schmidt and bender or Zeiss

beretta391

schmidt and bender 8 x 56 or a zeiss 3 x 12 x 56 on a 223,

MC.ISF

beretta391 wrote: »

schmidt and bender 8 x 56 or a zeiss 3 x 12 x 56 on a 223,

Id go for the Zeiss, Ive a 6-18x50 on my .223

Whats the price difference ?

It wasn't me!

They're very different optics to be honest. I'd go for the 3-12x personally, but for more at the low end, rather than at the high end. 8x will have you shooting foxes a long, long way out there, but I like low power stuff for a good field of view. Can always zoom in to 8x or more to take the shot if you want it, but you can't go lower on a fixed power.

landkeeper

it depends what you want to do with it
the s&b is simple point and shoot no focus/ magnification to fiddle with great scope for lamping with at sensible ranges
if you want to shoot longer distances in daylight the ziess is probably more suitable
i have had both and they both have their place and are both brilliant scopes

beretta391

david mulvihill is selling them, he siad the zeiss is 50euro more, wont be purchasing till christmas cause i want the woman to get it, i only be using it for lamping. thanks for the helpful comments.....

moby30

Did you by any chance have a look at a Khales scope. Only reason I asked is I am looking at upgrading myself and a member on here let me have a look at his Zeiss Victory and a friend showed me the khales-My eyes are crap anyway but i definitely found the Khales optics a lot clearer especially during twiight hours. Havent looked at a good S&B yet.

Thanks

ormondprop

I heard before that kahles use the same glass as swarovski and swarovski are known as having the best so kahles would be up there as one of the best, i only ever looked through one before in daylight so couldn't judge it on that, from my experience i rate zeiss better than s&b as i compared one to my old s&b 4-16 and found the zeiss brighter but barely and i'd rate leupold very good aswell, i had a mark 4 and the glass was as bright as the schmidt to my eyes but the eye relief was a pain, but the vx3 has the same glass and better eye relief so would be worth looking at aswell, i presume the zeiss your talking about is the duralyt, i dont know how they compare to the zeiss victory models though, have looked through them before and they have a lovely fine reticle but again it was dayligtlht so cant judge the brightness of glass

Glensman

Between those 2, for lamping I would take the Schmidt every time.

I have a had/have Schmidts and have a Zeiss and Leupold currently.

The Leupold doesn't compare.

johngalway

Look through each first under the conditions you want to use them. If you have to, bring a lamp to the gunshop late evening, or better if they open at night. Sounds odd, but they're both going to cost you a bundle of money.

Haven't looked at scopes in a good while, but S&B were famous for having rather thick reticles, that could be a problem for some types of shooting. I'd find shooting foxes at 8x out to 200 maybe 220 handy enough on a good lamping night. Farther than that I'd be wanting 12x.

Tikkamark has a Kahles on his T3 tactical, very nice scope it is too, had opportunity to look through it at foxes once.

One of the most consistent things that I keep seeing on scope discussions is that different peoples eyes see differently, so do try before you buy, what looks better to me may not look better to you.

Hibrion

I used to use a S&B 8x56 on my 223. It was a great scope and, as has been said, perfect for lamping or use in low light conditions.

The 8x power was more than enough for anything I've ever needed. I used it to shoot foxes out past 300 yards.

It is now on my 308 and used for stalking.

The best thing about fixed power S&Bs is they are one of the most reliable scope you will ever use. They pretty much never loose zero.

I have no personal experience of Zeiss so I can't help you there.

It wasn't me!

johngalway wrote: »

Look through each first under the conditions you want to use them. If you have to, bring a lamp to the gunshop late evening, or better if they open at night. Sounds odd, but they're both going to cost you a bundle of money.

Haven't looked at scopes in a good while, but S&B were famous for having rather thick reticles, that could be a problem for some types of shooting. I'd find shooting foxes at 8x out to 200 maybe 220 handy enough on a good lamping night. Farther than that I'd be wanting 12x.

Tikkamark has a Kahles on his T3 tactical, very nice scope it is too, had opportunity to look through it at foxes once.

One of the most consistent things that I keep seeing on scope discussions is that different peoples eyes see differently, so do try before you buy, what looks better to me may not look better to you.

Personally I've found the Zeiss to have a thicker reticle than a lot of the S&B ones of the same design. That said, I have a Varmint Dot 8 in my 4-16x50 S&B and it's as fine as you could ever want (Finer, depending on the task at hand) If you ever want a look through it John, give me a shout, as it really is a varmint reticle, rather than being perfectly at home on a stalking rifle.

ormondprop

I had the no7 reticle on my schmidt and found it the perfect thickness i changed though as i wanted a reticle with holdover points,
What model leupold do you have glensman?

