Rifle Scopes Kahles K624i lemon?

[VargmatII]

Well, heres the skinny.

Could have gotten a Kahles k624i with MSR used for about 2000$. This scope is on its second owner and has been to Austria once allready to clean out some debris in it.
Like a dummy, I opted to get a brand new one from a dealer, for a good price but still more than 2000$. Got it, fiddled with it and mounted it up only to find that the reticle jumps a small bit left to right when you adjust the magnification. I was very bummed, needless to say.
Dealer told me to go shot it, if its still an issue they will ship it to Austria. I have the best competition of the season coming up in a month. I probably should not have changed scope at all at this time. But now it is what it is.

One guy here has had the same experience, I found out googleing. Anyone else?
Should I have steared clear of the Kahles I have been wanting to try out for a few years?

 

[665.0coupe]

I had a Kahles warranty issue earlier this year on a k525i. The warranty stuff is handled by Swaro USA. Something broke inside my scope so the magnification would not change. If you adjusted the magnification setting the scope would just go in and out of focus.

My dealer offered me a loaner scope if I needed it and said they could contact Swaro or I could. They also gave me contact info for someone direct if I needed it.

I got a hold of Swaro and they send me a shipping label to overnight the scope back to them and offered me a loaner scope if I needed it. They called me the next day and said it was a full replacement situation. My scope broke on a Saturday and I had the replacement in time to shoot another match the next weekend. I was very happy with how they handled the situation.

Get in touch with them. I would imagine they would offer you a loaner scope while yours is being checked out.

I would also say that I would expect your dealer to have a better answer than "just go try it out".

 

[alfmoonspace]

Who’s your dealer?

 

[charnicus]

What kind of jump are we talking?

 

[VargmatII]

Who’s your dealer?

Im in Sweden, and its one of the major online stores here.

What kind of jump are we talking?

Its hard to really get a grip on that without beeing on the range, but it seems to be about 0.2-0.3 MIL.

 

[VargmatII]

I had a Kahles warranty issue earlier this year on a k525i. The warranty stuff is handled by Swaro USA. Something broke inside my scope so the magnification would not change. If you adjusted the magnification setting the scope would just go in and out of focus.

My dealer offered me a loaner scope if I needed it and said they could contact Swaro or I could. They also gave me contact info for someone direct if I needed it.

I got a hold of Swaro and they send me a shipping label to overnight the scope back to them and offered me a loaner scope if I needed it. They called me the next day and said it was a full replacement situation. My scope broke on a Saturday and I had the replacement in time to shoot another match the next weekend. I was very happy with how they handled the situation.

Get in touch with them. I would imagine they would offer you a loaner scope while yours is being checked out.

I would also say that I would expect your dealer to have a better answer than "just go try it out".

I was acctually pretty happy with the "go and shoot it" reply. It tells me that they will take care of it even if I go and try it out on the range.
My plan is to go to the range, probably tomorrow if I can find the time for it. Then ill reach out to Swarovski here in Sweden, maybe they have some advice? If it all goes sideways Ill just mount my Delta Stryker HD again. But the plan was to sell that scope to add funds for the Kahles.

 

[Huskydriver]

I had to send a 318 back twice.... My buddy has to send his in once... Both are working fine now

 

[VargmatII]

I had to send a 318 back twice.... My buddy has to send his in once... Both are working fine now

Reticle jump as well or other issues?

 

[Huskydriver]

Reticle jump as well or other issues?

Tube body binding parallax and windage knob not working

 

[VargmatII]

Tube body binding parallax and windage knob not working

Ok!
The controls on my scope spins free with no binding, the scope is in a Spuhr ST-4701 TRG direct mount.

 

[Glassaholic]

I had a Kahles warranty issue earlier this year on a k525i. The warranty stuff is handled by Swaro USA. Something broke inside my scope so the magnification would not change. If you adjusted the magnification setting the scope would just go in and out of focus.

My dealer offered me a loaner scope if I needed it and said they could contact Swaro or I could. They also gave me contact info for someone direct if I needed it.

I got a hold of Swaro and they send me a shipping label to overnight the scope back to them and offered me a loaner scope if I needed it. They called me the next day and said it was a full replacement situation. My scope broke on a Saturday and I had the replacement in time to shoot another match the next weekend. I was very happy with how they handled the situation.

