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Rifle Scopes New for 2025, the Kahles K540i

#101
918v said:
If you FF to 5:30 he talks about having only 17 mils of elevation available after zeroing on a 20 moa base. You’d think there would be more.
Click to expand...

The k540i is advertised as having 29 mils of elevation travel... that's a bit on the low side compared to many of the scopes on the market today. In a perfect world it would have about 20 mils elevation available after zeroing on a 20MOA base.

17 mils remaining after zeroing on a 20 MOA base is believably within the margin of error (although certainly on the low side) after taking into account tolerance stacking in the action, rail, straightness of bore, etc.

If you want to use all 29 mils elevation that are advertised, add more cant in the rail/mount. Hopefully the k540 doesn't suffer from image degradation or artifacts when dialed near the elevation extremes. Some scopes are better at this than others.
 
#102
Kiba said:
The k540i is advertised as having 29 mils of elevation travel... that's a bit on the low side compared to many of the scopes on the market today. In a perfect world it would have about 20 mils elevation available after zeroing on a 20MOA base.

17 mils remaining after zeroing on a 20 MOA base is believably within the margin of error (although certainly on the low side) after taking into account tolerance stacking in the action, rail, straightness of bore, etc.

If you want to use all 29 mils elevation that are advertised, add more cant in the rail/mount. Hopefully the k540 doesn't suffer from image degradation or artifacts when dialed near the elevation extremes. Some scopes are better at this than others.
Click to expand...

I’d accept that if he had it mounted on a Savage.
 
#103
918v said:
I’d accept that if he had it mounted on a Savage.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I'd expect to see about 19 +/- 1 ish mils remaining after zeroing, but something about the entire rifle/barrel/optic assembly is hard to one side of the tolerance stackup to leave 17 mils remaining after zeroing.

Depending on the use of the rifle 17 mils elevation may be plenty. If not, add more cant in the mount/base.
 
#104
Our first shipment came in and went straight out the door! Another few are on the way and I'll try and get some pics of the scopes when it shows up and I'm in the office :)

-Richard
IMG_6399.jpeg
 
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#105
CSTactical said:
Our first shipment came in and went straight out the door! Another few are on the way and I'll try and get some pics of the scopes when it shows up and I'm in the office :)

-Richard
View attachment 8616665
Click to expand...
Great news!!! I am most curious to hear first reports from Hide users who can compare alongside ZCO and TT and offer their thoughts on how forgiving the K540i is in comparison... If we get enough, "OMG, I think this will seriously challenge TT and ZCO for top spot" then I might have to sell some of the confederate gold I found when digging out my bunker...
 
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#112
All right, these are finally getting into some Hiders hands. Looking forward to early reports on how well this scopes compares with TT and ZCO with regard to overall IQ along with DOF and eyebox forgiveness... Basically I want to know if it's worth it for me to spend some money on obtaining one for a review later this year...
 
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#121
I just received mine yesterday. I will take her out to the range this weekend and report back with first impressions.

For size comparison, this is next to the Zeiss S3 6-36, previously mounted on the Vudoo. Both scopes have OEM Sunshades.
IMG_1898.jpg


This is the scope mounted and bore-sighted on the Vudoo. I am using a 30 moa rail and a 20 moa Grayops mount. I get about 25.5 mils of elevation from 50-yard zero in that configuration.
IMG_1901.jpg
 

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#122
zenm@ster said:
I just received mine yesterday. I will take her out to the range this weekend and report back with first impressions.

For size comparison, this is next to the Zeiss S3 6-36, previously mounted on the Vudoo. Both scopes have OEM Sunshades.
View attachment 8626320

This is the scope mounted and bore-sighted on the Vudoo. I am using a 30 moa rail and a 20 moa Grayops mount. I get about 25.5 mils of elevation from 50-yard zero in that configuration.
View attachment 8626321
Click to expand...


Let me know what you think after you run it for a while, and let me know if you want another one haha - Richard
 
#126
CK1.0 said:
C’mon Kahles, ~$4600 and we can’t get a locking ocular?

(just noticed from the pics)
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I think, in that price bracket, March is the only one to offer such a thing. At least it appears that’s the way March scopes work.

I was big into a locking diopter until I got a NF NX8. Sort of a pain. And I must admit I am unsure if I’ve ever had a (edit: typical unlocking) fast-focus diopter move by mistake.

Locking diopters always seem to be of the ultra-slow/fine focus type too…not sure if that’s just unescapable, design-wise? I find it much harder to discern if I’m in optimal diopter focus with those slow focusers.
 
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#127
carbonbased said:
I think, in that price bracket, March is the only one to offer such a thing. At least it appears that’s the way March scopes work.

I was big into a locking diopter until I got a NF NX8. Sort of a pain. And I must admit I am unsure if I’ve ever had a fast-focus diopter move by mistake.

