Steiner C35 Gen 2 - Initial range trips and first hunt - Updated 9/30 with third hunt
- By pangris
- Observation & Sighting Devices
- 123 Replies
Edited 04/27 to add - Per Steiner Customer Service, there is no plan to introduce a rail mount option. You're limited to "slip on" or "clamp on" or "how do you say Germans have a twisted sense of humor" mounting options.
Greetings all. As stated in the C35 Gen 1 thread, I was primed and ready to jump on the grenade. When the Gen 2 dropped and I ordered it the morning after I saw it appear on Gunbroker.
The unit comes with batteries, cables, a charger and no way to mount it on an optic. The rail mount is not yet available, and I can't wait till it is because while the slip on is quite adequate, you're limited to a very specific bell diameter without swapping about. I bit the bullet and bought a Burris Smartclip 59mm for my VX-6 3x18x50.
Initial impressions are positive. Unit takes two 18650s. They can be hot swapped and it only needs one to run. I only did that trick once because with two in, I was never in the field more than ~5 hours and they were never in any danger of running out.
Start up to image is about 10 seconds. Menus is easy. Zeroing was easy for me - I got lucky and everything was in enough alignment that I was minute of pig from the first shot. The VX-6 is a surprisingly good host - from what I'd read on the interwebz, 6X is where pixelation is so bad you can't make out a pig from a manbearpig. Horseshit. I shot most groups at 18X. Caveat - the eyebox error is about .0001mm - but, sitting on a cart that has a rest built in, you have that luxury. In all seriousness, about 8X is where you go to noticeable pixels and at 18 you're maybe 16 bit resolution BUT, more on that later.
I was extremely skeptical about the slip on clamp. I stand corrected in that the system works somewhere between well enough and very well. If you're willing to put in the time and work at getting repeatable to the point you're zoomed in to 18X and referencing exactly where your reticle falls against, say, the menu screen - results can be very very acceptable. With the limitation of trying to get it moving pretty quickly, results are still minute of pig with no worries.
In practice, in the field, we had a textbook coyote hunt. I'm using a 20" Grendel with Hornady 123 SSTs. Put a pig carcass from the afternoon hunt in a field, threw out a call, had two yotes come in. I told my buddy to throw out a countdown - he said he wanted me to get something with the new toy and that he would shoot on me. For the record he has one of the newer AGM 640 50mm dedicated scope type things and that is a pretty slick unit as well. I watched the coyotes work toward the carcass and was playing the with zoom. True story, I got up to 18X but was steady and was watching a 16 bit dog walk, sit down and look at me. I could make out the ears at 170 yards. I threw out a 3, 2, 1 and the coyote was DRT. My buddy had put down his gun down thinking they would carry on to the carcass and didn't get any shot as a result.
When it comes to accuracy and return to zero - its good enough. All shots are 100 yards. I witness marked the unit and that keeps it level enough most of the time vs reticle reference. I zoomed into 18X and referenced off where the reticle fell under the letter A in the menu. If I made it a point to fuss with it and try to get very very close to the point I'd based an adjusted group from, it is MOA-ish capable across multiple remove/remount. The rifle is a sub MOA gun and makes everything involved look easy, so it had a running start. The smallest group was a series of removing and remounting 4x, shooting 2 rounds at a time at 18X with all the care. Basically the other groups represent various zoom and effort of alignment combos, but the real test is coming soon. Next range trip I'm going to shoot 50 rounds, one at a time, so 50 RTZ remounts using the external reference marks ONLY and taking what I get. I am going to note WHERE the reticle falls but I'm not going to correct. From there, I believe that I'll be able to figure out the approximate box where its 1, 2, 3, 4 MOA off based on the reference. From there I should be able to determine the ability to know I'm going to hit, say a 2x2" reasonably reliably. I'm very curious to see the results.
I'd guess around then you'll be able to buy a rail mount
Menu allows for 3 weapon profiles, screen can be dimmed down to be easier on the eyes, I'm generally happy with the purchase. This could replace my 'ol Armasight Zeus the way things are going.
Horizontal string was 1, remove, 1 remove, 1
Called right flyer
3, remove, 3, lower mag and only minor fussiness over reticle alignment
2, 2, 2 with a little reference effort and 2, 2, 2,2 - every comma = remount until it was as good as I could hope for and then very careful pressss of the trigger.
I found and bought the Burris eyepiece adapter to see how it did as a spotter. The answer is "not great". The Burris eyepiece limits FOV and is mainly a thread protector.
So, more soon. I need to swap the mount and then get back out to the range. I'm waiting on a couple things to come in but I'm excited about the potential.
