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

That says it all right there. Get a M8 4x33 and you got all you'll ever need.

Is that the preferred scope of Oregon Preppers ?

I won't presume to have your level of google-fu <grin> but I'm sitting here waiting for my 13-yr-old daughter to finish the Eternal Shower so I can take a dump, and I googled both "Swfa Super Sniper Problems" and "Swarovski AV problems" and guess what, SS's DO break. And the AV hardly comes up with tons of stuff.

I did run across this, on the OpticsTalk forum:

"FWIW -- Custom rifle builder Jim Borden recommends Swaro AV scopes on his superlight mountain rifles, which includes some heavy kickers.� I'm sure if you do an exhaustive enough search on any brand of scope, you'll find someone who's had one fail.��A couple years ago,�my rifle topped with a Swaro AV slipped off my shoulder while I was climbing into an elevated blind and fell�about 10 feet, landing scope first�onto a large rock.� It was a very violent impact that bent the eyepiece, yet when I checked zero later that morning, it hadn't shifted at all!� "

In point of fact, the overwhelming majority of AV owners have had great luck. I ran a thread over on that forum and at least one thread here asking about them, and in that case as well, many many people with no problems.

Since that dovetails nicely with my personal experience, on a sharp kicker no less, that's the lens I see the data set through. A rosy one.

I was afraid to google "Leupold problems". Thought my iPhone might blow up.

It may be that the Wizened Ones have decreed that AV's crumble in the hand, and it may be pissing against the wind to report otherwise, but I'm a stout-hearted man of Viking stock. I shall stand firm.








<grin>

Do ya'll just like to argue?


Aicman, there will be less failures in just one product line then there will by in all product lines combined. In any case please point out where I said all Swaro's have issues? I didn't. I said the AV line of scopes have known, common problems. That is a fact. Any dealer that has had to deal with them will tell you that. We had one post here about it. If you have one that works, great! I hope it lasts you a lifetime. Every single AV someone has brought to a course with my company has went down in under two days. It's to the point now where we bring extra scopes just so people can finish the class when their scope goes down.




Here is what I know. I see more then 100,000 rounds a year get shot in training. Most of that in long range shooting. Scopes fail at an unbelievable rate. If you want a scope that will work period get one of these-

1) Leupold fixed powers. Specifically 4x and 6x models.
2) SWFA Super Snipers. Especially the 3-9x42.
3) Nightforce NXS. Most bombproof scopes made. That includes S&B.
4) Hensoldt.



There are certainly other scopes that are good to great, however these scopes are the ones I/we use because they are durable, reliable, and track consistently.

Maybe you should talk with djpaintless about Swaro AV's...

Bet there's a Bushy 3200 or 4200 pic out there like that... just sayin'...

Feel free to knock yourself out trying to find a thread here regarding broken 4200's from recoil. Matter of fact, I am looking to buy a 6500 for my 300 WM and was doing some google surfing and came across this quote from David Petzal.

"The Bushnell Elite 4200 is, very possibly, the toughest scope on the market, and the 6500 is claimed to be its equal. It has a second-generation Rainguard coating on its lenses (which works, and which I have found to be a hunt-saver), good adjustments, and turret-mounted parallax adjustment"...

Not that I'm putting a halo on this writer, but I bet you won't find similar claims about a Swaro AV........great glass yes.

Formidilosus, what you said implied an increased Swaro failure rate if you would broad your search criteria to all Swaros. I disagree with that extrapolation and I actually argue the exact opposite.

No one here will argue with 100,000 rounds a year seen fired. All credability bets are off though if you recycle posts from the Internet, some from people that never used the scope but still re-report problems that happened 10 years ago.

Aic

You got very possibly the toughest, plus you are saving hunts 'n chit.

My google-fu is not worthy.

Does your 338 have a brake ? That gun is going to get your attention when you shoot it I have the same gun in 300WM and it will come back and kiss yah if your to close ! I would go with the fixed power leupold..

Another day of dialing my 3-10x42 AV using the very slick stock turret. Only shot to 475 yds. Great tracking, repeatability, and RTZ. About 25 rounds of 162's at 3100 fps from a featherweight 7WSM.

Will get used this way again tomorrow and/or Thursday.

Jeff_O,

Will the showers bother you? I saw there is a 100% chance tomorrow.

You could do the rain/bullet research for us!

I got rained on a little today. Helps cool the barrel!

If it's raining for real tomorrow I'll just go up on Thursday. Got PT at 2:30 tomorrow which kinda blows a hole in the afternoon anyway. But all I need is a couple hours of decent weather in the a.m. and I'm there! My spot is only about 20 minutes away.

Jeff_O,

I will take care of the out doors in the afternoon. There are a couple under twelve year old boys I know who I'm taking fishing. Their dad told me he will dress them appropriately. When you posted 2:30 it reminded me that I going to pick them up at 2:30.

Enjoy the morning.

Nice! Great job. Trout? Bass? Crappie?

SALMON?!

There are bass, catfish and trout where I'm taking them. Their dad was happy about me taking them. Their grandfather doesn't do anything with them so I get to be a substitute.

Good job, man. Good job.

I'd like to report another session where my AV on a very light magnum rifle not only held zero, but tracked perfectly to ~500 yards, several points in between, and then right back to zero (verified). Only fired about 20 rounds from that rifle as it was quite stormy. But-- as usual-- it worked like a champ.

FWIW.

That's a good thing you're doing with those kids. Nice work Rimgman!

Thought I'd update this.

I've been shooting my 3-10x42 AV equipped featherweight 7WSM a bunch lately, dialing out to 600 yds (though more commonly 450-500) and then of course back. It has tracked beautifully and held zero like a rock.

Well my current 338 Winchester has a 3 x to 9x Zeiss Conquest on it. Been on the rifle since I bought it in 1997. Zeroed it it and well I just check zero, then go shoot stuff. When and if it should give up the ghost, I would not think twice about a fixed 4x since 98% of the time that is were the power ring is when I shoot something. I think a 1.5 -5 or a 1.75 to 6 Leupold would work well on your NULA and your bear hunt.