Rifle Scopes High End Tactical, Part IV: The Heavyweights

[Bounce]

Stop the teasing with new posts without content. Ilya's previous reviews have only cost me a lot of $, so any delay in HighEnd Review 4 will allow my checkbook to catch up.
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[lw8]

Tag for updates.

 

[bp78]

Tag. Hoping to see how the USO 5-25x fairs...

 

[WyoWindCall]

Tag for later

 

[tactic-als]

Not trying to get flamed but curious if Ilya can chime in on when he thinks he will be finished. As of today, it's been 1 year, 1 month and 1 day since he created this thread and I am just really looking forward to reading it.

Also, does anyone not know how to subscribe. All these "tags" get my hopes up that Ilya is posting that he finished it.

 

[MrNobody308]

I think you can subscribe by using the "Thread Tools" at the top of the post.

 

[koshkin]

I am largely finished...

High End Tactical Scopes, Part IV: The Heavyweights » OpticsThoughts

I did not test as many scopes as I would have liked. Things did not go as smoothly as I would have liked.

However, this is what I have. I will do some editing. Get me breath. Write a couple of pieces on less expensive scopes.

Then I will round up the rest of the scopes in this category and run them through their paces.

ILya

 

[hk dave]

Wow... it's finally here!

 

[KWilson]

I guess part of the problem would have been waiting for scopes like the NF BEAST to land in order to compare to benchmarks like S&B etc.

 

[koshkin]

I guess part of the problem would have been waiting for scopes like the NF BEAST to land in order to compare to benchmarks like S&B etc.

I'll have to do another article. There are too many scopes I could not easily get my hands on.

ILya

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

Excellent article Ilya!!! Very well put together. It was fair, balanced and addressed all issues important to a high end scope user. This information is so beneficial for people who cannot do side by side tests themselves. I found it nearly impossible to find a half of these scopes to try out prior to my purchase decision. Well done sir and thank you!

 

[Bruno]

Thanks for doing this ILya. The article was a great read and shines some light on the finer points of the extremely expensive, and hard to get to test, tactical scope market.

 

[hk dave]

Interesting your observations about the Steiner scope with depth of field. I don't have the 5-25 but with my 4-16, I found it is the easiest to get rid of parallax and get focused than any scope I've ever owned. You seem to say the same about the 5-25. I wonder if this is just a trait of Steiner and how they design their optics.

I actually prefer shallower depth of field because I KNOW right away when i'm on or not.

 

[jtrax]

Thank you Ilya.

 

[vonbalkenbush]

Great article again Ilya, thank you.

 

[JayCarver]

Great write up, thank you for taking the time to do this.

 

[2G5MK]

Nice analysis. Thanks for your efforts.

 

[Bounce]

Another marvelous contribution towards higher end scope knowledge. Ilya, you can't be thanked enough.
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[0311 Hesco]

ILya,
I'll probably catch some crap about this, but if you would like to use a 5-20 Vortex Razor with EBR-2B reticle for the next review, I have one that I am currently 7500 miles away from. PM me if you want to review it.

 

[koshkin]

ILya,
I'll probably catch some crap about this, but if you would like to use a 5-20 Vortex Razor with EBR-2B reticle for the next review, I have one that I am currently 7500 miles away from. PM me if you want to review it.

Thank You. I appreciate the offer, but I have already looked at two different versions of this scope for the earlier High End Tactical articles, so unless yours is substantially different there is no real reason to bug you.

ILya

 

[0311 Hesco]

I just got on board with your reviews...sorry for the lack of sight! I just saw your other reviews. Haha, no mine is just a run of the mill Vortex.

 

[jonthomps]

Always enjoy reading your write-ups - thanks!

 

[kristian55]

Thank you.

High End Tactical Scopes, Part IV: The Heavyweights » OpticsThoughts

I did not test as many scopes as I would have liked. Things did not go as smoothly as I would have liked.

However, this is what I have. I will do some editing. Get me breath. Write a couple of pieces on less expensive scopes.

Then I will round up the rest of the scopes in this category and run them through their paces.

ILya

 

[koshkin]

One of the scopes that I really should have included with this article, but was not available to me was the new Vortex Razor HD Gen2 4.5-27x56. I finally got it in after SHOT and have been playing with it for a couple of weeks.
I should be done in a week or so, and will be ready to answer questions at that point.
So far, I am very impressed with this scope and it definitely belongs together with the rest of the scopes in this article.
ILya

 

[Smooth_87]

One of the scopes that I really should have included with this article, but was not available to me was the new Vortex Razor HD Gen2 4.5-27x56. I finally got it in after SHOT and have been playing with it for a couple of weeks.
I should be done in a week or so, and will be ready to answer questions at that point.
So far, I am very impressed with this scope and it definitely belongs together with the rest of the scopes in this article.
ILya

Thank you for your comprehensive review of all the scopes an sharing this with us.

