Zeiss Conquest V6 5-30×50

Thank you to Zeiss UK again to let me test and review Scope 2 in the Conquest V6 range,

The Conquest V6 is Zeiss’s mid range scope series and the Conquest V6 5-30×50 is their long range option.

Before I get into the nitty gritty of the scope its workings and how I got on with it I have to say thank you again to Zeiss for giving me the pleasure of working with them doing another review.

I was very surprised to learn that this scope was in fact less expensive than the previous one I tested, the 2.5-15×56 ASV, by about £200 which makes this a lot of scope for the money.

Tech Details

Test 1. Fitting and Zeroing

Fitting and zeroing the Zeiss 5-30x 50 V6 was not a breeze at first, but it was not so much the scope that was the problem it was my set up on the rifle, I originally chose to test it on, Tikka T3x CTR 6.5 Creedmoor, but the rail that was on it was not suitable enough to get the most range out of the V6 so I put it on the Tikka T3 .270 instead.

Zeroing was easy and setting the zero stop was straight forward however care had to be taken when doing so as there removing the turrets were fiddly a little and keeping the inner turrets clean was a must.

At 100 yrds zeroing was easy, the high magnification of the scope allowed you not to just see where your rounds were without using a spotting scope but it also allowed you to get that accurate tweaking with every shot.

Test 2. Tracking and long range

Like it should the Zeiss V6 5-30×50 tracked very well giving me that confidence to take my rifle further to the 500yrds mark on my make shift range.

Like every day in the Highlands of Scotland the day was far from perfect with the wind being difficult to read. The temperature was warm though and the sun was bright at times even though there was a sense of thunder in the air.

First things first the clarity, even though there was a mirage, was very good. I dialled the mag to 25x as this was the optimum mag for this scope although there was not a huge bit of difference between the x25 and full x30 mag.

Seeing the 2-inch target at 500 yrds was not a difficult task, I dialled to my required MOA which was 12.8 and dropped the shot within an inch of the target, that to me was awesome. Calculating windage was a little tricky with the 10 -15 mph gusts but each three round group was in a cluster of no more than 2 inches which to me is completely satisfactory, more than enough for hunting and with the extra clarity even better for range work.

This scope is ideal for long range target shooting, the high magnification and clarity gives you that edge although bear in mind that 25x is the optimum magnification for the scope.

Working at long range can be fiddly and knowing your distance is a must, IF your speed data is correct then the Zeiss App is a great companion giving your exact clicks that matches your scope.

I moved from the 2-inch target to the steel plate and time after time I was dropping rounds on to the plate, one thing I have to add for this is that tracing your round is something else to see. Watching the trajectory of your round is always amazing to watch as you see exactly how your bullet is performing through the air. This is usually easy to spot when your using good glass and through the Zeiss V6 5-30 this was easily achievable.

Test 3. Field Test 1 , Roe stalk

Roe buck season had started here in the Highlands of Scotland and as I planned to try get on to a Sika or Red soon i thought I would start with getting a Buck or two.

Long range scopes of this calibre are notorious for not performing well as a hunting scope, The V6 range is Zeiss’s mid range priced optics and my aim was to see if you can take a scope like this one from a a precision bench-resting optic into the field for a stalk specifically in low light.

The night was far from kind but it was mild, a warm front had come in and even though it was early in the season the Roe Bucks were on the move. I spied a perfect cull Buck marching at around 500yrds from me along the fence line. I was tempted to run the data and see if I could get it at that range but I truly thought that the wind was too unpredictable to secure a humane kill so the stalk was on!!

Early midges were tickling, not biting, my face and were more of an annoyance than anything else as I crawled over the flats towards my prey. The wind was gusty and I was clearly down wind as the Easterly gusts blew my collars of my jacket against my face. Crawling stopped and became more commando style edging my way closer to the target like a snake slithering in for the kill. The wind was that heavy I could have had a party and the Buck still would not have heard me. Darkness now was starting to creep in as Dusk was starting to cast its shadow over the ground. I got within a couple of hundred yards from this beautiful little buck and settled down to get ready for a clean shot.

Watching him through the scope set at 18x I  could see very little detail so I cracked the mag back to 14x and I could see every part of this majestic little deer. I love Roe Deer, in fact they are my favourite of all the deer species, clean elegant and majestic as they sway effortlessly from place to place.

