Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Fixed 4x's --- Leupold vs Schmidt Bender Vs. Zeiss

Anyone compare these? Seemed like Swaro years back made a 4x32 but discontinued it.

I have a S&B fixed 4x36 on my slug gun - its an awesome little scope. Never checked out the other brands you mentioned.

I have a Zeiss 4X32 on one of my Encore barrels. It is a bit larger than some others. Its clarity and eye relier are exceptional for near-sighted wearers with glasses like me. I will probably buy another.

Its been a while since I had a Leupold 4X and I can't comment on the FX-II. I have no experience with Schmidt & Bender.

Cheers,

GrimJim

I've only got the older and the newest Leupolds. The new FXII, 4X is really impressive, especially if you need to shoot quickly from an awkward position. The eye box, i.e. the fore and aft leeway it allows you is very large.
It's very bright and can be customized with all sort of things.
Ray Atkinson claims it, along with the older 3X and 4X Leupolds, and their 1.5-5X20 VXIII hold zero after being impacted better than anything else he has tested. I can tell you mine has been literally slammed to the hard, rocky ground more than once and held zero perfectly. E

I think the Zeiss and S&B most likely have better glass, but I've shot so much stuff with Leupold 4X's,I really don't care...

I find the Zeiss 4X to be brighter and sharper than Leupold scopes. In particular the Leupold 4X has never impressed me.

I have a couple of Zeiss Diatal-C 4x32's 4X's but to be frank I would rather get a Ziess Conquest so I did!

I've not used the S&B or Zeiss, but I've been using the FXII 4x for several years. An 8 point and a doe were the latest victims this morning.....

I don't think it has the best glass. It's not bad, but I feel like the glass in the Nikon Monarch 4x40 is a good bit better, and would imagine the big 2 mentioned would smoke it pretty well if only the glass quality was considered. That being said, the FXII is a very usable scope, easy to align, great eye relief, very light, and a compact size. When every thing is considered I think it's a great scope that especially shines if your looking to save weight. If you just want the "best glass" I think you can do better.

JCM

What attracts me to the 4X Leup is not the optics; I know there are others better.It's the fact that I have fired 10's of thousands of rounds under them in everything from 257 to 375,hunted with and abused them,and only one has ever quit;but it had thousands of 300 mag and 338 mag under it and was beat to hell.I have gone through and busted several variables in the same time frame.

They are just tough scopes.

Optically, the Schmidt and Bender 4x36 trumps the Leupy 4x by a wide margin. Just bought a Zeiss Conquest 4x and it is excellent too, with awesome eye relief. Haven't compared the Zeiss to any others, but it sure looks good to me optically. As Sav 99 said, it is no doubt better than the Leupy 4x, I just haven't compared the two.

I can't help but wonder about this so called better glass in the competition.
I've got an older Leupold 4X which single coatings. I've got a new one that is shorter, has a larger objective and is fully multicoated. When I got it, I was surprised to learn that it could not resolve an image much better than the older, much used one.
I've also got an even older, fully multicoated B&L 4X. It can resolve an image noticably better than either of the Leupolds. But it's eye box is from 1/4-1/3 as large.
Frankly, if that's the difference, I'll take the much larger eye box of the Leupold. The difference between the two 4X's in image quality simply isn't practical. I can picked up .30 bullet holes at 100 yds. with both Leupolds. But with the old B&L, I can pick up 7mm bullet holes and even a few .25 caliber bullet holes @ 100 yds.
On the other hand, having that larger eye box, makes getting on that throphy much easier. Something that I've found is very practical and desirable. E

Oh schit, here we go again............................

Yep, everyone is wanting to mount spotting scopes on their rifles again instead of being satisfied with what a scope is intended to do.

Good info, I have a B&L also, always thought the glass was outstanding, and my latest 4x33 looked I thought wonderful, but I wanted to get one with a #4 or #1 Reticle. I think Zeiss no. 2 reticle WAS offered in the Conquest 4x and it IIRC was/is like a Leupold G #1. I see on the website the Zeiss no. 4, looks same as a Leupy G4.

Considering custom shop charges, a Conquest 4x32 w/reticle of choice may be better than having a Leupy modified. I was unsure of the eye relief as many users claim some of the Euro scopes have marginal eye reliefs vs. Leupy. The 4200s are somewhat that way and I had a 6x36 Swaro that was not as generous as the Leupy, though resolution and color rendition were outstanding.

