Rifle Scopes Kahles K624i 6-24x56 review

[Keith03]

INTRO:
I have had this scope for about 5 months. I don’t know exactly how many rounds I’ve shot with it specifically, but im right at about 1,750 rounds since February, using the Kahles exclusively after receiving it in May. I have considerable amounts of time with a variety of glass such as S&B PMIIs, Premier, as well as Leupold MK4s, and Nightforce. Let me say I am more than happy with my Kahles.

I am not a PRS guy, im not an industry pro who does scope evals all the time, im just a guy that has been shooting precision stuff for about 10 years and shoots field matches as much as i can, with a good group of friends. I have taken my time and spent a lot of time with this scope to get to know it on a personal level so that i can be confident in sharing my experiences and opinions here. i have shot with this scope on at least three different guns in a number of different formats. i have shot a lot of groups with it at 1 and 200 as well as a lot of steel from 200 to 1000. i shot a field practice match and a nra small bore prone match with it. i have shot in bright summer days and low light. rain and shine. i have done side by sides with a S&B PMII 5-25, NF ATACR, Vortex razor HD, a 3-12 PMII, 5-22 NXS... you get the idea.

I want to break this review down into different sections that I will continue to add, and update as time goes on. So, please ask questions, and if you have requests or specific tests you would like me to do or side by sides with something else, let me know and I will do my best to do so. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

 

[MikeD987]

Awaiting to hear the comparison against the S&B 5-25

 

[Keith03]

Features and physical description:
MSR reticle in the First Focal Plane. Having a reticle that is this useful is awesome. I have shot a lot with gen 1 and PR gen 2 mil dot reticles. The gen 2 is ok, but trying to do nice precise holds with a gen 1 mil dot reticle, is just harder than it needs to be. Not to mention calling meaningful corrections for team matches. To fully appreciate the MSR reticle, read the sticky, they probably did a better job than I can. Again I am not a PRS rifle ninja, but I will tell you why I am all about FFP. I use holds for wind and sometimes for fast stages with targets at varying distances. I shot a SFP 6.5-20x Leupold mk4 with a gen 1 mildot reticle at this year’s hide cup. I needed to back off the magnification for closer targets which made my already simple gen 1 mildot reticle useless for wind or elevations hold. Having the Kahles with it’s FFP MSR really would have been a game changer for me for a lot of things, and one stage in particular that really sticks in my mind. I was not squared away enough to have my half magnification setting indexed with paint pen and zip ties or rubber cement nubs or something cool like that. The MSR makes life easier even with simple things like shooting groups at 100, the gap and center dot as well as the ruler. It just takes less work to be precise.
The illumination is nice and simple and BROADLY adjustable. The knob is on the left side where you would expect the parallax to be on anything else. (more on this later) It takes a standard CR2032 battery that you can find anywhere. Only the 1 mil center section lights up, so you’re not blinded or distracted by more than you need. But if you need to hold, you do have a 1 mil end to end and half from end to center to with. I can turn it about half way up before it becomes visible, so although I have not shot with night vision on mine, there is a lot of room in the illumination for it. We did use these for the night shoot at the hide cup and they worked out great.
6-24 power with a 56mm objective and 34 mm tube. There is not a ton to say about this unless you have not used something this large or have not done a side by side with a 50 or smaller objective lens and 30mm tube. The field of view in this scope makes some of the other stuff I have shot look like you are looking through drinking straw. I have a couple buddies with vortex 6-24x50s with 30mm tubes. The difference in field of view is substantial. A lot. I get that these two are in different classes; I guess what im saying is what you get when you step up to the top of the line. I saw no real FOV difference between the Kahles and others with the same tube and objective diameters.
Turrets: .1 mil clicks and 14 mils per rotation on 2 rotation turrets. There is a fantastic feature here. There is a red button that pops up out of the top of the turret when you get to the second rotation. I think every match I have been to, someone, including some really good shooters, have trashed a stage because they were a rotation off. It’s pretty hard to make that mistake with 14 mils per rotation AND nice red button. There is an automatic zero stop four clicks below zero. When you float the turrets during zeroing and lock them back down, the zero stop is automatically set, four clicks below zero. This is plenty to adjust for atmospherics at zeroing distance. Additionally, there are 25mils of elevation and 11 mils of windage available. Physically the turrets are large and grippy, giving no issues to use with gloves. Clicks are very audible and tactile with just enough resistance. The Premiers I have used had turrets so stiff and detentes so small it was sometimes hard to take just one click.
Parallax: the parallax is a ring around the base of the elevation turret. Its traditional location has been taken by the illumination turret. It is larger and easy to adjust with either hand. Being larger is it also easier to adjust more finely which is something I have fought with some with another scope I no longer have. The ring is market at 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 600, 800 1000 and infinity, and has detentes for each from 100 to 1000. Like some others, I have noticed the numbers actually correlate to the distance to the target I’m looking at. This seems less common than common sense in the senate. Now that I have the parallax up top, it does make life easier in improvised positions and support side shooting as some matches will require.
The finish on this thing is crazy. At the Hide Cup, Ken Pratt, the US Kahles rep, was sharpening quarters on his scopes. Yes I did it to mine too. No it didn’t leave a mark. I’m still smiling.
Accessories: The magnification ring has a nice nub on it but I want to try to find a switch view that will work to try out. I will probably end up taking it back off but I want to try one. The Steiner 56mm sunshade works and Kahles make flip up lens caps. The scope came with bikini type.

