Zeiss Conquest V6 2.5-15×56 ASV
Zeiss Conquest V6 2.5-15x56 ASV Rifle Scope
Pros
- Amazing quality and amazing clarity
Cons
- Requires a reasonable budget, but worth the investment
Zeiss Conquest V6 Review
Zeiss Conquest V6 2.5-15×56 ASV
Every review I do is well thought out and a lot of time has been put into using the time I have with a product trying to figure out if I can cover every question that will be asked after the review has been published. The quality of my testing has to be there to get the best out of every product I am testing or I personally feel I have not produced a good enough review.
This month’s review is on the Zeiss Conquest V6 rifle scope and by god did I have fun with this, between range work and stalking I have had a good time and enjoyed every minute of it.
A good review on a product is like a hard puzzle and the more questions I have of the product myself makes the review more fun to do. I really do not like coming across a product that is not interesting as then my enthusiasm for the review is a lot less, however, the Zeiss Conquest V6 is not one of those products that is boring even though it is, by and large, just a rifle scope.
I have to give a big thank you to Zeiss UK for giving me the pleasure of testing and using this amazing scope for a couple of weeks.
Here is the geeky bit (gotta love some geekiness).
Specification:
• Magnification: 2.5x to 15x
• Effective lens diameter: 56mm
• Exit Pupil diameter: 9.7mm (2.5x)
• Twilight factor: 7.1 – 29
• Field of view at 100m: 16.4m at 2.5x
• Diopter Adjustment: +2/ -3 dpt
• Eye Relief: 90mm
• Square adjustment range at 100m: 200cm
• Adjustment per click at 100m: 1cm
• Centre tube diameter: 30mm
• Objective tube diameter: 62mm
• Length: 352mm
• Weight: 690g
Now that the geek stuff is over I can get down to talking about what really matters, the tests and the scope itself.
Like anything you get in a box that you want to play with like an eager school boy I was excited, the box itself makes you feel like that you are unboxing something that is of good quality and the art work on the inside made you feel that “this is for me” heart fluttering moment. I had to remind myself I could not keep it.
The scope coming out of the box felt nice and straight away you can feel the cold weighted feeling of excellent workmanship, sliding my hands over the turrets and staring at the glass then through the glass it all just felt right.
I made the decision at that moment in time that this scope would suit my Tikka T3 .270 and almost immediately I had to retrieve my go to stalking rifle from its slumber in the cabinet.
The Tikka T3 is a standard hunting set up with a synthetic stock chambered in .270 win with a Stalon W145 moderator, the rifle has the standard Tikka dovetail slide on the action with Optilock bases mounted on it and Leupold 30mm scope rings usually housing a 3-12×50 Swarovski scope that rarely ever comes off the rifle. So you see It wasn’t a difficult decision to make after seeing the quality of the Zeiss in my hand as I could easily straight away start comparing it to the Swarovski that is usually on the rifle.
First Test:
Mounting:
Like all scopes, the mounting and fitting of the scope to the rifle is one of the most important parts.
Mounting a scope is not as easy as it sounds on occasion and can be quite a pain getting it right and when you have to set a scope to suit multiple users then it becomes even more of a challenge.
The mounting part went well; the eye relief of the optics is 90mm so adjusting the eye relief to suit was not hard either, you are always afraid of damaging the scope while mounting but with scopes of good quality like this one it is less likely to happen with the right rings etc. I also mounted the scope using protective shims between the scope and the stainless steel scope rings for added protection.
Next part of the process is bore sighting, I bore sight from my kitchen table to a 3-inch white sticker placed on a sign 30yrds away, this works very well on most occasions, but your never entirely sure until you take the rifle to zero.
There is a few ways to bore sight your rifle, my preferred method is to look down the barrel (with moderator on) and line it up with a target of some sort then fix the rifle in that position and adjust the scope to suit. Other methods include laser bore sighting or scope mounting kits but for good ones they can be very expensive.
Test 2:
Zeroing:
The target I set up for zeroing is a 2” Shoot-N-C target placed in the centre of a white board.
First shot after bore sighting was around 2 inches low and right off the bull but was easy to see due to the size of the white board the target was on and the clarity of the scope was perfect.
You might be wondering what the heck bore sighting has got to do with the quality of the scope in regards to testing?
Believe it or not bore sighting using a scope with good quality clear glass is far easier than doing it with one that has poor quality optics. The reason for this is that even the slightest of blurs can make you not “hit paper” with your first round and if you cannot see where that first round went it is very difficult to make adjustment culminating in you wasting rounds and chasing them all over the place.
After a few rounds of adjustment (not detrimental to the scope but my poor calculations) the scope was zeroed and the rifle was dropping round after round in the centre of a 2-inch target at 100 metres.
