Though I am no optics physicist (lucky for us, we do have one of those around), I have sent many, many rounds down range, sometimes from the comfort of a bench, sometimes in far, far less hospitable circumstances and environments.

In that time, I have had the privilege to use some of the very best rifle scopes yet made and fielded, whether civilian or military.  Below are a few thoughts of the scopes pictured.  As specified, I am no optics PhD, I do have 20/20 vision, and I do understand the effective and efficient use of all optics pictured.

Starting at the end closest to my face, I am OK with "rapid focus" eye pieces, but am perfectly happy with non-rapid (or "traditional") eye pieces.   I would contend that anyone frequently messing with the focus is doing something wrong.

So, on the eye piece, the 3 on the right are rapid-set, the Premier is not.

To take a quick step back, from left to right:

Premier Heritage 3-15X

Kahles K624i (6-24X)

Zeiss Diavari FL 6-24X T

Hensoldt 3-12X

Obviously, all are not equal scopes in most capacities.  All have been box tested (the Premier and the Hensoldt have short more than a few of my beloved box test: 20+ rounds, dope change between each shot, with at least 3 rounds in each of 4 corners, and at least 5 in the center.)

All have external, "target" knobs, all have illuminated reticles, all but the Zeiss are FFP, all are 34mm tubes and 50+ mm objectives.

Eye Box (exit pupil)

"Eye box" or exit pupil is the ease of getting behind the scope and getting a good sight picture.  This is a function of many variables, few of which I can do justice to here, but a good eye box is quite easy to appreciate, especially if you shoot from irregular positions.

On eye box, Hensoldt has long been my favorite.  By "favorite", I mean it is genuinely difficult to get behind the scope and not have a very clear, crisp image that almost seems to extend beyond the limits of the tube.  When an image is perfectly presented with very little effort, that allows me to concentrate on the shot and not the sight picture, that is a good thing.

Of the scopes in the line-up, Hensoldt and Kahles are by far the best.  The Zeiss and Premier are no slouch, far from it; but the image doesn't seem to float exactly where it should be.  The Premier takes a bit of thought, the Zeiss less so, but the Kahles and Hensoldt take no perceptible effort: get on the gun, look through the scope, beautiful every time.

So, of the Hensoldt and Kahles: I can't call it.  Both are astounding in their forgiveness.  The Hensoldt might beat by the slimmest of margins, or it could be that I have a bias, having put many rounds down range under the Henny and just a few under the Kahles.

Turrets:

The USO EREK (not pictured) has been my favorite elevation turret since my first click on one, that remains true to this day.  On the EREK, the spacing is perfect, the resistance is perfect, the view from the scope is very clear and very logical.

So, second place now goes to the Kahles.  The clicks are very clear, very well defined, and the zero stop is very easy to set and use.  The turret does what it should, without reinventing the proverbial wheel.

Additionally, in the conversation of turrets: the parallax setting of the Kahles is by far the best system, a second drum under the elevation turret rather than a separate turret on the left side of the saddle.  As an ambi- shooter, shooting a standard scope (parallax on the left) left-handed sucks. Hard.  The Kahles setup is ideal, offering very positive use without contorting or coming off the scope.

My singular complaint on the parallax turret is the detent at each yardage marking (which didn't align well with actual yardage.)  It is a minor gripe, but if Kahles wants to improve their setup a bit, I'd recommend removing the detents and going to a smooth run from top to bottom.

Also concerning turrets (Zeiss', specifically), I am still no fan of the locking turrets.  I've tried to like them, maybe I'd like other maker's version, but Zeiss' locking turrets are not my friend.  Perhaps if this were the only scope I used, I'd fall in, but it ain't, I don't.

Lastly for now, the Kahles reticle.  This scope has the following reticle

I like the reticle. Allot.  Figuring out the center took a few minutes to really "get" the subtentions, but it makes sense with a little thought.  

Stupid as it might sound, I like numbers on the vertical mil markings.  Some "christmas tree" reticles lack this, and counting can be error-prone under pressure.  

Reticle illumination is another matter.  Though low light illumination was good, only the horizontal subtensions illuminate.  I've always been okay with just a center illumination, or with whole reticle illumination, but am somewhat confused by this setup.  I guess the thought is that low light shots won't be taken with dope on the reticle.

