Hensoldt 3-12X56 FF

Several weeks ago, Nathan Hunt of Hudisco forwarded me a Hensoldt 3-12X56 FF to put through its paces at Rifles Only . This was a new venture for Nathan, being the importer for Hensoldt / Zeiss scopes here in the USA, it was great to be one of the first guys to have access to these scopes from Hensoldt. Here is the initial video we shot when the scope first arrived.

My initial impression of the Hensoldt was highly favorable. On first inspection it is very similar in finish and design to the S&B PMII series of scopes. There are three immediate physical differences, 1. the turrets, the Hensoldt uses a 3 turn version, 2. the illumination, Hensoldt includes the reticle illumination controls on the parallax knob, and 3. the Parallax adjustments, it a bit more fine tuned than the S&B.

Mounted and Shot

With the scope mounted up and ready to roll, I want to focus on a few of the pluses of this scope, the ones that immediately jumped out at me. First and foremost the sight picture and clarity of this scope. As far as tactical scopes go, the Hensoldt 3-12X56FF is probably the very best scope in terms of glass quality. Now understand I believe for the most part glass quality is subjective. No two people see the same thing the same way and I want to acknowledge that fact. However, in terms of my personal opinion I think the Hensoldt 3-12X56 probably has what can be considered the best glass out there, which is no surprise considering the parent company is in fact Carl Zeiss Optics. They are definitely the standard to which you can judge optical quality and the Hensoldt doesn't disappoint.



Along with the optical quality, you have the sight picture, which simply put is amazing. It is not just good, it is beyond good, and its immediate to see. If you want to know what I am talking about, I have it on video, but if you ever get a chance to look at this scope alongside any other scope here is a little test for you to try. Take the scope, either on or off a rifle and find the proper eye relief and get the sight picture edge to edge perfect. Now once you have it, move your head until you start to lose the picture a bit and you get some shadowing. Note to yourself how much you have to move to lose the perfect picture, and follow this same process with any other scope you have to compare. In my opinion, it clear just how good this scope is in terms of optical design and quality.

Lowlight Shooting

The next thing we did with the front focal plane Hensoldt 3-12X56FF was look to take advantage of the larger objective size. Most tactical scopes of this size are built with a 50mm objective lens. Hensoldt uses a 56mm objective as you can see from the picture posted above doesn't appear over bearing in size. In fact it mounts plenty low with 34mm Badger Ordnance rings. So that out of the way, we waited until dark to see how it performed.

Lowlight shooting, the Hensoldt is awesome, you can clearly see how much light it pulls in, allowing you to shoot even after sunset.

Torturing test the scope

Initially much of the information written here was included in a series of posts on the site's forum. During the course of the conversations regarding this scope people where asking about the durability of the scope as compared to many other companies more commonly found available in the USA. Now, Hensoldt has been around for a long, long time, but it's pretty new to the American market so there is always this "show me" mentality, so we did.

Now, before I post the video, I have to explain, I moved the scope to a different set of rings and apparently I didn't tighten them down completely before I shot this initial video. However even given this fact, the scope and rifle performed well within any acceptable tolerances for the punishment I gave it. So, understand the initial shift was all due to operator error. As I continued to use this scope to no ill effect after the video was shot.

Summarizing my time with the 3-12X56FF

At the end of my month long affair with the Hensoldt I have to say it was a highly favorable experience in my opinion, as well as the opinion of those around the range at Rifles Only. We feel this is an excellent choice in a Front Focal Plane scope, and it will definitely hold its own in the coming years against the likes of S&B, Nightforce, the Premier Reticles Heritage or US Optics.

Some of things people have commented about, which can be clarified:

Lack of Zero Stop, well yes this is true, the scope does not have a zero stop like some of the others, but it cannot be put back to zero if you go below your initial zero and it raises to show a color code to let you know exactly what revolution you are on. So while I understand the concern, it's not really that far out there to begin with.

Reticle choices, currently the Hensoldt is only available with a standard mil dot reticle with ranging stadia at the bottom. However in speaking with Nathan about this, there is a very good possibilty that Zeiss may make available a reticle with a half mil hash mark. When this becomes available this will put the Hensoldt in a much better position within the US Tactical Market.

56MM Objective size, personally I think this is a non-issue, and feel it helps the overall design of the scope. It's definitely easy to see the difference between its competitors and someone came up to me during the Sniper's Hide Cup and asked me how come I didn't rave about the glass as it was that good. I told them frankly I though people would think I was just saying what was expected, and didn't want to be that guy. But the glass is that good, which is enough said.

That is what I thought of the areas of question on the scope, personally I wouldn't hesitate to employ one on any of my rifles and would in fact use it if my life depended on it. Which is the best recommendation I could give for an optic.

The particulars of the scope are as follows:

3-12X Front Focal Plane
34mm Main Tube
56mm Objective
Elevation & Windage in 1/10th Mil Adjustments
Weighs 800g
Parallax adjusts from 50m to Infinity

It's available through Hudisco contact Nathan Hunt: 205-690-8160, if you in the market its worth it.