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From the NSSF
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Bridging the GapThe Zeiss Conquest Duralyt offers premium performance at a reasonable price By Wayne van Zwoll
I open the box and figure the tube is just long enough to span the leggy action of an E.R. Shaw rifle, a 6.5/284 on a Savage receiver. The barrel had proven itself with Black Hills, Norma, and Nosler ammo. Cloverleaf groups. I scrounge 30mm rings. Zeroed, rifle and scope look ready for Idaho. After a couple of days passing up small bulls, I creep down to a basalt knuckle on a near-vertical slide. Last cover. Antlers move in and out of alders 300 yards below. Front ribs wink in a slot, then stop. I press the trigger. So steep is the face that the 140 Partition flips him. Hooves up, he hurtles into the abyss behind.
One shot does not a good scope make. But I'd already come to think of this 2--8x42 Zeiss Duralyt as an ideal sight for an elk rifle--for the only shot I might get. It's a member of the Conquest clan, first fielded as affordable 1-inch alternatives to Zeiss' 30mm Victory line. The Conquest Duralyt bridges the gap, with illuminated and non-illuminated versions of a 1.2--5x36, the 2--8x42, and a 3--12x50. Retail prices run from $950 to $1,350. Hoo boy. That's still a lot of money. And some hunters surely will find their mortgage needs far more pressing. But Duralyt is not to be dismissed out of hand. It is a brilliant scope, with lens coatings that enhance images and endure tough conditions. Like the Victory series, it has a large-diameter erector assembly--not, as is common, an erector tube designed for 1-inch scopes. Result: better images. All three models have 3 1/2 inches of eye relief. My 2--8x42 shows very little reduction in useful range of eye relief from 2X to 8X. (In some scopes, eye relief and "eye-box" shrink perceptibly as you hike the power.) Field of view in my scope ranges from 52 to 16 feet at 100 yards. The 1.2--5X, 2--8X, and 3--12X deliver, in 1/3-minute clicks, 110, 63, and 43 inches of "square adjustment" at 100 yards. Finger-friendly dials have the feel of watchworks. Zeiss clicks are characteristically crisp and uniform, with just the right resistance and reliable, repeatable movement at the target. Like other Conquests, Duralyts have second-plane reticles that stay one apparent size through the power range. I like the open "three-post" No. 6 plex reticle, with the fine center wire unaided by a post on top. It's slender enough for precise aim, but easy to see. While I declined a lighted reticle, the No. 60 Zeiss offers on the Duralyt is excellent--identical to the No. 6 save for a .3-minute fiber-optic dot (at 12X) that glows at the touch of a button--tiny and razor-sharp. You control brightness with the +/- buttons. Press both and the dot vanishes. After four hours of untended operation, the dot goes off automatically. These are midsize, mid-weight scopes. The 1.2--5X and 2--8X measure 11.9 inches and weigh under 17 ounces. The 3--12x50 is 13.7 inches long and 19 ounces. Illumination adds 1.5 ounces. There's ample free tube on my 2--8x42 for mounting on most rifles: 5.6 inches between front and rear bells, 1.3 consumed by a nicely sculpted turret near midpoint. For very long actions, you'll need an extension base or ring, or a rail. The 48mm outside diameter of the objective bell permits use of low rings, except with heavy barrels. The Duralyt is a fetching scope, with useful power ranges and the rear-plane reticle U.S. hunters prefer. (800-441-3005; zeiss.com/sports)
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