Q&A for ZCO 4-20x50mm Field Eval

[4th_point]

Man, I'm with you. I got cold feet and started thinking about the 4-20x ATAC-R.

 

[4th_point]

You didn't even answer the question he asked...WHAT FEATURES JUSTIFY ANOTHER $2500? ...lol

I know this was not directed towards me, but I think that the ZCO 420 claim to fame is the high optical image quality in a short/fast design with 50mm. At least when it was introduced. They packed a lot into a small scope, and that is probably not easy to execute. Thus the high cost.

That short design makes me wonder if it negatively affected the robustness of the scope. But at the same time, it reminds me of the old Bushnell DMR that is also 50mm, 3.5-21x. Seems ancient now, but it had a heck of a reputation having been in service in various parts the world.

 

[huntnful]

Man, I'm with you. I got cold feet and started thinking about the 4-20x ATAC-R.

It sucks, because the ZCO is magical to
Look through haha. But that just isn’t what matters the most. My 527 also had oil splash onto the lense while shooting. So there was like 4 oil droplets in the view all the time. After the Parralax issue and then the oil drops, I just couldn’t do it man. No regrets on the ATACR, but low end magnification sucks. Tunnels a lot until you get up to around 7X

 

[4th_point]

Did not know about the tunneling with the NF. Thanks again!

 

[JGood]

You didn't even answer the question he asked...WHAT FEATURES JUSTIFY ANOTHER $2500? ...lol

I don’t own a ZCO so I can’t name the features that might make them better. BUT For the Kahles, it’s the whole thing…glass, turrets and craftsmanship. I assume it’s the same for ZCO.

 

[JGood]

Well you should have deduced what he said sir.
Being as he listed 2 scopes that for sure dont really hold zero........
I guess we know the answer isnt $2500 more to ensure they work correctly.....

Hahaha True! I’m shaking in my boots nervous about the Kahles testing!

My Mark 5 has a POI issue and I’m currently sending it in…..it lives on a PRS rifle so I don’t really care about having to zero at the beginning of each day, but this one didn’t even hold zero through 10rd strings! So far, their customer service hasn’t been great. 4-6 weeks to get the scope back….I’ll probably sell it when it gets back and buy an ATACR

The PST 2 lives on a PRS 22 gun. I sight it in before every match and quite frankly haven’t had enough recoil to throw it off during a match.

 

[alpine_troop]

Weird, cause I’ve used ARC rings torqued to spec almost exclusively on my Trijicon and NF scopes and the scopes still work beautifully. Must be a problem with the rings…
Heck I even had a Leupold scope maintain parallax function in a set of ARC rings a couple years ago before I moved it on down the road.

 

[Formidilosus]

Updated.

 

[ZAR EC]

That's disappointing. Anyway to check if it's conclusively not a ring issue as you alluded to potentially being the case? I'll switch my ZCO420 and ZCO527 to either ATACR or ZP5 if it's the scope so it would be good to know for sure.

Interesting observations from you and Ryan comparing to Minox ZP5. I was quite disappointed in my ZP5 when compared to my ZCOs. The Minox was quite a bit worse. I only have a single Minox to compare so I may have a bad sample as I've heard there can be big variations in the ZP5s.

Thanks for these tests. They are pure gold.

 

[Formidilosus]

That's disappointing. Anyway to check if it's conclusively not a ring issue as you alluded to potentially being the case? I'll switch my ZCO420 and ZCO527 to either ATACR or ZP5 if it's the scope so it would be good to know for sure.

We will try alternate rings.

Interesting observations from you and Ryan comparing to Minox ZP5. I was quite disappointed in my ZP5 when compared to my ZCOs. The Minox was quite a bit worse. I only have a single Minox to compare so I may have a bad sample as I've heard there can be big variations in the ZP5s.

Thanks for these tests. They are pure gold.

I have heard that about some ZP5’s. This one, and the few I have seen are/were spectacular but in all respects with “glass”. Quite literally the only scope I’m recent memory that I have looked through that immediately noticed the view.

 

[DangerRanger]

really interested in what this does in good rings

Maybe you should tap it with your knife like a leupold just in case

I’ve only looked through another shooter zco, but I much preferred my zp5/ razor3 image. The zco was very good though still

 

[PredatorSlayer]

This one is going to hurt some feelings…lol.