All a trade off I realize. Just looking for a no frills scope, top optics to be used mainly on deer, in woods, likely from a climber and in thicker stuff where they live. I have a 6x42 that's not going anywhere and the G4 is great, would not trade if for another reticle.

It seems back in the 80's or so there was a Hunting Digest Annual or similar book, perhaps a Gun Digest or Shooters Digest, anyway, this article was about a guys favorite woods set up. It was a Lever 35 Rem, possibly 30/30, AND the hunters choice IIRC was a Zeiss 4x, COULD have been a variable like 3-9x but it seems it was a K.I.S.S. set up, that the author remarked the scope then was more than the rifle but well worth it.

I took a running whitetail around 115yds with my B&L once on a public area, worked well, but reticle is too fine for max speed acquisition.

Also, popped another deer with a Nikon Pro-Staff, same thing and the FOV was not what say Leupy and others seems to be.....

SO, I am on a quest, 'no pun to Zeiss' to get a great set up. My first thoughts have been a 4x33 w/Reticle mod to G4, if not a G1.

Had a 2.5 Leupy on my 357 Lever but it would not resolve as well as if I had more scope, and the wide duplex was not as prominent as I would have liked. Case in point, dropped a deer few weeks back at dusk (yes worked well then) but right after, a Raccoon came back to rob the corn my buddy throws out near the stand, at 75 paces, near dusk, the coon blended in the background and looked like a mere shadow thru the 2.5x. That situation made me rethink. In good daylight it would have been no problem.

A 6x would be perhaps more than I'd want esp. in thickets I plan to hunt on that part of the property we hunt.

So, I may just try a Conquest hearing it has good eye relief, if I can find a No.2 or No. 4 reticle as I am sure one or both have been mfg.

Thanks for the feedback.

Oh well... I've looked through and used Swarovski and Zeiss, but I buy Leupy.

Glass is clearly better in the former, but I've hunted Leupys hard and IMHO, ruggedness, performance-for-price and customer service make Leupy my pick for hunting / plinking / general shooting.

Again?

The pendulum swings, I have used a few high powered scopes for specialized rifles, namely those I might use for informal paper competition, or varmint hunting. 98% of everything I have shot, or considered shooting, in as deer sized game, has/could have been taken with a simple fixed scope, and I think focusing on aquiring sight pic quickly and then a good follow thru on squeeze is critical in a hunting rifle and fumbling with indecision on what power can slow one down enough to miss the opportunity to shoot, OR simply distract what needs to be done, causing a rushed shot once you think you have your equipment settings ideal for the situation.

My fastest shot I believe was on a hog, 240 yds, 6x Swaro, hog came out of brush in view, I had the rifle on it and squeezed a good shot off in a very few seconds, I do recall taking less than 1-2 seconds hold on animal before dropping the hammer, long enough to confirm my then 9 year old was watching thru binos.

It was 'reactive snap shooting' and a DRT kill. Fumbling with a vari would have slowed me way down, not necessarily blowing the shot, but nothing to have been gained either.

I distinctly recall a well known deer expert telling my father years back he shoots very fast, acquires sight pic, reticle on deer and squeezes off shot, not thinking much about it. Now I realize shooting very long distance requires more thought in drop and sometimes kentucky windage, but a bulk of shots do not necessitate taking a benchrest steady aiming process to make the shot.

So I do appreciate the 'less is more' concept for hunting scopes in a majority of applications.

And realize scopes are aiming devices, using my binos for scanning and viewing where needed.

Now speaking of Binos, I wonder how many Leupy SCOPE fans use Leupy binos, or actually choose Euro brands over them. Curious since application is different. My Pentax 8x32s have served well for most of my hunting needs, be happy to hear what you all use.

I'm quite happy with my recently acquired Meopta Meostar 8x42 binocular. Unlike the scopes, the eye relief and weight of the Meopta bino suit me fine.

What scope mounts are those???

Weaver Quad Lock rings.

http://www.weaver-mounts.com/products/quadLockSteel.aspx

I understand the Zeiss 4X does test at four inches of eye relief. But has no where near the forgiving nature of Leupold's 4X.
Some have also reported that they have had trouble with the very fast focusing ocular moving when carried close to the body. I've had that trouble with my locked ocular Leupolds. While none of my Leupolds have ever done enough to spoil the image focus when I need it in a hurry, I can see where this could be a problem if I hunted with something that has the super fast euro stlye focusing system. E