Did Steiner just quietly build the MPO we have all been asking for? H6xi

[steve123]

Is there a patent that prevents manufacturers from making dual reticle scopes? Because, I think this is what LPVO and MPVO optic buyers want. Give me a crosshair in the second focal plane and a tree reticle in the first focal plane.

My March DFP 1-10 doesn't have the two planes exactly lined up and I've also seen photos of the same thing on other peoples March DFP scopes - so it must be pretty hard to align them perfectly.

But DFP is a solution nontheless, however it's not like the March reticles in these DFP scope are on the fine side.

 

[Glassaholic]

I just mounted up a 2-12 and a 3-18 for testing. Is there anything in particular you all would like to see or get feedback on as I start to evaluate them?
View attachment 8507267View attachment 8507266

Which reticle do you have in each? Steiner opted for green only illumination in 3-18 T series, is the H series also green or is it red? Does illumination look any brighter in H6Xi at 2x than T6Xi at 3x? Does H6Xi use standard CR2032 battery or did they go with the odd CR2450 battery? Through the scope image at 2x pointed at sky for H6 and at 3x for T6…

 

[4O6shootist]

I saw the reticle in another thread, looks just like scr2. Maybe thicker idk. Steiner doesn't have any subtensions available for it. Watched a video review and guy said the subtensions were pretty much useless 6x and below. But if you're making a shot to hold wind you should have time to bump the magnification up to 9-10x anyways. I just want to see what it looks like at 4-5x. It's form is nice, compact, but a guy may be better off just going with a tenmile 3-18 on a hunting rifle, as the weights basically the same and the long tube makes it very forgiving optically. I think the credo 2-10 & mark4hd 2.5-10 are more against this particular model in form/function.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Does H6Xi use standard CR2032 battery or did they go with the odd CR2450 battery?

The user's manual

https://www.steiner-optics.com/sites/default/files/content/downloads/2024-03/Steiner%20H6xi%202-12x42%20User%20Manuel.pdf

says CR2032, see page 7.

See also specs on page 10, all show CR2032.

 

[Graves14]

Hey all,

I currently have both an H6 2-12 and an H6 3-18 mounted. These both have the new cleaned up STR-Mil tree reticle. I grabbed some quick photos through the 2-12 this morning. I am headed out for another range trip tonight and will update once I have more experience with them.

Reticle @ 3x and 18x

2-12x @ 2x

2-12x @ 12x

 

[Earnhardt]

Thanks for the reticle pics, man!!

 

[Graves14]

I'll get more tonight. I am admittedly awful at taking photos through a scope but I'll do my best.

 

[LeftyJason]

I'll get more tonight. I am admittedly awful at taking photos through a scope but I'll do my best.

Awful (only in your opinion) is better than nothing.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

I'll get more tonight. I am admittedly awful at taking photos through a scope but I'll do my best.

Awful?

Great job, thank you!

 

[jbuck88]

Thank you for the pictures.

 

[Glassaholic]

Hey all,

I currently have both an H6 2-12 and an H6 3-18 mounted. These both have the new cleaned up STR-Mil tree reticle. I grabbed some quick photos through the 2-12 this morning. I am headed out for another range trip tonight and will update once I have more experience with them.

Reticle @ 3x and 18x
View attachment 8509995
View attachment 8509985

2-12x @ 2x
View attachment 8509998View attachment 8509999

2-12x @ 12x
View attachment 8510000View attachment 8510001

It’s red and CR2032 battery, things are already looking up for H series

 

[PBWalsh]

Hey all,

I currently have both an H6 2-12 and an H6 3-18 mounted. These both have the new cleaned up STR-Mil tree reticle. I grabbed some quick photos through the 2-12 this morning. I am headed out for another range trip tonight and will update once I have more experience with them.

Reticle @ 3x and 18x
View attachment 8509995
View attachment 8509985

2-12x @ 2x
View attachment 8509998View attachment 8509999

2-12x @ 12x
View attachment 8510000View attachment 8510001

I'm seeing what looks like a ton of tunneling at 2x. Is this correct or just the camera making it look as such?

