Zeiss Victory FL Diavari Scope range

Quite recently Mark Karn and Jonathan Rigby from Zeiss UK invited me to an impressive launch of the new Zeiss FL range of rifle scopes hosted at Mike Dickinson’s new twin tunnel underground rifle range near Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

The FL range

Zeiss have been continually updating and improving their enviable array of rifle scopes and top of the range are the FL scopes that use FL lens to eliminate chromatic aberrations that would otherwise give dull and blurred images. Zeiss lens are the envy the world and the FL lens gives the brightest sharpest images available in any light conditions.

There are three premium scopes that use the FL lens concept; the 6-24 x72 T, 6-24x 56 and 4-16x 50. The 6-24 x72 is just stunning, offering the best low light and crispest images you will ever see but I prefer the new shorter 4-16 x 50 which offers all the advantages of the FL lens but all in a compact design with a practical zoom range of magnification for normal shooting conditions.

These three scopes form the Victory FL Diavari range and come with parallax adjustment and a good choice of non-illuminated or illuminated reticules. The illumination is sensibly sited on the left of the adjustment turrets and in easy reach, just pull out to operate and then adjust the intensity by turning. Also on the same side and beneath the illumination ring is the parallax adjustment clearly marked from 50 meters to infinity, making precise focus with high magnification at all those ranges. The lens also have a coating called Lotutec that forms a barrier and actively repels dirt and water from the lens surface, I have used it in the wilds of Scotland and it works very well.

Rangefinding and BDC

Reticules range from the standard Plex types and semi mil-dot with the type 43 reticule, and also the impressive Rapid Z reticule to give precise hold over aiming points out to 700 yards for all common calibres.

Some of the models also come with the ASV bullet drop compensation elevation adjustment turret that uses five ASV strips pre-printed with elevation adjustments for popular calibres, so you can choose the best fit for your load and then achieve instant trajectory compensation for distant targets – it’s a great system, fast and very accurate.

As well as the FL range all the other Zeiss scopes were on view including the impressive Victory Diarange scope. This is the only range finding scope that I have used that works in all temperature conditions and of course has superb Zeiss lenses for low light clarity and definition.

FL Binos

Equally good are the binoculars from the top notch Victory FL series to the lighter weight Conquest range, although I hankered after the 10x56 T RF which are a superb set of binoculars with a built in range finder and BIS bullet drop compensation data so you can range your target and then adjust your Zeiss scope precisely for one shot - one kill precision.

The Zeiss presentation was informal and relaxed and we were able to test a variety of scopes on the tunnel range to acclimatise to their features and range finding reticules. I for one rate Zeiss scopes very highly and use many on my own rifles regularly, and if you look closely at their range you will find that the quality and features are superior to many similarly priced scopes on the market.