Nothing Last Forever. Buy What You Can Afford

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Peskådot671

Peskådot671

Member
Jan 20, 2016
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Guam, United States
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Today, I just finished packing up my Kahles K525i 5-25×56 and sent it off on its maiden voyage for repairs. So my scope is on it's way to Kahles/ Swarovski Optik US office in Rhode Island and then will be sent to Austria for repairs. I had it mounted on my AAA Evol 30. After 2 weeks of owning it, it would go out of focus when adjusting the magnification up pass 18 power but would go back in focus when slightly adjusted down in magnification about 1/8" of a turn. 

I feel a little disgusted after spending the kind of money I did and then a problem occurs. Don't get me wrong. I love everything about the scope and Kahles/Swarovski Optik has been great about the return process. Scopes are precise instruments and even "Tier 1/Alpha Glass" could develop problems. I've heard of even the best of the best such as Tangent Theta, ZCO, S&B having problems so maybe I shouldn't feel that bad but I do. 

I won't be steered away from buying quality glass but I have to keep my expectations in check. What surprises me is how good some of the newer scopes coming out of China are. They've really come a long way. Nothing last forever. Buy what you can afford. 

For the meantime, my Athlon Cronus BTR G2 4.5-29×56 now sits on top of my Evol 30 until my Kahles K525i comes back from Austria.

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i can understand the feeling, although i don't have anything at that top e-lite level. congrats on it anyway and it will just add to the anticipation. curious on the triage.

i did splurge (for me) on a tier 2 leupold mark 5hd for my scar 20s, because i knew it would hold up and it is made entirely in the US except the glass (japan).

it is no surprise that the chinese can produce decent scopes since the big names have been making the budget and mid-tier scopes in china for years.


 
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i can understand the feeling, although i don't have anything at that top e-lite level. congrats on it anyway and it will just add to the anticipation. curious on the triage.

i did splurge (for me) on a tier 2 leupold mark 5hd for my scar 20s, because i knew it would hold up and it is made entirely in the US except the glass (japan).

it is no surprise that the chinese can produce decent scopes since the big names have been making the budget and mid-tier scopes in china for years.

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True. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised since they've been at it for awhile and it was only a matter of time. I picked up an Athlon Helos BTR G2 2-12×42 a few months ago and I'm super happy with it. Glass and turret feel is great. I wouldn't be hesitant in picking up any of their models from the Helos, Midas, and Ares line.
 
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That Cronus G2 is IMHO the best of all the scopes on the market for the price! I love the two I have! I have $3500+ March and S&B and the CG2 is only 1.5% behind, if that. Owned NF, USO, IOR, Leupold, and a few other nice brands mid tier, and this CG2 is superior to all those in different ways. It's the combined features in the CG2 that makes it so nice, which none of those aforementioned scopes provided at the time of ownership.

Always considered Kahles but a fellow competitor had one that also broke which soured me back then. My IOR and a friends 2 IOR's broke so we were done with that brand. Thinking back I can criticize multiple things about each of those scopes which is ultimately why I sold them.

But any scope can break so????

I bought a Helos G2 6-24x56 that amazes me for the price. Crazy what Athlon is putting out right now! My new go-to less expensive scope.
 
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The Cronus BTR G2 definitely is a great scope for the money. Solid turret clicks, amazing glass and daytime bright illumination. I just like my Kahles K525i a little better in regards to optical clarity, reticle thickness, and the top parallax/focus wheel works really great. Just better mechanics overall. With all that said, it doesn't do me any good if it's sitting in a box.
 
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I had a Schmidt and Bender PM II 5-25 that I bought new and on the first range trip to get it sighted in developed spots on the lens. Turns out it was as just grease specks but still only had it that one day before shipping it off to S&B in Virginia for repairs. Sent a Hawke Airmax back for warranty last week and just got an email saying they were sending me a new one. Anything mechanical can fail but it still sucks when you dish out $3000+ on a scope and it goes down. 
 
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I had a Schmidt and Bender PM II 5-25 that I bought new and on the first range trip to get it sighted in developed spots on the lens. Turns out it was as just grease specks but still only had it that one day before shipping it off to S&B in Virginia for repairs. Sent a Hawke Airmax back for warranty last week and just got an email saying they were sending me a new one. Anything mechanical can fail but it still sucks when you dish out $3000+ on a scope and it goes down.
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It totally does suck. I don't know if you had he same feeling of disgust like I did. I somewhat feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. The crazy thing is that the problem I had with my Kahles was just from normal use of adjusting the magnification ring. It's not like I dropped it or from misuse. It happened within 2 weeks. They usually say if a problem arises in a scope, it will happen sooner than later. I'm also not that comfortable sending anything over $3000 in the mail. The rep from Kahles/Swarovski USA said it has to be shipped to them in Rhode Island and then they'll send it to Austria which has a minimum of 8 weeks turnaround for repairs. I really hope it's sooner than that.
 