Good looking reticle at 12x.

 

[glock24]

Same question here. Tunneling at 2x?

 

[Graves14]

I'm seeing what looks like a ton of tunneling at 2x. Is this correct or just the camera making it look as such?

Good looking reticle at 12x.

Completely cause by my trying to keep the gun upright, find the eyebox with my iphone and still be able to tap the "take photo" button. There's no noticeable tunneling I can discern under normal use.

 

[JohnDeereGuy1996]

I should have mine in next week I’ll update with my thoughts as well.

 

[C_Does]

H6Xi from a viewer came in today. Initial impressions are very high. The STR-MIL reticle is very nice. A little hard to see between 2-3x. But around 8-12x its Awesome. Build quality seems high. Accessories are good. Some tweaks here and there that they made are nice. Im excited to pit it up against the Mk4HD 2.5-10. But right now I can tell you that they are two totally different scopes.

 

[kthomas]

This Steiner looks like it could be the perfect scope for my SPR build. Functional, light, perfect zoom range, functional reticle.

Right now the rifle has a Steiner M5 that I stole from my wife's 6BRA, its a pig on this rifle I'm thinking the 2-12 H6 could be a perfect fit.

I know Steiner flies under the radar here on SH, and their reputation took a bit of a hit with the teething issues of the T series, but I've always been pretty impressed with Steiner. This M5 is an underrated scope. I expect good things from the H6, looking forward to seeing more reviews.

 

[lash]

This Steiner looks like it could be the perfect scope for my SPR build. Functional, light, perfect zoom range, functional reticle.

Right now the rifle has a Steiner M5 that I stole from my wife's 6BRA, its a pig on this rifle I'm thinking the 2-12 H6 could be a perfect fit.

View attachment 8517752

I know Steiner flies under the radar here on SH, and their reputation took a bit of a hit with the teething issues of the T series, but I've always been pretty impressed with Steiner. This M5 is an underrated scope. I expect good things from the H6, looking forward to seeing more reviews.

The M5 was and still is a solid scope with a well deserved reputation.

I’m beginning to believe that maybe a 6x erector is just too much to cram a FFP reticle into and expect it to work well on both extremes. True, reticle design is also a continuous process, so there’s probably hope yet.

 

[LeftyJason]

This Steiner looks like it could be the perfect scope for my SPR build. Functional, light, perfect zoom range, functional reticle.

Right now the rifle has a Steiner M5 that I stole from my wife's 6BRA, its a pig on this rifle I'm thinking the 2-12 H6 could be a perfect fit.

View attachment 8517752

I know Steiner flies under the radar here on SH, and their reputation took a bit of a hit with the teething issues of the T series, but I've always been pretty impressed with Steiner. This M5 is an underrated scope. I expect good things from the H6, looking forward to seeing more reviews.

Your wife shoots a 6BRA? Isn't that a bit sexist?

Jk

 

[beetroot]

H6Xi from a viewer came in today. Initial impressions are very high. The STR-MIL reticle is very nice. A little hard to see between 2-3x. But around 8-12x its Awesome. Build quality seems high. Accessories are good. Some tweaks here and there that they made are nice. Im excited to pit it up against the Mk4HD 2.5-10. But right now I can tell you that they are two totally different scopes.

Make sure to compare with the Helos 2-12 also.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

H6Xi from a viewer came in today. Initial impressions are very high. The STR-MIL reticle is very nice. A little hard to see between 2-3x. But around 8-12x its Awesome. Build quality seems high. Accessories are good. Some tweaks here and there that they made are nice. Im excited to pit it up against the Mk4HD 2.5-10. But right now I can tell you that they are two totally different scopes.

When you say it is a little hard to see on 2-3, does that mean that you cannot use the reticle for holdovers, or does it mean with the illumination on you cannot quickly put the red on a nearby target and shoot it quickly?

