When the non-shooting public hears the name Swarovski they invariably think of crystal and the incredible upmarket products they produce from precisely engineered lead-free glass. Rings, earrings, necklaces, watches, chandeliers as well as beautiful figurines of just about anything you can imagine, are sold worldwide to discerning buyers of these beautiful and highly expensive items.
The company, which is still family owned, was started in Austria by Daniel Swarovski in 1895 when he invented a machine to grind and cut crystal gemstones. Daniel’s son Wilhelm was an amateur astronomer, who was able to use the company’s increasingly advanced glass processing methods to develop his own improved binoculars in 1935. Wilhelm’s passion led to the establishment of subsidiary company Swarovski Optic in Absam, Tyrol in 1949, to make long-range optical equipment. They’re still in the same location today.
From a shooter’s point of view, when we hear the name Swarovski we think of premium hunting optics. From its earliest days Swarovski Optik quickly rose to become one of the premium scope, binocular and telescope manufacturing firms in the world. In the early 1990s they introduced the first-ever hunting scope with an illuminated reticle and, in 1995, the first riflescope with integrated laser rangefinder.
In 1996 the LRS series was introduced, the first civilian market telescopic sight with an integrated laser rangefinder. In 2007 they launched the first riflescope with 6x zoom and, in 2015, the X5i series arrived with 5x zoom and illuminated reticle for long-range hunting. The following year came an 8x zoom in the first version of the Z8i series, offering what I believe was the widest zoom range at the time.
Swarovski Optik employs about 1000 staff who produce and market a range of exceptional telescopic sights which include zoom ranges of 3, 5, 6 and 8. That’s an amazing spread with technological achievement to match, especially at the top end of the range.
They’re famous for optical excellence in all their model ranges and, while increasingly expensive as you move up the magnification range, they’re generally considered as good as it gets. Interestingly though, they’re no more expensive than other famous mid-European brands like Kahles, Pecar and Zeiss. Readers may be interested to know Swarovski actually bought Kahles in 1974 to strengthen their market position. The latter now leans mostly towards military and recreational target users, while Swarovski covers the demand for high-end hunting optics.
Having reviewed the Z5 series some years ago and been highly impressed, I was delighted to catch up with Stewart Leach, National Area Manager for Swarovski Optik in Australia. He offered Australian Shooter two new top of the line Z8i models in the 2-16×50 and the 3.5-28×50 in their recently released Generation 2 models. These have the same optical properties of the Gen 1s but with a slightly different cosmetic look and enlarged function buttons for the illumination system, controlled from on the top of the eyepiece. Also available in the new Gen 2 Z8i range are the 1-8×24, 1.7-13.3×42 and 2.3-18×56, which surely cover all hunting scenarios. All Z8i models have an illuminated reticle.
Z8i Gen 2 – 3.5-28×50
With a useful lower end of 3.5 and amazing top end of 28, this scope would seem to have pretty much all hunting bases covered. It has a 30mm main tube, a generous and forgiving eye box which affords a wide 12m field of view at 3.5 power and the ability to shoot precisely, with a good rest, all the way to 28 power.
These numbers sound more like a target scope, yet this one’s designed specifically for the type of hunting where long shots may be the order of the day, but close shots or early morning or last-light shots, especially those at closer ranges, may present. This power range covers all these eventualities. The 50mm objective allows in a significant amount of light, while the lens technology and proprietary coatings produce an amazing 93 per cent light transmission.
The bell of the objective externally measures 56mm but looks well balanced and elegant. Overall length is 380mm yet it’s light for its size at 665g, always helpful on a rifle which may be carried considerable distances in rough terrain. The growing tendency in Europe to design higher powered hunting scopes, revolves around the idea you can identify and assess your quarry and its trophy potential with the higher end of your magnification range, removing the need to carry a spotting scope. When it comes time for the shot you can power down (or not), while the rubberized power ring is exceptionally smooth and a delight to use.
There are three turrets on this one: elevation, windage and parallax. The first two are capped and the latter also houses a battery for the illuminated reticle (a spare fits inside the windage turret). Parallax goes from zero to infinity with a soft click you can feel, while being very smooth and precise.
Adjustments for elevation and windage are in centimetres with one click equal to 1cm at 100m. Not as fine as quarter MOA clicks, yet perfectly acceptable for my shots out to 500m at the range and 320m in the field. Total adjustment is 140cm vertically and 70cm of windage. Admittedly not an enormous range, though certainly more than enough with a flat-shooting cartridge to get you out to around 800m, beyond what I consider an ethical range for hunting except for an expert shot.
It pays to remember this scope’s designed specifically for hunting and, as such, the adjustments are more than adequate, with clicks on both dials being crisp and definite. If you want to reach further and shoot long-range targets or steel plates, installing a 10 MOA rail and mounting the scope on it will get the job done.
Swarovski also offer an optional locking turret system exclusively for the Z8 series in the BTF (Ballistic Turret Flex), something of a gamechanger to my mind. The BTF package comes with a turret and rings numbered 2, 3, 4, 5 and one with a dot. It also comes with a ring for windage should you choose to install it as a windage turret.
Sight-in your rifle to be on point of aim at 100m (zero stop), then attach the BTF turret which clips on by way of a simple but secure interface. Having downloaded the free Swarovski Optik Hunting app to your phone, select a factory load from the comprehensive list or enter details of your handload, including bullet weight and ballistic co-efficient.
Now enter the exact average speed of your bullet (having chronographed the load), elevation where you mostly shoot and average temperature. You also measure distance between the centre of your bolt and centre of the scope tube and, the more accurate the data input, the more accurate your results will be. The app then calculates the appropriate clicks from your 100m zero to each ring you intend to place on the turret. You might choose to have 200, 300, 400 and 500m positions (as I did) or 200, a dot ring for 250 then 300 and 400m.
