Kahles 525i or ATACR 5 - 25

[TheLongRanger83702]

ATACR1 hands down. I have one on my Rem 700 Custom 300 WinMag and one on my Wilson Combat 308 AR-10.

 

[sturner]

Kicking around the idea for a top tier hunting scope. Would like to hear from folks that have experience with these two or even the Kahles 318i...the good and the bad.
Thanks in advance!

I got the Kahles and so far have been pleased

 

[brotherbear67]

I have a couple ATACRs in the 5-25 MOAR and love em, but I also have 3 Zeiss V6 5-30s. Lighter weight and super sharp/clear. Ya may wanna look at those.

 

[Rick Richard]

I have a couple ATACRs in the 5-25 MOAR and love em, but I also have 3 Zeiss V6 5-30s. Lighter weight and super sharp/clear. Ya may wanna look at those.

I have one in 3-18

 

[Orange Dust]

Well Rick, Looks like we are going to be somewhere between little and no help with your decision. Shame, love spending other people's more than mine LOL. More NF guys than Kahles, but I really don't think there is a wrong decision. Surely you like the features of one more than the other?

 

[5RWill]

I'm really not an NF guy there are just a lot of draw backs IMHO for the money with the new Kahles. I've seen three ATACRs and only the recent sample impressed me. It could've been a diamond in the rough but it was top notch and something i didn't expect from glass coming from LOW. In the last year or so i've had the k624i, K318i, K525i, ATACR 5-25, and now have two Minox ZP5s, and an AMG on the hunting rig. The new kahles definitely ups the glass quality compared to the k624i and controls CA much better but it's still present. The FOV is categorically small for the optic in a usable mag range comparable to it's competitors. The reason being is the field stop they added, idk why it's there other than to cut down on CA. The DOF is considerably shallow which is something that just seems to be a feature of Kahles in the three i've owned. Intermittent magnification it's up there with the best, but the FOV is smaller than it's competitors. Upper end it leaves a lot to be desired.

It's bizarre really because in every other category they're one of my favorites. I love the center parallax and the turret is my favorite used to date. Swaro is capable of fielding phenomenal glass, there is no doubt of that, but the k525i in particular has a lot of compromises to me. This is my K525i in the video, i sent it to ILya so he could evaluate it with the rest. I wish he'd have gotten his hands on an ATACR.

It's still a very nice optic just doesn't really command the $3300 IMHO not when you can get a ZP5 for $2300 from EuroOptic right now, which is up there with the best in IQ. Both optics in question to me are on the heavy side for hunting especially the ATACR, it's weighty nearing 40oz.

 

[Alwinearcher]

I have three 4-16x42's, one 5-25 and one 7-35. I use the 42's on all my hunting rifles. The locked elevation, capped windage and lightest weight of the ATACRs make them excellent hunting optics. 16 power is more than enough for a hunting rifle.

The 56's are great but heavy.

How do you feel they optically compare?
I have had a couple 4-16X and looked through a couple 7-35X, but have never put my hands on the 5-25X.
I have been seriously considering pulling the trigger on a 5-25X but I have heard several times that for some reason the clarity is just better in the 7-35x....

 

[highdrum]

Personally the best all around scope, if you don't mind mil, is a zco 420. Absolutely fantastic!

 

[fiveshotdot]

+1 for the ZP5. Absolutely incredible optic. The reticle is perfect, turrets are perfect, the glass is perfect, it's not too heavy, and it comes with tenebreax scope caps. IF there is "1" downside it's that the Minox ZP5 is a physically large scope. I've spent a little time with the ATACR line of optics and while I find the glass, turrets and mechanics excellent, the reticles leave a little to be desired. Imo, The mil-c or mil-xt are the best looking they offer.

 

[Killertraylor]

You can't go wrong with either. I run both and like both. The last two I've bought have been 525i's - I just like the eye box and clarity better but everyone's eyes are different. In the lower magnification line, I think the Atacr 4-16 beats out the Kahles 3-18 on value and overall clarity. Bottom line, you just need to check them both out if you can and decide for yourself. You can find both for pretty reasonable prices used on the forums (less than $2400 usually) Good luck - let us know what you pick!

 

[stonehands1]

Rick. Please PM me when you have a chance.
Thanks

 

[dreamhunt]

I have the Kahles 624i (Gen 3) Great scope except for some CA on high contrast targets. I even compared it to 2 Hensoldt 6-24X72 scopes and it had better contrast, field of view, depth of field, eye position, turrets and much less veiling flare. I was VERY surprised the Hensoldt didn't optically outperform the Kahles.