Steiner T6xi

[Ty21]

Thanks, that was a good explanation. So it sounds like the 0MOA base leave the scope a few mrads short of able to fully dial for 1300.

I have a 20moa base and my Steiner has 19.1 mils of up adjustment for my 6 creed so at my altitude I’m good for a little over 1500 yards.

 

[jumrobe]

I was also wondering what that portion meant. What does optical center set below center mean in terms of turret settings? But wouldn't you need to move up to bring the impact down?

EDIT: Just used a mirror and mine also was ~6 mils to bring the reticle back to center. So I guess it makes sense why it might be high initially. Although, not sure why they mention bore sighting, that'd also fix the issue if done prior to the first shot.

The issue is, when you dial a turret ‘up’ the reticle moves downward on your aiming point so that the gun gets canted to achieve a higher impact point. It’s the same concept of adjusting the front sight on the gun with a set of irons. You move the reticle the opposite direction of the impact correct you're trying to make.

Where the instructions don’t make sense is saying POI would be high. It should be the opposite. If your reticle is above your barrel line on a bore sight, you’re going to hit low, and will need to dial the turret up (move reticle down) to achieve a zero.

 

[Jojo417]

How do the reticles compare at 3x on the 3-18? From the pictures it looks like the msr2 is easier to pick up. I’ve always had grid/tree reticles but the msr2 looks interesting. I usually shoot by myself. This will go on a 556 gas gun. How easy is it to spot misses with the msr2 at 7-800 yards?

 

[Jojo417]

Just showed up in the mail today. Quick run down so far. Optic feels super solid and looks badass. The turrets are decent, about on par with my nx8, but not as good as my Athlon ares etr. Holding the scope and looking through it I’m not as impressed with the iq as I thought I would be. An optic of this caliber and price point shouldn’t have any CA. The CA was very noticeable to me. And that’s disappointing. My nx8 didn’t have any CA at all. It’s bad enough I’m not sure if I even want to mount the optic and go shoot because I’m already thinking about selling it.

 

[Tikkaguy]

Just showed up in the mail today. Quick run down so far. Optic feels super solid and looks badass. The turrets are decent, about on par with my nx8, but not as good as my Athlon ares etr. Holding the scope and looking through it I’m not as impressed with the iq as I thought I would be. An optic of this caliber and price point shouldn’t have any CA. The CA was very noticeable to me. And that’s disappointing. My nx8 didn’t have any CA at all. It’s bad enough I’m not sure if I even want to mount the optic and go shoot because I’m already thinking about selling it.

Yeah that’s what I thought when I had it out of the box too, but I put it on my rifle and once it was setup with proper diopter and eye relief the ca really died down. Enough to where I barely notice it and I’m pretty sensitive to ca most of the time. Only on 18 x do you really see any to speak of. Eye box is very nice. Had to next to my s&b 3-20. Yeah it has some to be desired in ca correction but it keeps a flat image and the fov is awesome. The s&b is better corrected and has a piss better res resolution but barely. The image size and fov and lower cost is a passable trade for me. Everyone is different.

 

[carbonbased]

The s&b is better corrected and has a piss better res but barley.

Now this here is a funny (accidental) sentence lol

It’s like he’s talking about the farm

 

[Tikkaguy]

Now this here is a funny (accidental) sentence lol

It’s like he’s talking about the farm

Hey go easy on me, I was on my way to work and I didn’t have my coffee yet lol

 

[Jojo417]

Got my t6 mounted today. I can honestly say I’m not that impressed. The glass has the worst CA my eyes have ever seen. It starts pretty early around the 12x range. This is such a big let down because people say the glass is good, and I just don’t see how. The ares etr behind is just as clear and doesn’t suffer from ca at all. I was expecting better for this price point. One to the next, guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and buy an atacr. I wanted something better than my nx8 and I was hoping this was it. Lots of people say it was, but it’s not for me.

 

[TheBigCountry]

Got my t6 mounted today. I can honestly say I’m not that impressed. The glass has the worst CA my eyes have ever seen. It starts pretty early around the 12x range. This is such a big let down because people say the glass is good, and I just don’t see how. The ares etr behind is just as clear and doesn’t suffer from ca at all. I was expecting better for this price point. One to the next, guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and buy an atacr. I wanted something better than my nx8 and I was hoping this was it. Lots of people say it was, but it’s not for me.

Send it to Steiner. Mine ain’t nothing like that.