I'm looking at getting the razor gen 2 4.5-27 and value your input greatly.

Thanks again an all the best

 

[shamir]

Hey Ilya, were you able to get your hands on another Kahles to update the review? I'm torn between a Kahles k624i and the Steiner - both can be had with MSR for under $3k, which is pretty compelling.

Thanks for the reviews - I've read all your scope reviews and am working through the bino ones.

 

[K_4c]

Great read. Especially for those on the fence of what glass to go with. I found all of the same findings applicable to my scopes (both strengths and weaknesses). Nice to see my suspicions confirmed.

Thanks for the write up sir.

 

[koshkin]

Hey Ilya, were you able to get your hands on another Kahles to update the review? I'm torn between a Kahles k624i and the Steiner - both can be had with MSR for under $3k, which is pretty compelling.

Thanks for the reviews - I've read all your scope reviews and am working through the bino ones.

I have not been able to secure another Kahles to look at, so for the time being my Kahles impressions are conditional. If the scope I had was an aberration, it will definitely be on my recommended list. If the optics on the one I saw are typical for these scopes then not.

ILya





Sent from my Lumia 1020 using Tapatalk

 

[koshkin]

Thank you for your comprehensive review of all the scopes an sharing this with us.

I'm looking at getting the razor gen 2 4.5-27 and value your input greatly.

Thanks again an all the best

One thing you want to keep in mind is that the scope I am playing with is one of the pre-production samples they made for SHOT. I suspect that full production scopes will be a little better yet.

SO far, other than the weight, I've got nothing to complain about.

ILya

 

[koshkin]

I am done testing the new Razor and I think that at $2500 it competes quite nicely against more expensive designs.

I do not like the weight. I like everything else about this scope.

ILya

 

[Infringed711]

Tagged for later

 

[rw496]

I am done testing the new Razor and I think that at $2500 it competes quite nicely against more expensive designs.

I do not like the weight. I like everything else about this scope.

ILya

Are you going to do a write up? If so, a lot of people are looking forward to that article.

 

[Rob01]

I do not like the weight. I like everything else about this scope.

ILya

I would bet once mounted and in use that weight difference will be white noise and the shooter won't notice it. They will however notice all the features and performance and the extra money left in their pocket over the more expensive scopes

 

[koshkin]

I would bet once mounted and in use that weight difference will be white noise and the shooter won't notice it. They will however notice all the features and performance and the extra money left in their pocket over the more expensive scopes

I suspect that you are right, but I figured I should throw it out there for the sake of completeness. This scope would most often be used on pretty heavy tactical rifles, so a few extra ounces do not make much of a difference. It is somewhere between 10 and 17 ounces heavier than most competing scopes, which is really a minor thing on a 16 pound setup.

I have posted the article on OpticsTalk for now. I'll make a few edits over the next day or two and then put it on my website as well. I'll update this post with direct links after I am done:
Vortex Razor HD Gen 2 4.5-27×56 » OpticsThoughts

ILya

 

[rw496]

Great write up ILya. As highly as you have regarded Premiere and especially March in some of your previous articles, the fact that you put the Gen II Razor in their class speaks volumes. I feel like I made a good choice going with the Gen II Razor. These types of comparisons are well beyond my capabilities so I rely heavily on your opinions and results. Thank you for your efforts.

 

[Smooth_87]

Thank you for your review Ilya

 

[koshkin]

Great write up ILya. As highly as you have regarded Premiere and especially March in some of your previous articles, the fact that you put the Gen II Razor in their class speaks volumes. I feel like I made a good choice going with the Gen II Razor. These types of comparisons are well beyond my capabilities so I rely heavily on your opinions and results. Thank you for your efforts.

The new Razor HD, in principle, goes after scopes like Premier, Steiner, S&B, etc more than after the March. The March is a more specialized tool which really focusing on a few things and because of that makes some other compromises. The Razor HD, conversely, aims to be a very well rounded design, both optically and mechanically.

ILya

 

[M-54]

Ilya, have you sniffed around a copy of the Tangent Theta, yet? Or made a plan to?

 

[koshkin]

Ilya, have you sniffed around a copy of the Tangent Theta, yet? Or made a plan to?

I plan to test one when they get production going.

The turret feel was absolutely spectacular when I looked at these at SHOT.

ILya

 

[wvlapua]

Was the 624i a gen 2? Just curious, since the gen 2 supposedly addressed the very issues you observed.