Securing Sporting Classics’ Optics of the Year award is no small feat. Few segments of the hunting and shooting world are as fiercely competitive as optics. None are less understood. There remains plenty of science as well as a whisper of mystery—dare we say voodoo?—in the dark recesses of riflescopes. How do they build glass instruments precise enough to reveal a deer’s eyelashes at 100 yards in near darkness, versatile enough to adjust magnification eight times, and consistent enough to maintain zero despite repeated recoil jarring sufficient to discourage some riflemen from ever shooting again.
Swarovski’s new Z8i line of riflescopes includes just about every bell and whistle hunters and shooters lust after in a super scope: illuminated reticle, ballistic turrets, ballistic reticles, 93 percent light transmission, arguably the best glass and coatings in the industry, and the clarity, flare control, and durability we’ve come to expect from Swarovski. And it all fits within a 30mm main tube.
– Ron Spomer
Sporting Classics’ Ron Spomer (left) and Ryan Holmes (right) present Swarovski’s Albert Wannamacher with the 2017 Optic of the Year award.