Glensman

ormondprop wrote: »

I had the no7 reticle on my schmidt and found it the perfect thickness i changed though as i wanted a reticle with holdover points,
What model leupold do you have glensman?

I had a #7 in one of my schmidt's and an #8 in the other.

My leupold is a VX-III 6.5-20x40 (.270)
My Zeiss is 6.5-20x50 (.223)
Have a Simmons 6.5-20x50 (.22lr)

I would need to test them side by side. But I know the zeiss is better. It's less picky about focus and eye relief and the glass just seems better.
I moved from Schmidt 6x42 to the leupold and was a tad disappointed.

ormondprop

I compared mine to a 6.5-20x50 mark4 and could notice feck all difference, i reckon my next scope will be a conquest the same as yours, they seem to be the perfect mix of quality,magnification,weight, spec and price, if i can find. A nice clean onefor sale around here or if not i'll be in chicago next year and will pick one up out there,

poulo6.5

beretta391 wrote: »

schmidt and bender 8 x 56 or a zeiss 3 x 12 x 56 on a 223,

i had schmidt & bender for a few years and mainly used it stalking on my 6.5x55. any time i used it lamping it was un real clear.
only reason i sold it was because i wanted target turrets.

i am now running a zeiss victory 6-24x56 it has target turrets and great glass.

depending on what you want both are great. and there is no questioning the glass quality of either

as mentioned above the kahles is an excellent scope well worth a try as it would be a bit cheaper but every bit as good

in short any German/Austrian made scopes will be clear and crisp. just a matter of finding the one that suits you

4200fps

ormondprop wrote: »

I heard before that kahles use the same glass as swarovski and swarovski are known as having the best so kahles would be up there as one of the best, i only ever looked through one before in daylight so couldn't judge it on that, from my experience i rate zeiss better than s&b as i compared one to my old s&b 4-16 and found the zeiss brighter but barely and i'd rate leupold very good aswell, i had a mark 4 and the glass was as bright as the schmidt to my eyes but the eye relief was a pain, but the vx3 has the same glass and better eye relief so would be worth looking at aswell, i presume the zeiss your talking about is the duralyt, i dont know how they compare to the zeiss victory models though, have looked through them before and they have a lovely fine reticle but again it was dayligtlht so cant judge the brightness of glass

swarovski are realy good.its what ive on mine...zeiss are soposed to be brill never looked through 1 tho

4200fps

poulo6.5 wrote: »

i had schmidt & bender for a few years and mainly used it stalking on my 6.5x55. any time i used it lamping it was un real clear.
only reason i sold it was because i wanted target turrets.

i am now running a zeiss victory 6-24x56 it has target turrets and great glass.

depending on what you want both are great. and there is no questioning the glass quality of either

as mentioned above the kahles is an excellent scope well worth a try as it would be a bit cheaper but every bit as good

in short any German/Austrian made scopes will be clear and crisp. just a matter of finding the one that suits you

ur right there.german and austrian they are the best manufactures in the world id say

Chesapeake

You won't be unhappy with either.

But personally I prefer the Zeiss, Also if you get a chance have a look at the Zeiss Diatal 7x50, nice and compact / light.

Hibrion

That is another good point, a fixed power scope will, usually, be lighter that a variable.

To be honest, the bottom line is the power and size (objective lens, etc.) of the scope will be more important when choosing between high end brands like these.

badshot

bought a zeiss 6-24x56 two months ago
absolutely love it
had a nightforce before it good scope
but not in the same class as the zeiss.

neighbour is using a S&B 5-25x56
and it really is an awesome scope

4200fps

badshot wrote: »

bought a zeiss 6-24x56 two months ago
absolutely love it
had a nightforce before it good scope
but not in the same class as the zeiss.

neighbour is using a S&B 5-25x56
and it really is an awesome scope

how much did u pay for your zeiss?

Glensman

badshot wrote: »

bought a zeiss 6-24x56 two months ago
absolutely love it
had a nightforce before it good scope
but not in the same class as the zeiss.

neighbour is using a S&B 5-25x56
and it really is an awesome scope

That was my dream scope until everyone started harping on about Z6i's...

beretta391

so i cant really go wrong with either scopes,

It wasn't me!

beretta391 wrote: »

so i cant really go wrong with either scopes,

No, both will be superb. 8x is loads of magnification to shoot a long way out, but you might like a little less for close in work, and a bit more if shooting at small targets a long way out, so personally I'd get the 3-12x if I could, but if someone gave me the 8x56, I'd have no real complaints either.