 

[boomfab]

Is the parallax ring difficult to turn quickly on the Kahles? Mine was.

Can you get a razor sharp image focus at any and every distance using the Kahles parallax ring? I could not.

Does the image start taking on a brownish/purplish tone above 15x? Mine did.

I sent the Kahles back. It was a Gen 2 MSR-K.

I now have a Premier 5-25 and couldn't be happier.

I really like the Kahles 1-6, which is the only other Kahles I have had time with.

 

[Keith03]

I shot 130 rounds today testing adjustments. I found out my range is 2 yards short of what is says it is. Glass evaluation, in the field impressions and mechanical testing are all coming up. I will look into the finnAccuracy optics test and see when i can do that as well.

 

[KWilson]

Hi Keith, I am considering the Kahles alongside the new Nightforce BEAST and Steiner 5-25x56 for Christmas. Pricewise there is not a lot of difference between the three in Australia, with the Kahles around $3500, the BEAST at $3550 and the Steiner at $3650 (from talking to 2 shops that sell these optics). I have looked through a gen 1 Kahles scope with mil 3 reticle and liked it, especially the parallax location as it made sense. If your Kahles has the MSR reticle, I assume you have the updated version with improved optic prescription. What sort of distances are you commonly engaging targets at with this scope? What type of mount are you using? Is threre anything about the scope you find annoying and did you consider any other scopes prior to dropping the hammer on the Kahles?

 

[Keith03]

Is the parallax ring difficult to turn quickly on the Kahles? Mine was.

Can you get a razor sharp image focus at any and every distance using the Kahles parallax ring? I could not.

Does the image start taking on a brownish/purplish tone above 15x? Mine did.

I sent the Kahles back. It was a Gen 2 MSR-K.

I now have a Premier 5-25 and couldn't be happier.

I really like the Kahles 1-6, which is the only other Kahles I have had time with.

I can turn mine from 50 to infinite or vice-versa in one motion. no problem. its tighter than the leupy or the S&B, i dont remember what the parallax tension was like on the Premier i had.

I have zero clarity issues with mine. I had 5 or 6 people run through the side by side. no one else had issues either. i felt like i could see the frayed fibers of the paper target around the edges of the bullet holes today.

No color haze issue either.

gen 2 MSR here as well

i had a Premier 3-15 and wished every day that i had kept the S&B it replaced.

i really like the 1-6 also. only 1-x i have played with that did so well on the backwards 1x test.

i dont know how we have had such extreme differences in our experiences. i will try to note what you said and specifically look again next time im out.

 

[wvlapua]

Tag..especially interested in how it stacks up against Steiner.

 

[Pointblanktx]

I personally had a Steiner and sold it for the Kahles. Optically I feel the Kahles is brighter and I have shot them both from 100yds to beyond 1k. The turrets, and parallax to me are a little more favorable on the Kahles as well.

 

[drjjl]

Thanks for the review. I have a gen 1 kahles, and have nothing bad to say about it! Now I'm in need of a new scope (who isn't?) for a new rifle. I was considering getting a premier heritage..not because I have a problem with my kahles but because I like to try different things...the same reason I have multiple sets of gold clubs. But after reading your review I may end up getting a second Kahles with the MSR and gen 2 features. Consistency would be nice, but then again variety is nice too!