Lastly on turrets, the mechanical indicator of second rev is a great thing.  My Premier doesn't need it (it only has one rev) the Hensoldt has lines (which suck) but the Kahles has a mechanical "nipple" that pops out on the second elevation revolution.  I like it.  (In stark contrast to the Premier LT window showing a "1" or "2" which works fine - but only if you can see the numbers.)

Final thoughts on the Kahles: new favorite scope.  The turrets are great, the parallax is great, the view is fantastic, and aside from the unusual illumination setup - the reticle is very, very usable and clear.

In the field in 2 weeks, more to follow.

Sometimes... good is bad...

 

 Whuutt...

Rifles are, from left to right:

Remington 40X 308, lefty in a Manners mini-chassis T5-A with a Rock 5R barrel at 20"

Remington 5R 300WM in a McMillan HTG with Badger bottom metal

Remington PSS 308 in AICS 1.5 (most accurate stock barrel I have ever shot! Many 2-3 inch 5-shot groups at 600 yards.)

AR10 260 (was mine originally, sold to SWFA, almost auctioned for an unbelievable deal, I bought it back.) Iron Ridge lower, hydraulic buffer, BADASS selector, Wilson trigger, Armalite match upper.

Kahles and Helsoldt are in unimounts.  On a bolt gun, the Spurh is the only unimount I have used that I liked - that was low enough for no extreme checkweld issues.

Thank you for sharing this.

Ken

 

Good luck with your endevor & Thanks for your service

My wife and I run Khaybes together and we are both avid shooters/ hunters etc. Any questions or comments, maybe something you would like to see in the Kahles line never hesitate to contact us.

Thanks again!

Ken 

It was between the Kahles and the Steiner, Steiner wasn't available and I had heard great things on the Kahles (and nothing on the Steiner.)  As a shooter that has had little success with 20X optics, I was wary of anything greater than 15X (entirely personal preference) but have been very pleased with the Kahles.

The Steiner might be in my future, depends on many variables, not least of which is scope availability.  And I need a tank to put under it, it is heavier than anything I already own, and the Premier is a beast, hard to imagine heavier - or the need for it.

...but I saved a ton of money by switching my car insurance...

Well, it really helped when he switched over to this. It's less to insure and other motorists just know to give him a wide berth:

 

 

You need at 50 post in order to edit!

There is a zero stop.

There are 14 mils per revolution.

It is an exceptional scope.

Will see hard use next weekend. And there will be pictures.

There will be no protection from the mud and rain and cold.

It will be called upon to make shots at various ranges and probably in rapid succession.

Turrets will be spun. Allot.

It will not be national security.

By our standards up here in El Norte, if there is mud and rain it ain't cold.

I will be back out with it in a few weeks.

Having now put a few more rounds down range, there are a few more observations.

1.  I like the view at about 16X best.  At 24X, there is a little thought to getting a good sight picture, but it sure is pretty when you get there.

2.  The yardage markings on the parallax turret are pretty far off beyond about 300 yards, it isn't a problem, you just need to forget about what the turret says and pay more attention to a parallax-free image.

3.  The turrets are awesome, the zero stop works great!

4.  I do not like the illumination scheme in very low light.  It illuminates the center dot, but a whole lot more (and nothing on the "christmas tree."

I will be keeping this scope for a long, long time. And the bar is set exceedingly high for the Steiner.

I wonder if that's something common to scopes with parallax adjustment...as in is it something about the relationship between the shooter's vision and the optics/sight picture. I always found it amusing that people would complain about a lack of markings on the Premier knob. It's a bit time consuming but better to rely on just dialing it in until sharp and the reticle isn't moving when I move my head around a bit.

The problem with numbers is that you tend to use them as a crutch: "get close on the dial, then get it perfect on the scope", and no set of numbers will be perfect.  I now prefer the graduated scale setup (Premier LT) as I know if I am near top or bottom, but don't bother getting "close" off the scope.

As said, it is a very minor gripe.  And would be far less bothersome were there no detents to tell me I have arrived at a marker that is not accurate.

 

Overall, these new Kahles models are exciting additions to their product line.

 

I am thinking that the Zeiss FL scope is the best receipe of glass and coatings...

 

Hensoldt is the same as FL with additional "hardening" ... according to Zeiss.

 

FL scopes are more for long distance bench shooting that florite glass is super sweet you can pick the color of a knats uss out at a 1 K yrds.

 

What I'm interested in is wheather or not the glass is better than the S&B [Zenith FD#9] at the dark hours,my Henny isn't but they are very close.