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I had a Schmidt and Bender PM II 5-25 that I bought new and on the first range trip to get it sighted in developed spots on the lens. Turns out it was as just grease specks but still only had it that one day before shipping it off to S&B in Virginia for repairs. Sent a Hawke Airmax back for warranty last week and just got an email saying they were sending me a new one. Anything mechanical can fail but it still sucks when you dish out $3000+ on a scope and it goes down.
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It totally does suck. I don't know if you had he same feeling of disgust like I did. I somewhat feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. The crazy thing is that the problem I had with my Kahles was just from normal use of adjusting the magnification ring. It's not like I dropped it or from misuse. It happened within 2 weeks. They usually say if a problem arises in a scope, it will happen sooner than later. I'm also not that comfortable sending anything over $3000 in the mail. The rep from Kahles/Swarovski USA said it has to be shipped to them in Rhode Island and then they'll send it to Austria which has a minimum of 8 weeks turnaround for repairs. I really hope it's sooner than that.
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I hear you , it’s a bad feeling but Kahles will take care of it and the Cronus will serve you till you get it back. I ran a Cronus on my match rifle before switching all my rifles to Gen II Razors. 


This is what my S&B looked like after about 5 shots .

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I had to send my S&B 5-20x50 back as well because the clicks disappeared on the elevation turret. It still tracked however which enabled me to win that particular NRL22 match when the clicks quit happening. This was 5 years after I bought it.

Sent my IOR back because it broke during a match, I couldn't hit anything. They gave me a new one which I sold right away.

My USO had such bad glass it was crazy! I sent it back and they said it was within spec, lol.

Sent some less expensive Bushnell's back. They fixed them and I sold them.

The Bushnell LRHS 3-12 was supposed to/ was spec'd to, arrive with 10Y parallax so I ordered two. They changed this to 50Y min parallax which greatly annoyed me when I tried to focus close minutes after getting it out of the box, so I sold them.

Crossing my fingers but the only Athlon I've had to send back so far is the Helos G2 1-10x28 that I recently bought because it absolutely does not work for my old eyes being that it lacks adjustable side focus.




 
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I decided to go in the middle with an Element Titan scope. Have been very pleased with it so far. A little heavy, but works very well in low light conditions and is very clear. One of the main reasons for going this route was the lifetime no questions asked warranty it comes with. This is provided the company is still around, if needed.
 
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Being that new and having a problem already.....should be a simple replace with another new scope...not a send back for repair issue.!!! Onecreason I have stood by Leupold for many years. In the rare case of a repair being needed, it has never been out of my sight for more than 10 days. A good friend owned an older Leupold tthat was over 30 years old. It fogged up, sent it back for repair, in 10 days he recieved a brand new updated model at NO cost to him!! I feel your pain...the company should step up and do the right thing, not make you wait months!!!
 
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Being that new and having a problem already.....should be a simple replace with another new scope...not a send back for repair issue.!!! Onecreason I have stood by Leupold for many years. In the rare case of a repair being needed, it has never been out of my sight for more than 10 days. A good friend owned an older Leupold tthat was over 30 years old. It fogged up, sent it back for repair, in 10 days he recieved a brand new updated model at NO cost to him!! I feel your pain...the company should step up and do the right thing, not make you wait months!!!
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With my Schmidt it was a 2 week turn around but they have a center here in the USA. With the Kahles being overseas it will be a longer period. When you get into the upper tier of optics they’re not simply going to replace it unless it’s some kind of catastrophic failure. 
 
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I decided to go in the middle with an Element Titan scope. Have been very pleased with it so far.  A little heavy, but works very well in low light conditions and is very clear. One of the main reasons for going this route was the lifetime no questions asked warranty it comes with. This is provided the company is still around, if needed.
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That's one of the disadvantages of a 34mm main tube. I'm always in search of a lightweight 34mm main tube optic but they're slim pickings. They're usually 35 ounces and up. In regards to warranties, it's nice to know that the company will stand behind you in case problems arise.
 
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I'm used to hearing turret complaints with Kahles, but that just blows. Thought about getting into a new ZCO with the 3x reticle, but they also seem to have more issues than I'd care to deal with. No issues with any of my (5) NFs thankfully!
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I'll have to look into the turret issues with Kahles. Are you referring to tracking? I'm still keeping an eye out on ZCO. Waiting for them to work out the kinks. I recently came across a new offering from NF. They have a 4-20×50 ATACR with an 11 yard minimum parallax setting. I'm just wondering what airgun it would go on. I currently have a NF NX8 2.5-20X50 with MIL-C reticle mounted on my Leshiy 2 and I'm happy with the glass. The only reason I haven't picked up another NF is because of their reticles. I wish they would offer a less busy center reticle with the floating dot. Something in the lines of March-FX High Master with the FML-TR1 reticle or Athlon's APRS6 reticle. I guess it's just personal preference. 
 
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