Watching him closely his head was bobbing up and down feeding contently but not offering me a clear shot due to the unique way that Roe Deer seem to twist their bodies almost in two and at the angle I was the shot would done a lot of damage to such a small creature.

For around an hour I watched as he fed hoping that he would present me with a good shot, as the time drove by and each silk like movement of the deer went from one quartering movement to the other i could tell the light was starting to fade. Light was fading so much now that I was afraid I was not going to get a shot at all, by now I had to wind the magnification back to 10x to get the best picture, lower the mag the better light retention you have specially with a 50mm objective and 30mm tube.

What seemed like forever the buck started to move to my favour, his head got up and was looking away from me, as he started to elegantly walk forward his body straightened up I got ready. The bucks coat was still a little dark from winter making him look like a mystical shadow in front of me with the naked eye, but through the scope I can see him perfectly. I drew a breath, slackened my grip on the synthetic hand grip of my Tikka .270 and placed the tip of  my left index finger on the trigger, the buck stopped and stood broadside as my thumb clicked off the safety and I send the round dropping the the Buck to the ground, after the short bang that came from the rifle there was nothing but the wind that can be heard. I lay watching the buck lying still for around 10 minutes before I approached to asses the kill. On examination the buck was shot exactly where I wanted, just behind its right shoulder.

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A week or so later we went through a period of only seeing female deer, another Buck presented itself. The weather was far more kind although the insects were now in full swing. Again this buck was nothing exciting in regards to trophy but he was clean of velvet and still a very pretty example.

the night was calm and the midges were nipping hard, my midge jacket was in use and was working very well. This Buck was a little harder on distance presenting no closer than around 360yrds. I checked the calculations on my ballistic app and dialed the scope to 9 MOA giving me a little room for a yard or two distance variation if the buck decided to move. Settling prone in the long grass I waiting until the Bucks head was down feeding. At this distance he had no clue I was even there and stalking would have been very hard as he was above me and all the ground was open. I had the scope set to 25x mag and and I could see the hairs on its lovely summer coat just moving in the light summer nights breeze, I flicked the safety off and just tipped the trigger allowing the 2lb release to work with ease and sent the round into the Buck. The Bucks jumped forward slightly then fell to the ground.

Due to the heather and the bracken I could not see the buck lying there but I could see there was no movement all around so I knew he was down and not wounded. The long walk ( or what seemed to be a long walk) up to where he lay seem to take forever, when I finally got there I could see there was nothing to worry about as the Buck lay with a prominent entrance wound just behind its shoulder and the exit was directly behind through the opposite shoulder. Nice shooting and at that range the Zeiss performed very well.

Over the period I had the scope male deer seemed to be few and far between, however hinds and calves, Does and kids were popping up everywhere. At one point I saw a herd of over 100 hinds. What I was able to do was use the scope for doing a bit of pest control and mopping up some summer foxes. The scope cracked back to 10 and 12x power was very good and in conjunction with the lamp I felt it was more than adequate to do the job.

Summer nights are always a good time to sit on the wrapped silage bales and just spy. Long days meant that darkness up here did not fall until past midnight and then it was light at 2 or 3 in the morning so the use for a lamp is minimal. The Zeiss performed very well taking foxes between 200 and 300 yards even in the long grass of mid summer. Again though I was not able to use the full maximum zoom capability.

The morning was sweet and the temperature was a cool 15 degrees, first light had just been and gone and I was sitting just waiting up to see what there was.  Sitting there on my own pretty much looking into the distance I failed to notice a Sika stag sauntering in front of me at around 150yrds, I think I only noticed him as I had the feeling something was there. I got into prone position and lay still watching him for a few minutes I noticed he was in some very long grass offering an easy shot only to the head and neck. He wasn’t feeding he just seemed to be looking for something, so aiming a little high on mid neck I gently pulled the trigger and the beast dropped. I lay watching the area for a few minutes before going down to inspect him. The colours of his summer coat with his white belly and the orange brown upper half were vibrant and the white spots scattered almost pattern like over his back was just beautiful to see, he was no trophy (but I am not into trophies myself) his head was just coming out of velvet leaving a thin layer over his semi hard antlers feeling like it was coated with leather. He was a fine specimen for a Sika stag. At the larder after dressing he weighed around 35kgs, which in fairness is average larder weight for a Sika stag in the Highlands.

