Zeiss LRP S5 5-25X56 Riflescope

Over the last decade, I have been fortunate to review most of the latest Zeiss scopes introduced to the market and although the superb glass, mechanics and build quality suited hunters, I occasionally found the intended specifications a little confused when more technical scopes were offered. Scopes like the 4.5-35x Z8 are for long range use, yet offer very little mechanical travel, with 5mm clicks perhaps indicating a misunderstanding of the needs of longrange users of any persuasion, even if not specifically intended for target shooters. Do any hunters need a 35x magnification optic with just 14 MRAD of elevation available?

Something new

Although these options are still available, thankfully the latest S5 and S3 lines have focussed more critically on the needs of longrange precision shooters, and I was fortunate to get my hands on an S5 5-25x56 with a 34mm main tube. This is one of the industry’s benchmark specifications. The scope has rubberised lens caps protecting the objective and ocular glass. Zeiss quotes their multitude of usual proprietary lens coatings for abrasion resistance and water dispersion, along with a competitive 90% light transmission rating on a scope concentrating on mechanical functionality rather than the last-light needs of hunters. The main tube shows a matte, hard anodised coating that doesn’t draw skin dust from your hands and fingers. There is 60mm of free tube space in front of the saddle and 65mm behind, to accept scope mounts. This means there is room to manoeuvre for the 90mm eye relief. The elevation turret shows a 39mm diameter and height (approx), plus offers 0.1 MRAD clicks and 12 MRAD per revolution. The scope is also available in minutes of angle (MOA) if that’s your preference but the former was my preferred choice, so I could assess performance alongside its intended peers, all of which I have used in MRAD and will hopefully agree with my current D.O.P.E. The turret can be reset to zero and has a zero stop, although rather than a rotation indicator, it uses an underside vernier scale, revealed as anticlockwise revolutions for ‘UP’ are added. The turret is marked with full, half and second rotation milliradian values to ease adjustment, but I would say it appears a little over complex. Plus, unlike a physical rotation indicator that emerges from the turret’s upper surface, it is slightly less intuitive. The right-hand side windage control also offers a complete rotation in either direction from zero, so 12 MRAD left or right of centre. This may be useful but because these settings effectively overlap, you get to ‘6’, then start visually indicating back down to ‘zero’, meaning the markings need careful attention paid to them. The windage turret lifts to turn and you can’t get lost, but can be a whole revolution out. In use, I found the mechanical adjustments accurate, with neat box tests returning precisely to zero.

There is always more

The left-hand side parallax dial offers crisp image control and further out, the illumination dial pulls out to light up the centre cross within the reticle. This offers analogue adjustability from zero up to ‘too bright’, with anywhere in between offering superb contrast to any light conditions. It runs from a common CR2032 battery that’s accessed beneath the outer cap, which like the rest of the turret layout, shows common machined serrations for grip and a characterful appearance. The zoom collar rotates anti-clockwise from 5-25x magnification, with similar serrations and a central wing for tactile position indication. The reticle is understandably in the first focal plane to retain true subtension values relative to the target, regardless of magnification. The fast focus eyepiece offers +2/-3 dioptre correction for your eye, which combined with Zeiss’ precision etched reticles and ground Schott glass gives perfectly crisp resolution, allowing usage of all the reticle’s secondary measurement indicators. Zeiss provides detailed reticle dimension diagrams for this and depending if you chose MOA or MRAD, the corresponding reticle is supplied to match exactly. Zeiss supplies a massive amount of data for the scope online, along with a whole marketing/advertising plan. If you are in the market for a £3400 tactical scope, one assumes you may already be familiar with many of the factors explained, but they take the unusual steps to detail their own technical comparison tests for the S5 against high-standing competition from Leupold, Nightforce and Vortex, which is interesting. They don’t mention Kahles, Schmidt & Bender, Steiner or Minox though, so perhaps this suggests they are looking at the US market only.

The view

Regardless of technical parameters, like light transmission, that I cannot laboratory test, I found the scope very easy to set up and use. The image quality and the access to it were typical Zeiss, with great colour rendition that seemed very balanced across widely varied light characteristics. Detail resolution was superb and there was no hint of chromatic problems, even with very low, inbound winter sun. Here, I was still able to gain a reliable sight picture in conditions some scopes would completely fail in. Dialled corrections were reliable and corresponded to known data for multiple target distances. The 90mm of eye relief may sound ‘non-magnum’ in marketing terms but long eye relief comes with specific drawbacks. Like its serious peers in the 90mm arena, here it similarly gives a generous eyebox that’s far less critical to exact head position. This is a significant benefit on a relatively high magnification optic that still requires accurate parallax correction to assist with multi-position, dynamic and time-sensitive shooting.

Conclusion

Zeiss has stepped beyond previously confused specifications and tackled the needs of precision shooters very well. The specs attract a direct comparison to similar scopes, so it’s hard not to give direct comparisons. Optically and mechanically, the Zeiss S5 matches up, with just slightly less intuitive turret markings as the only element to critique.