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

From a post above . . .

 

[lash]

When you say it is a little hard to see on 2-3, does that mean that you cannot use the reticle for holdovers, or does it mean with the illumination on you cannot quickly put the red on a nearby target and shoot it quickly?

Good question.

 

[kthomas]

Good question.

It's always hard to get a good feeling for a reticle through a simple picture taken looking through the scope, but from what I'm seeing in that picture in post #322 it looks like centering that illuminated reticle on a target on 2x should be no issue.

Yeah, windage is probably pretty useless, but I can't imagine anyone would need that feature on 2x. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[lash]

It's always hard to get a good feeling for a reticle through a simple picture taken looking through the scope, but from what I'm seeing in that picture in post #322 it looks like centering that illuminated reticle on a target on 2x should be no issue.

Yeah, windage is probably pretty useless, but I can't imagine anyone would need that feature on 2x. Maybe I'm wrong.

I agree.

 

[Thorbeast]

Has anyone been able to find the reticle info? I can't find reticle thickness.

Also, has anyone needed 10 mils of windage on the main crosshair line? I wish these LPVOs and MPVOs only had windage hashes out to 5 mils and started the heavy lines at 5 mils, I think that would make FFP much more user friendly at 2-3x (or 1x in the case of LPVOs).

 

[PappyM3]

H6Xi from a viewer came in today. Initial impressions are very high. The STR-MIL reticle is very nice. A little hard to see between 2-3x. But around 8-12x its Awesome. Build quality seems high. Accessories are good. Some tweaks here and there that they made are nice. Im excited to pit it up against the Mk4HD 2.5-10. But right now I can tell you that they are two totally different scopes.

I just got the MOA version in for a hunting rifle. The reticle is PHENOMENAL down at the low end. Very simple, very visible. At the high end, it has enough information for quick holds at ranges where that would be useful. I won’t be holding at 1k with it.

That said, I would rather have this reticle with mrad turrets and mrad stadia instead of MOA turrets and BDC. I bet the mrad version would be better if they followed the MOA version’s reticle of simplicity without sacrificing too much information. I bet the MRAD reticle would still be very useful at 12x even with half the number of windage and elevation stadia.

 

[Yoteski]

I just got the MOA version in for a hunting rifle. The reticle is PHENOMENAL down at the low end. Very simple, very visible. At the high end, it has enough information for quick holds at ranges where that would be useful. I won’t be holding at 1k with it.

That said, I would rather have this reticle with mrad turrets and mrad stadia instead of MOA turrets and BDC. I bet the mrad version would be better if they followed the MOA version’s reticle of simplicity without sacrificing too much information. I bet the MRAD reticle would still be very useful at 12x even with half the number of windage and elevation stadia.

Having a 10 mil tree on a hunting optic seems pointless. 5 mils vertical and horizontal should be sufficient and open up the field of view. I’d be all over this optic with a simpler mil reticle.

 

[white_rushin]

I’m really seeing no downsides to this optic except the usability of the reticle at 2-3x. $1400 street price is also very reasonable too

 

[smcfarland]

Damn that looks nice. Wasn’t planning on any optics upgrades this year but this is very tempting.

 

[C_Does]

I finally got the chance to take the H6Xi and MkéHD out to extended range today.thensolar panels are around 500, 750, 1k yards. The power towers in the distance are right around 2k yards. Mid 60*f, intermittent clouds and windy. I got everything as good as could be.

 

[Tictacticaltimmy]

The first pic of each is at 2x and 2.5x right?

Leupy looks decent. Steiner looks lame at 2x.

Not trying to be a dick, honest question: what is the appeal of a scope in this mag range with a reticle too thin to take a shot at 2x?

You could just get a 3-12 or 4-12 scope and have something much lighter or cheaper, and equally functional.