I do like Sika, their meat is the best tasting of all the UK venison (arguably) with its tender texture and its sweet taste it is amazing hot or cold and far better than the gamey taste that you can get from Red. Sika is a dark mild meat that is just something else to try and the deer itself is a magical creature, its love for dark damp places and its allusiveness even in the rut makes it one of the hardest deer to hunt. In the rut its whistling calls are eerie and frightening to those that don’t know what it is but to a hunter like myself it is a magical sound that fills the air from morning to night telling me that the rut is on, I cannot wait to hear it again. By far Sika is my favourite deer to eat and hunt but not to look at, Sika stags especially lose their summer coats quickly and in doing so they lose that charm they have in the summer and become very dark and evil looking and their antlers are almost switch like providing a V shape head and frown which makes them look even more dangerous, so not as pretty as Roe at all.

Enough of my feelings about deer and back to the Conquest V6 5-30×50.

My Thoughts.

Th Zeiess Conquest V6 5-30×50 performed well in regards to the tasks it was asked of it. My aim was to find that crossover scope that you can use on the range at long distance as well as out hunting, the cost of the scope is around £1400 and for the money I would say it is perfectly priced. As a hybrid scope it performed very well and as expected for a Zeiss product. I do have to mention the hunting scopes performed far better, 2-12×50 and 3.5×15-56, in the field than the larger 5-30×50 scope but this is very much expected as the Zeiss V6 5-30×50 is really not designed for hunting but for those long shots at the range.

This scope is ideal for those that spend a lot of time bench resting or shooting prone at long distance at the range to get the maximum effect from the scopes magnification and accurate turret movement.

In the field you rarely need to use the scope past 18x mag and even on the range for the best clarity 25x mag is recommended. I found this scope very useful though for zeroing and load testing. It is amazingly precise and really does improve the performance of your rifle. I liked the reticle which was a ZMOA one and found it to be very accurate and precise at times when I did not have time to use the turret such as foxing.

If I was to suggest any improvements to it I would suggest a wider objective and a bigger tube, which would allow this scope to achieve higher performance, BUT and this is a big but, when you look at the price of this scope you are comparing apples to pears as this does outperform other long range scopes in this price bracket. The turret quality is very good and each click is very audible and firm. The quality of material used is very robust, however, the windage turret I would prefer to be capped if out in the field but on the range this is perfect. Uncapped turret are easy to spin when you’re on the move even the tightest can do it.

I must add I had a friend over from the states who is a professional in the PRS (Gerald Delk) and I got some feedback from him, as a hunting scope on its own he thought the same as I that the V6’s smaller models were far better and he really like the 2-12×50 ASV that I put on the 6.5 and found it very accurate shooting stones at 725yrds in a heavy crosswind, he did mention that the 5-30 lacked the clarity he is used to for long range in PRS competition, but, I do have to say the scopes he uses demand nearly £2000 more in price but his feedback was very good and his experience and knowledge in regards to optics was very helpful, Gerald did mention I have to say about the exposed windage turret, in the PRS you are more physical than normal target shooting competitions so turret roll on exposed turrets are a bit of an issue when running from one stance to another. To be fair to Zeiss though, this scope is not designed for that.

The Zeiss V6 5-30×50 in my opinion is a very nice scope, the turret quality is amazing and its accuracy is just perfect. The glass is very good and the clarity is also very good. In the hunting world the 18x is as far as you need to go but if you like a bit of range work then this is a perfect scope for you and it does what it needs to do. Although I used this scope for both hunting and range work it is clear this scope is more suited to a range environment. Highly recommended for way further than I have tested on the right rifle and mount set up.

Over the last few months I have found the V6 range so far to be very versatile and very robust and amazing value for money and as I mentioned before I bought one and have found it very good and accurate and I even traded my Swarovski to replace it with a V6 so that says it all.

If you were to buy either one of the Conquest V6 range for whatever reason you won’t be disappointed, Zeiss’ quality and workmanship speaks for itself and the clarity of the glass is top notch.

Happy hunting.