Kahles K624i with SKMR 1 reticle?

[Wild Gene]

I have an opportunity to get one of these at a really good price. I will be putting it on a 6.5 CM bolt rifle.

I like everything I see about them, especially the lighter weight than the Vortex and even the Bushnell. The reticle seems to be very good, simple and un-cluttered. The eye box sounds very forgiving. The overall quality and durability appears to be excellent.

I have a Bushnell ERS 3.5-21x 50mm with the G2 reticle on another rifle, and it is good glass, but honestly, I am not super impressed or blown out of the water by it. I have yet to not just dial elevation, so I don't see a "christmas tree" style reticle as a necessity. The substensions are so close on the outer edges that it is very difficult to use them for ranging. There is no illumination, although that may not be a big deal, I have only wanted it a couple times, but made out without it. Honestly, I thought to myself that other than increased magnification, the Bushnell wasn't that much better than my PST's.

I have an astigmatism, and a little trouble with near vision. I will use +1.5 cheater glasses to see things up close. If the contrast is good, I can get by without the cheaters. Some days I can see the numbers on the Bushnell turrets better than others. The flat dark earth scope combined with black numbers may be part of the blame for this. The numbers just don't jump out at me like white on black.

The Bushnell has locking turrets, but in a stage, to raise and lower the turret vs a very positive "click" to adjust elevation is not an advantage. While locking turrets was initially a very big consideration when purchasing a scope for my first rifle, I was looking at it from a 3-Gunner's point of view more than from a PRS shooter's view. I have yet to watch guys not dial elevations on every target of a stage if there is more than 100 yards difference between yardage (unless they forgot).

I have been considering Nightforce and Vortex in addition to the Kahles.

Has anyone spent any time behind the Kahles? What are your thoughts and considerations?

Thank you,

wg

[omayer]

Hi Gene,

I have a K624i wthi MSR reticle and am very happy with it. It was my first scope purchase so I don't really have anything to compare it to. Rather than add more anecdotal and subjective experiences to the discussion I will point you towards the most extensive and scientific evaluation of various scopes I have come across. Hope you have some free time :-).

<http goes here://>precisionrifleblog.com/2014/07/01/tactical-scopes-field-test-overview-rifle-scope-line-up/

Cheers,

Oliver

P.S. It wouldn't let me post the plain URL

[ShooterSteve]

There is a pretty good write up on scopes at precisionrifleblog.com . The Kahles is pretty highly rated. I'm shooting the Bushy, but it was a first gen so I don't have to raise and lower my turrets and I like it that way better. I have used my Christmas tree, and have shot stages that were "no dial" stages, but I think I could have done good without it. Most of us dial for elevation, but hold for wind, and if you are shooting like that, the tree is not used as much. It was pointed out in that article, of the top 15 shooters in 2015, only four weren't shooting a gen 2 Vortex. That's pretty stout. I'm glad you mentioned the black on fde. My vision sounds similar to yours, so I will have to remember that in the future when I purchase scopes and stick with the black model. I know that Shannon Kay had a big hand in designing the reticle for Kahles. He is a very knowledgeable shooter and teacher, and I'm sure his system for that reticle would be pretty solid. If you get one, you will have to run for a while and give us a good review. Ps, looks like me and Omayer were typing at the same time about the blog. Great info on that site.

Edited December 31, 2015 by shooter steve