 

[Jojo417]

Send it to Steiner. Mine ain’t nothing like that.

Seriously? That’s super disappointed. I feel like an optic of this caliber shouldn’t have to be sent in because of poor quality control.

 

[Tikkaguy]

Seriously? That’s super disappointed. I feel like an optic of this caliber shouldn’t have to be sent in because of poor quality control.

Yeah mine is free of ca until about max power. Sounds like you have a bad apple most likely

 

[carbonbased]

One to the next, guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and buy an atacr. I wanted something better than my nx8 and I was hoping this was it.

What NX8 do you have ? I have a recently-made 4-32 and that sucker is as good or better than my Vortex 4.5-27 Gen II and S&B 5-25.

My point being: depending on how good your NX8 is, the returns really start diminishing rapidly as you spend more.

Now, I haven’t looked through a TT/ZCO/Minox/S&B 6-36/Vortex Gen III, or even an Atacr, but all of the reviews I’ve read suggest in that rarified air, preferences come to the fore and discerning any fine optical differences takes lots of time behind the scopes.

For many, the reticle becomes the deciding point.

 

[TheBigCountry]

Seriously? That’s super disappointed. I feel like an optic of this caliber shouldn’t have to be sent in because of poor quality control.

It’s called shit happens. Every scope manufacturer makes mistakes

Let them look at it and see what they have to say

Mine is fine until about max power but it usually sits around 12-14x

 

[TheBigCountry]

What NX8 do you have ? I have a recently-made 4-32 and that sucker is as good or better than my Vortex 4.5-27 Gen II and S&B 5-25.

My point being: depending on how good your NX8 is, the returns really start diminishing rapidly as you spend more.

Now, I haven’t looked through a TT/ZCO/Minox/S&B 6-36/Vortex Gen III, or even an Atacr, but all of the reviews I’ve read suggest in that rarified air, preferences come to the fore and discerning any fine optical differences takes lots of time behind the scopes.

For many, the reticle becomes the deciding point.

I like the glass better in my Steiner then my G2 Razor

So much so I sold the Razor and profited a little coin getting the Steiner and the extra $ paid for the MBrace

 

[Jojo417]

It’s called shit happens. Every scope manufacturer makes mistakes

Let them look at it and see what they have to say

Mine is fine until about max power but it usually sits around 12-14x

I understand shit happens. The problem is the lead time, website says 5-6 weeks. That’s just something I’m not willing to deal with.

 

[Jojo417]

What NX8 do you have ? I have a recently-made 4-32 and that sucker is as good or better than my Vortex 4.5-27 Gen II and S&B 5-25.

My point being: depending on how good your NX8 is, the returns really start diminishing rapidly as you spend more.

Now, I haven’t looked through a TT/ZCO/Minox/S&B 6-36/Vortex Gen III, or even an Atacr, but all of the reviews I’ve read suggest in that rarified air, preferences come to the fore and discerning any fine optical differences takes lots of time behind the scopes.

For many, the reticle becomes the deciding point.

2.5-20. I was happy with the glass. The eyebox and DOF was terrible to me.

 

[TheBigCountry]

I understand shit happens. The problem is the lead time, website says 5-6 weeks. That’s just something I’m not willing to deal with.

Lol so your just gonna say piss on them because you can’t be patient and let them look at the scope and probably fix it faster then that

 

[Jojo417]

Lol so your just gonna say piss on them because you can’t be patient and let them look at the scope and probably fix it faster then that

Yeah. It’s not like this is some cheap Chinese made optic. It would be one thing if it was a quicker turn around, but 5-6 weeks. But we all know how that goes, and after reading more into it. It doesn’t appear Steiner has the greatest customer service.

 

[carbonbased]

Yeah. It’s not like this is some cheap Chinese made optic. It would be one thing if it was a quicker turn around, but 5-6 weeks. But we all know how that goes, and after reading more into it. It doesn’t appear Steiner has the greatest customer service.

So what are you doing? Returning it? Is it the one you bought via your WTB ad?

2.5-20. I was happy with the glass. The eyebox and DOF was terrible to me.

