Rifle Scopes Steiner T5XI value & popularity

[Islas82]

So I have a brand new T5XI coming in direct from Steiner. I sent in one a few weeks ago on a parallax issue and they have decided to just replace the unit. But now am thinking that scope might be too much for my original application. It was originally mounted on a grendel bolt gun, I have since put my 3.5-18 vudu H59 (taken off a .223 RPR) on it and I like the magnification range and also the way a smaller scope looks on that particular rifle. So naturally now am thinking of putting it up for sale or trade.

One thing I have noticed is that the T5XI doesn’t seem to hold its value very well, from the research I have done on this platform it seems like they usually sell pretty cheap used, is there a reason for that? Is it past issues with the quality? or is it just not popular enough amongst the community? Me personally I really like the scope, I like the design specially the turrets and I feel the glass is adequate for that price range.

I guess I just wonder if I should just stick with the new unit or what its true trade or sale value would be not interested on Ebay or gun broker. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[want2ride]

My brother has a couple of them, they used to be for his match rifles, and one is still on his backup. He really likes them, but told me that when they first came out they had issues and that he would not buy a used one, but would recommend buying new all day.
But no personal experience, just what he told me.

 

[Average guy]

I love my T5xi. I’m not a competitor but do shoot to 1400 yards regularly. I think the quality of the scope is very good. That being said I picked mine up from the original owner for 1200 at a year old. Would love to have another.

 

[Charger442]

i have one that ive shot out to 1000 with and sent it back to STiener to have the turrets upgraded. i really like the reticle and really just about everything about the scope, even the price. it was a demo from Cameraland for like $1100?

im not mad at it but its definitely the lesser of the Vudu 3-25 and the Kahles 318i that i also have. All other things being equal, the Vudu for like $300 more really blows the T5xi out of the water.

 

[Islas82]

I love my T5xi. I’m not a competitor but do shoot to 1400 yards regularly. I think the quality of the scope is very good. That being said I picked mine up from the original owner for 1200 at a year old. Would love to have another.

Well I might have one up soon.

 

[Islas82]

i have one that ive shot out to 1000 with and sent it back to STiener to have the turrets upgraded. i really like the reticle and really just about everything about the scope, even the price. it was a demo from Cameraland for like $1100?

im not mad at it but its definitely the lesser of the Vudu 3-25 and the Kahles 318i that i also have. All other things being equal, the Vudu for like $300 more really blows the T5xi out of the water.

Yea I own a vudu and really like it, also an under appreciated optic in my opinion.

 

[Average guy]

Well I might have one up soon.

Pm me if you decide to flip it

 

[TimK]

I have 3 of them. Like em lots. For a while they were my primary optics. I've been lucky enough to be able to buy a tier 1 scope or three so they are now primarily on back-up rifles, but I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a match with any of them.

Used they are the best deal going. I gave $1,000 for a 5-25 last summer that was in perfect condition. Steller deal.

 

[Islas82]

I have 3 of them. Like em lots. For a while they were my primary optics. I've been lucky enough to be able to buy a tier 1 scope or three so they are now primarily on back-up rifles, but I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a match with any of them.

Used they are the best deal going. I gave $1,000 for a 5-25 last summer that was in perfect condition. Steller deal.

What do you think would be a fair price for a new unit?

 

[psychosniper]

I think people that are interested are mostly wary of tracking issues that were related to early production T5Xi’s. The second reason I can think of would be the reports of excessive CA that seem to span across half of the ones discussed.

I have two T5Xi 5-25’s that I purchased as new/blemished units from CS Tactical several years ago for $1640. Had them cerakote one of them FDE. That one had to go back immediately as it had a binding elevation turret going through the second rev indicator. (Not related to Cerakote) They paid shipping, repaired the issue, and had it back to me in 7 weeks. No problems since and I’ve abused it a lot. The other T5Xi has never given issues.

They both track and return to zero accurately.
They both do have more CA than any other optic I currently own, but not by much. My Gen 1 Razor is only slightly better in controlling CA. The T5Xi is better at everything else except for the CA and useable elevation which has not hindered me yet for what I’m using it for. Looking past the CA, image quality is on par with my Gen 2 Razor. I like them quite a bit and definitely won’t be parting with them anytime soon. (Unless a T7Xi is released)

I would think that for your situation, $1,500 -$1,600 would be a fair range for a brand new unit given the competition.

 

[Jumper]

Just got a new one from Doug at CameralandNY. Waiting for Craddock Precision to finish my upper so I can mount it. Very happy with it so far. I see very little CA and I've been trying create it looking at bright white objects. Great turrets, good reticle with very nice illumination.

