Is it worth selling a white box Minox ZP5 MR4 in favor of a Tanget or ZCO? Are you going to gain enough to justify it?
Rifle Scopes Minox ZP5 upgrade?
- Thread starter ChadT
- Start date
I have had both ZP5s and a ZCO. IMO, no. Still have two ZP5s and they are my favorite. The only thing I liked better on the ZCO was the turrets and that it could parallax down to close distances. The parallax was not useful because I don't shoot at those short distances but it was cool to have. Can't speak for the TT but I'm not interested in owning one. But you won't know if it's worth it for YOU until you try one out. Once you get into the upper echelons of optics it's mostly personal preference.
I’ve owned all three. Keep the ZP 5 and be happy. I dearly love my ZCO’s and am happy with my TT. The ZP 5 glass is exceptional. Ever so slightly better than ZCO, but not enough to worry about. I am a ZCO guy moving forward.
Ive been behind all three and agree. The Parallax is the only thing that actually had me thinking.
Rifle Scopes - Tangent Theta 5-25 v Minox 5-25 v Nightforce 7-35 v Schmidt & Bender 5-25 v Vortex 4.5-27
Tangent Theta TT525P 5-25x56mm vs Minox ZP5 TAC 5-25x56mm vs Nightforce ATACR 7-35x56mm F1 vs Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27x56mm vs Schmidt Bender PMII 5-26x56mm L/P DT This review and comparison has been a long time coming. It’s essentially the comparison I’ve always wished someone did in an...
www.snipershide.com
I am in the same boat. Looking to get a TT or a Minox. Cant decide if the TT is really worth that much more. That link I posted above seems to think the Minox is just as good or better than the TT and for less money. Significantly less.
What is it about the ZCO that does it for you? Reticle or something else?
My personal opinion ? Go for the ZP5. Is the TT nice ? Yes, without question. Is it worth 2X the street price of the ZP 5 ?
No. Nowhere close.
Point of reference; I do have a bone to pick with Minox due to being a full boat retail first adopter, then they went and dropped their pants with the Mauser bundle pricing, erasing 40 to 50% of my investment value.
In spite of that, is the ZP 5 glass exemplary? Yes.
Thanks for the reply. Man it's a tough decision. I have the NF ATACR 7-35 MIL-XT and I like it, but I ended up never ever using the higher end of the mag due to the eye box being so damn small and FOV suffered so I have been thinking of getting into one of these top tier 5-25s. I am thinking the Minox is going to be the way to go. Not 100% yet though.
The overall package. They check all the boxes. I’m not a big reticle guy. The ergonomics are very compatible/complimentary to what I want.
The simple matter is that the TT, ZCO and ZP 5 are all exceptional. Could I be happy with only one of them ? Yes, without question.
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The ZCO eyebox is massive. The ZP 5 eyebox is “normal” to very good. You aren’t going to be unhappy with the ZP 5. But, if you gotta “move up”, give the ZCO a long, hard look.
If you started using any one of them and didn’t have the others to compare to on a side by side basis, you’d be perfectly happy. If you’re not allergic to spending more money, pick up the ZCO.
The other thing is that particularly attractive with the ZP 5, if you didn’t already have one and had to go out and buy a used one, you wouldn’t lose much, if anything if you didn’t like it and decided to resell it.
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Agree about the ZCO eyebox. So easy to get behind and the view is phenomenal. This is maybe the most important thing to me, next to reticle (when all glass is similar). I like their font and size of the numbers as well. Parallax is easy. Entire tree illuminates, which frankly I rarely use...but if needed it’s ready. Aesthetics and feel of turrets are awesome. Resell is excellent so you’re not gonna lose much test driving, which is the only way to really know IMO.
ZP5 and TT will have wider FOV than the ZCO but ZCO has a huge sight picture. I am a reticle guy so it matters a lot what I have to look at every time I look through the scope. I prefer Gen 3XR and MR4 to MPCT2 but that’s me. I bought the TT for reticle and toolless turrets, but the numbering on the large TT turrets are tiny, come on Tangent, not everyone has 20 year old eyes! This is where ZCO excels. I love my ZP5 especially after I upgraded the turrets, but that took two months and is something to consider. If your scope ever needs repair we’re talking months and not days like you get with ZCO and TT which both have service centers in North America. My ZP5 has superb glass that is hard to tell apart from the TT. Tough decision but you will be happy with your scope whichever you choose.
Vendor price isn’t discounted much. The Mauser glory days are over. It seems you can get a NIB or slightly used one in the PX under $2500 pretty regularly. I just sold one like new for $2400 shipped. Additionally, I have one on the way back from Germany, hopefully a new one, and will be listing it when it returns. Standardizing all of my LR hunting optics with my comps rigs, NF 7-35’s Mil C across the board. I figure if it’s close enough I need less than 7x I should have a stick and string in my hand regardless of the season.
Like @Glassaholic and @Threadcutter308 said the new Minox turrets are very, very good and the glass is exceptional. If yours tracks, you like the reticle (which personally I did a lot), and the scope length isn’t an issue for you (not running night vision/thermals etc) then you’re not giving up anything and will miss it when you sell it. The glass/DOF/FOV etc are absolutely alpha. Customer service will take care of you but turn around time is 2 months like was mentioned. My story is that I had 2 ZCO 4-20 MPCT1s but I needed 3 scopes and wanted a different reticle. So I sold them and bought 3 Minox’s. Ultimately, I needed something shorter but had been spoiled by my optical experience with ZCO and Minox, and everything else I looked through left me disappointed. I was seriously considering the new March 4.5-28 w/ FML TR1 reticle but ultimately went back to ZCO due to the fact that they are optically and mechanically exceptional, their length works for what I need, I really like the MPCT3, and Customer Service is in Idaho and is excellent. If you go that route, personally I prefer the 4-20 over the 5-27, but that is just me.
I have the 5-27’s and am REALLY happy with them. The 4-20’s are supposed to be even better, if that is possible. ZCO hit multiple balls/every ball out of the park.
It’s incredibly small, it’s slightly lighter, FOV on the low end is nearly 30% greater, and between the samples that I have I think it resolves slightly better. It’s also $200 less but that’s pretty irrelevant relatively speaking. I was playing with them side by side the other day and it seemed like at 20x on the 4-20 and 27x on the 5-27, the 4-20 seemed to be slightly better. With each at 20x it was EXTREMELY close, to the point honestly it was probably the same, but it just seems like it’s easier to do w/ the 4-20. Smaller movements in the parallax knob on the 5-27 moving towards infinity seemingly cause a larger change compared to the 4-20 so it’s relatively more finicky. I’d have to print off a resolution chart or some crap to be objective but I was using tree bark, pine needles/leaves, birds, at 30-500 yards and that was my impression. Don’t get me wrong though they are both absolutely awesome.
^^^ That is part of what is so impressive about the 4-20, it truly is the beat ultra short experience I’ve had and if you don’t need the extra magnification it is definitely something to consider. I am hoping for a new reticle that’s more like the Gen 3XR or FML-TR1 from ZCO and will grab another 4-20 when that happens.
I run my Minox at or almost near max power at all times, because of the FOV. That is what has me spoiled. But you guys talk about the same think I hear on the 4-20. Kind of why I was looking. Set it at 20, fix the parallax and run an entire match.
Chad, since we have a ton of experience with both scopes, feel free to give me a call at 916-670-1103x2 and I can answer any question you have
