Excellent glass and a unique ballistic reticle make Zeiss’ XB75 crossbow scope worth a look for your crossbow hunting. Photo by John Geiger.
Terra XB75 boasts great glass, unique ballistic reticle in this growing segment of the hunting industry
Kennesaw, Ga. – The first review of Zeiss’ first-ever crossbow scope is now online, and hunters can now decide if the new Terra XB75 is worth the $400-plus price tag.
John Geiger, senior editor at Game & Fish/Sportsman magazine and the editor of Crossbow Revolution, found that the German-engineered and -designed 2-7×32 rifle-style crossbow scope performed as billed and offered some innovative features. He also had a few suggestions for making it even better.
Glass is the heart of any scope, and the writer found that Zeiss’ MC coatings on the Schott glass were excellent, especially for a scope that hunters would likely use within 75 yards. Zeiss is known for quality optics that are effective at hundreds of yards for long-range rifle hunting. While crossbows can be accurate to more than 100 yards, environmental conditions, hunter skill, crossbow power and other factors often reduce the actual point-of-impact accuracy and kinetic energy at longer distances. As a result, most crossbow hunters consider an ethical shooting distance to be about 40 yards. At that distance and beyond, this glass will give hunters excellent clarity at first light and at last light, when game is often most active.
The scope’s reticle is designed to give the hunter quick arrow-drop compensation. Hunters can choose an aiming point from 17 1/2 yards all the way to 75 yards at an amazing 2 1/2-yard increments – without adjusting on the fly.
Also, right out of the box, hunters can sight in at 20 yards, adjust a “speed indicator ring” to their bow’s speed, and then be accurate out to 75 yards.
Geiger proved that this works after sighting in at 20 yards, and after some adjustment, shooting a one-inch group at 75 yards.
“Do you have any idea how satisfying it is to have a crossbow and scope combination that will consistently place arrows on a quarter at 75 yards?” Geiger wrote in the online review. “While I may never shoot an animal at that distance, the confidence it gives me at 30, 40 or 50 yards is priceless.”
While several new features were impressive, Geiger also found a few aspects that could be changed to improve the scope. He addresses the combined “speed indicator” adjustment ring and magnification ring, and notes how combining the two reduces the user’s magnification options.
The editor also found the scope took up most of the rail of his TenPoint Venom crossbow, leaving little room for other optics or accessories, such as mounting a light for night hog or predator hunting. The scope is 11 1/2 inches long and weighs 13 ounces.
