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Rifle Scopes Zco after almost a year

Have you taken a second mortgage out yet to pay for all the ZC scopes ? I love mine and will get another.
 
Dthomas3523 said:
Thoughts on Zcomp after a year (give or take).

So, I’ve owned four ZCO Optics over the course of the past year or so. 2x 527 MPCT2, 1x 527 MPCT1, and a 420 MPCT2.

At times I have optic ADD, so I’ve ended up currently owned two 527 MPCT2 optics. The only reason any of the others aren’t here is 1: horse trading to try other optics and 2: the 527 is more suited for my needs.

One of the original 527 MPCT2’s I still have that is of either the first or second batch of ZCO’s. It’s been dropped, thrown around, beat on, and generally abused in over 25 matches (Centerfire and Rimfire matches), and 25 matches is a conservative number as I shoot a lot of matches.

You can stop reading here if you like and know that none have ever failed and are performing flawlessly.

Prior to ZCO, it was fairly well accepted by most that the top tier of optics was Tangent Theta and the Hendsoldt 3-27. Hendsoldt has all but priced themselves out of most consumer’s means and if you don’t like the H59 reticle, you don’t have much other choices with that optic. So, for my purposes, Tier 1 was solely inhabited by Tangent Theta (of which I’ve owned several with gen2xr and gen3xr reticles).

After using ZCO, it is my opinion that tier 1 is now populated with TT and ZCO. The rest of the Alpha Optics are great, but IMO, a step below these two.

Which is better, the ZCO or TT? The easy answer is: neither. They both have things I like and things I wish they had.

I wish the TT had the giant picture and eyebox of the ZCO, the ZCO reticles, locking turrets, and the ergonomics of the ZCO.

I wish the ZCO had the parallax of the TT (splitting hairs, as the ZCO parallax is very close). And I wish there was a tool less turret option for the ZCO. Tool less turrets is the icing on top of a overbuilt and top tier optic.

The only reason I’m doing a quick comparison to the TT is that people will undoubtedly as for the comparison. I personally just traded a TT gen3xr for another ZCO 527 MPCT2. Mainly because the mpct2 reticle works exponentially better for me. After 3-4mo of using the gen3xr, I still find myself counting hashmarks. The mpct2 is much more natural for me with the way they designed their hashmarks.

So, here’s a down and dirty pros/cons of the zco after a year:

Pros:

Ruggedness: It’s and absolute tank. Do whatever you want to it and it will keep on going (minus the finish and turret screws that are mentioned below).

Reticle: IMO, the best reticles on the market. Of course this is subjective. The mpct2 tree does start until 2 mil, so you don’t even notice it unless you need it. Perfect reticle IMO.

Ergonomics: Blows every single optic away on ergos. Nothing touches this thing as far as ease of use on the controls.

Glass: Splitting hairs on TT vs ZCO glass with TT getting the slight (very slight) nod.

Picture/eyebox: The picture on this thing is huge. It’s not even justifiably describable in writing. You have to see it to know what I mean.

Warranty: Haven’t had to use it, but they are EXTREMELY responsive. I have heard of one or two people having slight issues, and ZCO just sending them a new optic rather than messing around with stuff.

Cons (being nit picky as this is an Alpha optic):

Coating/Finish: kinda chalkboard type. It marks fairly easily. This is cosmetic only. But some people like their stuff to stay pretty.

Turret Screws: Very high quality, but with USER ERROR (key word) you can get the Allen key in something like a fix it sticks slightly off angle and start rounding out the screws. Again, this is more user error, but its happening, so some sort of change would be nice. I have received replacement screws from ZCO extremely fast and at no cost.

Illumination knob: kinda easy to rotate on while using parallax adjustment. Not a big deal as ZCO has auto off and sleep modes. Maybe make it a little smaller or tighter in future versions.

Things I’d like to see offered:

Left side windage and right side parallax. Much easier for right handlers to mess with their parallax with right hand as the left hand is supporting the rifle.

Tool Less turrets. This may not be possible with locking turrets. I’m not sure. Even if it was just a retention cap that uses a nickel to loosen on top and then reset turrets. Anything to reliably get away from turret screws (i think its about time the industry moves away from small screws in the turrets).

Again, I just traded a TT gen3xr for another ZCO and all my main rimfire and centerfire rifles will now be 100% ZCO Optics. That’s how impressed I am with these after about a year. These things are a bargain for $3600 vs the $41-4700 or so the TT is selling for at most places.
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Great write up. The more I hear about these the more I think I’m in love with them. It’ll probably be a few years before I can afford one but this is the overall goal, to get one of these. Very informative on the reticles too, always learning in this forum
 
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BoulderE89 said:
Great write up. The more I hear about these the more I think I’m in love with them. It’ll probably be a few years before I can afford one but this is the overall goal, to get one of these. Very informative on the reticles too, always learning in this forum
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Thanks.

The best way I can explain the benefits of ZCO is the “user experience” when behind one.

Sure, the tool less turrets on theta are much more convenient for zero’ing (especially switch barrel setups) and the parallax is *slightly* more forgiving.