Get in touch with them. I would imagine they would offer you a loaner scope while yours is being checked out.

I would also say that I would expect your dealer to have a better answer than "just go try it out".

This is the first time I've heard Swarovski is taking care of Kahles scopes right her in the USA, they used to ship scopes back to Austria for major repair. This is extremely encouraging news. Do we have any other experiences like this here on the Hide, where Kahles scope warranty service is being handled right in the US and not being shipped overseas?

 

[Huskydriver]

This is the first time I've heard Swarovski is taking care of Kahles scopes right her in the USA, they used to ship scopes back to Austria for major repair. This is extremely encouraging news. Do we have any other experiences like this here on the Hide, where Kahles scope warranty service is being handled right in the US and not being shipped overseas?

Both mine and my buddies referenced earlier were handled by swaro in the USA outta NH iirm.

 

[Secant]

SONA will handle, and by handle I mean coordinate, warranty items. The actual repairs take place in Austria.

 

[Glassaholic]

Both mine and my buddies referenced earlier were handled by swaro in the USA outta NH iirm.

Having piece of mind that warranty issues will be addressed here in the USA and quickly is something that I am paying a lot more attention to, post COVID nonsense.

 

[Glassaholic]

SONA will handle, and by handle I mean coordinate, warranty items. The actual repairs take place in Austria.

That's not what it sounds like from above, sounds like Kahles warranty issues may be handled here in the USA now.

 

[Huskydriver]

SONA will handle, and by handle I mean coordinate, warranty items. The actual repairs take place in Austria.

Both of mine never left the USA and the turn around time was days.

 

[Secant]

About 2 months ago I sent my k525i in for what I think was a small issue related to illumination. Scope went to SONA on the east coast and then made a trip to Austria. Maybe some items are fixed in the US, maybe electronics are handled exclusively in Austria, and maybe their policy changed in the last month or two.

 

[Glassaholic]

About 2 months ago I sent my k525i in for what I think was a small issue related to illumination. Scope went to SONA on the east coast and then made a trip to Austria. Maybe some items are fixed in the US, maybe electronics are handled exclusively in Austria, and maybe their policy changed in the last month or two.

Well that throws a wrench in things. Out of curiosity, what was the turn around time for your scope that was sent to Austria?

 

[Secant]

Well that throws a wrench in things. Out of curiosity, what was the turn around time for your scope that was sent to Austria?

I can look up the e-mails if you want exact, but from memory: I was quoted 6 - 8 weeks I think, and it was maybe 4 or 5 weeks turnaround.

EDIT: I was given a 6-8 week estimate, and it was 40 days from when SONA received my scope to when I had it delivered to my house.

 

[VargmatII]

So I got off work early today and went to the range. This issue has been bugging me a lot!
All shots today were at 100 meters.

So I started with a bore sight and shoot the first round, adjusted and shoot a 5 shot group, changed the magnification back and forth and could not see the reticle move. The group was decent at about 1 MOA.
Took a short break, loaded up a new magazine and shot another 6 shots, changed the magnification back and forth and could see the reticle jump, very noticable.
Loaded up another 4 shots and shot at sticky dots measuring 14x14mm, hit 3 out of 4.
Loaded up another 5 shots, shot a group with the magnification changed between each shot, measured about 0.7 MOA, which I feel is probably better than my shooting for the day permitted. I had the second Rona-shot the other day and I feel a bit mushy.
Adjusted my zero one click right and tried to shoot another group, but by now my energy was too low and it showed on paper, so I was stringing left. So I figured that I was done for today.

So, the problem seems to show sometimes, and sometimes not. It does not make a very visable impact on the target down range and I am just baffled. Can a scope perform like this? Is there something loose in the magnification assembly? Can there be? Am I hallucinating? By now I am open for most possibilitys.

Any advice?

 

[Pvt.Donut]

I mentioned this in another thread. What you're most likely seeing is the "image" jump and it most likely isn't affecting your zero. Basically when you move back and forth on the mag ring, its moving the entire lens/erector assembly. The reticle isn't actually moving but the entire image will appear to jump. Some models or manufacturers are worse than others. Nightforce 5-25's seem to do this. I'm sure all magnified optics probably do this to an unnoticeable degree.

