Re: premier vs hensoldt
it's really a tough call on this, and honestly, has to come down to personal preference as well as potential use.
First you have to give credit to Premier, starting from scratch and introducing a scope of the caliber they did is fantastic. They did an excellent job and they continue to adjust as necessary, which is nice to see.
You also can't discredit the history of Hensoldt or the Zeiss name. Let's face it everything is compared to Zeiss and there is no scope optically "better" (Generally) as they are the standard to which everyone's glass is judged.
As far as durability, again you have 9 months of service versus 160 years of service, so that is a little tough to compute, and honestly it comes down to percentages. The percentage of scopes that need repair versus the amount of use and number of scopes on the street. There is no way to compare one or two problems to a whole line or history, although one can add or subtract based on the same problem recurring over and over, however I don't see either company suffering from this.
Both have their heroes and villains and both have something to be valued over the other.
Personally, I would have to know a few things:
1. How many rifles do you see sitting under this scope in an average year of use ?
2. How much value to do you place on the optical design, overall size, weight, eye relief. Is it a cross over scope or a dedicated tactical set up only.
3. Is optical clarity really important, some what important, if it's close does it matter... how about sight picture ?
4. Reticles, what do you plan on doing with it, punching paper, steel, etc. Will a thicker reticle work?
5. Turret adjustments, tactile feel, click spacing, etc.
I know what my uses are, I know both scopes can accomplish any task I ask of it, however one might make my job easier over the other scope so is simply accomplishing the mission enough.
Only the owner and shooter can really answer these questions. I know given the choices, and comments above I will say I give a some extra credit to the Hensoldt over the Premier, but only a small amount, which maybe saying a lot or not really saying anything at all. To me, the one test to highlight the true optical quality of the Hensoldt over any other scopes is that sight picture / Eye relief test, especially when the clarity is close, because that sight picture takes the clarity debate off the table. Then it comes down to size, weight, use, wants and needs... in many ways you can't ignore the history, of both scopes, and while that may not be fair to Premier, it is a valid point.
Quality with optics has been proven over and over to be in the eye of the owner... so don't let the masses make the decision for you, but instead have real questions to be asked, then the answers become more inline with your needs, rather than their personal likes and dislikes. Just because I like something over the other doesn't mean you'll feel the same way, but we can identify what you need versus what someone else likes.