Rifle Scopes Kahles or ZCO upgrade

[CouchRestShooter]

Hello all, I have been using a Vortex Strike Eagle 5x25x56 the past two years with some great results out to 850. However, recently I have been practicing dialing in more at various distance, and it seems my scope tracking isn’t that great. Then of course the little things are beginning to irritate me. That said, I think I might be ready to appreciate an upgrade.

Kahles and ZCO both appear to have many positives. ZCO might have a slightly better customer service program in the states.

I’m leaning towards the k540i DLR, but that might just be overkill for me at this point. Not to mention that the k328i DLR is already in the wild.

ZCO 840 has a lower multiplier, I’m guessing that means that higher zoom will be clearer.

Anyway, I need some help trying to get a grip on expectations. For all with more experience than me, what would you do if you were at two years into long range with longest distance being 850 yards?

 

[oldrifleman]

Hello all, I have been using a Vortex Strike Eagle 5x25x56 the past two years with some great results out to 850. However, recently I have been practicing dialing in more at various distance, and it seems my scope tracking isn’t that great. Then of course the little things are beginning to irritate me. That said, I think I might be ready to appreciate an upgrade.

Kahles and ZCO both appear to have many positives. ZCO might have a slightly better customer service program in the states.

I’m leaning towards the k540i DLR, but that might just be overkill for me at this point. Not to mention that the k328i DLR is already in the wild.

ZCO 840 has a lower multiplier, I’m guessing that means that higher zoom will be clearer.

Anyway, I need some help trying to get a grip on expectations. For all with more experience than me, what would you do if you were at two years into long range with longest distance being 850 yards?

First off I have never used a Kahles, but have multiple ZCO 527s and 840s. They are spectacular. I was a NF ATCAR 7-35 user before moving to ZCO. the NF was a really rugged, well built scope but the ZCO was to my eyes much brighter and the contrast was so much better that I could see details much better at 25 on a 527 than I could at 33 on the NF. I have chosen the 840 for my longer range rifles as my older eyes and expectations from my prior shooting background (Bench Rest). All that said the FOV on higher mag scopes can be limiting. I often find my target at 25 and zoom for bullet placement. Reality is a person with halfway decent eyes can do 850 yards with much less than 25x, on my 45-90 BP sharps I have made routine hits on steel at 800+ with peep sights. Go for the scope that provides you with the clearest target picture. If possible hit a long range match and ask to try peoples equipment to decide your direction.

 

[CSTactical]

Hello all, I have been using a Vortex Strike Eagle 5x25x56 the past two years with some great results out to 850. However, recently I have been practicing dialing in more at various distance, and it seems my scope tracking isn’t that great. Then of course the little things are beginning to irritate me. That said, I think I might be ready to appreciate an upgrade.

Kahles and ZCO both appear to have many positives. ZCO might have a slightly better customer service program in the states.

I’m leaning towards the k540i DLR, but that might just be overkill for me at this point. Not to mention that the k328i DLR is already in the wild.

ZCO 840 has a lower multiplier, I’m guessing that means that higher zoom will be clearer.

Anyway, I need some help trying to get a grip on expectations. For all with more experience than me, what would you do if you were at two years into long range with longest distance being 850 yards?

Give me a call at 916-628-3490 and I can go over the Pros and Cons of each scope with you - Richard

 

[oldrifleman]

Give me a call at 916-628-3490 and I can go over the Pros and Cons of each scope with you - Richard

Thats always a great call, often an expensive one, but a always a great idea.

 

[CK1.0]

The ZCOs check a lot of boxes as the glass is as good or better than just about anything out there and they’re solidly built with relatively few complaints of guys having issues (and seems in the rare case issues happen, their CS backs up the product and makes things right quickly).