I’ll give you that, the DOF on the 4-32 NX8 is shallower than my Razor 4.5-27 and the S&B 5-25. But the eyebox on my 4-32 is quite good…don’t notice it at all when directly comparing the three scopes. And I’m picky about eyebox.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

Lol so your just gonna say piss on them because you can’t be patient and let them look at the scope and probably fix it faster then that

You're joking right...
I'd be super pissed if I dropped 2k on a defective scope and they told me it'd be a month and a half to fix it. Straight up bullshit

 

[TheBigCountry]

You're joking right...
I'd be super pissed if I dropped 2k on a defective scope and they told me it'd be a month and a half to fix it. Straight up bullshit

Nope, I’m not when there’s another thread literally within the last week where another guy just had his Pro shit the bed, and he had it fixed and returned back in ~2 weeks from Steiner/Burris

So y’all can do what you want, but without even giving the manufacturer a chance to fix something and firing up the pitchforks sounds like a brilliant idea.

And also, this is why it never hurts to have a backup scope. 1 is none and 2 is few.

 

[Guns&WhiteWater]

Yeah. It’s not like this is some cheap Chinese made optic. It would be one thing if it was a quicker turn around, but 5-6 weeks. But we all know how that goes, and after reading more into it. It doesn’t appear Steiner has the greatest customer service.

I understand being upset but I would give them a chance to fix it before bashing them. Things happen, you just got unlucky. My 3-18 T6Xi has a small amount of CA but only when off center, and it has a lot of things going for it, most notably the forgiving eye box, field of view, and depth of field. The illuminated MSR2 reticle is the icing on the cake. I prefer it to my Zeiss S3 and some Mark 5HD’s I have looked through.

 

[Jojo417]

So what are you doing? Returning it? Is it the one you bought via your WTB ad?


I’ll give you that, the DOF on the 4-32 NX8 is shallower than my Razor 4.5-27 and the S&B 5-25. But the eyebox on my 4-32 is quite good…don’t notice it at all when directly comparing the three scopes. And I’m picky about eyebox.

I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with it. Who knows it might be perfectly fine, and it might just be my eyes not jiving with the glass.

I’ve heard people say the 4-32 is much better than the 2.5-20 in the eyebox department.

 

[carbonbased]

I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with it. Who knows it might be perfectly fine, and it might just be my eyes not jiving with the glass.

I’ve heard people say the 4-32 is much better than the 2.5-20 in the eyebox department.

If you buy a 4-32 NF, buy a new one like I did. @Glassaholic looked through them when they first came out and he was quite unimpressed. Then he looked through more recent copies and was surprised. NF must’ve made some incremental and unannounced improvements.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

Nope, I’m not when there’s another thread literally within the last week where another guy just had his Pro shit the bed, and he had it fixed and returned back in ~2 weeks from Steiner/Burris

So y’all can do what you want, but without even giving the manufacturer a chance to fix something and firing up the pitchforks sounds like a brilliant idea.

And also, this is why it never hurts to have a backup scope. 1 is none and 2 is few.

I'm not just raging on Steiner here but given the competitive market on $2000 optics it's really dumb to not immediately fix or replace a brand new defective optic.
I guess if you're OK with optics that break, and manufacturers that will possibly take their time fixing it, then yeah 2 is one 1 is none better be your plan!

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Got my t6 mounted today. I can honestly say I’m not that impressed. The glass has the worst CA my eyes have ever seen. It starts pretty early around the 12x range. This is such a big let down because people say the glass is good, and I just don’t see how. The ares etr behind is just as clear and doesn’t suffer from ca at all. I was expecting better for this price point. One to the next, guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and buy an atacr. I wanted something better than my nx8 and I was hoping this was it. Lots of people say it was, but it’s not for me.

Send it to Steiner. Mine ain’t nothing like that.

I have the 5-30, but I have never observed any CA.

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Oops! I did not mean to give the impression that this was the view through my scope. I am just posting an example of CA.

 

[AznTactical]

Got my Steiner back from repair late last year and finally getting to zero it on a different rifle. (Elevation turret was repaired).
I am shooting 1.2 mils high and cannot bring the POI any lower than an additional 0.5 mils. Currently I can only dial 22.4 mils (35 mils is advertised). This thing is driving me nuts and I'm even reading their directions. For step #2 I am rotating it up 1.7 mils so I can come back down 1.2 mils per step #4 but I'm still shooting 1.2 mils high. I've tried this with turrets locked and unlocked. (HATE this locking feature!)

