Review of Swarovski Z6i 1x6-24 Rifle Scope with Circle Dot

[Paulo_Santos]

INTRO:
I ordered this scope because I had been looking for a 0-600 yard scope for man-sized targets. This is the first and currently the only 1x6 scope on the market.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Price: $2, 050.00. (LE pricing significantly lower.).
Magnification: 1x-6x.
Reticle Position: Second Focal Plane (SFP).
Weight: 16.2oz.
Length: 11.25".
Eye Relief: 3.74".
Field of View @ 100yds: 127.5'-20.4'.
Exit Pupil: 9.6mm-4mm.
Center Dot @ 100yds on 1x: 8.89MOA.
Center Dot @ 100yds on 6x: 1.48MOA.
Outer Ghost Ring @ 100yds on 1x: 113.8MOA.
Outer Ghost Ring @ 100yds on 6x: 18.79MOA.
Butler Creek Covers:
Eye: #20.
Objective: #02A.

INITIAL THOUGHTS:
When I first pulled it out of the box and picked it up, I thought it was just the right length and weight for a 1x6 scope (For comparison, it is almost identical in length and weight to a Leupold 2.5-8x36 Mark 4 MR/T 30mm Riflescope.). It is actually pretty light, compared to other 1x4 scopes. The glass on this scope is top notch.

ILLUMINATION:
One of the reasons I bought this scope was due to the fact that the illumination was daytime visible. I turned on the illumination and went outside and confirmed that it was indeed daytime visible. Both the center dot and outer ghost ring illuminate and it is very similar to the EOTech and Leupold CQ/T Circle dot reticle. The illumination is bright enough to be seen in the daytime most of the time, but there have been times when the illumintation was not strong enough to be seen, such as days really bright days or when there is snow on the ground.

The nice part of the illumination system is the way it was designed. There is switch that has the Night/Off/Day positions on it. So to turn it on, just flip the switch to the right and it comes on with the last brightness setting it was on when you turned it off. To adjust the brightness, just press the +/- signs on op of the illumination control. It has a 3 hour shut-off when used in the Day position and a 5 hour shut-off when used in the Night position. And there is also a low battery indicator built in.

MAGNIFICATION:
I initially thought this scope was not a true 1x scope, but I adjusted the diopeter and it is indeed a true 1x scope. This is the first and currently, the only 1x6 scope on the market and it is a great scope for 0-600 yard shooting at man-sized targets.

RETICLE:
The reticle is the Illuminated Circle Dot, which is located on the Second Focal Plane (SFP). What that means is that the reticle stays the same at any magnification. If you noticed on the specifications above, the center dot is a 1.48MOA dot on 6x and 8.89MOA dot on 1x @100 yards. If for some reason the illumination does not work, the reticle is very much usable without the illumination on. I honestly think that this is one of the things that could have been improved with a non-caliber specific circle-dot type reticle in the FFP, especially if this was intended as a true Tactical Scope.

TURRETS:
This in my opinion, is the only major negative about this cope. Each click is .15Mil @100 meters (.54" @100 yards.). The bad part about the turrets is that there are no numbers on the turrets, just lines, so you can't have any sort of BDC. The only thing you can really do is count clicks. The one nice feature is that you can reset the turrets by just pulling up on the knob and turning it to the zero you want and then push the knob back down. Again, if this scope was intended as a true Tacical scope, they should have used the locking turrets like the ones on the Short Dot, especially when the reticle isn't a ranging type reticle.

CONCLUSSION:
IMHO, this would be the perfect scope with the right turrets and/or a better reticle. I still think it is an awesome scope and I do not regret purchasing it, especially for the price I got it for.

I made my own BDC marks using the "Brother" label making machine and it looks very nice and it is very helpful, so that at least helps some with the turrets.

POSITIVES:
* Range of Magnification.
* Daytime visible Reticle.
* Glass.

NEGATIVES:
* Turrets.
* Cost.



RETICLE PICTURES:1x no illumination:


1x with illumination: