Swarovski X5

This is a mini review after having the Swaro X5 for about 6 months now. It’s mounted on my 22 Creedmoor which doesn’t get dialed much but they decided to add a 22 caliber only match to our local competition so I got to do some LR shooting with it.
While getting my load ready for the match I decided I better do a Tall Target test. Glad I did as I learned my particular scope clicks are off. Example: I dialed up 20 MOA which should move 20.94 at 100 yds and it moved 22.0 and I repeated the test 3 times with two different loads and it literally measured exactly the same each time.
The scope dialed very consistently returning to zero each time perfectly and in fact when it was over I had 4 3 shot groups that were all under .5 MOA. I did 10/20/25 MOA up as my target was not quite tall enough to go 30.

So I went to my Ballistic App and put in the Correction Factor of .9518 and problem solved. The match was at 800 yards and scope handled that easily and of course the glass is great.... it’s a Swaro so enough said there.

It’s got some features that can come in handy. Once you set zero stop you can actually pull up the Revolution counter and this will allow you to dial below the Zero stop.... I have two barrels for this rifle so that allows me to resight the rifle without removing turret cap to loosen ZS if I prefer.

It’s a fairly light scope compared to NF or the Vortex Razor GII so it makes a great hunting scope IMO.

I bought it from Doug at CameraLand while it was being cleared out as they no longer make the non-illumination model but with the reticle it has and the fact it’s SFP didn’t think I would miss that option.

I had another model/ brand scope that was off quite a bit so it’s not uncommon to see which is why most Ballistic Calculators have a Correction Factor. Bryan Litz has a great video on this subject by the way if you are interested.
He says if it’s under 1% he doesn’t worry about it and I agree but once it gets more then it can cause grief that’s easily fixable.

Forgot here is pictures from match... The right target is a Buffalo used for Black powder matches. You can barely see the smaller black target to the left of the Buffalo.... it’s 800 yards and behind the hanging tree limbs are the 1000 yard targets.

I have spoken with some of the reps at Swarovski, and they have tried to take their basic hunting scopes and turn them into a “tactical” style scope. The internals are the weak link in those scopes. I have personally broken 2 of their high end scopes due to the internals taking a dump. (But they have great glass!!) For a hunting scope, they should work fine if you don’t plan on dialing. But when you start dialing on them is when I’ve also seen issues. Yes they have great glass, but if the scope won’t be durable enough to hold up, what’s the point?

With the small difference you are seeing in the dialing, most shooters who may only dial out to 300-400 yards, it’s a small enough difference that may not show itself. But for precision shooting and dialing further out, the error in the turrets will certainly show itself.

The other issue I’ve seen is the very small amount of internal adjustment in these scopes. Most of their models have small tubes and high magnification, which limit the amount of internal adjustment up/down and windage. When shooters mount these scopes, I see often the turrets get maxed out in one direction and cause the internals to get damaged, and the reticle gets off track. I like scopes that are functional and durable. If I’m paying this kind of money for a scope, it better have both good glass and good internals.

The x5 is a different animal internally then z-series. Actually closer to their sibling company kahles

X5 ha 116MOA of elevation adjustment

BoBo is correct. I had messed with the older style Swaro's several years ago and swore them off completely... along with Nikon and Zeiss for dialing.
This X5 is another animal and may have the best audible and feeling clicks I have used.

Ok, they said they had a newer and "improved" something coming out. That may be it.