Tag Archives: rifle scope

Shooting Sports

Shot Show 2022: Zeiss LRP S5 5-25×56

Zeiss is a legendary optics manufacturer in industry, photography, science, and in hunting; creating world-class rifle scopes, binoculars, spotting scopes. If you own a high-end or +$1,000 scope that boasts “German made glass”, chances are that glass was manufactured by Zeiss.

Zeiss’s rifle scope offerings have been largely catering to heeled hunters. Their rifle scope models start at just under $900 and go up into $4000 depending on your region. They have been slow adopt features from the tactical and LRP world. Most of their scope models remain SFP.

At this year’s Shot Show, they showcased their new “LRP” S5 models which address the growing long-distance shooting market. These scopes feature beefed up locking turrets, a FFP reticle, and a 140 MOA / 40 MilRads of internal elevation adjustment, and of course Zeiss’ famous Shot Glass with 90% light transfer.

While Zeiss claims “best-in-class” elevation adjustments I know that Riton and Vortex have scopes with more than 40MILs of elevation adjustment. Maybe they consider their “class” to be scopes with MSRPs over $3K?

Order this on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IlJu7r

Shooting Sports

Leupold Mark5HD 7-35×56

I got an opportunity to test out a scope that costs more than any of my rifles. This Mark5HD is one of Leupold’s top of the line rifle scopes with a MSRP of $2499. This high-performance, first-focal-plane scope has HD glass and is optimized for extreme long distance shooters.

It features a Horus-style reticle with a tall grid of of mRad sub-tension marks taking the place of the lower center cross-hair. In addition the scope has 30 mils (100 MOA) of vertical adjustment, twice the range of its windage adjustment range 15 mils (50 MOA).

The elevation turret is wide and exposed but is locked. A wide turret release button is ergonomically place so that you cna press it down as you turn the turret to make adjustments. It has a unique mechanical zero stop that stops every full rotation. The turret cap is held in place with 2 set screws which must be loosened by allen wrench to re-zero. The windage turret is covered with a screw on cap.

The glass quality is exceptional as to be expected from a >$1000 scope from Leupold. Using the USAF-51 test, I could make out details to Group 0, Element 1. This is sharper than many spotting scopes I’ve tested. The eye box is good and the eye-relief is even better. It’s max power eye-relief is actually a bit longer than it’s low-power; 3.8″ eye-relief at max power (35x), that’s longer than most cheaper scopes at low-power.

Despite all of its amazing performance, if I had the opportunity to buy this scope I probably wouldn’t. None of the ranges I frequent are longer than 200yrds and this scope comes to its own at 600yrds or more. It’s complex CCH reticle is actually a bit too cluttered at 100yrds when zoomed up to 35x; so much so that I found it difficult to spot my holes on paper. I appreciate the power and performance of this scope, it’s just a better fit for another shooter.

AFFILIATE LINK
Buy this scope on Amazon : https://amzn.to/3qyD0vI

RESOLUTION
Group: 0
Element: 1

OVERALL RATINGS (out 5)
Build: 5
Glass: +5
Reticle: 4
Holds Zero: +5
Box Test: +5
Turrets: +5
Eye Box: 4
Value: +3*

*It’s over $2000, it’s not a bargain but you get what you pay for

Product Reviews, Shooting Sports

Riton X1 Primal 4-16×44

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Riton lent me one of their X1 Primal 4-16×44 rifle scopes to review. The X1 Primal is an intro level 1 scope in their product line. It is one of the least expensive 16x zooming premium scopes on the market; a good value in a hunting scope. Its unique RUT reticle features a semi-open central dot which I found well suited for long-range target shooting with a 22LR as it allows for clear visibility of small bullseyes.

If it does have a fault, it is the quality of the image at 16x magnification. The scope loses a lot of sharpness and contrast at full magnification. Worst yet, its eye box gets very small making it unsuitable for hunting at 16x, when targets of opportunity are mobile and require rapid change of aim. Still, it’s a quality scope at under $200, where its competition only boasts 9x or 12x power.

PRODUCT LINKS
Optics Planet https://shrsl.com/325oo
Amazon https://amzn.to/3iW4sQl

OVERALL RATINGS (out of 5)
Build: 5
Glass: 4
Reticle: 4
Holds Zero: 5
Box Test: 5
Turrets: 5
Eye Box: 3
Value: 4