends on what you are doing. If you want a similar experience to Swaro but with good functionality for the hill find a Kahles to look through.

 

Others can comment on other manufacturers, as I have not used them for extended periods.

[jcampbellsmith]

I've stalked with Swarovski scopes for more than 20 years. I've briefly attempted to stalk with other brands of scope, but keep returning to the Swarovski (currently a Z6 5-30x50 BRX).

 

Regards JCS

[MJR]

I'm not familiar with Swarovski scopes in detail but it sounds like changing dials in effecting the internal mechanisms relating to the scopes zero. I'd wait and see what Swarovski come back with and take it from there. Good learning point though, never 'assume' zero.

[Chanonry]

There is a Kahles for sale on here for £1200

[silent_varmintor]

Chanonry - Thanks for that input. I have relayed this to my friend. As he is a Swaro man he doubts he will ever change from them thb.