If its for a big FOV so you can find the target at 2x, and then dial up to take the shot.... With a higher mag scope you can just acquire the target with both eyes open.
If the differing images in your eyes bothers you, then close your off eye to make final corrections before pulling the trigger. This is dramatically faster than taking a hand off to work the mag ring.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

The first pic of each is at 2x and 2.5x right?

Leupy looks decent. Steiner looks lame at 2x.

Not trying to be a dick, honest question: what is the appeal of a scope in this mag range with a reticle too thin to take a shot at 2x?

You could just get a 3-12 or 4-12 scope and have something much lighter or cheaper, and equally functional.

If its for a big FOV so you can find the target at 2x, and then dial up to take the shot.... With a higher mag scope you can just acquire the target with both eyes open.
If the differing images in your eyes bothers you, then close your off eye to make final corrections before pulling the trigger. This is dramatically faster than taking a hand off to work the mag ring.

The illumination is not turned on, see post # 322

Serious question to which I do not know the answer, does the Leupold he is using have an illuminated reticle?

 

[white_rushin]

I finally got the chance to take the H6Xi and MkéHD out to extended range today.thensolar panels are around 500, 750, 1k yards. The power towers in the distance are right around 2k yards. Mid 60*f, intermittent clouds and windy. I got everything as good as could be.

I think the extended posts in the Steiner at 2x is a good call. I would imagine it helps bracket quick shots. There looks to be a lot more CA and shallow depth of field on the Steiner. Would you say that’s accurate?

Edit: also every image of the Steiner also looks soft and more out of focus in the bottom 3rd of the sight picture. That is rather surprising.

 

[JohnDeereGuy1996]

The first pic of each is at 2x and 2.5x right?

Leupy looks decent. Steiner looks lame at 2x.

Not trying to be a dick, honest question: what is the appeal of a scope in this mag range with a reticle too thin to take a shot at 2x?

You could just get a 3-12 or 4-12 scope and have something much lighter or cheaper, and equally functional.

If its for a big FOV so you can find the target at 2x, and then dial up to take the shot.... With a higher mag scope you can just acquire the target with both eyes open.
If the differing images in your eyes bothers you, then close your off eye to make final corrections before pulling the trigger. This is dramatically faster than taking a hand off to work the mag ring.

I have the mk4 2-10 and the h6xi 2-12. I’ll take the Steiner in literally every category there is.

 

[jbuck88]

So bottom end is almost unusable if the battery dies, electronics fail, or your not looking at a bright cloudy sky.

Got it. I'll pass. I really hope someone can figure out how to improve on the nightforce nxs 2.5-10x42. It's over 10 years old at this point.

 

[gopherslayer]

If you’re in FL the 100mph reticles will come in handy this week for wind holds.

Just shitposting to up my street cred.

 

[Bakwa]

If you’re in FL the 100mph reticles will come in handy this week for wind holds.

That's what I'm using.
Planning on winning the local Tampa Bay comp cause I'm the only one with 90mph DOPE.

 

[lou400a]

That's what I'm using.
Planning on winning the local Tampa Bay comp cause I'm the only one with 90mph DOPE.

Stay safe

 

[Guns&WhiteWater]

So bottom end is almost unusable if the battery dies, electronics fail, or your not looking at a bright cloudy sky.

Got it. I'll pass. I really hope someone can figure out how to improve on the nightforce nxs 2.5-10x42. It's over 10 years old at this point.

I mean it’s a great reticle for shooting birds off of power lines

Looks like another total reticle failure for a “hunting” optic. That is unless the reticle illumination is daylight bright.

 

[PBWalsh]

After seeing the excellent pictures from @C_Does, I'm much happier with my newly acquired non-illuminated TMR Mk5 2-10x. More visible at 2x and still very useful at 10x.

 

[crossgun]

I would like some details on the Zero Stop. Can any one confirm that on the H6 you can dial below your actual ZERO and if so how much? On the T6 series it's a hard no on dialing below.

 

[Graves14]

I would like some details on the Zero Stop. Can any one confirm that on the H6 you can dial below your actual ZERO and if so how much? On the T6 series it's a hard no on dialing below.