 

[sch2046]

I have the gen2 msr-k, I have shot past 1000 and as close as 50. Optically, mine is crystal clear, no discolor and the parallax is dead on. I really like the location of the parallax and i like the center break in their mrs reticle, I have become a kahles fan!

 

[Keith03]

KWilson: yes mine is a gen 2. I regularly shoot paper at 100 and 200, and steel out to 1000 yards at least monthly. I also shoot 50 yards and 50 feet occasionally with it on my trainer. Note that the parallax has a 50 meter minimum. So I’m working with a ghost image of the reticle at 50 feet but it can be made to work. I am using the Kahles rings made by Seekins precision on a badger 20 moa base on a Remington 40X 308, a unmarked steel 25 moa base on my Sako 308, and an aluminum 25moa DI Products on my trainer (.22 LR) I have 14.2 mils left with it zeroed on the 40X right now.
As for anything I don’t like about the scope, I was trying to come up with something since you said that yesterday, and there just isn’t anything. I’m going to add a sunshade (the Steiner one fits) and flip up lens caps (Kahles makes their own) and I am looking into finding a switch view for it. But I don’t know if anyone makes one for the beast or Steiner either. Those are the only changes I could wish for and they are available to those who want them.
I got mine at the Snipers Hide Cup, so I didn’t have to drop the hammer as you put it. I have not used the Steiner beyond the 30 seconds I played with the demo, once again at the hide cup, so I can’t really say there, but I am very partial to the MSR. My general outlook is that I don’t trust something until it has proven itself. Over almost 6 months my Kahles has proven itself. So it would be hard to move away from that. I am a very critical guy. If there is something wrong I will find it. My buddies give me a hard time because I cant touch a piece of kit without critiquing it. If I cant find something I don’t like about it… well that’s just rare.

 

[pc3]

Where can one purchase the kahles flip up covers ?

 

[motobie]

I wish my Kahles is like yours, Keith. Mine is a 1st generation. It's at Kahles Austria for evaluation.

 

[Keith03]

I wish my Kahles is like yours, Keith. Mine is a 1st generation. It's at Kahles Austria for evaluation.

I had a S&B PMII die on me a couple years ago too. If I can figure out how to reformat it, I have a picture I took of a premier with a turret knocked off that I will try to post. All of the above are good optics. Anything man made is subject to imperfection and failure.


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[kenner]

I now have -3- Kahles 624i'S with mil 4, 2 are Gen I and the third is gen II, I have had S&B PMII, Hensoldt, Steiner, sold them all and went with all Kahles, I just love the parallax adjustment, I'm a left hand shooter and it is perfect for me, I can not say enough good things about Kahles, they have the best glass in my opinion just shy of the Hensoldt.
kenner

 

[Keith03]

Glass:
For a glass evaluation I lined up the Kahles K624i, an S&B PMII 5-25 and a NF ATACR. Also in attendance was a 4-16 PM II, a Vortex PST 6-24 and a Leupold mk4 6.5-20. That gave us 6 different scopes, on different guns with 6 different owners. All cycled through each. We had 1000 yards in front of us with targets at various distances. This was started at 3 or 4 pm on a mostly sunny day. After 2 or 3 hours the S&B 5-25 PMII was voted #1 by all but one, who didn't see a difference between it and the Kahles. The consensus was that the margin was about as small as could be distinguishable. Kahles was voted #2 with two shooters unsure between it (K624i) and the NF ATACR.
The conclusion by the committee of clarity was S&B>Kahles>ATACR. We didn't bother to evaluate the others. But if anyone would like me to, it can be arranged. With a Guns and Ammo magazine at 100 yards for color testing, the PMII 5-25 and K624i and their owners continued evaluations until night fall. Previous conclusions remained.
What I noticed: with a 2/3 IPSC at 1000 I could just see impact a little more crisply with the Schmidty. I saw zero color difference either in bright day light on targets versus background or vegetation in the area. I also could not tell a difference in color on the G&A magazine as we it got dark. Again, however, I could tell just a little difference in image crispness. I could read all the same things, but I could distinctly tell the edges and outlines with the Schmidt. With the Kahles I could still tell what everything was, read everything the same, and get all the same info off the cover as well as see colors and shapes. The outlines and edges were not quite as sharp. I guess that's what you get for an extra $900. That's ok I got the MSR, he has the P4fine.
The real question is how will the above effect what you do with it? I could not detect any targets with the PMII that I didn't with my Kahles. I didn't see any extra mirage or trace. FOV was the same.
Some folks have asked about CA (a color hue). None of the shooters above reported anything, and I have not seen it, but I will look for it specifically later on.
Is there anything I am leaving out on the topic before I move on to mechanical testing?