Having spent some time looking through the newer K328i, I can say that the larger FOV is indeed pretty cool, but the glass isn’t quite up to the ZCO’s level for the same money and Kahles’ reputation for CS seems to be not quite as good as ZCOs…

The new K540i DLR looks cool (and features-wise better than the 328 IMO), but it’s still so new that there’s no way to tell if it will be durable/solid or if they’ve got all the bugs worked out just yet…

So in the end I guess it just comes down to whether or not you’d rather play it safe with a top-shelf known quantity, or go for the latest and greatest at the risk of being an early adopter?

I know for myself that I’ve been burned enough times being an early adopter with shit that I’m no longer going to do it, especially in this time when it sometimes seems that manufacturers use their consumers as beta-testers. So with something like a $4K scope, I tend to lean towards the safe bet until enough time has passed and there are enough units out in the wild to where I’m not risking being a Guianea pig.

 

[stanley_white]

What attracts you to the Kahles?

-Stan

 

[Simonsza1]

Zco is a no brainer.

 

[tlsmith22]

ZCO all the way. I’d say their CS is more than slightly better than Kahles based on my experience with Swarovski.

 

[CouchRestShooter]

About the only real thing that attracted me to Kahles is the left windage knob. However, the ZCO MPCT3x is very nice. So maybe that will reduce the need to make wind adjustments and just hold. I normally zoom in until the mirage hits, then back off. On hot days, that has kept the max to around 15x with what I have now. A few weeks ago it was cool enough that I was able to zoom all the way in, but felt like watching an old tv from the 80s. So, I cannot imagine what 40x would look like through anything. I have not seen anyone at the ranges in my area with either of these brands.

I definitely do not want to be the Guianea pig. It sounds like general consensus is to go with ZC527 and don't expect that the ZC840 will be really useful at max most of the time.

Do any of you guys use the 10mil turret or tried it?
Any thoughts on trade offs for non vs locking turrets?

 

[CSTactical]

About the only real thing that attracted me to Kahles is the left windage knob. However, the ZCO MPCT3x is very nice. So maybe that will reduce the need to make wind adjustments and just hold. I normally zoom in until the mirage hits, then back off. On hot days, that has kept the max to around 15x with what I have now. A few weeks ago it was cool enough that I was able to zoom all the way in, but felt like watching an old tv from the 80s. So, I cannot imagine what 40x would look like through anything. I have not seen anyone at the ranges in my area with either of these brands.

I definitely do not want to be the Guianea pig. It sounds like general consensus is to go with ZC527 and don't expect that the ZC840 will be really useful at max most of the time.

Do any of you guys use the 10mil turret or tried it?
Any thoughts on trade offs for non vs locking turrets?

I will say that the majority of PRS shooters I know, interact with or are well known use or prefer the 10MIL Non Locking Elevation turret.
When it comes to reticle, all the ZCO X reticles are still popular and it comes down to personal preference. If you are typically under 20X then I'd recommend the ZC527. You can also use this for a reference https://precisionrifleblog.com/2025...g-range-precision-shooting-what-the-pros-use/

If you have more questions, you have my number - Richard

 

[CSTactical]

I should have mentioned that we have a ton of scopes starting to ship in and fill the backorders, out of the popular PRS options we have one ZC527 M2X 10MIL NLE in stock https://cstactical.com/zero-compromise-optic-zc527-5-27x56-mpct-2x-nle/

 

[CouchRestShooter]

I should have mentioned that we have a ton of scopes starting to ship in and fill the backorders, out of the popular PRS options we have one ZC527 M2X 10MIL NLE in stock https://cstactical.com/zero-compromise-optic-zc527-5-27x56-mpct-2x-nle/

Order sent!

Thanks you all for your help and insight.

 

[CSTactical]

Order sent!

Thanks you all for your help and insight.

You are welcome! We will get this shipped out this afternoon and send you tracking in a little bit - Richard

 

[CK1.0]

About the only real thing that attracted me to Kahles is the left windage knob. However, the ZCO MPCT3x is very nice. So maybe that will reduce the need to make wind adjustments and just hold. I normally zoom in until the mirage hits, then back off. On hot days, that has kept the max to around 15x with what I have now. A few weeks ago it was cool enough that I was able to zoom all the way in, but felt like watching an old tv from the 80s. So, I cannot imagine what 40x would look like through anything. I have not seen anyone at the ranges in my area with either of these brands.

