Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics SWAROVSKI AV

Decided to dust of my NULA .257 Roy and do a little shooting today...been in the safe since last year.

First shot 6" low and 2"rt....yikes! I hunted with this rifle last year. May have gotten a few bumps riding in the truck and packing out my mule deer.

Checked all the screws, fired three more shots, each one moved about 2" right and another inch higher.....

This is the third one that a NULA has trashed. Apparently the sharp recoil just eats them up. The .257 is not exactly a beast it's felt recoil in this 7lb rifle is about like a .270.

Fortunatley I have a VX 3 CDS sitting in the box.

Incidently both Leupies and Conquest have worked fine on my NULA's including one in .300 Win.

Nice optics but crap reliabilty..Done with them.

Lefty C.

I blew one up in less then 20 rounds 4-12x50 plexreticle ...Weatherby Vanguard submoa in 300 wsm. I sent it back stellar CS and it never gave a problem ever.

This one is also a 4X12X50...I have also had good service, but I just can't trust these scopes anymore.

Lefty C

I won't buy another one that is for sure. I like the 3.5-10x42 but I cannot 100% be sure it will stay together either. I imagine the Z5 takes care of the recoil "effects" since it has the coil springs like their PH line.

Ran 2 AV's for 7 yrs without an issue. Send it back to CS, or how much you want for it?

I ran one for 10 on a 7mag, then all the sudden it couldn't hold POI. Swaro service fixed it, I then sold it without even trying it again.

Got one on my Kimber Montana, first 300-400 rounds as a .325 now about 250 rounds as a 7 WSM. It's a 3-10x42.

I did see my zero change after a bunch of turret-twisting and shooting. It moved up and right about 2 MOA. I'm not positive it was the scope; I'd just recently re-mounted it (in Talleys) and bedded the rifle so there were other variables at play.

I exercised the crap out of the erectors (ran them to the stops & back a bunch) and rezeroed it and it's been great since. I've been doing two things with the rifle- load workups at 100 yds, and long range shooting out to 650 or so. The tracking has been superb. Dial, shoot, CLANG. Dialed to 450 yds yesterday then shot a 5-shot 3.5" group. It works.

Having sent a couple Leup's back to the mothership for repair, I'm not a drinker of that particular cool-aid as far as them being a reliability upgrade. Not looking for an argument, just saying I've seen plenty of weirdness from them too.

It's funny how these things work. Leup's break, and it's "a reliable scope that just had a little problem". An AV breaks, and it proves they aren't a reliable product.

Anyway there's my limited experience with an AV.

I had a friend who went through 3. He really liked my Kahles CL
and picked one up and now is really satisfied.

A $1000 scope brings higher expectations than a $350 scope.

Good point.

Since when is a VX3 a $350 scope and a AV a $1000 scope?

I don't know for sure but bet I've had 50 Leupolds...

I have had one AV......I must be very unlucky.....

Far better options than a Swaro, where rifle scopes are concerned.

I recall yours was, like...."here today,gone tomorrow"....fastest turnaround in CF history.

Make a 3-9 Conquest a bit lighter and with a smaller ocular but somehow keep the optical & mechanical properties intact and still sell it for $399 and I'd look no further, myself.

Where did he say the "couple" Leupold's he sent back were VX3's?

And yeah, Swarovski AV 4-12x50 scopes were $1000+- scopes.

Me? Mine were Vari-X III 2.5-8's. Also had a VX2 6-18 AO lose zero once.

My new VX3 2.5-8 will need to go back at some point but for a mechanical issue (power ring is not right), not a tracking or zero failure.

+1 ..Evidently someone at Zeiss marketing is asleep at the wheel because I have thought the same thing myself and always wondered about it.

4-12x50 MAP price was 999

I don't agree, at least not for a light rifle. What are the options... Leup, Minox, Swaro AV/Z3... The AV's are light, trim, bright as hell. The constant ER works better for me on my Montana anyway than Leup's "shrinking" ER.

I was pretty much a Leupold-only guy for the first 6-8 years I hunted, but they are far from perfect too. I'll concede I've not run the legendary 6x42.

Money no object, I'd own a couple more AV's/Z3's. And a Summit. And one of those discontinued Zeiss Victory 2-10x42's (I think that's right).

Anyway... guess I'm just a bit unwilling to concede the premise that Leup's are more reliable.