I've been using the Minox ZP5 5-25x56mm with the MR4 reticle over the summer. The scope has been flawless and left me wanting to upgrade the rest of my fleet. Prior to the Minox, I had a S&B PMII 5-25x56mm MTC on my PRS rig. To be quite honest, I was never wowed by the scope. For something that cost north of $4000, I expected it to be amazing. I actually preferred Nightforce over the Schmidt. Then Minox came along...
For the purpose of the review I will be extensively comparing the ZP5 to the PMII. I think that this scope is the direct competitor for S&B.
Adjustments:
The power ring is smooth and features a fin like notch for something to grasp onto. It is quite firm, quite similar to the S&B. Moving along to the illumination and parallax. The Minox is hands down better than the S&B in this department. There is no weird tumor on the side like the S&B. It is built into the parallax knob and allows the user to turn off the illumination between the brightness setting. I think I left it somewhere around '7'. It is daylight bright and has no bleed on the reticle. The parallax does not have range values which I very much like. My S&B did have them and it annoyed that s**t out of me that it would not match up with the distances I was shooting.
Turrets:
The Minox has very aggressive texture to both the elevation and windage turrets. I like it over the S&B's MTC turrets I had. The MTC's did lock which I liked for peace of mind. That being said, I've run the Minox at PRS matches smashing it off barricades. I have not had a turret move on me yet. For clicks its a close call. Both are very crisp and audible. When moving onto the second revolution of the Minox, the windows below the turret turn white. It is a little cleaner look that the detent popping up like on the S&B. Overall I like the Minox better
Reticle:
For me there is no comparison for reticles. The Minox MR4 reticle is the best reticle I've ever used. I never did jump on the Horus band wagon which limits S&B's options. I would like to try their LRR-Mil, if its ever released...
Glass:
I will put a disclaimer here. I have no way to scientifically prove which scope has better glass. This is my opinion using my eyes. I can without hesitation say the Minox has better glass. It is brighter and it is crisper than the S&B. That being said, it will be better than Nightforce, Kahles, Vortex, Tasco, Daisy etc. I also found the parallax to be less sensitive as well. I never had to re-adjust when shooting different distances at matches. For a scope that is $600 ish less than S&B I was blown away by the glass quality. This Minox glass is what S&B should be like for the price. I feel that the Minox is the new standard to which all other should be measured.
Given everything stated, I would not hesitate in recommending Minox to anyone in the high end glass market. It is not as well known as S&B, but given how much it impressed me it wont be long before they become main stream. Thanks to Tom at Go Big Tactical for the amazing customer service. Give Tom a shout for anything Minox.
-TJW
For the purpose of the review I will be extensively comparing the ZP5 to the PMII. I think that this scope is the direct competitor for S&B.
Adjustments:
The power ring is smooth and features a fin like notch for something to grasp onto. It is quite firm, quite similar to the S&B. Moving along to the illumination and parallax. The Minox is hands down better than the S&B in this department. There is no weird tumor on the side like the S&B. It is built into the parallax knob and allows the user to turn off the illumination between the brightness setting. I think I left it somewhere around '7'. It is daylight bright and has no bleed on the reticle. The parallax does not have range values which I very much like. My S&B did have them and it annoyed that s**t out of me that it would not match up with the distances I was shooting.
Turrets:
The Minox has very aggressive texture to both the elevation and windage turrets. I like it over the S&B's MTC turrets I had. The MTC's did lock which I liked for peace of mind. That being said, I've run the Minox at PRS matches smashing it off barricades. I have not had a turret move on me yet. For clicks its a close call. Both are very crisp and audible. When moving onto the second revolution of the Minox, the windows below the turret turn white. It is a little cleaner look that the detent popping up like on the S&B. Overall I like the Minox better
Reticle:
For me there is no comparison for reticles. The Minox MR4 reticle is the best reticle I've ever used. I never did jump on the Horus band wagon which limits S&B's options. I would like to try their LRR-Mil, if its ever released...
Glass:
I will put a disclaimer here. I have no way to scientifically prove which scope has better glass. This is my opinion using my eyes. I can without hesitation say the Minox has better glass. It is brighter and it is crisper than the S&B. That being said, it will be better than Nightforce, Kahles, Vortex, Tasco, Daisy etc. I also found the parallax to be less sensitive as well. I never had to re-adjust when shooting different distances at matches. For a scope that is $600 ish less than S&B I was blown away by the glass quality. This Minox glass is what S&B should be like for the price. I feel that the Minox is the new standard to which all other should be measured.
Given everything stated, I would not hesitate in recommending Minox to anyone in the high end glass market. It is not as well known as S&B, but given how much it impressed me it wont be long before they become main stream. Thanks to Tom at Go Big Tactical for the amazing customer service. Give Tom a shout for anything Minox.
-TJW