If this bugs you that much I strongly suggest you DON'T look through any scope and wiggle the diopter.

 

[RobbinsHGray]

Seems to me you are an experienced shooter seems to me this was not happening with your other scope I’d say if you see it it’s happening sorry your dealer wouldn’t take care of it or offer you a loaner scope call the sworo People tell them you’ve heard really good things about their service tell them your problem tell them others have said sworo offers loaner scopes best of luck sorry for the crapp

 

[VargmatII]

I mentioned this in another thread. What you're most likely seeing is the "image" jump and it most likely isn't affecting your zero. Basically when you move back and forth on the mag ring, its moving the entire lens/erector assembly. The reticle isn't actually moving but the entire image will appear to jump. Some models or manufacturers are worse than others. Nightforce 5-25's seem to do this. I'm sure all magnified optics probably do this to an unnoticeable degree.

If this bugs you that much I strongly suggest you DON'T look through any scope and wiggle the diopter.

While I do not know exactly how the magnification assembly looks/works, I have a feeling that there might be some debree or something that snags and from time to time it shows on when you look though the scope while changing magnification.
I have had a few other scopes, like a Razor G2, a 4-16x56 Hensoldt and lately a Schmidt PM2 to name a few of the ones ive used, and I have never seen this behavior before.
Maybe it will clear it self out, but probably I will have to send the scope in for service sooner or later. Which sucks more than a bit on a brand new scope. I am sure that both the dealer and Kahles/Swarovski will stand by the product. I just wish I never had to use the warranty service, thats all.

I like everything else about the scope, turrets feel great, glass looks awesome and I feel that the MSR reticle is perfect for my type of shooting/compeating.

Seems to me you are an experienced shooter seems to me this was not happening with your other scope I’d say if you see it it’s happening sorry your dealer wouldn’t take care of it or offer you a loaner scope call the sworo People tell them you’ve heard really good things about their service tell them your problem tell them others have said sworo offers loaner scopes best of luck sorry for the crapp

Ill see how it all plays out.
I have had more than a few scopes over the last 7 years since I picked up precision rifle shooting. Been active shooting clays for a number of years before that.

 

[VargmatII]

I have also sent an email to Swarovski Sweden asking for advice. Maybe they do some service work here in country, maybe not! Maybe they will switch it out, who knows.

 

[VargmatII]

For closure (kind off) I can tell that my mail to Swarovski Sweden bounced back. So I went to Kahles website and sent an email.

Just a few hours later I had a very thorough and nice reply from a Kahles tech in Australia, he got the mail forwarded to him and seemed to be as surprised as I was.
The advice is to run the dials, including the diopter back and forth to see if it is the grease inside the scope that has become a bit stale and is causing trouble.
If nothing works I will send it in later, after this summer.

If Kahles Australia reads this. Big thanks for the speedy and thorough mail response!

 

[Nik H]

My scope sounds exactly like the OPs. 1.5 years after I bought it, It developed a parallax issue that needed repair. It was sent to Austria and I had it back in 12 days after Swaro received it

Works perfectly since. It has been 4 years

 

[jLorenzo]

kind of worrisome to hear so many Kahles owners having issues. I would think for the money these thing would be squared away.

 

[VargmatII]

kind of worrisome to hear so many Kahles owners having issues. I would think for the money these thing would be squared away.

Not really, as there are a lot of Kahles scopes around. It is one of and possibly the most common scope on the Nordic long range shooting scene.

 

[VargmatII]

So to follow up and for closure;

I went to the biggest competition of its kind in Sweden, with my TRG22 with the Kahles k624i mounted. I was a little bit unsure if it was the way to go, but I did not have time to change anything up either.
It is a field shooting competiton just outside of Stockholm, it has 15 stages along a 23km hike where you need to carry everything needed and the only thing you can resupply is water. It was scorching hot (for Sweden) at 32 C (or 90 F) during mid day.

To make a long story short. The scope and rifle had ample time to bake in the sun, with turrets beeing spun back and forth all day and any stale grease that might have been caked on the inside of the scope does not seem to be caked anymore.
Everything works as it should, and I made hits all the way out to 1100 meters. So I am more than happy and this scope is a keeper.