The BTF proved deadly accurate and utterly repeatable on my highly accurate Tikka T3X in 6.5 Creedmoor on the range to 500m and when hunting. You can also order a dial which is laser cut specifically to your cartridges ballistics for the BTF and I’ve no doubt this would also be perfect. Yet the advantage of the BTF is if you change your load, just put the new data in the app and use the new ballistic solution with the BTF to reset position of the turret rings.
All this technology isn’t much use if your scope has less than excellent optical properties and the Z8 series of scopes are frankly amazing. We all see things differently, yet with the parallax adjustment and extremely effective eye relief on the eyepiece, you have superb imagery on all powers and at any range. The scope’s forgiving depth of field means you could set the parallax at the indent at 100m and shoot with confidence at closer to middle ranges. The higher powers are a little more critical and that’s where the parallax again comes into its own.
In terms of light gathering and ability to see well in low-light conditions, you begin to realise just how good these scopes are. Even at 28 power I was surprised to see there was little difference as the shadows lengthened. Add to this the illuminated reticle with day and night setting and 64 brightness settings in total, and you can experiment with what suits your eyes best either day or night.
Illumination is controlled from on top of the substantial eye box, a simple toggle switch moving from centre to night and day by just moving it left and right. Brightness is controlled by the plus and minus buttons on top of the eye box and this is even more streamlined on the Gen 2 model. The large eye box also delivers about 30 per cent greater field of view compared to my other scopes set on the same power at 100m.
Three available reticles include the classic 4A-I, which is like a duplex without the heavy vertical bar tapering from the top of the scope picture down to the fine crosshairs in the middle. I like this one because it’s simple and not so eye-cluttering than a duplex-style reticle, giving a less crowded look at what you’re shooting at. The 4W-I is the same as the 4A-1, except it has marks on the fine horizontal crosshair between the thicker crosshairs for windage.
And finally the BRX-I (review scope) which is a more tactical option with a Christmas tree effect, for using the scope reticle and Hunting app to allow for an almost infinite number of sight settings, useful for target shooters who also hunt. All the crosshairs are very fine to allow for precise long-range shooting. The illuminated dot appears only at the centre of the crosshair intersection on all reticles.
I found myself using the illumination at every opportunity, as it compensated on many occasions for the fine crosshairs against darker backgrounds, especially in early or very late light conditions. If you happen to leave the illumination on accidentally, it automatically turns off when you raise your rifle near vertical or lay it on its side (like putting it in a gun slip for transportation). It automatically turns on again if you level the rifle, a clever technology to prolong battery life.
Z8i Gen 2 – 2-16×50
Everything I’ve said about the 3.5-28×50 holds true for the 2-16×50. It’s also optically incredible and uses the same BTF turret for elevation, windage or both if you have the need and feel the expense is warranted. It’s one inch (25mm) shorter in the main tube and slightly lighter than its bigger magnification brother. It looked beautifully balanced when mounted on my Tikka hunting rifle and performed every bit as well. Once I had my rifle zeroed again at 100m, back on went the BTF and the results on targets at all ranges were faultless. Both scopes are second focal plane, which means the reticle stays the same size irrespective of magnification used, ideal for hunting in my opinion.
This scope with its 2x lower end and immense field of view (21m at 100m) is more useful for ultra close-range work and features the classic 4A-1 reticle. But to be fair to the amazing BRX-I, the Christmas tree is incredibly fine and just blends into the overall picture when you concentrate on aiming, using the illuminated dot in the centre of the crosshairs. The top end of 16x should cover most long-range hunting shots.
Also available in the Z8i range are the 1-8×24, 1.7-13.3×42 and 2.3-18×56. The 2-16×50 is Stew Leach’s favourite model in the line-up for his style of hunting, as he prefers the uncomplicated 4A-I reticle and lower end 2x power for in-close activities. He made the point he feels this is the ultimate “all-rounder” in the Z8i stable.
Personally, I beg to differ as I’ve fallen for the bigger brother and its 28x top end. I’ve always been a bit of a ‘rev-head’ when it comes to magnification, having used a 6.5-20 scope most of my hunting life and, until reviewing this Z8i 3.5-28, had never experienced such a broad and useful range of magnification for both hunting and target shooting. But how I’ll have this purchase approved by my ‘financial controller’ is anyone’s guess.
In summary
In all seriousness, Swarovski Optik products are genuinely as good as they get. We all have our personal preferences and prejudices, yet these are in the very top tier of scopes made anywhere in the world at any price.
Our eyes are arguably the most important of our senses and the optical and mechanical properties of these scopes provide the very best visual experience. This enables us to shoot targets or game to the best of our ability, though I acknowledge many will view them as expensive . . . as I did.
When you delve deeper into the company, its employees, the extraordinary quality of componentry and their long history in making incredible equipment, you understand the bigger picture. I’ve never reviewed scopes with such optical clarity edge-to-edge, which exhibit zero tunnelling and have perfect colour rendition and low-light performance. That’s what you’re investing in. More at www.swarovskioptik.com
- A big ‘thank you’ to Stew Leach, whose encyclopedic knowledge of his product was astounding and helped immensely with the technical details.
Specifications
Importer: Swarovski Australia
Approximate prices: 2-16×50: $5370; 3.5-28×50: $5800; BTF: $480
Warranty: 10 years
Included with scopes: Bikini cover, instruction manual, throw lever and cleaning cloth
Accessories for either scope: Ballistic Turret Flex: $480; aluminium magnetic flip-up lens covers: $193 each; neoprene scope cover: $99