Zero was perfect and very easy to do.
Following the instructions to set the zero stop was simple. When zeroing you remove the outer turret by removing the hex screw at the top leaving the inner elevation turret cap to make adjustments, once elevation has been achieved you simply lift off the inner turret cap and place the two silver pins of the inner turret cap and the housing together, then replace the outer turret cap lining the 0 to the dot on the housing and your zero stop is set. (please see pics for more details)
Test 3:
Initial Field Test:
First and foremost, the scopes I use are for hunting and predominantly for stalking deer, so to test it on its first real outing I went for a short stalk on a roe buck.
It was a pleasant spring evening with around 2 or 3 mph south westerly wind.
On arrival to the stalking ground I saw a group of deer above the riverside all grazing calmly around 400 yrds from my position.
I quietly walked adjacent to them below, still keeping my distance and getting to the right direction for the wind to be in my favour but at the same time trying to keep in cover and finding a better spot to look into them to pick a target.
On the hill facing me I saw 4 Does all mature of various stages of development and three Roe Bucks again all mature but in different stages and conditions.
Through the spotting scope I noticed that one of the bucks was not in quite as good condition as his two buddies but they all looked like they were courting individual females. I decided this buck was going to me my target of the stalk.
I crawled to the edge of the river keeping myself below the high bank before standing up to cross, I climbed the adjacent bank and lay silent with the scope and rifle ready for a shot. I ranged my target buck and he was around 210yrds .
The light was fading quick and he was not making it easy to present a clean shot but I waited for the opportunity to present its self. Eventually the buck positioned “broadside” and I was able to take a clean shot just behind the shoulder and he fell.
I lay looking at the fallen buck for around 20 minutes allowing for the other deer to disperse of their own accord as they did not even move when the shot was taken. As I watched through the scope the buck at all times was crystal clear with no visible issues, taking my eyes off the scope however I could see the light was deteriorating but in the scope its light retention at this point was flawless. After the other deer dispersed I took the opportunity to go back for the dog and take her to go retrieve the Buck.
During the stalk the quality of the glass on the scope made a real difference to the outcome. Roe deer at this time of year blend in very easily into their environment and good optics are a must to be able to keep track of your target at all time and the Zeiss scope performed excellently.
I was really happy with the result and how it all went according to plan and with the scope being spot on made all the difference.
All in all, a very successful outcome.
Test 4:
Long range Test:
The Zeiss Conquest is fitted with a target style ASV Turret with a zero stop function so the best way to test this was to push out the distance beyond normal hunting ranges.
One thing I liked about this scope is even after zeroing I was still left with a 75 click elevation adjustment and using the Zeiss hunting app I was able to determine through the data that this allowed me to shoot out to 850yrds, not that I was going to go out quite that far.
I chose to shoot 500yrds. Which with my round, any target shooter will tell you, is technically a stretch for the hunting round I use but “hey ho here we go” always worth a giggle.
The hunting round I use is a home loaded Sierra Prohunter 130gr bullet with a ballistic co-efficiency of 0.363 and a speed of 2900fps . definitely not the ideal round for the accuracy a target shooter would expect.
The day was less than perfect for this kind of test but this is the Highlands of Scotland so no day is ever truly perfect.
The wind was a 10 -15 mph tail wind interchanging from left to right then right to left so it was very difficult to read, then the wind would drop and pick up again which is a lot of fun as you can imagine, and oh yes, I also forgot about the rain.
The problem with days like this is that at a range of 500yrds the weather between you and the target could be quite different which in itself causes more problems, but the test was not to see how accurate the rifle was at that range it was to see how clear the scope is on a 2 inch target and I have to say it was very very good.
Results of the shooting was ok, 2 of the 3, three round groups were within a 2 inch group and closest actual shot to the bull was less than two inches away, so all in all not bad for a hunting round and the .270 calibre.
But the real star of the show was the scope. I compared it to the other scopes I had with me, Meopta 3-12×50 and the Delta Titanium 2.5-10×56 and obviously the Swarovski and the Zeiss out performed optically better than all of them.
As for the ASV Turret and the Zeiss app usage it was spot on, the app told me to click 29 clicks and that’s what I did and my elevation was very very close..
So the scope tracks well.
Final Test:
Full field Test:
This test is the full hunting experience, weather and rough terrain some back slapping and quad riding in real rough conditions to see if it will hold zero after being in real world conditions and it performed as it should, granted none of the deer that we saw were able to be shot as they were out of season, but the scope performed as it should and how you would expect from a top class optic.
Now What I really think.
