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

Install a NightForce 2.5x10x32 on it - you can then beat the living schit out of it & not worry!!

Will he also be beating hell out of his eye brow or the bridge of his nose?

Neither!!

NightForce 2.5-10x32 specs:

3.7" eye relief

12" in length



Swarovski AV 3-10x42 specs:

3.5" eye relief

12.44" in length

now post the weight difference

NightForce = 19 oz

Swarovski AV = 12.7 oz


6.3 oz difference = take 2 less candy bars & you're even !!!!

Sako--what reticle did you buy?

#4

This.

I can believe they had a problem early on. I cannot believe that Swarovski, of all people, would just continue to sell an essentially defective product.

As I've said before, I'm not married to the damn thing and will report any issues I have. It's just that it's been so mechanically reliable, on a pretty hard kicking "platform" no less, that I can't help but defend it when it's called mechanically UNreliable.

From reading your posts the last few years you seem to suffer from either "I saw it once so it has to be true/false" or "I read it once so it has to be true/false" syndrome. You have this tendency to ignore what people with real experience/knowledge say, yet latch on to some really hokey ideas from people without real experience/knowledge.


It's called a sample of one. If yours works, great. But to ignore that there are/were a lot of problems with the AV's when someone asks is setting them up for failure.

Formid, I think you nailed it with JeffO. As for me, I'm one of the "unlucky" SwaroA owners (3-10x42) who had one go south, on a hunt for big mulies. I shot the poor thing to pieces 4 times from 140 yards with a dead rest. Bad erector. Swaro fixed it, I sold it.

Now discontinued, but the old 4x32 Swaro might be a great combo on a rifle like that, for it's purpose.

Never any issues w/the fixed Swaro I ran, it's plex was bolder than the variables I have peered thru fwiw.

"I cannot believe that Swarovski, of all people, would just continue to sell an essentially defective product. "

Well Jeff, I can't believe they didn't issue a recall or something similar...not exactly above board was it?

Admitting an issue and fixing it would have been the way to treat your dealer network and the guys putting their hunts on the line.

I'll be damned, guess you learn something new everyday.

TomK, that is good information and makes a lot of sense as to the poor reputation.
I'd tend to the 3-9x36 all things being equal. HOWEVER, I'd lean to the longest eye relief first. It will be an issue on that 6lb rifle.
I like 4" of eye relief, but I am a chicken at heart when it comes to getting hammered in the face.

The almost eye-watering irony being, of course, that most of the problems reported are a sample of one as well. Like JG. Bought it, had a problem, sold it, now every time there's a thread, there's he and a couple other guys bashing them. Based on a sample of one. And this is why I made this very point earlier in the thread. It doesn't take much to make an "everybody knows..." or "everybody says..." scenario.... Those are just as bad as the "I saw it once" scenario as you describe.

Like I SAID, I'm not married to the phookin' thing. And I'm not claiming expertitude with them. But guys act like they fly to flinders on a rifle that kicks. That may be their experience, but it's not mine, nor that of MANY other people who use them. Yet we are guilty of "sample of one"? Not seeing that. Rather, on the AV threads I see a vast <g> majority of folks report no problems, and the same few detractors.

Shall we talk about the SEVERAL Leup's I've had problems with? There's busted Leup threads all over the place. Guess they are garbage?

Edit: hey, this reads as testy, and I don't mean it that way. No offense intended to anyone; I'm not belittling anybody's experience. I'd be pissed too if my fancypants Swaro scope crapped out on me.

Man, I am JINXING my AV with all this talk!

Always a pleasure gentlemen.

Thanks for all the input guys. I think that I'll roll the dice and throw on the AV since it is bought and paid for. I don't mind taking a few risks as I have bought quite a few Kimbers. If it goes belly up, I will go shopping for a fixed power Schmidt&Bender.

I put an AV3-9 with 4A reticule on my 8lb 338WM close on 3 years ago; fired well over 200 full power rounds.
No complaints, nice scope

My sample of 4 swaros, ( 1 AV and 3 Z 3's) has been problem free. I've a couple respected friends who've had issues with theirs, but for me and many others they've been a great scope.
My 7 3/4 lbs. 300 H&H has got some snap to it, but with 500+ rounds behind it the swaro has been fine; although I'll admit once I've got my load developed I'm not playing with the adjustments like other folks, I pretty much just practice then go huntin'

For your bear hunt I would look at a 3-9 Trijicon Accupoint crosshair with a green dot. Just a suggestion

No. Not a sample of one.





Yes. I am disappointed with most scopes made.

The difference between them is that there are not wide problems with Leupold's being destroyed from just shooting on average BG rifles. The AV's break from just shooting.

If my count is right there are 6 posters on this thread that have or have had Swarovski AV scopes. 3 have had problems. All three have of those have seen multiple AV's have issues. 3 out of 6 isn't a sample of one, it's a clue. What makes it worse is that we are not talking about Swarovski's as a whole like everyone does with Leupold, but one specific product line.

As a curiosity I just did a google search for "problems with___" Leupold, Swarovski AV, Nightforce, and SWFA SS. Note that I only searched for one specific model of Swaro but the entire line of the others. There were 12 links to hunters having actual broken AV's on the first three pages. Each one of those had multiple posters with problems. There were 9 links with actual mechanical problems with every Leupold model ever made on the first three pages. All but one were with tracking issues. hmmm.... how many Leupold scopes do you think are sold for every AV? There was one (1) Nightforce scope in ten (10) pages with a problem. There were zero (0) mechanical problems with SWFA's SS on the first three pages.


So.....

Sworovski AV- 12 links in the first 3 pages.
Leupold- 9 links in the first 3 pages.
Nightforce- 1 scope in TEN pages.
SWFA SS- 0 scopes in the first 3 pages.



We see quite a few Leupold's have issues with tracking in our classes. Probably 20 or 30% of them in a two day hunting class. Always with incorrect or inconsistent tracking. Never with failure to hold zero once set. Every single Swaro AV we have had come through has had problems. Inconsistent and incorrect tracking, failure to hold zero, turrets completely locking up, erector springs breaking, etc.


To be fair, and I have said this before, very few scope brands/models don't have issues when really shot and turrets spun.