 

Your comments are hard to follow, but if you are talking about the Hensoldt, you are correct... according to both Zeiss and HUDISCO... and me, since my wife bought me a Hensoldt.  However, most users will not see the difference between the Hensoldt and the Zeiss FL.  I've posted quite a bit on my findings of the differences between the Hensoldt and the FL.  The mechanics on the Hensoldt are better than anything else I've used... except perhaps a USOptics with EREK and that is mostly due to design philosophies, expected end user requirements inputs.  Zeiss/Hensoldt has a bit different idea about the world than USOptics. 

 

Wish I could get my wife on board to buy me an Alpha scope....You lucky guy.

 

I agree with the parallax turret statements above, my concern is the detents that stress the scale at the yardage marks.  As said initially, I'd be fine with a scale, but would prefer they not include a detent that effectively tells me "you just passed something of importance" when I really didn't.

On the illumination, I agree; however, this illumination is worse than many (in terms of what is illuminated and what is not.) Illumination intensity is great, controls work as they should, but the illuminated reticle portions are odd.  It isn't a deal breaker, not by a longshot (pun intended), but I would have done it differently.

Lastly, I don't know that Kahles has water-shedding coatings; but if they do, they don't shed water well.

I love the scope, it is the only >20X I have owned for more than a month and wanted to keep shooting.  The "gripes" are relatively minor, and for my purposes, are not really detractors.

The only two I've ever considered are the F1 (30 oz., which is comparable to similar scopes in its mag range) and the 2.5-10X32 (really decent 19 oz. and which I used to own). I may again someday but not until they bump the glass up.

Those are genuinely bad eyes!

With hours on the scope, I note there is no eye strain.  Much as I liked the SS5-20, I did note that, with prolonged shooting sessions at high mag and long range, I had problems with eye strain.  Then again, since the Kahles is more in the ballpark of 3X the SS price, this should be no real surprise.

My impressions of the reticle change quickly.  At times I really like it, and at times I find myself wondering, "Why the hell did they put exactly that spacing in exactly that position?"  What usually bugs me on the reticle is the horizontal markings, the verticals work great.

The rifle did take a spill and now has a few scuffs on it, and I picked it up and made a 450 yard shot on a very nasty hog.

More to follow, but with time on the scope now, I really like the optics.  Low light performance is quite good, and image quality is among the very best I have used.

Given the other great features of the scope, I'll live with the slight CA.  It doesn't make me happy, but id doesn't make me want to sell the scope.

Full disclosure.

Did you contact Ken at Kahles?

I have used several of their new scopes (as well as older ones) and own a K312 II.

It has glass equal to Premier and S&B, in fact, I had a chance to have it and a Premier LT 3-15 at the same time and did numerous back to back tests at long range in the day light and into darkness.

I thought the Kahles was much easier to use.  I was constantly fiddling with the Premier's parallax setting.  I also have a S&B and find no real difference between the Kahles and it.

 

motobie... your observations just don't make any sense to me. 

I replied to your post yesterday on Snipers Hide and will also reach out here as well. I am sorry that you are having some issues. These issues we take very seriously as we need to know about any problems so that we can address and rectify. To this point, in sales of the K624i, we have had less than a fraction of a percent returned for warranty repair. Our optics have been scrutinized by some of the best shooters in the nation to the point next year, we will have several professional shooting teams using our K624i in Professional matches. Desert Tactical Arms a company geared towards precision long gunning has also chosen Kahles as their primary optic due to the performance they have seen in their own testing.

Mechanical devices can and will fail even when the toughest QC systems available are in place, for example look at NASA and some of the failures they have had over the smallest item but the most stringent QC practices known. 

If there is a problem with the scope, we would like a chance to look at it and see what the cause is so that other shooters do not see this same problem. 

Please shoot me a PM with your contact info and I am glad to reach out and have the optic picked up at no cost to you and we will cover all the shipping to pick up the scope, get it to Vienna and back to you. Several hundred in shipping alone but this is something we are happy to do if there is a problem within the optic we really need to know about it and maybe your environment or mounting situation etc, is that much different you are seeing something we have not duplicated, could be the case but we need to see the optic before we can help.

Thanks for trying the Kahles now let us show you the service that your Kahles comes with.

Have a great day and hope to hear from you soon,

Ken 

kpratt "AT" khaybes.com