You cannot dial below zero on the H6. The zero is very easy to set but it is a hard stop at zero.

 

[NHR]

After seeing the excellent pictures from @C_Does, I'm much happier with my newly acquired non-illuminated TMR Mk5 2-10x. More visible at 2x and still very useful at 10x.

And I'm more interested in the non illuminated Mk4.

That illuminated TMR looks chunky at 10x

 

[TacticalPlinker]

I'd take a Mk5 3-18 with an H59 over both of these

 

[PappyM3]

So bottom end is almost unusable if the battery dies, electronics fail, or your not looking at a bright cloudy sky.

Got it. I'll pass. I really hope someone can figure out how to improve on the nightforce nxs 2.5-10x42. It's over 10 years old at this point.

I got the H6XI 2-12 MOA (mil version wasn’t abailable) and NXS 2.5-10x42 mil-R at the same time to pick one.

The H6XI is better. Better field of view and cleaner reticle at the low end. The long stadia on the NXS proved to be just a little too distracting at low mag for quick shots. It seems the MOA reticle is much better than the Steiner mil reticle at low mag.

That said, it would be great if NF released a 2.5-10 in FFP and using the FC-DMx reticle. Of course, updated internals to try and get greater FOV would be nice too.

Looks like another total reticle failure for a “hunting” optic. That is unless the reticle illumination is daylight bright.

The MOA version is a much better hunting reticle. I think they tried to both cater to tactical-folk and also save money on the mil version by re-using a reticle with a giant tree. I hope they redo the mil reticle to offer a much smaller tree so the thicker crosshairs can extend and taper closer to the center.

 

[NHR]

I got the H6XI 2-12 MOA (mil version wasn’t abailable) and NXS 2.5-10x42 mil-R at the same time to pick one.

The H6XI is better. Better field of view and cleaner reticle at the low end. The long stadia on the NXS proved to be just a little too distracting at low mag for quick shots. It seems the MOA reticle is much better than the Steiner mil reticle at low mag.

That said, it would be great if NF released a 2.5-10 in FFP and using the FC-DMx reticle. Of course, updated internals to try and get greater FOV would be nice too.

The MOA version is a much better hunting reticle. I think they tried to both cater to tactical-folk and also save money on the mil version by re-using a reticle with a giant tree. I hope they redo the mil reticle to offer a much smaller tree so the thicker crosshairs can extend and taper closer to the center.

The MOA reticle looks really nice and simple. If they used that same design but did a mil scale out to 5 mils of elevation and 2-3 of windage it would be great.

I agree the MilR is too busy on the NXS. I prefer the older mil dot.

 

[jbuck88]

I mean it’s a great reticle for shooting birds off of power lines

Looks like another total reticle failure for a “hunting” optic. That is unless the reticle illumination is daylight bright.

But then your still depending on one more thing to fail.

 

[jbuck88]

I don't have a issue with the Mil-R for hunting. I actually really like it.

 

[kthomas]

So bottom end is almost unusable if the battery dies, electronics fail, or your not looking at a bright cloudy sky.

Got it. I'll pass. I really hope someone can figure out how to improve on the nightforce nxs 2.5-10x42. It's over 10 years old at this point.

That's the rub with these "MPOs".

We want them to be useful from CQB ranges to 700+. We want them to be light but durable. A tree style reticle that can be used at long distances for precision work, but also large enough to be useful at sub 100 yards on the lowest mag range for quick target acquisition and engagement. And it has to be compact.

There's so many compromises that need to be made to fit such a large mission. I guess that's why people tend to gravitate towards scopes that are more useful on the longer ranges and piggyback a red dot for the closer in stuff, as imperfect as that setup is.

I'm sure reticle designs will improve in the future to better serve this purpose, but there's only so much you can really do there. There is still going to be compromises to make - it all depends on what you are willing to trade off. And right now the big trade-off seems to be close range low mag utility versus useability for longer range precision.