I definitely do not want to be the Guianea pig. It sounds like general consensus is to go with ZC527 and don't expect that the ZC840 will be really useful at max most of the time.

Do any of you guys use the 10mil turret or tried it?
Any thoughts on trade offs for non vs locking turrets?

I've shot 2-3 matches and a bunch of practice sessions with my ZCO now, and I've barely touched the parallax knob... it's super forgiving. IIRC I just set mine ~700 yards and then shoot anything from ~300-1000 yards without needing to touch it.

10mil NLE is what I have and it's great, the windage is still locking which is all I need.

 

[carbonbased]

MPCT3x = go ZCO imho (if you like trees)

Screw Kahles, who are owned by Swaro, who in turn is the dickbag behind that idiotic FOV patent. It’s a bad enough situation that @koshkin won’t even review Kahles/Swaro anymore.

But I do think on reticles alone, ZCO has it.

Plus CSTactical seems very up on the CS aspect of ZCO.

This is a rather uniformed opinion as I’ve never touched either scope brand.

 

[oldrifleman]

I am more of an MPCT 2x guy but ZCO has my favorites

 

[CK1.0]

Screw the tree, MPCT1X for me lol.

 

[jthor]

I’ve used the Kahles 328 DLR over the past year. The glass is quality is with ZCO and TT. Can’t imagine the 540 DLR is any different in quality if not better. Will know once I get a few in.

 

[CouchRestShooter]

This sold me on zoo mpct2x

Zero Compromise Optic MPCT2X Reticle Design

Follow Sniper's Hide and pick up the latest information on all things precision rifle related. Sniper's Hide Training is for the serious tactical marksman.

www.snipershide.com

 

[oldrifleman]

Screw the tree, MPCT1X for me lol.

Yeah I have 2-3 MPCT 1X for strictly range guns. Same format as the 2x but without the Tree. Just got another from CST yesterday for a rifle for my son.

 

[Guthwine]

it's super forgiving. IIRC I just set mine ~700 yards and then shoot anything from ~300-1000 yards without needing to touch it.

I am curious did you check for parallax error as well in that range or just image clarity? Because I noticed with my ZP5 that the best image and parallax free isn't always on the same setting.

 

[CK1.0]

I am curious did you check for parallax error as well in that range or just image clarity? Because I noticed with my ZP5 that the best image and parallax free isn't always on the same setting.

I was just talking about how forgiving it is to shoot at various ranges while having the parallax knob parked on one generic do-it-all setting.

If I were to really examine things at the different ranges, I'm sure there would be a little bit of parallax error while using a cookie-cutter setting (depending on where I have it parked in relation to what distance I'm shooting), but the ZCO isn't picky and maintains great image clarity without a lot of fuss. It looks really good over a wide range of distances without requiring constant parallax adjustment as compared to other scopes I've had.

For PRS matches, and for the size of targets we typically see, one can easily shoot a whole day and maybe only touch the parallax knob a few times (or less). I've had quite a few days where I've adjusted the parallax to check my zero at 100, then set it somewhere in the 500-700 yard range and forgot about it for the rest of the day.

 

[Guthwine]

Thanks for the explanation!

 

[Tex68w]

To my eyes no Kahles is on par with ZCO in terms of glass.

 

[jthor]

To my eyes no Kahles is on par with ZCO in terms of glass.

The 328 certainly is.

 

[Gunny89]

ZCO better Glass better CS

 

[Tex68w]

The 328 certainly is.

Just gonna have to agree to disagree here.

 

[CouchRestShooter]

I just got the ZC527 mounted today. Light years ahead of my old Vortex Strike Eagle. Now if the work week will hurry up and get done I can hit the range.

 

[3rdfocal]

I just got the ZC527 mounted today. Light years ahead of my old Vortex Strike Eagle. Now if the work week will hurry up and get done I can hit the range.

Slight upgrade