I would like it a lot more if the reticle had brighter illumination at 3x, one of my main requirements with a crossover scope is a reticle that's usable at bottom mag and this one isn't ideal with the thin MSR2. Outside of that, there is a lot to like with this scope, not quite as good as ATACR 4-16x42 in overall optical performance, but has much wider FOV than ATACR and very clean edge to edge which gives this scope the advantage IMHO. Turrets not as good as ATACR but not horrible and 2nd rev window numbers are a big plus. The elevation "lock" on mine moves the turret every time (windage lock is just right) so I've sent the scope back to Steiner/Burris in Greeley and we'll see what they do (I have had mixed results for Steiner/Burris warranty service). If the scope comes back with elevation lock as "light" as windage I will be very happy. Low light results showed this scope was brighter than ATACR which is not too surprising with 56mm vs 42mm but I also had Schmidt US 3-20x50 and I didn't see a massive difference so YMMV. All in all, I think the T6Xi 3-18x56 scope compares very favorably and surpasses a lot of the $2k market so far.
So I do not have a rifle currently that I wanted to switch out scopes, but I have been wanting to refine the accuracy on my heavy handloads for my Marlin 1894(.357mag), so I plopped the the Steiner on it and shot some groups at 100yds yesterday to try it out.
The mismatch rifle to test....
Reticle
REALLY liking this scope so far, and the reticle is just lovely. Probably my favorite reticle I've used, and its nice and thin which is what I like. I will agree the daylight illum is pretty abysmal but the large, thick outer lines did make it relatively easy to at least orient to center when on 3x and taking a closer shot(50yds). I wish they would have illuminated the vertical holdovers below the center crosshair. Thats how my P4xi SCR reticle is and that's pretty nice to have for quick lowlight holdover use. That may be might only serious complaint about the reticle.
Glass
To me, the glass is noticeably better than my Razor Gen2 3-18. I'm not sure if its the color pop or clarity but look at small gray spots and hit marks on an IPSC Steel target painted white, at 100yds, the details of the gray/white hits seemed far more clear and detailed using the Steiner. In fact, my P4xi seemed almost as clear as the Razor. Maybe its the color range or contrast that my eyes just prefer the Steiner glass.
Eyebox/CA
I generally do not pick up CA very well at all, and noticed nothing abnormal. I am very surprised by the edge to edge clarity, even at 18x on the scope. For me, up to 12-15x I had zero issue with eyebox, and this is a 1.5" high mount on a Marlin 1894 so its a chinweld to the extreme on a top heavy 16" barreled rifle, so a good canidate to judge that lol. At 18x it was a little tougher but not that bad.
Turrets/Features
The turrets overall are fine by me. I love the shape and knurling, as well as the simple numbers and rotation indicators. Its very clean and obvious, which is what I hated about the MK5 as I felt I was looking at an algebra problem on the turrets. They're a bit mushy, but they line up and it's still obvious when you are clicking each 0.1 mil so I'm fine with it overall. My P4x had turret that felt like you were turning a tight lugnut.
My elevation turret lock is just like yours, and its a bit annoying. I generally leave my elevation unlocked, but I'm going to try to "work it" in and loosen it up a bit. After that, I'll probably call Steiner. It's not even close to a deal breaker for me for how I use the scope, but considering elevation is the most used turret, it's now a minor, but noticeable obstacle. Parallax I have no complaints. Relatively close to the markings and quite forgiving as well. The included Tenebrex caps are nice, and a great addition.
Overall build quality is just phenomenal. Nothing "cheap" feeling about it at all.
Now for the fun/funny part. I hot rodded up some 180gr Gas Checked hardcast Montana bullets, as well as some 158gr XTP's in Starline .357 brass a while back. I was mainly loading for top velocity as a 100-150yd deer pounder, which resulted in 1850fps with the 180's and 2000fps with the 158's, both using 300-MP at "rifle only" charge weights. I expected and hoped for around 2moa as that would be very acceptable to me. Then I did this....
If I can consistently shoot sub 2moa (3shot) with the 158's around 1900-2100fps I think that would be a major success and a serious deer rifle.
I shot about 15-20 more hot rodded loads, and as the barrel started heating up, I definitely think the groups opened up. I shot one more group later with the 158's and it was about 2moa.
Just thought I'd share