 

[ZAR EC]

I'm not that into glass and I once you get to SWFA HD level I consider it more than good enough. I do though require very good low light capability as I cull a lot of animals at long range in twilight without illumination.

When I first picked up ZCO's I compared them to my other optics which at the time were: 3x S&B PMII, 2x NF ATACR, 1x March F , 1x Minox ZP5, 1x Premier Heritage.

Optically the ZCO420 was good, but not really much different to the PMII's which I use as a yardstick. My S&B 4-16x50 PMII was better in low light.

The ZCO 5-27x56 was another beast altogether. It was so shockingly better than than all the other optics it amazed me. Eyebox, depth of field, low light, resolution, everything was leaps ahead of the rest. Even in bright sunlight the differences were glaringly obvious.

Of course, none this matters if it doesn't hold zero. If this test shows it to be unreliable I will replace my ZCOs with other brands and let the team at ZCO know about it. Hopefully responses like that will force manufactures to take action.

 

[Boonie327]

Interesting. Form has displayed barrel break-in is a myth in other posts. Maybe he’s stumbled upon something else…$4k scopes need broken in, not the rifles they’re mounted on

For the guys that own these and you drop it…you better go ahead and throw it down 3 more times to make sure it comes back to zero.

I love these tests way more than a person should.

 

[Helislacker]

Hahaha True! I’m shaking in my boots nervous about the Kahles testing!

My Mark 5 has a POI issue and I’m currently sending it in…..it lives on a PRS rifle so I don’t really care about having to zero at the beginning of each day, but this one didn’t even hold zero through 10rd strings! So far, their customer service hasn’t been great. 4-6 weeks to get the scope back….I’ll probably sell it when it gets back and buy an ATACR

The PST 2 lives on a PRS 22 gun. I sight it in before every match and quite frankly haven’t had enough recoil to throw it off during a match.

Honestly, the PST 2 is a nightmare scope that I spent more time chasing zeroes on than any other. I sold it for a fixed SWFA 10x on the same rifle and haven’t lost zero once yet. More time for shooting, no more carrying around a tool kit everywhere I go.

Selling the Mark 5 for an ATACR is a very good idea.

 

[Helislacker]

I don’t own a ZCO so I can’t name the features that might make them better. BUT For the Kahles, it’s the whole thing…glass, turrets and craftsmanship. I assume it’s the same for ZCO.

That’s great the Kahles feels like it’s a superior product. However, none of those things you mentioned like “turrets” or “glass” matter if the thing can’t retain zero. Luxuries only matter if reliability is achieved first. Unfortunately most scope companies (and car companies) have prioritized the reverse of this because the market allows it.

 

[Cactus kid]

Hahaha True! I’m shaking in my boots nervous about the Kahles testing!

My Mark 5 has a POI issue and I’m currently sending it in…..it lives on a PRS rifle so I don’t really care about having to zero at the beginning of each day, but this one didn’t even hold zero through 10rd strings! So far, their customer service hasn’t been great. 4-6 weeks to get the scope back….I’ll probably sell it when it gets back and buy an ATACR

The PST 2 lives on a PRS 22 gun. I sight it in before every match and quite frankly haven’t had enough recoil to throw it off during a match.

Snipers hide is a great place to sell these scopes. That forum has more LARPers than a comic con convention.

 

[RussDXT]

Get ready for the ZCO scopes to start hitting the classifieds.

The only non “Form Approved” scope I have on a rifle anymore is a XTRIII on a CZ 22. I like it, but don’t trust it. Half way tempted to switch it out to a swfa 5-20.

Speaking of “Form Approved” could we get some kind of sticker we could order?

 

[Clark33]

Get ready for the ZCO scopes to start hitting the classifieds.

The only non “Form Approved” scope I have on a rifle anymore is a XTRIII on a CZ 22. I like it, but don’t trust it. Half way tempted to switch it out to a swfa 5-20.

Speaking of “Form Approved” could we get some kind of sticker we could order?

Drop it and find out? If it fails sell it on SH

 

[ChrisAU]

I sold my 527 this week, not because I didn’t like it, just didn’t like having that much $ tied up in one.

I will say the glass was amazing. So much so that me and a few buddies used it to spot impacts at 1255 because it had more detail and resolution at 27x at that distance than my buddies Maven 80mm spotter at 50x. We all thought that was pretty incredible that day.

I also finished 7th in an NRL Hunter match with it so it obviously dialed and returned to zero reliably for that.