Review: ZeroTech Thrive 3-12x44 rifle scope

Some people still think of ZeroTech as the new kid on the block in the world of scopes, but the brand has gone well beyond that, establishing a vast range of products that are designed, owned and backed by a 60-year-old Aussie company, TSA Outdoors, with a lifetime warranty and excellent local support.

I bought a Trace 4.5-27×50 purely as a test scope to bolt onto the great variety of guns I review, because I completely trust it to be precise for target testing and for its adjustments to always repeat perfectly. That trust has taken time to develop and, combined with the clarity and well-designed reticle, it makes me certain I can gauge the true accuracy potential of firearms.

ZeroTech Thrive 3-12x44 — The Thrive 3-12×44 is a fairly light and compact hunting scope that suits to everything from big game rifles to rimfires like this Ruger 77/22M

This review is about one of ZeroTech’s dedicated hunting scopes, the Thrive 3-12×44, which is likely one of the most versatile scopes available on the market. At 3 power it is fine for close-up snap shots on pigs in the scrub, but turn the power dial and in an instant you are almost looking at the eyelashes on a deer at several hundred metres.

If you have a need to reach out at 300-500 metres when hunting, this will easily accommodate it. Another use would be perhaps on an accurate .22 shooting tiny targets at closer distances, which you can easily do because the parallax adjustment goes down to 10 metres, which is actually a real benefit on a scope in this price range.

It’s all in a package not much larger or heavier than the old 3-9x variable standby that was the most common hunting type scope for many years. The Thrive weighs only 607 grams (1.3lb).

The Thrive scope comes in a heavy duty box with a fantastic reticle range chart that you can photocopy and use for different loads etc to know exactly where it will hit at differing ranges using the mildot reticle, which is far quicker in the field than adjusting your scope.

The mildot reticle is one of three option in the 3-12×44, with spacing of 1 MIL between dot centres. It’s a simple design with useful measurements

The reticle is well designed and offers precision without the looking busy and complex like many of the Christmas-tree type reticles, meaning it is still open and fast enough for fast snap shots, especially on moving game. Sometimes I think people don’t consider the real value of well-designed reticles when buying a scope. We can get lured into looking at tech specs etc, but none of that matters much if the reticle is totally unsuitable for the purpose you have in mind. The ZeroTech design is extremely versatile and I would not hesitate to use it either for hunting, casual plinking or for precision shots.

The Thrive scope features a modern, attractive Euro look. I had it bouncing around in buggies for weeks on the farm while testing and the matte black finish held up very well, as did the zero and all the adjustments etc. I did not drop it from tall buildings but it got some pretty good shaking as we mustered cattle in rough terrain.

The glass is extremely clear and bright with excellent light transmission and no blurring at the edges — far clearer, in fact, than I would expect from a scope in this lower price range.

The parallax adjustment dial was smooth and easy to use, as was the power ring, which makes it easy to adjust magnification quickly in the field but at the same time it was firm enough to stay in place and not move under pressure.

The elevation and windage dials are protected under removable caps so there is never a chance of them moving by accident. They were a little tight to use at first but as I used them several times they smoothed out into a nice, tactile adjustment that allowed me to feel the clicks but not have to use too much force.

I mounted it on my Ruger 77/22M in .22 magnum as it is a proven performer for me, I used a Weigand Machine adaptor mount to slip into the proprietary Ruger slots so I had a rail for the scope, which worked well and held up over time.

To test the repeatability of adjustments, where many scopes actually fail to perform, I do what is called “shooting the square” where I fire a round into the target at a fixed point then click the adjustment across a fixed distance to the right, shoot again, do the same downwards, then left and then back up and see how closely the scope lets me shoot to the original point of impact. The Thrive scope it performed admirably.

In fact, it was a fantastic result, with the final shot clipping the first hole after all those clicks! I was so impressed I went another 16 clicks right and fired, the second one there was under .25” (.635mm) from the first hole, which is as good as this .22 mag shoots. These results are excellent from any scope, but from one that retails for just under $400 they are exceptional and once again attest to the value for money and the performance offered by ZeroTech.

The Thrive 3-12×44 is a great and versatile scope. I had no complaints other than the slightly tight windage dial that smoothed out anyway, so I was happy. It’s a scope I would willingly own myself and I can recommend it to others.