 

[CSTactical]

The Kahles scopes are extremely well made that for sure and the NEW MSRii line thickness is very nice. The Kahles 624i is a winner of a scope with what ever reticle you get.

Mike @ CSTACTICAL

 

[Keith03]

Kahles

Mechanical

I'm at 1875 rounds now, not counting about 900 through the .22 trainer.
The first time I went out to specifically test mechanical accuracy, (is dialing 8 mils actually going to give me 8mils or 8.1, or 7.9?)I found out my range isn't actually 100 yards. Nor is the other range I go to. So measuring 3.6 inches on paper for each mil in the scope was out. What i ended up doing is shooting a group, dialing a certain number of mills and using a hold for the same value with the reticle. Perfection was experienced. I did this for 1-5 & 10 mils, using the tip of the 10 mil hash mark.
I also shot repeatability tests. I shot a group as a standard, and on an adjacent bull, fired one shot, dialed up and down from zero to max to zero, back up partial and back and fourth multiple times before returning to zero for each of ten shots. I shot a one ragged hole group.
I did both of these a coupe of times through multiple trips to the range.

I also looked again for any color haze or distortion and could not find any.

There was a request for a side by side with a Steiner. If anyone knows anyone in eastern WA, I would be willing to link up and test them.


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[Keith03]

Jon Addland of AADMOUNT.com is now building his great flip up lens caps for this scope.

Top notch quality as expected from AADMOUNT They are tight fitting and durable. A review is in the works but this will have to do for the moment.


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[drjjl]

Back ordered already!

 

[tigerfan_9]

Back ordered already!

They aren't shipping yet. Should be shipping first batch in a couple weeks as per the thread about them.

 

[nfoley]

I just got the Kahles 6-24 with the MSR reticle. I am extremely impressed so far. Still need to do a thorough tracking test (waiting for some warm weather!).
Being a lefty, I REALLY like the parallax adjust on top. It is very easy and fast for me to adjust out parallax with this scope (and image is focused well). Glass is excellent, turrets are positive, reticle is outstanding, scope is not too heavy... haven't found anything to complain about. Having played with a variety of other high end scopes I think I found my new favorite.
As a side note, Ken has been very helpful and friendly with all questions and requests for info prior to my purchase.

 

[Keith03]

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...-caps-scope-request-measurement-thread-4.html

Here is the link to the thread about the AADMOUNT lens cap and my review for them. On this scope particularly, they will fit all the way onto the the rubber diopter ring and over hang a bit on the scope side. The fit is very tight so you might want to put just a film of olive oil or something on the rubber that you are 100% sure won't hurt the class.


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[Keith03]

The Steiner 56mm sunshade fits nicely and threads right in almost like it was made for it. There is a slight gap as you can see in the picture and the finish different. The outside diameter is the exact same so even the very stiff AADMOUNT caps still fit perfectly.


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[Keith03]

Because I am in a rush and can't seem to make sure I included the picture the first time...

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[SFree]

Great review, Keith!
Now all I have to do is figure out how to fund one!

 

[Keith03]

Kahles K624i 6-24x56 review

http://www.mgmswitchview.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=27

I'm hoping AADMOUNT or some other cool small shop will make a specific switch view later on, but for now I am pre-ordering one of these. I'll let you how long it takes me to break it


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[bluto77]

Keith, have you ever looked through the Kahles 624i Gen I, and if so, how does it compare to your Gen II? I have the Gen I, but I have not tested it anything near as extensively as you have your Gen II. It currently sits on my 338 LM, so it doesn't see as much action as my other rifles. I'm about to move it to the 6.5 x 47 Lapua which I plan on using quite a bit moving forward. My goal is to shoot at least 2 Tactical Rifle comps this year (never participated in those before) to get out of my comfort zone of shooting from bench or prone at known distances. I know the Mil 4 reticle will come in handy in this application.