 

[Malum Prohibitum]

Got my Steiner back from repair late last year and finally getting to zero it on a different rifle. (Elevation turret was repaired).
I am shooting 1.2 mils high and cannot bring the POI any lower than an additional 0.5 mils. Currently I can only dial 22.4 mils (35 mils is advertised). This thing is driving me nuts and I'm even reading their directions. For step #2 I am rotating it up 1.7 mils so I can come back down 1.2 mils per step #4 but I'm still shooting 1.2 mils high. I've tried this with turrets locked and unlocked. (HATE this locking feature!)


View attachment 8348881

So you are 1.2 mils high, and you follow the steps 1-4, and after adjusting you are still 1.2 mils high? No change?

 

[AznTactical]

So you are 1.2 mils high, and you follow the steps 1-4, and after adjusting you are still 1.2 mils high? No change?

That is correct so I repeated it again, then again but with turret unlocked. Same result. 1.2 mils short and only 22.4 mil available up. I'm thinking when they repaired my turret they reassembled something wrong (I emailed them last night). I sent it in due to a screw missing then become a problem when it broke (comments #813 and 883 in this thread).

 

[Tikkaguy]

That is correct so I repeated it again, then again but with turret unlocked. Same result. 1.2 mils short and only 22.4 mil available up. I'm thinking when they repaired my turret they reassembled something wrong (I emailed them last night). I sent it in due to a screw missing then become a problem when it broke (comments #813 and 883 in this thread).

When you loosened the screws and added 1.7 mils does the turret click? Because it shouldn’t

 

[AznTactical]

When you loosened the screws and added 1.7 mils does the turret click? Because it shouldn’t

No clicks are heard or felt when both set screws are loosened as I am twisting the main turret up per instruction #2.

 

[Tikkaguy]

No clicks are heard or felt when both set screws are loosened as I am twisting the main turret up per instruction #2.

Something seems weird then. I’d put it in a jig or clamp down ur rifle so you can see if the reticle is moving during your reset to see exactly what the scope is doing. Mine has been flawless. The zero reset procedure they are using is very popular with the higher end scopes. It’s pretty simple

 

[AznTactical]

I'm sending this unit back in. I put on my 2nd TX6i and did a poor man's bore sight and used a cheap laser bore sight at home. With my upper clamped down and using the same reference point about 75yds away the 2nd TX6i had no issues getting a visual zero AND still having 29.7 mils left of elevation to dial.

 

[Softwarrior]

I have been reading through this sub for about a day and wanted to get some input on a 2.5-15 on a 6 Arc 20" proof AR-15 build. I don't have access to a range further than 500 and will be primarily used for shooting tight groups and occasional hunting. Anyone have some insight?

 

[AznTactical]

Steiner's customer service is slowwwwwww. Maybe I'm spoiled by the speediness of customer service responses from Vortex, Leupold, PA and March but only 1 response for my turret issue since 2/13/2024.

 

[Tikkaguy]

I have been reading through this sub for about a day and wanted to get some input on a 2.5-15 on a 6 Arc 20" proof AR-15 build. I don't have access to a range further than 500 and will be primarily used for shooting tight groups and occasional hunting. Anyone have some insight?

I dont know I have one 3-18 that I love so I got another comming in mail today. Sold my pmii Was wondering about the 2.5-15 for a 556 build as well.

 

[Glassaholic]

I have been reading through this sub for about a day and wanted to get some input on a 2.5-15 on a 6 Arc 20" proof AR-15 build. I don't have access to a range further than 500 and will be primarily used for shooting tight groups and occasional hunting. Anyone have some insight?

Nothing wrong with putting the 2.5-15 (or any other scope for that matter) on your small frame AR but what turned me off with Steiner's 2.5-15 was it's weight and reticle. The new Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42 with up coming SCR Mil reticle would be a much better companion for your 6 ARC. Right now I have an Athlon 2-12x42 on my 6 ARC and love that scope for everything except where it's made, I am anxious to see if the SCR Mil reticle is usable at 2x if it is, then I will likely pick one up this year.

PS - my 2-12 can easily take me out to 1000 yards. Heck, I've used 12x to shoot at 2640 yards before (not with 6 ARC though, that was 300 Norma and 300 PRC), you don't need a lot of magnification to shoot long distances so with your 500 yard limit I think you'd be just fine with 12x or even 10x at the top end FWIW.

 

[Tikkaguy]

Got my second one in today, this sample is better than my first in about every way. The turrets are about 200% better. I’d even put them up with my old m7xi and pmii. Night and day sadly compared to my first one. Optically Probly about the same. Maybe a less ca too. I had a way harder time picking it up at max power. But the. Again our snow is gone. Maybe their qc is getting better with this one ? Not sure. I love them for the price.

