Zeiss Victory Diavari

Chris Parkin finds bulk is no obstacle to quality with the Zeiss Victory Diavari FL 6-24x72mm scope

Going back 20 years ago, a 50mm objective lens scope would be considered very large but now it is virtually the accepted norm for some forms of shooting. Low light shooters will often go to a 56mm for those important last few minutes of available daylight or to help select quarry shaded under canopy. Zeiss have offered an even larger 72mm objective lens but when you propose something this unusual, it has to deliver stunning optics to offset the added bulk.

Mount Up

The scope when seen on its own is of normal proportion but when you mount it to a rifle it needs careful thought and selection of accessories to achieve the desired mounting height to clear that 80 mm objective bell. Moving rearward the increasingly common one-piece 34mm aluminium body tube is no longer a mounting problem with many rings available in various specifications.

Centrally the saddle enlarges to 35mm and here we find all the controls, a standard windage dial under a cap on the right side, a parallax turret on the left also containing the illumination control and then on top, the new ASV elevation turret. All click values are clearly marked in 1cm at 100m increments, corresponding precisely to the more ballistic nomenclature of 0.1 Miliradian.

The Parallax adjusts smoothly from 50m to infinity and shows no signs of backlash, it is marked with distance increments but these are small and most users will adjust this dial whilst looking through the glass anyway. The illumination dial clicks outwards to turn on and rotates silently and smoothly (without détentes) in both directions to increase or decrease intensity. To turn off, simply click the dial back into the parallax drum, your setting is maintained so can be simply turned on and off. The No. 60 reticle is fitted within the second focal plane and is a fine crosshair broadening at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, similar to a German 7. Only a tiny central dot is illuminated.

ASV?

The new ASV elevation turret offered by Zeiss is offered for those wanting quick adjustability of the point of impact on a hunting rifle. It is not what I would term a truly ballistic turret for one very good reason; it only offers 6.8 Mrad from zero stop to full stop. That said this scope is designed for hunting, not target and this amount of adjustment from zero will get something like a 300 Winchester magnum from 0 to 930 yards in one rotation with no chance of getting `lost`. A ballistic calculation program is offered by Zeiss allowing the user to enter their specific rifle’s data and zero distance, a selection of stickers included with the scope can then be applied to the turret to exactly correspond to chosen hunting range increments. Ethics aside, this seems a clear, simple solution to the requirements of those wanting to engage targets at 2, 3 or 400 yards. The offshoot to having limited travel in a single rotation is that the distance markings are well separated so won’t be confused.

Moving rearwards the zoom ring is clearly marked with grip provided by the machined knurling of the aluminium ring. The eyepiece tapers into a fast focus adjustment dial accommodating eyesight from +2 to –3 diopter. A slim rubber eyecup sits at the back to finish things off safely, although eye relief is perfect at 90mm. Along with full instructions on the turrets and all the scope’s features, there is a spare battery included along with rubberised elastic scope caps.

Built For Field Use?

It seems ridiculous to doubt the quality of lenses from Zeiss; they are at the pinnacle of worldwide optical technology in many fields but how about our type of `field`? Well, the FL designation acknowledges the latest light transmission coatings with reduced chromatic aberration along with Lotutec external lens coatings which `pearl` water droplets allowing them to run off without diminishing visibility. The scope is Nitrogen filled and waterproof to 400 mbar pressures with a working temperature range of -20 to +50 degrees.

Would You Boast 72mm?

As the primary use of the scope was a little uncertain, I used it on a 300 Winchester magnum for long range target work and a 243 Winchester for a bit of rabbit/fox dusk shooting and lamping. I twigged one of this scopes finest attributes before reading the advertising blurb, even at full magnification, the exit pupil is huge. At 3mm diameter it is 30% larger than even its `small` 56mm brother. Zeroing was no problem at 100 yards and all dialled click corrections at long ranges proved accurate. After zeroing was completed with the ASV turret removed, I re-fitted it on its zero stop and liked the slight lift to turn characteristics of the knob, preventing any accidental movement but smooth with positive clicks and no overrun. Return to zero was spot on.

Oh, I’m Tempted

In field use I took it to an early evening fox/vermin hotspot and I was able to happily aim and click onto rabbit after rabbit coming out from the bottom of a hedge between 2 and 300 yards. I carried on doing so 15 minutes longer than my friend with an identical scope in the 56mm model.

Image quality, colour definition and edge-to-edge clarity were excellent. It had to provide the low light ability the 72mm objective shouted at but the large exit pupil was the highlight for me, more forgiving of uncomfortable shooting/head positions (if combined with parallax correction at high mag) and quite simply, `easy on the eye`.

I found the reticule a good combination of fine/precise in daylight on small targets yet the central illuminated dot was enough to draw my eye for evening forays into he fields on rabbit or fox and under the lamp. The size of the scope is a downside but you don’t get any freebies with physics and as a long-range varmint or low light scope, an excellent choice. There is always a design compromise between mechanical adjustability, internal optical component sizes and maintube diameter on any scope and on a technical level, Zeiss have made hard choices here. At the cost of producing a pure long-range target or tactical scope, they have made a superb low light, long-range hunting optic, it is good enough to have tempted me!