I have spent a lot of time shooting and although I am an advocate of “not breaking the bank” when buying hunting products there is one thing you do not compromise on and that is your glass. Many hunters pay more for their scopes than they do for their rifle and I am one of those hunters so I fully understand where they are coming from.
When choosing a rifle, you need something that shoots straight, and most rifles do this not just because they’re well made, but, also because of your choice of ammo. Even if the ammo causes an issue you can change it or customise your load to get the right round combination that suits your firearm, even changing your stock or bipod can make a difference.
Most in accuracies can be fixed in this way, however, you cannot do that with your scope, changing your scope can be a big deal (like I experienced when taking my usual hunting scope off my .270 to do this review) so choosing the right scope for what your shooting is important.
What you need to look for in a scope:
Clarity of Vision: The image has to be clear during the day in the heat of the sun as well as lowlight capabilities so you can get that last legal hour of shooting on that dream stalk.
Usability: there is no point having a scope that has too many fiddly bits or the turrets are hard to work out, and there is nothing worse than having a scope that you struggle to operate, such as focusing or changing through magnification.
Quality of build: Your scope needs to withstand what you are going to throw at it while out hunting. A hunting scope is not just a museum piece that you keep in a glass case and admire with silk gloves on, it has to be that work horse that never lets you down, it has to be able to withstand the terrain or the weather that you hunt in without compromising on accuracy.
And finally,
Accuracy: You always need to know that your round is going to go where you want it to no matter what conditions your faced with.
The Zeiss Conquest V6 2.5-15×56 ASV, covers all of that easily.
The Clarity of the scope is crystal clear even to long range and through a mirage caused by the heat of the barrel, even to 500yrds minor details can be spotted on your target and with the 15x power it allows you to have a good field of view so tracking a moving target is also very easy.
Users are able to operate the scope easily and once set with your Zero Stop and lock then you have the peace of mind that even if you are having to click your turret elevation out to longer ranges that when you take it back to zero it will in fact be on zero.
The quality of the Conquest V6 is just amazing, but, this is no way a budget scope at £1600, I would be disappointed if I paid £1600 for something that just does not feel weighted with good quality material and the Zeiss Conquest V6 really did not disappoint.
Zeiss really have put a lot of time and effort into the finer details, the Conquest V6 is very accurate and couple it with the Zeiss app you really can get the most out of your scope, but the main thing that makes this scope accurate is the detail you see in the clarity helping you to determine range and wind calculation by looking at the environment around your target.
Do not get me wrong the 15x zoom does not get you in clear enough to see individual impact holes beyond around 250yrds, so for long range precision shooting out to and past 500yrds you cannot use this scope without a spotting scope, but, I do not expect that from any 15x or even 18x powered scope. The clarity however is there to see a 2 inch target at 500yrds with ease.
The price is £1600 and as I said this is no way a budget scope, and yes, you could get a good clear scope for a third of the price as I have proved with other scopes I have reviewed in the past, and those scopes definitely do the job and accurate at doing it, but, comparing those cheaper scopes to the Conquest V6 you can feel the difference in the quality that you are being provided.
You certainly can feel the technology and experience of Zeiss engineers and designers when using the Conquest V6.
If I was to compare this to any of the crossover tactical/hunting scopes I would say the Zeiss Conquest V6 is definitely one of the best on the market and only beaten by more expensive tactical scopes, however the Conquest V6 range does cover this “Specialist” market with their 3-18×50 and their 5-30×50 choices which gives you that extra you need to get you on that “centre dot” every time and with Zeiss you know you’re getting the best quality of image possible.
I would be very happy using this scope, on the right rifle, at a precision rifle range shooting plates out to 1000 and 1200yrds then going straight to a hunt or a stalk the same day without changing my rifle and set up, it really is that good and only a few scopes can say they can do this.
All in all a very nice scope. I would have preferred it in first focal plane but in saying that I would happily own this scope in the second focal plane as the ASV reduces the need for hold overs giving you more accurate shot calculations on your target.
Would I buy this scope?
The answer simply is yes and I would advise anybody looking into investing in a new scope to look into getting one of these if their budget warrants it. The truth be told, I am having one of those moments that if my budget warrants it in the future the Zeiss Conquest V6 would definitely be up there as a primary purchase.
In conclusion I really do believe that this is a very good scope and amazing quality even for the money and I do not believe that anyone would regret making the investment into what is truly a very impressive and capable product.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review and I hope I have managed to cover everything you need to know about this particular scope. I am always available through the Field Sports Scotland facebook page to answer any questions or grab hold of me in one of the groups I manage. Take the time to give my Youtube channel a look and subscribe to get access to more reviews and topics (links below to all my social media links),
thanks again and happy hunting.