 

[Softwarrior]

Nothing wrong with putting the 2.5-15 (or any other scope for that matter) on your small frame AR but what turned me off with Steiner's 2.5-15 was it's weight and reticle. The new Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42 with up coming SCR Mil reticle would be a much better companion for your 6 ARC. Right now I have an Athlon 2-12x42 on my 6 ARC and love that scope for everything except where it's made, I am anxious to see if the SCR Mil reticle is usable at 2x if it is, then I will likely pick one up this year.

PS - my 2-12 can easily take me out to 1000 yards. Heck, I've used 12x to shoot at 2640 yards before (not with 6 ARC though, that was 300 Norma and 300 PRC), you don't need a lot of magnification to shoot long distances so with your 500 yard limit I think you'd be just fine with 12x or even 10x at the top end FWIW.

This helps out a bunch. Im indifferent to weight right now as its a heavy barrel and SPR style of a build for the upper. The I have a Vortex PST II and Athlon Argos to compare it to. I wish some local store would carry it because I want to get hands on but looks like I will have to be ordering it from a store to see it.

 

[Jip4012]

I never had the two side by side, but from experience with them both I would say the T6Xi is much more forgiving than the NX8. The recent NX8 has proven to be noticeably better than early release models optically and has evolved into quite a good option but is still a bit finicky. The T6Xi has a very forgiving eyebox, the scope is just easy to get behind.

Going off pure memory, the NF 2.5-20 may have slightly better contrast over the T6Xi, I found in some situations the T6Xi has a little bit of contrast falloff. I am trying to wrap up my T6Xi 3-18x56 review and compared it to NF ATACR 4-16x42, S&B US 3-20x50 and now a new Delta Stryker 3.5-21x44 with the latter scope being late to the party so it has delayed things a bit.

Is the NX8 worth replacing with a T6Xi? A lot depends on what your needs are, do you often shoot at lowest magnification? The Steiner reticles aren't designed for 3x use and illumination is not as bright as NF so I'd say the NF has the advantage there. Do you often shoot in low light, the 56mm objective of the Steiner is likely the brighter scope in low light situations. Do you need a lightweight scope, the NF is 6 oz lighter vs. T6Xi. I would say T6Xi has "better" turrets vs. NX8 as NX8 turrets I find to be mushy but still usable. T6Xi has locking turrets.

One other minor gripe with T6Xi is the battery, it does not use the CR2032 that every other scope manufacture on the planet uses, why Steiner opted for a different battery is just stupid.

Anyone else have an issue inserting the battery? I feel like I'm about to break the prongs trying to insert it. Never had this issue with any other scope I own.

 

[Tikkaguy]

Anyone else have an issue inserting the battery? I feel like I'm about to break the prongs trying to insert it. Never had this issue with any other scope I own.

Yeah both mine were tricky , just spread one side of the prongs before you slip the battery in.

 

[Jip4012]

Yeah both mine were tricky , just spread one side of the prongs before you slip the battery in.

I just worry they'll eventually snap.

 

[Glassaholic]

Anyone else have an issue inserting the battery? I feel like I'm about to break the prongs trying to insert it. Never had this issue with any other scope I own.

It was a little tricky but not too bad. Those are made out of spring steel so I don’t they would break - designed to take a lot of bend.

 

[Softwarrior]

.

 

[Softwarrior]

Does everyone’s zero stop allow for .3 mill of travel? I loosened the screws like the instructions said put it to zero and there is .3 mil of downward elevation.

I have the T6xi 2.5-15

 

[Shoreglide]

Pretty sure it’s designed that way. Mine has .3 mil below zero too.

 

[Softwarrior]

Pretty sure it’s designed that way. Mine has .3 mil below zero too.

I think you are right. I called about it and they confirmed I just found it odd that nothing in the manual states this

 

[Magsz18]

Hrm.

My elevation turret's locking cap is REALLY sticky. When manipulated, it will move the elevation adjustment. I've read about this with a few other peoples samples.

My windage knob has no such issue and is marvelous.

I guess ill have to reach out to Steiner about this.

 

[Paceac441]

I’m trying to decide on the 3-18x vs the 5-30x. What is the reason for choosing the 3-18x other than price and it being a little shorter? Seems like the weight is pretty much the same and neither reticle seems that useable at 3-5x anyway. Is there any optical benefit to the 3-18x scope?