Final thought, I want a rail mount - but - the way the unit is shaped I dunno how it is going to work clearance wise with 1.5" mounts.
Third hunt update in post 50
Greetings all. As stated in the C35 Gen 1 thread, I was primed and ready to jump on the grenade. When the Gen 2 dropped and I ordered it the morning after I saw it appear on Gunbroker.
The unit comes with batteries, cables, a charger and no way to mount it on an optic. The rail mount is not yet available, and I can't wait till it is because while the slip on is quite adequate, you're limited to a very specific bell diameter without swapping about. I bit the bullet and bought a Burris Smartclip 59mm for my VX-6 3x18x50.
Initial impressions are positive. Unit takes two 18650s. They can be hot swapped and it only needs one to run. I only did that trick once because with two in, I was never in the field more than ~5 hours and they were never in any danger of running out.
Start up to image is about 10 seconds. Menus is easy. Zeroing was easy for me - I got lucky and everything was in enough alignment that I was minute of pig from the first shot. The VX-6 is a surprisingly good host - from what I'd read on the interwebz, 6X is where pixelation is so bad you can't make out a pig from a manbearpig. Horseshit. I shot most groups at 18X. Caveat - the eyebox error is about .0001mm - but, sitting on a cart that has a rest built in, you have that luxury. In all seriousness, about 8X is where you go to noticeable pixels and at 18 you're maybe 16 bit resolution BUT, more on that later.
I was extremely skeptical about the slip on clamp. I stand corrected in that the system works somewhere between well enough and very well. If you're willing to put in the time and work at getting repeatable to the point you're zoomed in to 18X and referencing exactly where your reticle falls against, say, the menu screen - results can be very very acceptable. With the limitation of trying to get it moving pretty quickly, results are still minute of pig with no worries.
In practice, in the field, we had a textbook coyote hunt. I'm using a 20" Grendel with Hornady 123 SSTs. Put a pig carcass from the afternoon hunt in a field, threw out a call, had two yotes come in. I told my buddy to throw out a countdown - he said he wanted me to get something with the new toy and that he would shoot on me. For the record he has one of the newer AGM 640 50mm dedicated scope type things and that is a pretty slick unit as well. I watched the coyotes work toward the carcass and was playing the with zoom. True story, I got up to 18X but was steady and was watching a 16 bit dog walk, sit down and look at me. I could make out the ears at 170 yards. I threw out a 3, 2, 1 and the coyote was DRT. My buddy had put down his gun down thinking they would carry on to the carcass and didn't get any shot as a result.
When it comes to accuracy and return to zero - its good enough. All shots are 100 yards. I witness marked the unit and that keeps it level enough most of the time vs reticle reference. I zoomed into 18X and referenced off where the reticle fell under the letter A in the menu. If I made it a point to fuss with it and try to get very very close to the point I'd based an adjusted group from, it is MOA-ish capable across multiple remove/remount. The rifle is a sub MOA gun and makes everything involved look easy, so it had a running start. The smallest group was a series of removing and remounting 4x, shooting 2 rounds at a time at 18X with all the care. Basically the other groups represent various zoom and effort of alignment combos, but the real test is coming soon. Next range trip I'm going to shoot 50 rounds, one at a time, so 50 RTZ remounts using the external reference marks ONLY and taking what I get. I am going to note WHERE the reticle falls but I'm not going to correct. From there, I believe that I'll be able to figure out the approximate box where its 1, 2, 3, 4 MOA off based on the reference. From there I should be able to determine the ability to know I'm going to hit, say a 2x2" reasonably reliably. I'm very curious to see the results.
I'd guess around then you'll be able to buy a rail mount
Menu allows for 3 weapon profiles, screen can be dimmed down to be easier on the eyes, I'm generally happy with the purchase. This could replace my 'ol Armasight Zeus the way things are going.
Horizontal string was 1, remove, 1 remove, 1
Called right flyer
3, remove, 3, lower mag and only minor fussiness over reticle alignment
2, 2, 2 with a little reference effort and 2, 2, 2,2 - every comma = remount until it was as good as I could hope for and then very careful pressss of the trigger.
I found and bought the Burris eyepiece adapter to see how it did as a spotter. The answer is "not great". The Burris eyepiece limits FOV and is mainly a thread protector.
So, more soon. I need to swap the mount and then get back out to the range. I'm waiting on a couple things to come in but I'm excited about the potential.
Final thought, I want a rail mount - but - the way the unit is shaped I dunno how it is going to work clearance wise with 1.5" mounts.
Third hunt update in post 50
