Zeiss V4 4-16 thoughts/value?

Dogleg

Dogleg

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I sent in a 1" Conquest 3-9 for warranty awhile back, and they sent me a brand new 30mm 4-16 V4 as a replacement. I suppose in dollars I won that deal, if suitability for purpose wasn't part of the equation.

I could play musical scopes and relocate it to somewhere it would be appropriate; but I'm not particularly impressed by it in the first place. Eye relief is super critical, and anything other than perfect eye placement results in blacking out and a new one for me, seeing the erector tube in vivid detail. Odd, that one. OptIcal quality goes down dramatically at the higher powers. I honestly don't know why someone would buy one, if they compared it to anything else. Either that or they replaced one broken scope with another pre-broken one. Thoughts?
 
If it’s not damaged sell it. Your better off that way. Amazing they sent you that for a 3-9 conquest. That’s a good trade. I had a v6 3-18 was an amazing scope but the reticle was too thick for me.
 
Bigbubba said:
I would call them and ask for my Conquest to be fixed and returned.
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That may not work and this is why. A couple of weeks ago I spoke at length to the fellow at Gentec who looks after this as I had questions, this is what I was told:
1) Anyone can send in a Zeiss Conquest for warranty work with no paperwork required, no original bill of sale, all they need is your name and return address and they will repair it if possible.
2) If the required parts are not available then they will replace the older "3" series with the closest equivalent in the newer "4" series.
I would still phone them though and let them know about the "sub-standard" replacement they sent and see what comes of it?
 
I'll give it a try, since I realistically don't have much money tied up in it and therefore have little to lose except for another set of rings and a pile of ammo.

Chances are someone will find a heavily discounted Zeiss on the EE. Apparently some people like them.
 
Not sure if its just me but I've been noticing some scope companies trending to high magnification long range and tactical scopes recently with their new products, zeiss included. When I'm looking for a big game scope generally I want a 2-10 or 3-9 with good glass and it seems i'm seeing more 4-16, 5-25 and such with very little low mag scopes being offered. The V4 and V6 offer very little for most of my needs. Maybe if I wanted more magnification on my 204, but that's about it. I've seen 1 or 2 other scope companies going in this direction to.
 
I've shot a ton of deer with a 4-12, standing and full run, at ranges as low as 5 yards. it's just personal preference, I don't start feeling too "confined" until 5x, but prefer 3x over 1x when in the bush. I'm far more picky about the reticle TBH.

I picked up a new 4-16x v4 a couple weeks ago, and managed to take it out on the weekend.
the eyebox on mine doesn't seem to be nearly as finicky as yours. I can still get a view of the erector if I move quite a bit off center, but 9 times out of 10 I can shoulder the rifle (eyes closed) and get a perfect sight picture at 16x. IMO, the v4 eyebox is more forgiving than my PST gen 2 at high mag, but noticeably more finicky than my XRS 2.
that being said, I'm not happy with mine. Zeiss literature states that parallax is from 50y to infinity with the 4-16x, and mine isn't even close to that.
I can't adjust the eyepiece to get a sharp image, with a sharp reticle, on anything under ~120-125 yards. I was just playing around with it tonight, scoping a crow at 53 yards at 16x, and with the eyepiece adjusted to get a sharp image of the bird the reticle is so blurry that it's unuseable. with it adjusted to where the reticle just gets clear and sharp, the bird is a black blur and the branches it was perched on are almost invisible. my 3-9x Leupold vx1, with a 150y set parallax, isn't even like this at 25 yards.

when sighting the rifle in at 100y, with the eyepiece adjusted so that the reticle was sharp, the target was too blurry to see hits with a 6.5G at 16x. adjusting it so that the target was sharp resulted in a noticeably blurry (but still useable) reticle.
at around 120 yards I can adjust the eyepiece so that everything is pretty sharp. at 150y+ it's perfect, with quite good resolution.

I'm hoping to bring it in to CSC this week to see what can be done. one of the main reasons I bought it was the claimed 50y to infinity set parallax, for hunting with a little 6.5 grendel. it's not much good to me if the closest third of the 6.5G's useable range is blurry AF.
 
I wish I’d kept my v6 conquest. Darn nice scope. Had a sightron siii 6-24 after that and it sucked royally incomparison especially glass wise. Massive difference. Too bad the zmoa reticle was too thick for my type of shooting
 
I'm looking at a used 4X16 V4 right now but I noticed the box says made in Japan. Are the V4s actually made in Japan now or is this a knock off scope?
 
B-78 said:
I'm looking at a used 4X16 V4 right now but I noticed the box says made in Japan. Are the V4s actually made in Japan now or is this a knock off scope?
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My understanding is that the parts are imported and that they are assembled in USA. A phone call with the serial # should answer your question
 
I received an Email back from Zeiss and they did confirm that the V4 line is made in Japan. Kind of a bit disappointing when looking at German engineering but finding out it is made in Japan.
 
B-78 said:
I received an Email back from Zeiss and they did confirm that the V4 line is made in Japan. Kind of a bit disappointing when looking at German engineering but finding out it is made in Japan.
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Better Japan then China!
 
I got it all mounted up on my Anschutz 1574 and shot it out to 650 yards. There was a glitch when the the adjustments quit working because the set screws that hold the inner collar that enables the zero stop to work came loose. That would have been less of a deal if I wasn't an hour away from the right wrench. Otherwise it wasn’t too terrible. I’d even go so far as saying that since I really only have 300 bucks into it that its the best 300 dollar scope I have. ;)

If I’d paid the 1500 that seems to be what some retailers ask, I’d be throwing chairs around.
 
I have the V4 6-24 and it's amazing. No issues at all so far. Probably the best optical quality going now. Much better than the older conquest hd5 I had and all my vortex or nikons. The focus ring was always very stiff to move in the cold on the hd5s
 
nook123 said:
I have the V4 6-24 and it's amazing. No issues at all so far. Probably the best optical quality going now. Much better than the older conquest hd5 I had and all my vortex or nikons. The focus ring was always very stiff to move in the cold on the hd5s
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I bought one but didn't realise there was no target windage dial, only elevation. Who in the hell authorised that brain fart of a design? I sent it back......What use is a long range scope without a target style windage dial...completely USELESS in my opinion. I guess it's just OK if you only plan to shoot to 500 to 600 yards but even then.....Yes, Zeiss screws up an otherwise good scope yet again.....Good Job....
 
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