Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Zeiss Broke

Thankfully I've had much better service from my 2 original Conquests and HD5 than you experienced. I've beaten most of my equipment up dragging through brush , icy rainy muddy trails, and canyons that were steeper than I thought. The Zeiss scopes have always held zero and I haven't had to use the customer service.

I've taken 14 year old boys hunting more than a few times and it is a great way to build character, opening gates and running errands at camp helping out and paying young hunter dues has been good for their development. If my 14 year old whined about a Zeiss scope he would be using iron sights for a while and buying his own scope next time. Part of the experience is watching them grow up to appreciate how lucky they are to get to enjoy the outdoors with their father, the modern equipment is just icing on the cake. They outgrow that smart mouth stage but if everything is handed to them they often turn out to be so self centered they miss out on a lot of things. I own nicer shotguns but still use my grandfathers old model 11 occasionally and remember being his retriever as he dropped bids close so I wouldn't have to chase them down the canyon.

specneeds wrote: "If my 14 year old whined about a Zeiss scope he would be using iron sights for a while and buying his own scope next time."
---

Well said!!!

Not to mention the "problem" occurred on his GAP 300 WSM and never had problems with his Leupold's and S&B's...? Damn, if that were me at 14 I'd be peeing in my pants with joy to own that rifle let alone a Zeiss, S&B and a lowly Leupold.

Ain't that the truth powdr, and RD? When I was 11 yrs old, and knew I was hooked on mule deer hunting already, I told my dad I wanted a rifle and scope. He says "great!", and promptly got me a job at the ice house bagging ice. I was 11 yrs old. Bought me a K4 and Marlin 30-30 for $150 brand new. I still have it.

"We mounted one on his GAP 300 WSM and like most 14 year olds he started b1tching, cursing like a mofo the horrible tunnel vision compared to his normal Leupolds and S&Bs", Journeyman.

"I wouldn't trust a Zeiss on a Daisy Red Rider", Journeyman


It sounds like S&B scoped GAP rifles supplanted good ole Daisy BB guns at your house...


"If my 14 year old whined about a Zeiss scope he would be using iron sights for a while and buying his own scope next time", specneeds.
X2!!!!!!

Journeyman wrote: "I also had a V series I bought on a rifle in Scotland that refused to not fog, and Zeiss USA wouldn't look at it because it wasn't a USA product."

---

That seems quite odd since most upper-end Zeiss optics are NOT USA products, and they do indeed service them. A friend took a fall on a New Mexico mountainside, and his 1.5-6x42 was badly damaged, including a deep gouge on the ocular lens. Zeiss took care of it -- at no charge to him, I might add.

And of course it was not a USA product but was made in Germany. He purchased it while living in the UK.

Perhaps a call to a different CS rep would have been in order. (Try contacting Karen Bookout at Zeiss CS.)

It worked for me when Leupold produced a scope with the wrong reticle -- a reticle that wasn't even offered in that VX-R model -- and the first CS contact pretty much told me it was my problem. The 2nd, on the other hand, took care of it in short order.

The last 14 year old was the youngest Eagle scout in County history...maybe the state and is in the Air Force Academy now so a pretty exceptional young man. But like most kids, maybe even your son at 14 he was mouthy and irritating to everyone but his father. Other guys in our camp asked why he was invited back. My son was irritating, I'm guessing I was a cocky irritating kid at 14 too.

It sounds from your description that your son is a sharp, hard working kid with drive and that you are allowing him to do things that will keep him grounded. I'll stand by my comment on the whining about a Zeiss - just because he is an exceptional kid doesn't make the mouthy 14 year old part any more attractive no matter how normal it is.

At 14 irritating as I was my deer hunting gun was an 1894 Winchester 30-30 rifle with iron sights that was previously owned by my grandfather. He didn't hunt much after his back was broken when a platform he was working on was strafed by a Japanese zero. But the summer I spent with him included about 2000 rounds of 22's so by 14 I might have fired that many rounds at cans and varmints. In those days he'd send me into the hardware store to pick up a box of ammunition s little different than today.

That rifle killed the first deer with the first shot at a doe on the dead run at about 75 yards and won a bunch of bets when it was used to hit rocks at 400 yards. I'd guess those young eyes of your son probably would do well with the irons - maybe you should try that out to see if he can be successful hunting without Daddy's fancy toys and expensive match rifles and optics. But I'd be happy to get shown up by a youngster - it sounds like you travel quite a bit I'm in rural San Diego County PM me for the address if you plan to be here. We are having a little archery 3D shoot and wild game pit bbq here on Friday with about a hundred folks if you can make it. We could mix in a little contest with a big audience then - hunting positions only and timed shots less than 15 seconds would be my preference.

And yet you never learned to kill chit without a guide...

I'm on a plane tomorrow off to Norway... HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL!!!

specneeds wrote: "If my 14 year old whined about a Zeiss scope he would be using iron sights for a while and buying his own scope next time."
---

Well said!!!