Rifle Scopes Kahles vs Steiner

[texag0842]

Has anyone had the chance to do a direct comparison between these two?

Normally I stick with my NF's or S&B's, but I really wanted to try the MSR reticle so the NF was out.

 

[JL]

Average scopes seem to be very close to tie optically. Steiner has perhaps slightly colder tone image.

Kahles MSR has bit thinner hairline, 0.04mrad vs Steiner 0.05mrad. Kahles has also center dot instead of solid cross.

 

[sch2046]

I just ordered the Kahles with the MSR2 from Chris at Sport Optics on the hide, great to deal with. I cant wait to get it.

 

[Quack303Head]

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...-steiner-5-25-vs-kahles-624i.html#post2244133

Post #7

I've had the pleasure of dealing with Kahles warrantie.

 

[Sako man]

Has anyone had the chance to do a direct comparison between these two?

Normally I stick with my NF's or S&B's, but I really wanted to try the MSR reticle so the NF was out.

I currently own the Steiner 25x MSR, SnB P4F, Premier MTC Gen 2xr, and now just got my Kahles 24x Mil4 mounted and zeroed yesterday. I have a weak spot for high end optics you could say.

The Steiner is fantastic, tracks great, nice glass on par with the others, the MSR tho is a little thick on the high end of magnification, as well there are a few imperfections on the reticle itself. I like the Steiner eye box and relief little more than the Kahles. Overall I waffle with the P4f being my favorite reticle but not a fan of the tunneling that happens on the hi magnification with the SnB. One of the peeves with me about the Steiner as well is the turrets are a little mushy or not as crisp as the Premier, SnB, or Kahles, but they are not bad either. My picks would go in this order.

1. Premier 25x Gen2XR, best glass, and turrets IMHO
2. Kahles 24 Mil4, very nice glass, good turrets
3. SnB P4f, solid as a fucking german panzer
4. Steiner MSR, great glass, nice eye box and relief. held back by thick reticle at high mag.

But its really splitting hairs as all these optics are solid, and great in their own way. You can't loose in other words. Are these better than NF or Leupold? Well I have not seen the Beast or Mark 8 but my experience with the F1 and Mark4 is that they all have slightly better glass.

 

[Marcoman]

I currently own the Steiner 25x MSR, SnB P4F, Premier MTC Gen 2xr, and now just got my Kahles 24x Mil4 mounted and zeroed yesterday. I have a weak spot for high end optics you could say.

The Steiner is fantastic, tracks great, nice glass on par with the others, the MSR tho is a little thick on the high end of magnification, as well there are a few imperfections on the reticle itself. I like the Steiner eye box and relief little more than the Kahles. Overall I waffle with the P4f being my favorite reticle but not a fan of the tunneling that happens on the hi magnification with the SnB. One of the peeves with me about the Steiner as well is the turrets are a little mushy or not as crisp as the Premier, SnB, or Kahles, but they are not bad either. My picks would go in this order.

1. Premier 25x Gen2XR, best glass, and turrets IMHO
2. Kahles 24 Mil4, very nice glass, good turrets
3. SnB P4f, solid as a fucking german panzer
4. Steiner MSR, great glass, nice eye box and relief. held back by thick reticle at high mag.

But its really splitting hairs as all these optics are solid, and great in their own way. You can't loose in other words. Are these better than NF or Leupold? Well I have not seen the Beast or Mark 8 but my experience with the F1 and Mark4 is that they all have slightly better glass.

The S&B 5-25 PMII tunnels at low mag, approx. 5-8x not high mag as you suggest. Actually the Steiner does the same but only initially from 5-5.5x, maybe less.

I own both the Steiner and the Schmidt. I don't yet own a Kahles k624 however I would not hesitate to buy a Kahles based on my experiences with their hunting scopes.

 

[Sako man]

The S&B 5-25 PMII tunnels at low mag, approx. 5-8x not high mag as you suggest. Actually the Steiner does the same but only initially from 5-5.5x, maybe less.

I own both the Steiner and the Schmidt. I don't yet own a Kahles k624 however I would not hesitate to buy a Kahles based on my experiences with their hunting scopes.

Ya my bad, going from memory as I don't use the SnB much now. Still great glass. You will find the Kahles is equal in most categories as the SnB.

 

[VKC]

I guess it depends on luck and your eyes as well. I've compared Premier 5-25, Kahles k624i, S&B 3-20, S&B 5-25, NF 3.5-15x50, NF 5-25x50&56, Steiner 5-25x56, USO 3.2-17 and multiple other scopes.

For my eyes, the Kahles and S&B had the best glass clarity. Premier was a close 2nd and similar to Steiner. USO was on par of a little better than NF. NF was noticeably less crisp and vivid.

For turrets, NF & USO zeroing in having to remove the turret cover is inferior to not having to remove the turret because of getting debris and dust there, etc. I've also found that NF turrets clicks are okay but not perfect with tracking. Same with USO tracks okay but not perfectly true. Kahles, S&B and Premier all tracked true even at extreme ranges.

Reticles...I like the P4F, Mil4 and Gen2XR the most but that comes down to preference.

 

[scudzuki]

I currently own the Steiner 25x MSR, SnB P4F, Premier MTC Gen 2xr, and now just got my Kahles 24x Mil4 mounted and zeroed yesterday. I have a weak spot for high end optics you could say.

The Steiner is fantastic, tracks great, nice glass on par with the others, the MSR tho is a little thick on the high end of magnification, as well there are a few imperfections on the reticle itself. I like the Steiner eye box and relief little more than the Kahles. Overall I waffle with the P4f being my favorite reticle but not a fan of the tunneling that happens on the hi magnification with the SnB. One of the peeves with me about the Steiner as well is the turrets are a little mushy or not as crisp as the Premier, SnB, or Kahles, but they are not bad either. My picks would go in this order.