I've read reviews and seen many opinions on the Gen I and it's glass. I'm trying to decide if I should sell a kidney or something and move up to the Gen II. Your input or others that have tried both would be appreciated.

edit: It's the Mil 4 reticle

 

[Rancid Coolaid]

My K624i now wears the Aadmount flip-ups and I will never buy a Butler Creek again. Probably.

My scope is a gen 1 and it has a bit of CA and sharpness could be a little better at 600+ ranges; however, it is far from unserviceable, and - as I shoot lefty as much as righty - the parallax location and function is awesome. Tracking on mine has been spot-on the scope has seen some real-world use and held up quite nicely.

If you spend this much on a scope, get the Aadmount covers!

 

[Keith03]

Bluto77: I have not played with a gen 1 so I couldn't really say. I am pretty impressed with my gen 2 thus far.


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[Keith03]

I just finished the JC Steel match in Prescott WA. The first day averaged 10mph wind and about 27 degrees. The second was cut short due to freezing rain and low visibility.

Just a couple quick points points:

Through the cold and literal ice build up on the scope all adjustments remained free moving and true.

On a stage where many shooters mistakenly engaged empty brackets, I was able to identify and hit the intended targets.

On the last stage of the day we were engaging targets out to 1000 yards in the last minutes of day light. Not only was I able to see the targets but my impacts as well.


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[CSTactical]

The flip caps look really nice I will have to look at them.

Mike @ CSTACTICAL

 

[Keith03]

Kahles K624i 6-24x56 review

You have a good team when someone gives up their goretex to cover up the rifles


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[malsa82]

I have recently fallen in love and become mildy obsessed with the K624i and the new AMR reticle. I am planning on a new high end optic soon, but my budget was $2k-$2.5k max. I was looking at either the new Razor GenII or a Bushnell XRS. If I can swing the extra coin, I am going to go for the Kahles. This review has been very helpful!

 

[bluto77]

I just finished the JC Steel match in Prescott WA. The first day averaged 10mph wind and about 27 degrees. The second was cut short due to freezing rain and low visibility.

Just a couple quick points points:

Through the cold and literal ice build up on the scope all adjustments remained free moving and true.

On a stage where many shooters mistakenly engaged empty brackets, I was able to identify and hit the intended targets.

On the last stage of the day we were engaging targets out to 1000 yards in the last minutes of day light. Not only was I able to see the targets but my impacts as well.


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This is music to my ears! I just ordered one of the Gen II MSRk from Mike at CSTactical a couple of weeks ago. Had to sell off some other stuff though, but sounds like it'll be worth it. Thinking about trying to swing a 2nd one. Do the Gen II come with the Mil 6?

Anyway, thanks for the continued updates Keith.

 

[nachosniper]

Hi, i am from Argentina and Sorry for my bad english. I had a K624i Mil 4 Gen I, and now i have a K624i MSR Gen II, the most difference of the two is the eye box. That it's very worst in the gen II. the other aspects are better in the GenII.
Anybody have the same issue?

Thank's

 

[Keith03]

Bluto77 I have seen current sales descriptions offering the mil 6 but couldn't tell you if they were gen II or not.
Nacho: I have not heard of that, but if I run into someone with a gen I I'll be sure to do a side by side comparison.


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[nachosniper]

Thank´s Keith03

 

[CSTactical]

If you guys are really looking at getting a Kahles 6-24x56mm look at the AMR reticle. http://www.cstactical.com/1885/kahles-k624i-6-24x56-ccw-amr.html

Mike @ CSTACTICAL

 

[Decies]

Kahles reticle measures

Hi guys,

has anyone checked this scope´s real measures on field?
Is reticle measures exxact with real measures?
If not, how much off is it?

Scope nearby appears to have 3-4% difference compared to my steiner MSR, and steiner reticle is correct.
Difference is not an issue below 500m but when we go up from 1km, things turn from bad to worse and this tolerance is not acceptable.

Sorry bad english, i´m just an average guy who needs real confirmed data on this issue.

I really appreciate if kahles owners could check this by setting a ruler @ 100m (confirm with laser) and confirm if reticle´s grid matches.

Carpe diem.