Zero Compromise Optic’s ZC420 was tested atop a Tikka T3x Ace Sport chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. This proved an ideal pairing, whether running a PRS course or hunting mountain game.
Zero Compromise Optic (ZCO) utilizes Austrian optical and mechanical systems, then they are shipped and assembled in the United States. Assembly takes place in Orofino, Idaho, which is right down the road from our home making both NightForce Optics and Zero Compromise Optics local companies for me. Jeff Huber oversees ZCO’s U.S. operations, a position he is uniquely qualified for as a former principal team member at NightForce Optics.
The elevation turret includes a pop-up tab that shows shooters at a glance when they have gone past a full rotation. The tab pops up after one complete revolution.
The eye box of the ZC420 is one of the most generous in the business. This allows getting on target faster without being especially fussy about eye placement behind the scope.
ZCO, launched in 2018, makes only precision, long-range riflescopes, which are arguably some of the very best in the world. That was the company’s stated goal from the beginning – every ZCO scope was tested extensively before leaving the Idaho production facility, ensuring they meet strict standards for precision to serve the long-range community.
After running a couple of Zero Compromise riflescopes through the paces now, I can say in all honesty the company’s products provide exceptional quality, unsurpassed optical performance and dead-nuts reliability. Every time I look through a ZCO scope, I find it like looking through air, even when the magnification is twisted to the scope’s highest setting.
The optic under discussion here, the ZC420, is a First Focal Plane (FFP/1FP) 4-20x 50mm configuration in an ultra-compact design that relinquishes the company’s optical performance and rock-solid mechanical precision. Mounted atop a supremely accurate Tikka T3x Ace Game in 6.5 Creedmoor, the ZC420 proved an ideal pairing, giving up that ZCO precision, optical brilliance and ruggedness in a package measuring just 12.8 inches long and weighing just 2.28 pounds. This makes it a great choice for any hunting outfit where minimal weight is desired, without sacrificing optical excellence.
The ZC420 allows 35 mils of elevation and 20 mils of windage corrections at 100 meters with a wider click spacing than comparable riflescopes. A dual-click mechanism with 180-degree opposing hardened-steel roller pins and turret interfaces provides a great tactile feel and auditable feedback.
Whether still-hunting dark black timber at four power, or stretching a magnum rifle’s legs while shooting across a wide canyon at 20x, the ZC420 keeps hunters covered. Despite this optic’s compact geometry, the ZC420 offers optical clarity, light transmission and resolution found in very few riflescopes today. ZCO utilizes larger lens elements in critical areas to optimize optical quality, create 92 percent light transmission, accurate color reproduction, and
industry-best resolution.
The exposed elevation and windage turrets are unlocked to make corrections by pulling them up until they click, and then pushed back down to lock the settings. Return 2 Zero (R2Z) elevation allows adjustment to 0.5-mil below zero.
The 4-20x 50mm configuration provides an exit pupil of 10mm to 2.5mm, 4x to 20x, respectively, translating into maximum light transfer to the human eye. Field of view is 28 to 6 feet at 100 yards, 4x to 20x, making it easier to pick up targets in cluttered backgrounds. The largest eye box/ocular lens in the business also helps hunters get on target faster, as head positioning behind the scope becomes less critical. The ZC420 provides a generous eye relief of around 3.5 inches, protecting from scope cuts while shooting aggressive magnum cartridges.
The ZC420 is built around a 36mm main tube, which provides 35 Milliradians (mils) of elevation and 20 mils of windage correction at 100 meters, with a wider click spacing than comparable riflescopes. The ZC420 includes exposed, low-profile
turrets with MRAD/100-meter 0.1 click values. They are unlocked by popping them out, turning them up and right in counterclockwise fashion, and then clicking them back down to lock corrections. Turret corrections are etched brightly in ascending stacks. The integrated Return 2 Zero (R2Z) elevation turret allows adjustment to 0.5 mil below zero, and the turrets are returned to 0 by loosening three stainless steel set screws at the turret edges. A pop-up full-rotation indicator is located on top of the elevation turret. 
All Zero Compromise Optic riflescopes include top-grade, Austrian-made glass and state-of-the-art lens coating to provide exceptional views in any light. Looking through a Zero Compromise scope is like looking through air, even at the highest magnification settings.
A dual-click mechanism with 180-
degree opposing hardened-steel roller pins and turret interfaces provides a great tactile feel and auditable feedback. The system is also immune to wear with hard use and time. The erector system is made of a tube containing multiple lenses, erector lenses, including mechanical locks, in addition to advanced UV-activated adhesive bonding. This makes them immune to abuse and ensures zero is maintained following hard knocks. Erector return springs are held to exacting tolerances to provide uniform pressure throughout the entire travel range.
The ZC420 riflescope was set in Zero Compromise four-screw rings. Like the components of the scope itself, these rings are manufactured in Austria.
Diopter reticle focus is marked -3 to +2 and includes a locking ring. The objective accepts M54x0.75 filters or sunshades. All control surfaces include non-serrated, skip-gap grip surfaces that allow good purchase without snaggy or abrasive edges. This treatment was applied to turrets, parallax, illumination, diopter and magnification control surfaces.
Parallax can be dialed from 25 yards to infinity, and the magnification ring includes a milled-in raise throw lever at the 12x position. Zero Compromise engineers worked to reduce the parallax sensitivity, so shooters aren’t left constantly tweaking the focus. The ZCO system provides about 20 yards of latitude out to 300 yards, diminishing depth of field, naturally reducing parallax sensitivity past that range.
The ZC420 tested included Zero Compromise’s MPCT 2x reticle. This is the company’s most popular reticle, proving precise yet quite manageable. The “Christmas tree” system includes a .036-mil floating/ bracketed center dot, 1-mil gaps between major subtensions, 0.50-mil wide vertical and horizontal hashmarks, 0.1-mil half hashmarks and 0.2-mil gaps on the side/windage floating dots.
The dual-color Automatic Illumination Management (AIM) system can be moved to red or green options. Illumination is automatically extinguished when the rifle is pointed upward or downward past 75 degrees, or when rolled past 45 degrees to either side, saving the CR2032 battery power. Likewise, illumination shuts off after 2 minutes of inactivity, returning the moment movement is detected. Complete shutdown occurs after 2 hours of inactivity. The system can also be manually disarmed if desired. The illumination system functions in temperatures from -25C/-13F to 60C/140F. The entire scope is
watertight to 4 meters. The MPCT 2x reticle of the test optic is the company’s most popular. It is an intricate but intuitively manageable “Christmas tree” system including a .036-mil floating/bracketed center, dot, 1-mil gaps between major subtensions, 0.50 mil wide vertical and horizontal hashmarks, 0.1-mil half hashmarks, and 0.2-mil gaps on the side/windage floating dots. I’m normally not a big fan of busy reticles, but I can wrap my head around this one with minimal memorization. Buyers also have a choice of MOA, MPCT 1X, MPCT 3X, Tremor3 and Tremor5 reticles.
Other than the $4,300-plus price tag, I really can’t find anything to nitpick here. Mounted on a serious long-range big-game or varmint rifle, I just don’t see how you could take things to a higher level. With all due respect to more established European optics brands, this is the pinnacle of hunting riflescopes – as fine a riflescope as you can purchase in this configuration and, well, it makes aiming like looking through air.
