Schimdt and Bender compared to Nightforce.

[JoeP]

Sounds like someone has a bug up his ass towards S&B. Then asks about Hensoldt? Sounds like sour grapes to me. Anyway, if I had the dough, S&B is the best, f**k the rest

Well I doubt that is an accurate assessment.

S&B clearly makes a good product. The best well I would say in the minds of some.

Steve has an opportunity to indulge in some of these high end optics and has made a statement in which I believe he feels they are superior to Nightforce and may not have intended to extend that to Hensoldt. Hence the query.

Lets be clear, no sour grapes here. I have handled both stated products (S&B and Nightforce).

Steve I look forward to your assessment/clarification.

Johnl - if you have done any testing I'm sure we would all like to hear. Lets try to keep this discussion as informative as possible.

Regards,

 

[JoeP]

For a start the S&B's 34 mm tube allows greater elevation adjustment than the standard 30mm tube. All the vertical adjustment can be made with 1 or 2 rotations of the turret, depending which turret you chose, so you will not get lost adjusting from intermediate range to long range to short range, the etched reticle can be used for range estimation at any magnification, and the controls are set up in such a way that they are visible when laying prone behind the rifle. Even if the Zeiss quality matched that of S&B, these characteristics alone justify the extra money.

Boomer, as I mentioned before, I knew some people who really appreciate those features and would be willing to spend the extra money for them.

 

[redleg]

For a start the S&B's 34 mm tube allows greater elevation adjustment than the standard 30mm tube. All the vertical adjustment can be made with 1 or 2 rotations of the turret, depending which turret you chose, so you will not get lost adjusting from intermediate range to long range to short range, the etched reticle can be used for range estimation at any magnification, and the controls are set up in such a way that they are visible when laying prone behind the rifle. Even if the Zeiss quality matched that of S&B, these characteristics alone justify the extra money.

Hensoldt scopes can be had with any or all of these features. I won't get into the argument of which is best, but certainly the features are comparable.

 

[Boomer]

Hensoldt scopes can be had with any or all of these features. I won't get into the argument of which is best, but certainly the features are comparable.

Perhaps, but the Zeiss web page is not exactly brimming with technical information. It seems Ziess puts so much emphasis on their name, that they don't think the consumer needs to know what options a rifle scope would have other than it's power range and model name. There appears to be no table which gave scope dimensions, range of adjustment, field of view, or eye relief, so for an individual who is not intimately familiar with the product line it is very difficult to come up with a basis for comparison.

Earlier this summer I did quite a bit of research into what scope I should get to replace my Springfield Armoury 6-20X56 for long range shooting. Zeiss was one of the products I looked at as well as; Schmidt and Bender, NightForce, US Optics, Leupold, Super Sniper, Swarovski, and Kahles. US Optics would of been the top choice, but their high price combined with my concerns about jumping through hoops to get warranty work done scared me off. The technical information put out by US Optics is excellent, and it gave me the basic information I needed to make an informed assessment when I examined a scope. I didn't know, for example, that the focus turret that has become so popular is not nearly as precise or as strong, at least on less expensive scopes, as a focus ring (Ergo) on the scope's objective.

I had assumed that I would end up with a Nightforce, and there is no doubt, Nightforce products are high quality. But then I happened to stop in at Wolverine Supply. I've wanted to visit the place for years, and while there I really enjoyed looking around. Turns out they had a slightly used 4-16X50 S&B that was in very nice shape, and the price included the mount! Needless to say, it went home with me. Once I got home, it took very little time to discover what a gem this scope really is.

 

[JoeP]

Finally have a few minutes to update. I've had a Hensoldt Zeiss 6-24x72 to look through and it is very impressive. Still waiting on the 6-24x56mm (30mm main tube) scope.....

One small feature I like is the elimination of the 4th turret that Leupold, S&B and IOR daunt.... EEK. The side focus like the Nightforce contains the illumination control and H-Z go one step further from Nightforce with a variable intensity adjustment! Only 3 knobs! Great work. I have found the 4th nipple on the competitors scopes to be an eye sore and an additional snag point.

Now folks the H-Z is also more $$ then the S&B... but if your going to this level of scope....why stop at the S&B.

Fit and finish the H-Z like the Nightforce is perfect!

We do not import S&B or H-Z.

I'll have to put some details to our website once it gets revamped. Right now