A few weeks ago, I was extremely fortunate and stumbled across an ad for a lightly-used Zeiss Diatal Classic 7x50 with the #60 illuminated reticle for $650 shipped from Poland. I couldn't help myself and typed the three magic words: "I'll take it."

A week later, I had the scope.

The #60 in this one is a bit different than in other Zeiss series of scopes, and so is the illumination. The reticle is segmented with a small dot in the center. It's heavy enough to stand out in low light. The illumination is the best part: In full darkness, it adjusts down so lowly that it's virtually invisible -- MUCH better than in the Victory HT or Conquest V4 series (and those are still very good!). In moonlight, the performance of the scope must be seen to be appreciated. It is truly exceptional.

I generally prefer 30mm tubes with larger objectives as I think they look better that way. But I'll make an exception for this particular one-inch tube.

It sits atop my 24" Eabco barrel in 6.5 BRM. Now I just need to christen it properly.