Zeiss Conquest V4 My Experience

[andyros2393]

Just wanted to throw this out there and see if any has had a similar experience. I have a zeiss conquest v4 on my cooper backcountry that I recently brought on an elk hunt. All summer I was shooting this rifle to prepare for the hunt. Thursday before I left for the hunt I went to shoot and at 400 yards I was hitting about 1.5 moa low. I didn’t have time to recheck zero and honestly, wasn’t thinking much of it and just figured I had my previous dope wrong. When I got to Wyoming I checked my zero at 100 yards and I was 6” low. Then it hit me….. I lost my zero on my rifle and that’s why my dope was wrong at 400 yards….

So I rezeroed my rifle at 100 but at this point I had lost all confidence in the scope. After driving down bumpy bumpy National Forest roads and putting my gun in a horse scabbard for 5ish miles up a mountain, I missed an elk at 600 yards three times, and then I wounded one at 200 yards. At this point I gave up on the hunt. I returned home and checked my zero again and it was off about an moa to the right. So not only did my zero change on my elevation before the hunt it changed on my windage during the hunt.

Has anyone else experienced this on a zeiss scope? I will never buy one again after this. Also does anyone have any recommendations on a scope that won’t lose a zero like this? I’m not sure if it because I shot the gun to much this summer and wore out the scope? It is on a 7mag.

Any recommendations on a new scope would be appreciated price isn’t really a thought at this point. Also if anyone has experienced this please let me know.

Thanks

 

[T_Widdy]

Just wanted to throw this out there and see if any has had a similar experience. I have a zeiss conquest v4 on my cooper backcountry that I recently brought on an elk hunt. All summer I was shooting this rifle to prepare for the hunt. Thursday before I left for the hunt I went to shoot and at 400 yards I was hitting about 1.5 moa low. I didn’t have time to recheck zero and honestly, wasn’t thinking much of it and just figured I had my previous dope wrong. When I got to Wyoming I checked my zero at 100 yards and I was 6” low. Then it hit me….. I lost my zero on my rifle and that’s why my dope was wrong at 400 yards….

So I rezeroed my rifle at 100 but at this point I had lost all confidence in the scope. After driving down bumpy bumpy National Forest roads and putting my gun in a horse scabbard for 5ish miles up a mountain, I missed an elk at 600 yards three times, and then I wounded one at 200 yards. At this point I gave up on the hunt. I returned home and checked my zero again and it was off about an moa to the right. So not only did my zero change on my elevation before the hunt it changed on my windage during the hunt.

Has anyone else experienced this on a zeiss scope? I will never buy one again after this. Also does anyone have any recommendations on a scope that won’t lose a zero like this? I’m not sure if it because I shot the gun to much this summer and wore out the scope? It is on a 7mag.

Any recommendations on a new scope would be appreciated price isn’t really a thought at this point. Also if anyone has experienced this please let me know.

Thanks

Spend some time here reading how to proof and set up your entire rifle system to eliminate shifts, but yes there is also a possibility that scope erector moved and it lost zero.

Lots of good info in this section

Rifle Scope Field Evaluations

rokslide.com

 

[andyros2393]

I tried looking for how to proof my rifle. What exactly do you mean by proof the rifle? Everything was torqued to spec and torque checked before the trip. Has not been checked since the trip. When I checked it before the trip everything was good. After reading through the scope evaluations it looks like nightforce and maven are the only two I found that shouldn’t loose zero?

 

[T_Widdy]

I tried looking for how to proof my rifle. What exactly do you mean by proof the rifle? Everything was torqued to spec and torque checked before the trip. Has not been checked since the trip. When I checked it before the trip everything was good. After reading through the scope evaluations it looks like nightforce and maven are the only two I found that shouldn’t loose zero?

Proof the rifle by dropping it to see if a drop will cause a shift, I drop my rifles from waist height onto a foam mat. Make sure your barrel is tight, is your action bedded in the stock, are your action screws degreased and torqued with loctite or fingernail polish, how is your scope mounted, do you have a pic rail, if so is it integral or bonded to the action, are your scope rings good quality and also degreased and the screws loctited or fingernail polish applied?

You can also look at Trijicon and swfa scopes.

 

[Half Nocked]

I have a v4, that I have beaten the crap out of on a 300wm, and I have never had a problem.... That said it might be worth reaching out to zeiss to see if they have any thoughts, perhaps there is some internal components that are loose. I'm not sure where that would get you, but honestly even in a worst case scenario you could sell the scope and recoup some, if not most, of your investment.

 

[Bluumoon]

Proof the rifle by dropping it to see if a drop will cause a shift, I drop my rifles from waist height onto a foam mat. Make sure your barrel is tight, is your action bedded in the stock, are your action screws degreased and torqued with loctite or fingernail polish, how is your scope mounted, do you have a pic rail, if so is it integral or bonded to the action, are your scope rings good quality and also degreased and the screws loctited or fingernail polish applied?

You can also look at Trijicon and swfa scopes.

This. I’ve followed all the instructions and still had stuff shift. Field guns all get “proofed” now. I’ve shortened a few action screws that I think were most likely culprits when combined w after market stocks

 

[06 SB]

It could be the scope or the mounts. I would not blame the scope straight away. The mounts and rings are just as much a possibility. Were those torqued properly or just hand tightened? What brand and model or mounts and rings?

I have 3 Conquest V4s, 4 Conquests and never had a single issue with one losing its zero.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

I drop tested my Conquest V4 last summer right around the same time Form tested one and didn't have any significant impact shifts. All shots landed within a 2MOA cone, which is what I was shooting at the time. It was on a T3X, in Sportsmatch T084 rings with everything mounted per Form's method. I was surprised to see it fail Form's test.

That being said, I switched to an RS1.2 to get into an FFP scope.

 

[Chris in TN]

I tried looking for how to proof my rifle. What exactly do you mean by proof the rifle? Everything was torqued to spec and torque checked before the trip. Has not been checked since the trip. When I checked it before the trip everything was good. After reading through the scope evaluations it looks like nightforce and maven are the only two I found that shouldn’t loose zero?

Nightforce is GTG. Maven only makes one scope that reliably passes the drop tests. Trijicon is GTG. SWFA, all their heavier scopes seem good. S&B too if you have that sort of budget.

It sucks to realize there are companies that make great glass and stuff it into mediocre scopes. I have a Zeiss V6 that I'd be afraid to 'drop' on a hunt. The turrets have been great (v6 turrets are supposedly not the same as v4) but it isn't the clicks that scare me, it's the side impact potential (even though I did fall while holding the rifle once and it didn't budge despite a hard impact on my forehead).

Sorry about your hunt. Seeing some of the brands I trust get trashed in the drop tests (Leupold, Zeiss, Swaro) is bittersweet but I'm glad the tests have been done. It makes future purchases easier.