When deciding on what scope to buy I had it narrowed down to the T5x or the M7x. M7 might be better based on reviews I've seen here. But in the end I couldn't justify the extra $700 for my uses.

 

[patriot07]

I bought one used a while back for around $1100. Couldn't sell it fast enough - absolutely hated it. Tons of CA, glass looked foggy like a Burris XTR II, and it was just a pain to use. I loved the SCR reticle and the turrets, but that wasn't nearly enough.

The reason resale is so bad is that they had QC issues at first launch and that soured a lot of people, and they grossly overpriced it in the new market compared to the competition. New you can have a Razor Gen II for the same money, and the optical quality of those isn't even in the same league IMHO. Same with a Delta Stryker.

 

[JMGlasgow]

I got a 5-25 that Steiner replaced my original Military 4-16x50 with.

It has been sent back twice for excessive CA, parallax binding, and shit image quality.

They replaced the scope again, and the new one is even worse than the first T5 they sent. Overall I'm very unhappy with the optic.

The turrets are very good, they track fine, but the eyebox is exceedingly tight. Any deviation from being perfectly aligned behind the scope and the image quality is ruined. The side parallax is also very sensitive to small changes and CA is worse then anything I've ever seen.

 

[Islas82]

I got a 5-25 that Steiner replaced my original Military 4-16x50 with.

It has been sent back twice for excessive CA, parallax binding, and shit image quality.

They replaced the scope again, and the new one is even worse than the first T5 they sent. Overall I'm very unhappy with the optic.

The turrets are very good, they track fine, but the eyebox is exceedingly tight. Any deviation from being perfectly aligned behind the scope and the image quality is ruined. The side parallax is also very sensitive to small changes and CA is worse then anything I've ever seen.

Mine went back for parallax issues and I know what you mean by the foggy image. I have not experienced CA or maybe am just not looking for it.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

Steiner USA/Burris showed their true colors with the rollout of the TX5. At the time, many were excited due to the features and price point. ALOT of people pre-ordered them.

Then they came in. They didn't ship with all the accessories that were promised. In fact, they forced you to put a review on their website before they would ship you the scope caps that were supposed to be shipped in the box. Total bait and switch. Numerous people had issues with poor tracking, canted reticles, parallax issues, excessive CA, Greyed out reticle ect. For months they refused to address the issue until some people started making videos proving they don't track and posting them to youtube.

Finally they admitted and started to replace/repair them. Personally I wouldn't buy anything from either of those companies due to the way they treated me and my friends. We spent a lot of money and go unusable crap and poor customer service.

Retailers got stuck holding the bag and had to blow these out at deep discounts. I think I paid like $2K for my 5-25 and 6 months later they were getting blown out for like $1300. No one bought them on used market. Once I finally got it back I sold it for a massive loss.

I think People remember this. Buying from them is like playing the lottery. They obviously didn't care about QA at the time. Why would I waste my money on them again? There are WAY too many good scope manufactures out there selling superior products to even consider them. That's why their resale sucks.

German Steiners are good to go. Poor reticles and not the greatest image quality, but I have never have one that didn't track spot on. The old 3-12 an 4-16 military were a real bargain, despite the G2 reticle.

 

[JMGlasgow]

The only thing German in the 3-12 and 4-16 scopes was the glass. Everything else was made in Greeley.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

That's funny since they had made in Germany on scope and box.

 

[JMGlasgow]

I worked at Burris when they were made.

 

[plong]

I worked at Burris when they were made.

M Series...? I don’t think so...

 

[JMGlasgow]

Military 3-12x56 and 4-16x50. I don't care if you don't believe me, I saw them being machined, assembled and QC'd.

 

[1911hombre]

I had a T5Xi 5-25x56 for about 15 minutes. Didn't even shoot one round. Spent about 3 minutes looking through it and put it on eBay. Yucky glass to say the least.

 

[adubeau]

I just picked up a demo'd T5xi 5-25 for 1500 - it was brand new not a scratch, dent or blemishes. Been to the range a couple times already and have not had any issues with it and really like it - the only thing I have to compare it to is a couple of Diamondback Tactical FFP scopes, which are decent for the amount of money I paid.

 

[CrabsandFootball]

Military 3-12x56 and 4-16x50. I don't care if you don't believe me, I saw them being machined, assembled and QC'd.

That would knock their integrity down another notch if correct. Clearly marked made in Germany.