Kahles Helia scopes

[Elmer fudd 1]

Hi all

Does anyone have any experience with the above scopes, particularly the 3.5-18x50i

I’m interested in getting one of these but would appreciate any real work experiences. How do they stack up compared to competitors in the same price range or higher?

Have you got the BT turret and if so how do you get on with it?

TIA!

 

[Steff]

Much overlooked and excellent scopes. But beware, the model of your choice is incredibly long.

 

[finnbear270]

All the Kahles products I have or have had Scopes and Bino's are top quality glass up there with Swaro / Zeiss etc

 

[RF76]

All the Kahles products I have or have had Scopes and Bino's are top quality glass up there with Swaro / Zeiss etc

Any experience with the Service / backup, and is it handled by Swaro or Kahles ?

 

[finnbear270]

Never needed, as no problems experienced to date.

 

[andy R204]

Have a K418 on my .204 since 2010.Its never missed a beat,still dials in perfectly & great lowlight performance.
A few year ago in stepped on the bikini covers cracking the plastic.Sent Kahles a email received a new set in 3 days from Austria.
I would have no hesitation in buying or recommending Kahles products

 

[Steff]

Any experience with the Service / backup, and is it handled by Swaro or Kahles ?

Kahles have their own Service department. I had to deal with them once for a faulty set of RF binos. No problems at all.

 

[RF76]

Kahles have their own Service department. I had to deal with them once for a faulty set of RF binos. No problems at all.

That's great to hear, always been curious about the Kahles products but as nothing is cheap you just want to know what the backup is like.

 

[Elmer fudd 1]

Much overlooked and excellent scopes. But beware, the model of your choice is incredibly long.

Just had a google, 15inches apparently which when compared to something like a 2.3-18 Z8i at 14.3in is longer but not by too much!

For ref a v6 3-18 comes in at 13.3

 

[Steff]

Just had a google, 15inches apparently which when compared to something like a 2.3-18 Z8i at 14.3in is longer but not by too much!

For ref a v6 3-18 comes in at 13.3

Exactly. The difference is substantial. But it depends which rifle it‘s gonna sit on. On a Blaser the Kahles would look silly. Not so on regular a long action.

 

[Elmer fudd 1]

Exactly. The difference is substantial. But it depends which rifle it‘s gonna sit on. On a Blaser the Kahles would look silly. Not so on regular a long action.

Good to know!

It would be going on a Tikka T3x in place of a now sold Sightron 6-24x50, itself a 15.1inch scope!

Do you have a Helia yourself Steff? If so how do you get on with it?

 

[Steff]

Good to know!

It would be going on a Tikka T3x in place of a now sold Sightron 6-24x50, itself a 15.1inch scope!

Do you have a Helia yourself Steff? If so how do you get on with it?

No, currently not. But as a range officer I get to see them and have looked through and handled a few. Mostly those are the 56mm and the lower mag 50mm models.though.

 

[Border]

I have the model in question. Non BT. It is long but that is not a problem to me. I have mine mounted on a Sako 75 sporter weight barrel with optilock ringmounts. This gives a knat`s cock clearance on the barrel knox. I have tenebraex covers on mine. Glass is top notch. A bit weighty and I wish that the illuminated reticle had a daylight setting like the 1-5 Helia I owned before.

 

[Pine Marten]

I have the 1.5-8×42 on my 7x65R Simson drilling. It's tremendous. One peculiar thing I couldn't work out to start with though is that they use the same adjustment discs for elevation as for windage, so I kept on being unsure what the arrow next to "H/R" meant. Until I realised it was a multiple choice between "Hoch" (high) and "Rechts" (right). Now we're clear on this with happy results.

 

[Pine Marten]

(Sorry, the two in the right place are the ones I meant. The drilling doesn't do groups of more than two from a cold barrel. It's not supposed to. It's one chance only.)

 

[Steff]

I have the 1.5-8×42 on my 7x65R Simson drilling. It's tremendous. One peculiar thing I couldn't work out to start with though is that they use the same adjustment discs for elevation as for windage, so I kept on being unsure what the arrow next to "H/R" meant. Until I realised it was a multiple choice between "Hoch" (high) and "Rechts" (right). Now we're clear on this with happy results.

View attachment 337382

Ha, this a clear marking on the turrets. I came across a Steiner the other day on which the disks were obviously wrongly mounted between windage and elevation. As the owner was a newbie he would have run completely astray without advice.

 

[BWH]

I have the 3-18x50 with the turret. Havent had it long so cant give you a full review. The scope is bright with a good field of view and I dont find it too long. Eye relief is good and it doesnt loose quality of image as you increase the zoom to max. I went for the G4B ret which I think is less fine and easier to see in poor light. The illumination is good. Not entirely sure about teh turret. It was easy to fit, but it possibly isnt machined very well as it is not totally smooth in operation and feels like it binds a bit at one point in the turn. I have taken it off for now. I fitted the lever for easier operation of the zoom. Seemed worthwhile. I think it is a good value scope and one of the few that met all the features that I wanted.

 

[Scarpa]

I have an old model, 2.2-9 x 42, I bought it second hand. I had a bit of a focusing problem and sent it in to the Kahles service centre in Austria (I am fairly local to that). It turned out that in the past someone had replaced the reticle with a non Kahles thicker one, probably for low light shooting. The gun shop I had bought it from refunded me and gave me the scope as a good will gesture, then free of charge Kahles adjusted the focus and refilled the scope for me. It's been workiing fine for me ever since.

 

[Brian243]

I have had a 4-18 x 50 for several years on my .308. Has worked faultlessly and never shifted zero. A good robust scope with excellent optics.

 

[targetshooter]

I sent my Khales Helia S 3-12x56mm to swarm for a service, came back perfect! These scope have a 40 year warranty, that should say everything