Eval #3, last legal light:
This one started at legal sunset +30min (the sun at this positions had set 1 hour and 5 min before)- it is very dark here. Unless a deer is moving in the lighter areas, you can not see it with your naked eye. For the people in the SE USA, think the deepest, darkest swamp at 30-60 minutes after legal sunset. It was just barley light enough to see anything at all.
Note: the magnification listed is the lowest that allowed correct aiming to the center of a deers chest- this can be either by seeing the center of the reticle, or by bracketing with the thick outer posts. Think the ability to consistently hit a 6-8” target. Objects viewed were deer and goats.
SWFA 6x- “can maybe tell sex, can aim”
SWFA 3-9x- “can maybe tell sex, can aim at just over 5x”
SWFA 10x-
“cannot tell sex, but can aim, though barely able to see enough due to exit pupil at 10x ”
SWFA 3-15x -
“can maybe tell sex, can aim at just over 5x”
Trijicon 3-18x Tenmile- “can maybe tell sex, need 9x to aim at all, though even at 9x without illumination it’s iffy. Also barely able to see well enough due to exit pupil at 9x. With illumination at lowest setting, can aim at 3x, though it’s getting iffy to see target due to all the red in the reticle washing out the background”
Maven RS1.2 2.5-15x (both)- can maybe tell sex, need 8x to aim without illumination. Image is getting dark due to exit pupil at 8x. With Illumination on lower setting, can aim at 2.5x and above”
S&B 8x56mm- “
can tell sex, can aim with little issue”
ZCO 4-20x- “can tell sex from 5’ish x and above, cannot aim at all without illumination- 100% useless without illumination. Illumination control is good, and can aim from 4x and above when on lowest visible settings, though does wash the image out a bit”.
Minox ZP5 5-25x- “can tell sex, and aim without issue from 5x and above. Illumination is excellent due to just the center dot being a pin prick of barely visible light”.
Scopes with magnification set to where required to aim without illumination-
View attachment 804468
Conclusion: Reticles are
the difference between any decent scope- glass differences played no part in being able to see an animal, and only a very tiny part in maybe being able to tell if if had antlers or not. Except for the Minox, ZCO, and S&B, none had a bright enough image to tell sex to a high enough confidence factor that I would take the shot if that mattered- but even with those three, 8x and 10x binos were better and easier to ID with.
As has happened every time it has been tested with people and actually shooting animal targets instead of looking through them at a piece of paper at a range; in all legal low light in the timber; there is very,
very little difference in ability to aim due to glass from any but the absolute pennicle of scopes- that is scopes specifically made (in Germany mostly) for hunting animals at night without artificial light.
A poor reticle turns the greatest glass in the world into a paper weight. Conversely, a bold, good reticle where the thick outer posts come close together- turns decent, but not spectacular glass into a fully functional aiming device.
Between the SWFA’s, the Trijicon Tenmile, and the Maven RS1.2’s- if I had to bet my life on being able to make a shot in low light without illumination, it would be between the 6x and 3-9x SWFA’s. The cheapest two scopes….
The ZCO while have excellent image quality, is not at all a general purpose huntings scope, and I wouldn’t label it a huntings cope at all. The reticle is useless in lower light without illumination.
The S&B 8x56mm was specifically designed and made for shooting animals at night without artificial light in Europe… and it shows. This scope consistently beats out nearly everything in the lowest light, and as a eastern low light scope it may be the best currently available that isn’t $3,000. If I were a dedicated SE whitetail hunter again, I would chose this and get their BDC turret added.
The Minox ZP5 with THLR reticle again showed to be in a class completely by itself in ability to resolve enough information to make shots. The most common first statement that comes out of people’s mouth when they compare it with other scopes like this in lower light is something akin to-
“ah what the fuc…”. I have not personably seen a better scope from anyone that is more able to make shots anytime of the day or nigh. Potentially Zeiss or S&B’s best large objectives may be as bright or possibly brighter- I haven’t used them recently. But no Swarovski including the Z5/6/8’s and X5’s, no S&B that I have seen, no Zeiss has topped it. Some scope for sure have comparable “glass”, but none I would choose over the ZP5 THLR if I had to make shots no matter what.
