Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Thoughts on Meopta scopes?

My gunshop buddies are begging me to step outside of my Leupold addiction for my next scope. I want something in the 4.5-14x range, with a ranging reticle, for long-distance work on a .338. Anyway my contenders are the Leupold and Zeiss at this point. Today I was informed that I'd be nuts not to go with the Meopta. "They grind the glass for Swarovski" or words to that effect.

Anyone have any experience with these? Opinions?

The Leupold is about $625. The Zeiss or Meopta are about $825. I'll pay more to get more but I want to get more!

Ruggedness and reliability are BIG factors here. This will be a hunting rifle and is a reasonably hard-kicking caliber.

Thank you!

-jeff

Jeff,
I would not be pressured out of using a Leupold, I would rather use clicks than a fluffy reticle, I Love Swaro Bino's and Spotter's but in a rifle scope the Leupold is more repeatable and if you do need warranty it is much faster than Euro glass.
B

I was told that the zeiss conquest is assembled in brooklyn NY by Meopta I was told this by a dealer at the Harrisburg Pa.sportsman show. Take a look at the Docter optic. There made in the old zeiss plant in former east germany. The glass is as good as any 1500 dollar scope.

Amazing how much "I was told by a dealer.... collector.... rep..... gunshop guru....." stuff focuses from folks who ain't ever used anything.

FWIW, I'd wait on some of the fellas that actually USE this stuff to come out with a comment; esp. if it involves actual long-range work.

Heck Jeff, I'd go buy one if I were you.

I started the thread on the Optics forum also, and one gentleman reports that it tracks better than anything he'd used. I like hearing that. He also said that optically, it was in a whole other class than Leupold and was the equal of his Swarovski's (if I'm remembering right; might be combining two posts in my mind here... too many chips watching the Super Bowl)...

I kind of doubt that there's a whole lot of first-hand experience here, or anywhere else, with Meopta as they seem to be on the fringes, at least in terms of volume of sales. Of course, I am HOPING that I can mine the gold mine of knowledge that is the Campfire, once again!

I will default to Leupold- happily- unless the Zeiss or Meopta or something else totally smokes it. I have been a loyal and happy Leupold customer for a long time now. My friends at the gunshop are getting my money no matter what I buy, and they are dealers for Zeiss, Swaro, Leica, Meopta, those Bushnell Elite's everyone likes, Burris, Leupold, etc. So I listen when they rave to me that I need to at least consider product XX.

Still in the gathering info stage, and while I appreciate any first or even second-hand knowledge of Meopta's, please, I am interested in any opinion anyone has to offer.

Thanks!

-jeff

Yeah? Why?

-jeff

I wouldn't be braggin on leupys repeatability on adjustments. Not that they are worse than others, but lots of times they need to be sent back in as new, to be fixed.... IE they are not head and shoulders above the rest. The only ones I've had that are perfect so far are the 3 Z that I own. And that doesn't say much.

I"ve looked in Meopta spotting glass, I wouldn't hesistate to try it...

There is only one way to find out if they'll last, try it. Id happily try IOR, Meopta or Doctor Optic...

The downfall is repair thats for sure, I sent off my old Zeiss 10x40 classics in March of 07... they are STILL not back...

Jeff

I went and directly compared the Meopta to Leupold and Swarovski today.

The Meopta was a 4x16x44mm AO with a crazy reticle, consisting of a thin wire with little diamonds, presumably at some number of MOA spacing. It's a 30mm tube, also.

The Leupold was the 4.5x14x40mm AO.

the Swarovski was a bigger scope, a 6x22 IIRC.

My impressions, and this is from very informal look-thru's, were as follows:

-the Meopta smoked the Leupold optically. More contrast, more detail;

-the Leupold has the best eye-relief of the 3. Also, by far the lightest;

-the Meopta reticle is very odd. Didn't like it. You'd have to use the top of each diamond as you aiming point. These were not small diamonds, so they'd obscure a lot of target. In other words, you could not use the diamond itself as an aiming point; it's too big.

So, I don't know. The Leupold is a damn fine scope. I like the B&C reticle a lot, and on a .338 WM, I like the eye relief. I like the price better. There is not a better company in the WORLD as far as I'm concerned as far as amazing customer service, either. I worry about that with something like Meopta or, for that matter, Zeiss.

All that said, the Meopta was in a whole other class optically. It was comparable to the Swarovski scope or my Swaro binoc's. Amazing.

I'll be heading back over there at dusk one of these days to compart them in very low light.

-jeff

I'd highly recommend that.

US Optics is another consideration, very expensive but also top of the line. Draw back however is weight. Made in USA. Custom order to your specs.

+1 for rost495 comments on Leupy repeatability of adjustments! I just puked another one yesterday. It goes to Oregon tomorrow.

I will really consider Meopta for my next scope purchase. I have the 8x42 binocs and they are wonderful. I have also looked through their spotting scopes. They are excellent.

I believe Meopta is currently a hidden gem and we will see their prices steadily climb as more of us use their optics.

Yep. What do you need to know?
I have 2 meopta`s at the mo and they are every bit as good as the "Big 3 (S+B,Swaro,Zeiss)" the weight more than a leupie and they eye relief is less but other than that they are a FINE alternative and i wouldn`t even consider buying anything else as they are alot cheaper than the big 3.
Dave

I currently have 2 and if you look at the classifieds, I am at the moment selling off ALL scopes that dont say Meopta on them. They are heavy, but way superior (in my opionon) than any other scope for the money!!

Hope you don't need customer support at any point... I have a Meopta Spotting Scope that I liked a lot until I recently had a problem with the eyepiece not focussing. I called Meopta in NY and shipped my scope to them. I have called them 5 times in the past 6 weeks since I originally sent it and have received poor customer service. They keep telling me they'll call me back with an updated status and then no call back...several days later, I call them again and so on...last call I made was last Wed. and I was told that they finally located my spotting scope and it has not been diagnosed yet. They told me they would check it out ASAP and call me sometime this week to let me know the status, but that it would likley have to be sent to the Chec. Republic for repair once it is diagnosed. No call back this week from Meopta. I am going to call them tomorrow morning and insist that they ship the scope back to me this week and I will deal with Cabela's where I bought it. Unfortunately, the Cabela's told me to contact Meopta when I called them. Luckily I still have my original receipt from Cablela's. I know I can get better service through them. BTW, Meopta is now doing Cabela's Euro Optic Binos, etc. Look close in the catalogue at the pics and you can see their name brand.

You have had a totally opposite experiance than I have. My buddy that turned me on to Meopta scopes, fell and knocked something loose in his, he called them and they OVERNIGHT a new scope with a pre-paid box for his old. I also bent the bell on mine and I shipped it back, 2 weeks later had a new scope!!