1. Premier 25x Gen2XR, best glass, and turrets IMHO
2. Kahles 24 Mil4, very nice glass, good turrets
3. SnB P4f, solid as a fucking german panzer
4. Steiner MSR, great glass, nice eye box and relief. held back by thick reticle at high mag.

But its really splitting hairs as all these optics are solid, and great in their own way. You can't loose in other words. Are these better than NF or Leupold? Well I have not seen the Beast or Mark 8 but my experience with the F1 and Mark4 is that they all have slightly better glass.

How long have you had your Steiner?
In another thread here on the Hide, a rep for Steiner wrote that you can send your scope to CO and they will upgrade the turrets to the new (less mushy) spec for free.
I have a 5-25 that's only a few months old and the turrets feel similar to the SuB PMII I used to own, to the best of my recollection.

Joe

 

[Sako man]

How long have you had your Steiner?
In another thread here on the Hide, a rep for Steiner wrote that you can send your scope to CO and they will upgrade the turrets to the new (less mushy) spec for free.
I have a 5-25 that's only a few months old and the turrets feel similar to the SuB PMII I used to own, to the best of my recollection.

Joe

What! Oh, if thats the case then thats awesome. Do you have that contact info?

My turrets are a little mushy, I have had it for about a year, got it from sport optics. I did get a nice pair of binos with the scope, really hard deal to pass up.

 

[scudzuki]

What! Oh, if thats the case then thats awesome. Do you have that contact info?

My turrets are a little mushy, I have had it for about a year, got it from sport optics. I did get a nice pair of binos with the scope, really hard deal to pass up.

I looked but couldn't find the thread.
Why don't you contact Steiner USA about it, tell them you read on the Hide that a Steiner rep offered to update your mushy turrets to the current spec?

Joe

 

[Steiner Optics]

We are working on giving you guys the ability to have the turrets refitted with the new clicker system that is in the current scopes. We don't have it in place just yet but we are getting there.

 

[scudzuki]

We are working on giving you guys the ability to have the turrets refitted with the new clicker system that is in the current scopes. We don't have it in place just yet but we are getting there.

The expert weighs in.
Thanks.

Joe

 

[Sako man]

We are working on giving you guys the ability to have the turrets refitted with the new clicker system that is in the current scopes. We don't have it in place just yet but we are getting there.

Please keep us posted.

 

[djarecke]

I am very close to making this decision between the Khales, S&B, Premier and Steiner. The only thing holding me back from a Steiner is the mushy turret issue. Any updates on the more tactile click turrets?

 

[texag0842]

I ended up back with the S&B's.

If my financial situation were different I might have keep the Steiner or Khales but at the end of the day I wanted S&B's so thats what won over.

 

[Sako man]

I ended up back with the S&B's.

If my financial situation were different I might have keep the Steiner or Khales but at the end of the day I wanted S&B's so thats what won over.

Yeah, probably a good choice.

 

[KWilson]

I've been looking at the NF BEAST, Kahles and Steiner. Due to availability issues in Australia at least, it looks like the Steiner will be the winner unless I win Powerball or something. Haven't heard anything bad about the Kahles or Steiner which is the main thing.

 

[K_4c]

In my humble opinion, it's no S&B, but at the steiners price range (almost 1k less), it's hard to beat. I'm looking to pick up a second one here shortly....

 

[scudzuki]

I am very close to making this decision between the Khales, S&B, Premier and Steiner. The only thing holding me back from a Steiner is the mushy turret issue. Any updates on the more tactile click turrets?

Steiner resolved the issue with mushy turrets in its current production.
Steiner does not offering MTC turrets, which have a heavier click every full mil.
Going from memory, the turrets on my several month old Steiner 5-25 feel every bit as good as the S&B 5-25 I sold a while back.

Joe

 

[djarecke]

If that's the case, it sounds like a tough scope to beat. It sounds like as long as I don't compare the glass next to a S&B, I'll never notice a difference!

 

[scudzuki]

If that's the case, it sounds like a tough scope to beat. It sounds like as long as I don't compare the glass next to a S&B, I'll never notice a difference!

If you can settle for the Gen 2 mildot, CameraLand still has "show sample never mounted" 5-25s for $2400.
Zen Ray - CameraLand NY
My MSR reticled unit was a show sample, and LNIB with the full warranty.

Joe

 

[scudzuki]

SWFA's samplelist has a Steiner 5-25 with MSR for $2450.
Steiner 5-25x56 Military Tactical Rifle Scope DEMO-A

Joe

 

[ldunnmobile]

For my money, Steiner...especially at the prices they're going for now. Price always matters. I love mine.

 

[CSTactical]

They are both nice scopes. I prefer the Kahles myself. We sell both scopes so if we can be of help let me know.

Mike @ CSTACTICAL

 

[khw9mm]

I just received my Kahles 6-24 msr from CS Tactical earlier this evening and I can truly say I'm pretty impressed with the glass. But even more so with the level of service I got from Mike.

 

[K_4c]

Mike @ CS is squared away.... A true SH vendor.

 

[djarecke]

They are both nice scopes. I prefer the Kahles myself. We sell both scopes so if we can be of help let me know.

Mike @ CSTACTICAL

Mike - could you please shoot me a PM with pricing for the Kahles, S&B and Steiner 5-25's with MSR reticles? Thanks!

 

[dylanmj]

Just picked up a Steiner 5-25 and the clicks feel solid, but a little tighter together (or a little less solid) and less audible than my USO, but still feel very good. No complaints there. When I first adjusted the turrets, it immediately reminded me of how I remembered the Premier turrets, but I don't have much range time with that scope and take that with a grain of salt.