Hey guys, long time member from Germany here. I learned a ton from this forum over the years but never actively participated. But as I am one of the first civilians to receive a 3,5-26 I figured this would be a good reason to write my first post and share some info.
I‘m only going to cover information here that isn‘t readily available and I wish I had when I ordered the scope. Everything else, product description, specs and whatnot is already covered in various places on the internets in a much better fashion than I could. (http://www.cassidian.com/documents/...f;jsessionid=A8E485C275197D1EBCAEE1654B23607D)
I‘ll cut right to the best parts: quality of the glass. I have to admit I am partial to Hensoldt, ever since I got my first 4-16x56 a few years ago there is no other option for me. Looking through a Hensoldt is like putting on a magnified contact lense with a reticle. It‘s difficult to describe, but the first word that comes to mind is effortless. The 3,5-26 fully lived up to my expectations in that regard.
The reticle leaves little to be desired. It has marks for full and half mils from edge to edge so there is plenty room for whatever hold you desire. At 26x magnification it is thick but still far from too thick, even on small targets at large distances, at 12x magnification (the setting I use the most) the size is perfect for estimating holds that are between the full and half mil marks. The 3,5x magnification is problematic as the reticle becomes so fine that, atleast I, can barely make it out. I have not gotten other opinions on that issue.
To the negative points: the turrets. The elevation turret has 360 clicks (actually 365!) in two full rotations. Once you dialed the first 180 clicks you have to pull up on the turret to unlock the next 180 clicks. It‘s a neat system. However the clicks are very close together which makes dialing somewhat difficult. The click at every full mil engages especially strong though and going directly from say 10 clicks to 11 is absolutely impossible. I always overshoot to like 14 or 15 and then have to dial back to the desired 11.
That is the only real complaint I have about the scope. However, the main tube is 36mm thick instead of the usual 34 mm. Which means you only have the factory supplied option for the mount. The mount itself is neat in that you have inserts from 20 to 60 moa in 5 moa increments that adjust the cant of the mount (the inserts are not stackable). On my rifle I have the 60 moa plate which at 100m leaves 5 clicks in the down direction. That also means I have the full 360 clicks in the up direction which for my relatively slow load means, according to my Kestrel Horus, I can theoretically shoot the 250gr Scenar at 840 m/s (V0) out to 2200 meters without holding over. The projectile would be well into the subsonic range at that point.
As one mount has to fit all shapes and sizes of rifles, it is quite high.
A potential weak point of the mount is that it‘s roughly adjustable for windage. The mount is constructed in such a way that all the plates of the mount except the picatinny base can laterally pivot around the front. That side to side adjustment can be used to roughly dial in the windage of your scope, then clamp down on an internal screw to fix it all and then find your final zero with the turret. I guess it might be useful to some but my fear is that the internal screw will eventually get loose. Since it is internal, you have to take the mount(with the scope) off the rifle to work on it. About 300 shots of .338 Lapua Magnum in, everything is fine though.
Final note: This is arguably the best scope on the market. But is it almost twice as good as say a S&B 5-25? Because that‘s how much it costs, (close to) the same as two S&B 5-25. In the end, you have to think of it as something like a Ferrari. It‘s a lot of fun having one, but no one really needs one.
I am very happy with the purchase though and to those who are lucky enough to be able to afford it, I can recommend it strongly.
pictures of the reticle are at 3,5x, 12x, and 26x magnification
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I‘m only going to cover information here that isn‘t readily available and I wish I had when I ordered the scope. Everything else, product description, specs and whatnot is already covered in various places on the internets in a much better fashion than I could. (http://www.cassidian.com/documents/...f;jsessionid=A8E485C275197D1EBCAEE1654B23607D)
I‘ll cut right to the best parts: quality of the glass. I have to admit I am partial to Hensoldt, ever since I got my first 4-16x56 a few years ago there is no other option for me. Looking through a Hensoldt is like putting on a magnified contact lense with a reticle. It‘s difficult to describe, but the first word that comes to mind is effortless. The 3,5-26 fully lived up to my expectations in that regard.
The reticle leaves little to be desired. It has marks for full and half mils from edge to edge so there is plenty room for whatever hold you desire. At 26x magnification it is thick but still far from too thick, even on small targets at large distances, at 12x magnification (the setting I use the most) the size is perfect for estimating holds that are between the full and half mil marks. The 3,5x magnification is problematic as the reticle becomes so fine that, atleast I, can barely make it out. I have not gotten other opinions on that issue.
To the negative points: the turrets. The elevation turret has 360 clicks (actually 365!) in two full rotations. Once you dialed the first 180 clicks you have to pull up on the turret to unlock the next 180 clicks. It‘s a neat system. However the clicks are very close together which makes dialing somewhat difficult. The click at every full mil engages especially strong though and going directly from say 10 clicks to 11 is absolutely impossible. I always overshoot to like 14 or 15 and then have to dial back to the desired 11.
That is the only real complaint I have about the scope. However, the main tube is 36mm thick instead of the usual 34 mm. Which means you only have the factory supplied option for the mount. The mount itself is neat in that you have inserts from 20 to 60 moa in 5 moa increments that adjust the cant of the mount (the inserts are not stackable). On my rifle I have the 60 moa plate which at 100m leaves 5 clicks in the down direction. That also means I have the full 360 clicks in the up direction which for my relatively slow load means, according to my Kestrel Horus, I can theoretically shoot the 250gr Scenar at 840 m/s (V0) out to 2200 meters without holding over. The projectile would be well into the subsonic range at that point.
As one mount has to fit all shapes and sizes of rifles, it is quite high.
A potential weak point of the mount is that it‘s roughly adjustable for windage. The mount is constructed in such a way that all the plates of the mount except the picatinny base can laterally pivot around the front. That side to side adjustment can be used to roughly dial in the windage of your scope, then clamp down on an internal screw to fix it all and then find your final zero with the turret. I guess it might be useful to some but my fear is that the internal screw will eventually get loose. Since it is internal, you have to take the mount(with the scope) off the rifle to work on it. About 300 shots of .338 Lapua Magnum in, everything is fine though.
Final note: This is arguably the best scope on the market. But is it almost twice as good as say a S&B 5-25? Because that‘s how much it costs, (close to) the same as two S&B 5-25. In the end, you have to think of it as something like a Ferrari. It‘s a lot of fun having one, but no one really needs one.
I am very happy with the purchase though and to those who are lucky enough to be able to afford it, I can recommend it strongly.
pictures of the reticle are at 3,5x, 12x, and 26x magnification
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/derdiedas/media/FotoKopie7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v332/derdiedas/FotoKopie7.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo FotoKopie7.jpg"/></a>
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