More specifically speaking Nightforces ATACR compared to either the Kahles 318i, 525i or 624i? I handled them at SHOT this past year and was blown away. Build quality was top notch. Smooth tactile turret clicks, revolution indicator, integrated parallax in the elevation turret which can be mounted either on the Right or Left side of the scope. Zero stop, First focal plane. Compared to the ATACR 56mm they are lighter, slightly shorter, have slightly better eye relief (esp the compact 318i which is a 50mm objective in a 34mm tube and FFP). The ATACR wins out with internal elevation adjusters but not by much. The glass looked great.

Question is, does anyone have any “in the field” real world experience with the Khales and or comparison with the ATACR? I own the NF so I know all about it and know what I am getting with the NF. Intrigued with what Khales has done however with their product line. Thoughts?

Following. I’ve wanted to buy the Kahles for 5 years but can’t pony up.

I have a Kahles 525i and I've owned a Nightforce ATACR. I've never had them on the same gun. The Kahles is so clear I don't use a light when hunting hogs at night. I have Swarovski scopes, Leupold Mark 6 scopes and Vortex Razor HD scopes. The Kahles is my favorite. I sold my ATACR to get the Mark 6. Try to find a used one on Gunbroker. That is where I found mine. It was still expensive, but not full retail price.The Swarovski Z8i is damn nice, too!

I can’t compare them. What it would boil down to, for me, is how tough the Kahles is. That’s what has always won me over with Nightforce. Everything else is good enough on them, but their toughness is unbeatable, so far. You’re a pretty adventurous dude. Will the Kahles hold up? I have no idea. That’s just the first and most important question I’d be asking, in this scenario.

^^Couldn't have said it better.

From what little I know, being around some Khales at some matches, they are doing well. And I hear the glass is phenomenal. But I KNOW which one is damned tough, and glad I bought it. I want for nothing with clarity with the ATACR.

Me too^^^^^^ and as far as toughness I'm not hard on my scopes as some..

Agree, durability is the question I have. It appears the glass is great (not excellent nor good), equal to the NF and others in that price range (several say NF may be marginally better). From reviews I have read recently the big nock on the Khales 525 & 624 are smaller FOV when compared to other comparable optics. Like looking through a straw especially when transitioning through magnification. I also don’t like the 10 yr warranty, when nearly everyone is offering Lifetime Warranties.

Might be worth a try at a discount but buying new I think I would rather stay with what’s known and what I have experience with.

Then again, someone who shall remain nameless caused me to read a review on the Tangent Theta vs the ZCO vs the S&B PMII. I should have never read that.

I have a Kahles 624I and aNF ATACR and just put a NF Beast on my 300 PRC.
I shot a 1000/800 yard match today using the Kahles on a 6.5 SAUM. Local match they limited all shooters to 6.5 caliber and under. You had to transition from 800 to 1000 and back 3 times which is not much dialing but still more than some match styles.
The quality of the Kahles top notch and I love the parallax adjustments. I will say the glass thing is so subjective that I don’t know comparison wise what to tell you.
I have been very impressed with the two range trips on the Beast with the glass but I need to try it a few more times further than 200 yards and just paper midday shooting.
The reason I hesitate is I had the Kahles and my Athlon Cronus on the 650 range right after I got both of them.
While the Kahles just exudes quality the Cronus much to my dismay seemed under late afternoon lighting to discern detail better at distance or at least to my eyes I could “see better”. At that moment I was kicking myself for not buying two Cronus’s when Cabelas had them for 999.00
I will also add that I have made several and my personal longest kills with the Kahles using the SAUM. In fact it still had dust from the last hunting trip when I drug it out for today’s match.

Great feedback DStroud. How does the FOV & eye relief compare in your opinion from the Khales to the NF ATACR? With NF’s announcement at NRA about the new NX8 2.5-20 & 4-32 I am intrigued to wait and see what the reviews are on them also. Fortunately time is on my side.

Kahles 624 and 525 are pretty different beasts. 624 had forgiving eyebox and good FOV and really bad CA. 525 lost the good FOV and bad CA and gave up a little bit on the eyebox. My experience with the 624 is personal, but the 525 is not.

ATACR is just a really good overall scope. Of the alpha scopes, it's the only scope below the TT that doesn't make at least one major compromise. (Kahles - glass, Minox - warranty/quality/CS, S&B - reticles, ZCO - turrets, Vortex - reticle & glass, etc.)

If LH windage or center parallax is important, go Kahles.

If optical quality is most important, go ATACR.

I'll say personally, I hardly ever hear anything about warranty issues on the Kahles or the ATACR, so I'm going to say it's a draw in terms of anecdotal warranty/return issues that seem to show up on the SH forums. I don't think either is poorly built. But when you do have an issue, NF is here in the USA and Kahles CS is across the Atlantic.

For me, the 525 is completely useless at its price point. If I'm spending $3500, I'm saving a few more bucks for a TT and eliminating all compromises. The 624i at the $1900 range is a decent value if you really like LH windage or center parallax. Otherwise, there isn't any compelling reason to choose it over the ATACR.

over my pay grade. But GREAT reviews

The chromatic aberration is something I read about on the 624. CA can be corrected by stopping down your lense or basically reducing the objective size. I wonder if the slight loss in eye box on 525 was in part due to correcting the CA. A longer tube will allow for the CA correction with a large objective but is detrimental to eye box. I’m going to look up length between the 624 and 525. I bet the 525 is longer.

Ca on the 6-24 gets better through the generations as gen1 was horrible in comparison to a gen 3. Still too much for me to like but they are nice. Some of the 6-24 had turret etching issues but they were typically taken care of fairly fast despite having to cross the pond for repairs.

As far as nf goes the 7-35 has better glass than the 5-25's I've looked through.