Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Swarovski AV 3-10x42 vs Z3 3-9x36 on a NULA .338 Win.

I have both of these scopes and need to decide which one to put on my NULA rifle chambered in .338 Win. mag. I am wondering if they will stand up to the recoil of this rifle. Their recoil worthiness has been brought to question in the past. Should I just move on and get a good old Leupold?

Put 70 grains of 4350 under some 250's and do a durability test.

I have a Kodiak brownie hunt coming up and the 250's have me concerned!

I'd stick a 3X or 4X Leupold on it...but that's just me.

Swarovski

As mathman says, mount one and see. Personally I think their recoil-unworthiness is one of those Internet things.

For what it's worth, my 3-10x42 AV was on a .325 WSM Montana launching 200's for several hundred rounds, and is now on a 7WSM Montana for a couple hundred more- no problems. I shot it today out to 500 yds (spinning the stock turret) and then shot it at 100... perfect return-to-zero, as expected, since it's been nothing but reliable so far.

Now, could it fog up, lose zero, have the power ring sieze up, ocular lens fall out, and emit noxious game-scaring fumes on the very next shot?! Well sure. So could a Leupold.

Here's a thought. Buy Leupold or Warne QRW bases and rings and mount up both scopes and sight them in. Keep whichever tickles you on the rifle; bring the other as a spare.

Good luck on your hunt and post pictures!

I've had very good luck with Warne QR rings and return to zero.

BTW, 70 of 4350 under a 250 in a 6 lb. rifle could be a shooter durability test too.

I believe you'd actually trade it for a 270 and THEN stick a Leupy 3 or 4x on it. But that's just you!

Excellent choice.

Yes, I have also had great results as far as RTZ with Leup QRW rings (Warne manufacture)... I used them on a 45/70; currently they are on my AR.

Kills two birds with one stone... alleviates the OP's stress, and provides a second, spare scope for the brownie hunt. And saves money over buying a new scope.

No...it's a "mine broke after 80 or so rounds" kind of thing; it's a "the same things happened to a prominent gunwriter" kind of thing...and it's a "the maker of a very well known light weight rifle guessed which scope crapped on me before I told him" kind of thing"...we both know I'm not the only one it happened to.

I wouldn't plan a woodchuck hunt around a Swaro AV or Z3....let alone a once in a lifetime brown bear hunt.

No. I have hunted up there for brown bears with a 338 and a 375.
Have you?

That was meant to be a light-hearted jab.....AKA....a joke. Sorry if it came across wrong, my friend.

ETA: And no.....never hunted bear and will probably never get the chance to do so.

A bear is large, I'd want a #1 or perhaps #4 reticle, but could do w/a HD - and a 3x or 4x would be enough, a 2-7 or 2.5-8 VX3 would give one a light capable scope.

As to Swaro, good glass....but many things to consider for a 'job specific' rifle for the OP. It would work if dependable, but the reticle's I have seen are not what I'd want if I had to shoot fast and/or in bad light where the reticle might get less contrast on a bear.

Just my preference, any reliable scope that the user can see the crosshairs on 'Bear Hair' should do, but 3-4x would be where I'd want to be on the high side.

Well, sure, and I respect your experience and opinion. But, there's buttloads of us who've had problems with Leupolds, too...

Anyway, the Internet is a tinder-dry and very windy place... grin... and a few experiences can turn into an "everybody says..." like wildfire.

I'll continue to believe what my own experiences tell me about my Swaro. Internet be damned!

Slap the 3-10 on there and go hunting. I would not question the ability of Swaro to withstand recoil. Where is this thinking coming from?

From people who have had them break.Some have posted experiences on here....And from a lot less recoil than the OP's 6# 338 Win Mag.It is no secret.

It may be fine....who knows? Things do seem to break when they break...or not, which leads to these discussions.

But the OP also asked should he consider a Leupold (?).Since there were plenty of knowledgeable Swaro fans showing up, I offered my opinion based on my experience.

Actually for me this would not be a question of Swaro vs Leupold, but "variable" vs "fixed".Any scope can break but I would bet the farm on a fixed power over a variable, on a 6# 338 Win Mag.I don't see any real world advantage to a variable on a brown bear hunt.

When the AVs were introduced there were relatively a lot of issues with the reliability particularly the 3-9 version. That is where the bad press came from and it was justified. We were Swaro dealers at that time.

Complicating the reliability issue was the sales structure. Swaro was dealer direct and would take on small dealers for something like a 20 scope order, say. They had a minimum markup that you could not sell under--10%. Those two factors meant a lot of scopes sat on the dealer shelf for a long time. To move against everyone else selling at the same 10%, they went across the counter at less than 10%, but we did not advertise it.

A significant number of 3-9s went back for a fix after puking in the field...and they puked pretty quickly. The 3-10s were better but...

That changed, of course, as they improved the scope but the problem kept popping up from old stock gathering dust sold as "new" from the dealer network. They all looked the same...except for the serial number.

So I'd check the manufacture date of the older unused or lightly used models with the serial number(call to CS) prior to going to Alaska...Swaros CS was great to us, BTW.

The recent Swaros are probably just as reliable as Swaro wants to make them.

I've seen two go down on the first day of a class..... They are one of the last scopes I would put on a rifle.

i was considering both of those for my new 308win but in the end there was too much i liked about the Z6 1.7-10x42 including stouter construction
the other scopes are trimmer than this one but i wouldnt say this one is bulky except on the wad of cash needed to buy it