Locking diopters always seem to be of the ultra-slow/fine focus type too…not sure if that’s just unescapable, design-wise? I find it much harder to discern if I’m in optimal diopter focus with those slow focusers.
Click to expand...



ZCO has a locking diopter
 
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#130
And dang, looking closer, TT might have a locking diopter setup too. If so, both ZCO and TT have locking collars in a place I am unaccustomed to looking at for a lock.

The NX8 has more of an old Leupold VX-3 sort of locking arrangement. Takes lots of turns to make much of a visible different in focus.
 
#134
carbonbased said:
And dang, looking closer, TT might have a locking diopter setup too. If so, both ZCO and TT have locking collars in a place I am unaccustomed to looking at for a lock.

The NX8 has more of an old Leupold VX-3 sort of locking arrangement. Takes lots of turns to make much of a visible different in focus.
Click to expand...
TT does have a locking diopter.
 
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#136
carbonbased said:
Cool. Is it a fast focusing type?
Click to expand...
I suppose the issue might come down to terms or words used within the industry and maybe some confusion that comes along with that. There are two predominant types of diopters - fast focus and standard, and within these you can have a locking diopter but locking doesn't necessarily mean it is any less "fast" than fast focus and you can have a standard locking as well as a fast focus locking. I consider any diopter (whether it has a lock ring or not) to be fast focusing if indeed the the diopter ring is an inner rotating piece that is separate from the ocular housing; whereas the standard diopter the ocular housing twists. A fast-focus type of diopter and some standard diopters allow the image/reticle to be quickly focused, but I have had some standard diopters that you have to turn and turn and turn to get the same adjustment as a quick turn in a "fast focused" diopter, those are a pain because of how many rotations you must go through to get the same effect. Using this definition I would say ZCO, TT and March all fall into this faster adjustment category even though they have lock rings, hopefully that helps.

EDIT: Made some edits above as I realized I may have confused more than helped. I should also clarify that just because a diopter is "standard" doesn't mean it will be any less "fast" to adjust vs. a fast focus diopter. A good example of this is the March which I find every bit as "fast" to focus the reticle as the traditional fast-focus diopter that only adjusts with an inner ring.

1740520339113.png
 
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#137
FWIW, I said “locking ocular”, but I meant locking diopter…

Not getting one just seems odd to me on a “flagship/Alpha-tier” scope.

I ran Razors for a long time and don’t think I ever really had an issue with the non-locking type, but I always marked mine so I could check it or reset it easily if it got moved… But TT and ZCO have them, so for now on I’m going to point this out to Kahles owners to shame them (especially if/when they mention their huge FOV). 😂
 
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#138
CK1.0 said:
But TT and ZCO have them, so for now on I’m going to point this out to Kahles owners to shame them (especially if/when they mention their huge FOV). 😂
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First, fix their eyes 👀 with yours while distracting those rapscallions with #FOVgate lawfare brouhaha.

And then, with one calm & cool hand motion, slowly twist their unlockable diopter all the way wrong.
 
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#140
This afternoon, I spent a few minutes in my backyard testing the Kahles K540i mounted on a Vudoo 360 and a ZCO 527 mounted on a Terminus Zeus. I want to clarify that I am not an expert in analyzing scopes; I'm simply sharing my observations based on viewing a target at a distance of 89 yards. The weather was clear and sunny, which most would consider ideal conditions.

I did not notice any chromatic aberrations or distortions on the Kahles, though I wasn't specifically looking for those issues. Instead, I focused on the eyebox tightness and the field of view. The eyebox on the Kahles was noticeably more forgiving than the ZCO's, even at maximum magnification. Additionally, the field of view for the Kahles at 40x magnification was similar when compared to the ZCO at 27x. Setting the K540i at approximately 27x magnification yielded a much wider field of view compared to the ZCO at 27x, no surprises here.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, feel free to ask. I’ll be providing further updates after I visit the range this weekend.
 
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#141
zenm@ster said:
This afternoon, I spent a few minutes in my backyard testing the Kahles K540i mounted on a Vudoo 360 and a ZCO 527 mounted on a Terminus Zeus. I want to clarify that I am not an expert in analyzing scopes; I'm simply sharing my observations based on viewing a target at a distance of 89 yards. The weather was clear and sunny, which most would consider ideal conditions.

I did not notice any chromatic aberrations or distortions on the Kahles, though I wasn't specifically looking for those issues. Instead, I focused on the eyebox tightness and the field of view. The eyebox on the Kahles was noticeably more forgiving than the ZCO's, even at maximum magnification. Additionally, the field of view for the Kahles at 40x magnification was similar when compared to the ZCO at 27x. Setting the K540i at approximately 27x magnification yielded a much wider field of view compared to the ZCO at 27x, no surprises here.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, feel free to ask. I’ll be providing further updates after I visit the range this weekend.
Click to expand...
At 30x, is the reticle super thick and it feels like it’s covering the target?
 
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