But, that’s probably 5% or less of your time with and optic. I felt the immediate benefit of the above mentioned features, but over the past 3-4mo I’ve experienced first hand how much that stuff doesn’t matter when the zco has things *I prefer* that I use the other 95% of the time.

It’s really a pleasure to get behind the zco with the huge sight picture you get. That was the very first thing myself and others noticed with the zco. The picture takes up almost all of the diopter (or so it seems). It’s like going from a 40” tv to a 60”.
 
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My ZC4X20 has spoiled the shit out of me.Took me a year to save up for it and it was money well spent.Another couple of months and I will have enough for another one.
 
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CSTactical said:
Don’t be afraid, the Dark Side awaits you... ?
#zcoeverything
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I keep “interneting” ZCOs in hopes of finding some kind of bad review or something to discourage me...

I’m really liking all the great things I hear about their durability and toughness. That video with the dude dropping his rifle repeatedly from head high is insane....

I also was in the same squad as @gebhardt02 at a match a few years ago (I think the Grind, definitely one at K&M) and while I didn’t talk with him that much I did notice how helpful he was to all the shooters bombarding him with questions and issues about scopes.

I think some of those questions and issues is what led to ZCO, and it’s always cool to support companies with people on the ground listening to what shooters want.
 
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AMAC79 said:
I keep “interneting” ZCOs in hopes of finding some kind of bad review or something to discourage me...

I’m really liking all the great things I hear about their durability and toughness. That video with the dude dropping his rifle repeatedly from head high is insane....

I also was in the same squad as @gebhardt02 at a match a few years ago (I think the Grind, definitely one at K&M) and while I didn’t talk with him that much I did notice how helpful he was to all the shooters bombarding him with questions and issues about scopes.

I think some of those questions and issues is what led to ZCO, and it’s always cool to support companies with people on the ground listening to what shooters want.
Click to expand...

You are probably gonna be looking for quite a while. I think the only “issues” you will find with ZCO’s is cosmetic, cause people can beat on them, scratch them up, but they still work great. Someone previously mentioned how the finish kind of chalkboard like and shows like finger marks or scrapes against wood easily, but the good thing about it is it doesn’t easily leave permanent marks and hides minor marks well.
 
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AMAC79 said:
I keep “interneting” ZCOs in hopes of finding some kind of bad review or something to discourage me...

I’m really liking all the great things I hear about their durability and toughness. That video with the dude dropping his rifle repeatedly from head high is insane....

I also was in the same squad as @gebhardt02 at a match a few years ago (I think the Grind, definitely one at K&M) and while I didn’t talk with him that much I did notice how helpful he was to all the shooters bombarding him with questions and issues about scopes.

I think some of those questions and issues is what led to ZCO, and it’s always cool to support companies with people on the ground listening to what shooters want.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree! I think we benefit from another manufacturer involved in the sport, that listens to its customers and dealers input both good and bad. We as one of their main dealers try to provide a seamless buying experience and support for our customers, this sport/lifestyle and the ‘hide.
Any company can come one here and solicit their goods, we are part of the community. ?
 
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CSTactical said:
Absolutely agree! I think we benefit from another manufacturer involved in the sport, that listens to its customers and dealers input both good and bad. We as one of their main dealers try to provide a seamless buying experience and support for our customers, this sport/lifestyle and the ‘hide.
Any company can come one here and solicit their goods, we are part of the community. ?
Click to expand...
Absolutely! ??
 
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Just pointing out there are more replies in the “what paint should I use for steel” thread than this one ?‍♂️?
 
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Darqusoull13 said:
It really is awesome to see the continued effort and development of y'all are putting into this. Answering so many questions here and being open and honest with feedback really sets a product or person apart.
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It's nice for the dealers as well to have a direct line of communication :)

@Dthomas3523 thanks for stopping by the booth, sorry I wasn't there haha
 
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Also, got to take a look (actually a lot of looks) at the mpct3.

I was pleasantly surprised. Pictures don’t do it justice. I’ll make a post in the mpct3 thread when I’m not a walking zombie.
 
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My pecker getting hard reading this thread . And I’m an older fellow that generally gets fat????
 
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Snipe260 said:
My pecker getting hard reading this thread . And I’m an older fellow that generally gets fat????
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If I was good with PhotoShop, I’d change a Viagra ad to ZCO ? Weak example below but a ZC527 placed in there would be funny to me hah

pcarter_viagra_aotw_1_r.jpg
 
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All the praise of the ZCO line of scopes just may change my mind on saving for the TT. Just another decision one has to deal with in the great hobby we all share.
 
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Fitz said:
The deal I had in place for a Tangent Theta imploded when my seller had some ban issues..... I turned around and ordered a ZC527 from @CSTactical two days ago. Am looking forward to finally getting my hands on one.
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We're looking forward to getting our hands on your scope as well :D
 
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CSTactical said:
We just added one more person to make us three people on the payroll which includes the owner’s son working on our site. We are not the fastest growing company ?
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But you are a great company who's served the community well for many years. (y) I do miss being able to talk with Mike and watch some of the videos he used to post.
 
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