Not much difference in price.are the cheap Kahles any better than the top Leupold?

Gonna be on a short range 20 inch 308 for deep DARK woods deer hunting.Never used anything but the Leupold but I made a deal and can get any scope I want for under 500.Which way do you go.One or the other,no other suggestions please.

I'm not going to help, I own both and optically can't see a difference. Further when I mounted the Kahles I thought it would't hold zero. They got it back to me in 8 days telling me to check the base/rings as it was good. To my surprise they were correct as somehow the bases on that old rifle worked loose in the remounting of a scope. Some have better Leupold stories, but to me that;s not bad service. May sound petty but my 3-9X42 is finished with a coating sort of in between my matte and gloss Leupold finish, not gloss or matte, and that 's the difference.

I've got a Kahles 2x7 and a couple of Leupold 1.5 x 5's and use 'em in deep dark cedar swamps in the U.P. of Michigan. I'd say the Kahles is marginally brighter - though the only time you'd notice is early and late.

Mark Dumais

Buy the Leupold and support this country. They're made in Oregon, and Oregon's economy is about the worst of any state right now. The people there need the jobs, so do 'em a favor, besides you can't beat a Leupold anyway. Unless you want to spend twice as much money.

I'd take the Leupold simply becasue I have 3 of the 2.5-8 models right now, and I like them.

But I have never looked through a Kahles...

Leupolds have served me well and to some extent the other brands do cause you to enter the "law of diminishing returns" arena

Ditto Gatehouse (5)

Leupold

I never had a defective Leupold when I worked the gun shop. I did have one Kahles. I didn't sell many of them either. Plus I like to support our country. I am not sure that the Kahles is waterproof with out the lens caps. The Leupold is. Some of the expensive Europe scope are not with out the caps.

Hcliff

[ 04-10-2003, 22:26: Message edited by: Hcliff ]

I have a 2.5 x 8 Leupold Vari X III on my .300 Win Mag.
Very clear , bright and lightweight.
Just does the job, day in day out in any situation.
Never used or looked through Kahles.

Mr. Big,

Here is a side by side comparison, one of a series of such on the Kahles website.

Leupold Vari-xIII2.5-8x36
Weight:11.5oz.
Length: 11.3"
FOV: 37-13.5'
ROA: 65"
TWPF: 9.5-17.0
Eye Relief: 3.7-4.7
*List Price: $733.90

Kahles AH2-7x36
Weight:12.2oz.
Length: 11.06"
FOV: 48-27.3'
ROA: 61.2"
TWPF: 9.1-15.9
Eye Relief: 3.35
*List Price: $532.00

The guys I know in Oz and New Zealand who do a lot of shooting with the "electric dog" (i.e. with a light at night) like to use 3-9X40 scopes for their light gathering, and figure that is their minimum.

jim dodd

At SWFA the Kahles is 488$ and the Leupold is 419$.But since then I saw a new model from Nikon Called the Monarch UCC Gold Sieres.It is a 1.5-6x42 with a 30mm tube.It has a constant 4 inch Eye relief and an exit pupil of nearly 30 and something called Ultra Clear Lens Coatings with about 70 ft FOV.for 399$.looks interesting at the least.

Mr. Big,

Eagle Optics has had an evaluation of high-end binoculars on their website, and they give the Nikon Venturer top marks. John Barsness has also written some positive comments on the Venturer in the most recent Rifle magazine. If these Monarch gold rifle scopes are the same quality as the Venturer, then they will be great indeed.

The Nikon website reports your 1.5-6X scope has a 95% light transmission figure, which is higher that I thought was the state of the art (at about 94%).

I think you should give it a try, and tell us how it does.

jim

A personal preference but I really like the quick focus feature of my Kahles 2x7 plus the wider field of view.

DB Bill the Nikon has the fast focus and a wider FOV than either the Leupold or Kahles.

I know I said not to suggest anything else but that was before I had even heard of the UCC Gold.I looked at every scope makers website that I could find and narrowed it down to the Kahles and Leupold,but when I called to order the Leupold yesterday the sales rep said I ought to look back at the Nikon`s cause they had a new scope that I might like.