The 5-25 Z5 is NOT a long-range hunting scope. Kinda.

It makes sense - it's a 5-25 - surely that's a long-range scope! Well. Not really. You see, there is a really big gotchya with this scope.

Oh, where to start.

First, to make this clear – this article in no way is bagging the Swarovski Scopes – in fact, they are some of the best glass in the industry – however – I have come across a couple of setups now, where the owner has looked through the Z5, or seen them being used (like, on TV) and decided it would an awesome option for long-range hunting. It’s light, great glass, and has a big zoom on it. Some even advertise the scope as such.

First of all. You need to define long-range. These days, 500 meters, is the beginning of long-range. If you are not looking at shooting past that – then yeah, this is a prime option. Looking to go a bit further though? Like on a 300WIN or 7mmRem? You are about to find out why that takes a little more thinking through.

Now, ignore my last comment on 40 MOA. You won’t need all that. I explain why in the members content.

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In this article – how a canted rail begins to solve the problem – but finds another.

I find a lot of people don’t fully understand why they are putting a canted rail on their firearm – apart from reading online that they needed one. Some people put far too much on their scope for the intended use.

If you are keen to use the ‘bottom’ of the adjustment in order to give you a form of zero stop – you basically need just under half of the total travel of the scope.

I.e. with the Swaro – 43 ‘MOA’ internal adjustment – half that – 21.5 MOA. So a 20 MOA rail puts the scope right down the bottom. Dial a little more (but not an entire turn) and you hit the bottom. Come back up to zero and you are back to your main zero. This now gives you a full 40(ish) MOA adjustment.

Confused? Get in touch, happy to talk you through it, and, if you already have a Z5 – get it sorted so you can use all of it on your rifle.

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