Big and heavy is the only bad about it.

Some rifles, that doesn't matter.

I've hit a mile and a quarter with the 7-35X (2180 yards)

I was able to get behind a ZCO 8-40 yesterday at 500 yards. Even with the cold temps in the 30-40s with the bright sun there was significant mirage on the high side. I may not be giving it a fair shake because the parallax was set for the owner and I didn’t want to mess with it. The magnification ring was excellent without a throw lever. I really wanted to twist the knobs but didn’t want to get smacked in the back of the head.

Overall that experience showed me I don’t need the high magnification. In truth a 7-08 just won’t shoot far enough for it to be relevant with good glass. I did put it on 25-27 and the view was excellent.

TT is out. Too many reliability complaints.

High magnification is out. I don’t need it.


The list goes

ZCO 527
Kahles 525
ATACR 5-25
ZCO 420


Another SS 5-20, retrax bed cover, whiskey and cocaine with the balance.

Even though I have no need or plan to buy a scope of this quality, I do still appreciate you sharing what have learned.

I’ve ran my 3-15x50 premier heritage (tangent before it was tangent) out to a mile without any hesitation. That being said it’s no longer on my fully dedicated lr rig as those wear NF 7-35’s and a S&B 5-25. While the magnification isn’t always useable I’d rather have for those times it is.

More info if your so inclined

https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...iew-tt-zco-schmidt-march-vortex.7148097/

Long read but an excellent review. This helps solidify the top of my list. Thanks

The author didn't include Nightforce which is the #1 Long Range Scope in the review, what happened here?

Good question I guess he didn’t have one to review or as someone said if I need to use my scope to beat someone to death I would choose Nightforce otherwise there are better options that are cheaper.

Curious as to what options you feel are better and cheaper? I’ve been behind a lot of glass and they are tough to beat especially cheaper as those options usually only hold their own under good conditions.

"Better options that are cheaper"

I'm wondering what those are.

The someone wasn’t me….
but I believe they were referring to the Vortex Razor GenIII/Minox ZP5/ Zeiss S series

I know the Minox is good and I’m surprised at the feedback on the Razor.

Minox is good but problem is if you have to send it off, it's months and months of waiting to get it back. Sometimes it's fixed and sometimes it's not

I wouldn't own any of those.

I've been telling y'all the Razor line isn't the Diamondback line but few people will listen. The AMD scope is even USA made (gasp).

When it comes to clarity...you hear very few folks brag on the NF clarity (if you do it's typically the Competition model and for good reason)...but if you need to use your scope to drive a nail or for those that can destroy an anvil they are awesome.

On the list...March is the one, but I pay way more attention to weight than most of the guys posting here. I've got zero desire to carry a 15+ lb rifle to the truck more less to hunt with...benchrest rifles excluded.

The problem with Vortex is they are more expensive. You've got to buy two of then, so when one breaks down you can get back in service quickly.

Minox and the gen 3 razor had known turret issues. The glass quality control on the new razor is said to be better than gen 2’s we’re.

As far as the clarity of NF my atacr are on pretty much on par with my Schmidt pmii and barely behind a tangent. This is strictly speaking of the 7-35 variant nf. The only thing I will say is to me the nf is a bit more exact on the parallax in comparison to the S&B and tangent. By that I mean that I catch myself adjusting or checking it more often than I do with the others.

I think your original list was best. TT doesn't have a quality reputation issue and deserves to be in the discussion with ZCO. ZCO is king of the mountain at the moment but is absolutely splitting hairs with the TT and even the 7-35 ATACR. Kahles is a very nice option with no quality concerns, good turrets, good reticles, but noticeable CA compared to TT & ZCO, at a considerably lower price point. I have hesitation with putting NF in there purely because the 7-35 ATACR is their cream of the crop and the OP is already struggling to decide between the 4x bottom end vs 5x bottom end. 7x is a noticeable drop in FOV. And their 7-35 ATACR is noticeably sharper than the 5-25. I've used every scope I've mentioned above except the ZCO.

I have used the gen 2 razor and the AMG, and I just didn't care for the AMG at all. gen 2 razor was a really nice optic I thought that has a good spot in the value discussion but probably right behind Kahles. AMG is only for weight savings but the optical compromises for me weren't insignificant enough to justify the weight reduction.

ETA: I guess if I'm putting Kahles in as a value pick, you have to include the 5-25 ATACR. It's probably my favorite scope around $2.5k. It's not at the same level as TT or ZCO or 7-35 ATACR, but it's definitely better than the Kahles at not much more money. It's easy to look through, has a great reticle, good turrets, super solid reliability, good FOV, flexible eye relief, limited CA, etc. It's just a 9.5/10 on glass instead of the 9.99 that ZCO and TT are or the 9.95 that the 7-35 ATACR is. As a matter of fact, I'd probably 100% rather have $1500-$2k towards other stuff plus a 5-25 ATACR than either the TT or ZCO personally. But I've been known to be a cheapskate at times...

I know there is lots of love for that NF 7-35 and the one I handled was on sale for $3300 in tan. I wish I would have had one in the field next to the ZCO 8-40.

I do know one thing. I will be buying today.

As far as being cheap I play it a little different. I do not have multiple nice things. I try for one very nice thing. If I end up with 10k in a rig it’s not really any different than someone having 10k in 2-5 set-ups.


I really like the Kahles ergonomics and repeatable mechanics.

The absolute only negative I can see to the ZCO is the 36mm tube when I’ve got a perfectly good pair of 34mm NF rings doing nothing. The 6001 Spuhr for the ZCO is a billion dollars.


Despite my buy once attitude I think the the TT price is hurting my feelings. Then again I wouldn’t have to buy rings!

Just looked again. The heck with the Kahles at $3850. I’ll buy the NF all day for $3300 over that.

Kahles used are under $2k last I looked.

Well said and 100% agree. And unless you want the Spuhr rings there are other options available. My only complaint is the matte finish on the ZCO. It does scuff up easily.

I only have one really expensive scope myself. Still means you have to decide if the tiny, tiny differences in the high end scopes will make thousands of dollars of difference to you. I have a Delta Stryker that was under $2k new and I'd be shocked if you could tell a difference between it and the ZCO if I put some tape over the brand name. It goes all the way from 4.5x on the bottom end to 29x on the top end, has a great reticle, fantastic eye relief, and really nice turrets. I tried everything you're looking at and ended up with this.

I would sell my Nightforce 7-35 ATACR as I never use it ….I used to grab the TT instead but sold it as I just didn’t see the glass being that much better than the Gen III Vortex although the turrets and setting zero stop are best I have used so far.
I have the Kahles 6-24 as well and it’s a super nice scope but not close the the Gen III in the glass dept. I really like the design features of the Burris Pro especially the wide FOV and have a couple of those

Well a day of searching found zero ZCO 527s with the impct1 reticle in stock. The best I can do is 3-6 weeks out or get the 420 now.