The Swarovski Z8i 0.75-6×20 L 4A-IF is an illuminated LPVO (Low Power, Variable Optic) scope made in Austria. It’s at a high end on price ($3700 CAD or $3000 USD) and on features and quality.
Features & Specs
- 0.75 – 6X magnification
- 30mm tube
- 20mm objective
- 520 grams (1.15lbs)
- Eye relief: 95 mm (3.74″)
- Resettable elevation and windage turrets
- Fancy pants illuminated reticle
- 10 clicks per MRAD (1cm at 100M or 0.36″ if you’re into imperial)
Fancy pants illuminated reticle
The non-illuminated reticle on this scope is a simple duplex style crosshair.
The illuminated reticle on this scope has plenty of features. It illuminates a circle as well as a target dot in the middle. Brightness adjustment can be done on the top of the scope and there’s a daytime as well as night brightness setting that you can set and return to.
Illumination automatically turns off if you point the scope up or cant it 90 degrees to the side. That makes it less useful for 3 gun shooting under cars and whatnot, but it’s probably very practical for hunting.
I had the illumination blink off once in a while when firing the rifle. Not really an issue for hunting.
Turrets
The capped turrets are quick and easy to adjust and on this scope, they are in MRAD. There is a witness ring that’ll show you how far off zero you’ve gone so you can quickly return to zero. These witness rings are easy to set to zero by pulling them away from the scope and moving. The right windage cap includes a spare battery, while the left cap includes the active in-use battery.
If you prefer a graduated turret, they sell those on their website as an add-on.
What’s this scope for?
With this set of features, who is this scope designed for? I believe the primary market are high end hunters who are looking for game close-in. The 0.75X setting could be useful in tight bush but also being able to go out to 6X also helps add confidence that you’re making an ethical shot on game animals at 100 or so meters.
The magnification ring has a small throw lever on it to make it easy to zip between magnification levels and there’s a detent you can feel when it hits 1X. (There’s a bigger throw lever here if you want one) I can’t comment on scope durability, because I would never abuse an optic as expensive as this and because this one is on loan for review.
Optical clarity is fantastic, the illuminated reticle is easy to use and there’s very little in the way of making your shot.
It’d be right at home on a boar rifle, deer rifle, or on a safari.
