@Covertnoob5 did a great write up on the TT525p http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/tangent-theta-vs-minox-zp5-5-25-review.6529754/
I'll give my impressions and a quick comparison video. hkdave also did a great video comparing a ton of high end scope turrets. Scopes I've owned:
-Schmidt Bender 5-25 PM II (TWO) , Ultra-short 5-20 H59 (TWO)
-Kahles K624i SKMR3
-Minox ZP5 MR4 5-24 (TWO)
-Vortex razor 5-20, Vortex Gen II razor 4.5-27, Vortex viper PST II 6-24 (my first "high end scope"... bad bad gateway to spending more money on the above scopes)
-Leupold Mark 5 5-25.
-US optics ER 5-25 h59
Scopes I currently own:
-Nightforce 7-35, nightforce 5-25 atacr F1
-Tangent Theta
It's only fair to not do a direct comparison to prior scopes (I'll try hard to not do that but everyone always wants to know your opinion on comparisons) that I sold and no longer own. I'll tell you though, that I sold all the above scopes as I completely fell in love with nightforce. For my eyes, I just saw EVERYTHING with the nightforce. It's amazing when you find that scope that does that to you. I mean everything... not sure if it's psychological or not; but, I even feel it does make me a better shooter in competitions (and it shows with my results). This is not to say all the above alpha glass didn't allow me to see... but to the scope snobs out there, you guys probably know what i'm talking about. When you find that scope, and it just aligns perfectly with your vision... not sure how else to really describe it.
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To fill the gaps for other reviews (and there aren't very many out there on the tangent theta b/c it's probably too expensive ... more on my rationale later on this), I'm focusing on points I feel put the Tangent Theta over the edge compared to nightforce, Schmidt, Vortex, Minox, Kahles....barely over the edge.
1) Parallax - Tangent stomps the competition... I'm not sure what they did in regards to optical engineering and glass coating; but, they figured out a way to negate or severely reduce parallax past about 250 yds or so. I read about it; but, when I actually used the scope. It's for real.... it's incredible. It's a tactical competitor's dream in fact. To not have to touch that parallax ever, to have the confidence that if you dropped a shot it's not b/c your parallax was off going from 800 yds to 350 yds in the same string/stage.
2) Glass clarity/brightness - I'm not an optics expert, just a guy who loves seeing clearly downrange. I will admit that I did have that wow "pop" with nightforce when I compared it to vortex and schmidt... I remember that feeling with Minox as well, and I kind of did with Kahles until I saw that horrible chromatic aberration (please keep your comments to yourselves on this subject it's been beat to death and I've pre-ordered a K525i to emphasize I'm not a biased hater). But when I looked into that Tangent theta for the first time, I had it again... and this was compared to both my 7-35 and 5-25 atacr (to each his own). I did not see chromatic aberration in any of the scopes I had for direct comparision; but, where I really really saw a difference after nearly an hour (total not straight in a row) of back and forth comparison was micro-contrast. To better explain this, it is the detail in the details. It's like looking at 1080p compared to blu-ray compared to 4k TV. Tangent blew me away.
3) Reticle choice - I've not been a big fan at all of the Gen2xr, I was strongly opposed to buying this scope for this reason; but, when the opportunity came knocking, I took it. I'll tell you what, I like the gen2xr, this is coming from someone who's favorite reticle is the MR4 or EBR-7B. I'm a big fan of the small center dot; but, man there is something about the simplicity and the thin nature of the Gen2xr. Would it be nice if the gen2xr had a center dot and an open center yes... (I hear there's another version coming out soon... this year).
4) Turret - Let's get down to why I'm doing this mini-review (or not so mini). I'll start by saying my elevation turret was slightly mis-aligned and it's obvious when you look at my video. The marking is slightly off from the arrow indicator... and yes I've tried realigning it using the instructions; but, if you don't own a tangent theta you won't know that doing this (like on other scopes ) is not that straightforward... and yes TT and armament (their distributor) already is aware. What separates the TT turrets from the other high end players, is the feel and appearance. It's large... like the size of the vortex gen2 and or minox. It feels good in the hand; but, the knurling is machined to feel comfortable, with just enough grip. The actual movement of the elevation turret I find to be just "ok". I find the windage turret to be "something special" in the words of a fellow optics reviewer. It's incredibly crisp, incredibly crisp...imagine the best feeling turret you've ever felt (I thought nightforce was it for my hands).... TT blows what you felt out of the water. Now I exaggerate a bit, the reality is we are splitting hairs, and it's all personal preference. The elevation turret of the TT feels similar to my schmidt's and kahles when it comes to actual movement, precise, basically no play, that dull "thunk" that says it moved confidently to the next setting.
The windage turret feels like this and more. The line spacings on the elevation turret are perfect, they aren't cramped like they are on the schmidt PM2 DT, or the minox zp5. Even with the 15 mils on the elevation turret, the diameter is perfect. Would it be nice if they were 10 mils per rev like the gen 2 and with adequate spacing like the gen 2 razor...yeah I think it would have been nice; but, not necessary.
The turrets do spin more easily on the nightforce atacr in comparison, which maybe a nice feature in tactical comps b/c I would rather dial, and I spin fast. I'll have more input the next time I shoot a local comp.
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Echoing covertnoob's sentiment, really the extra $1500 for this scope (actually its' more like extra $1000-1200 b/c retailers are discounting these FYI) is for the refined aspects and characteristics compared to the schmidt, minox, kahles, nightforce. The machining time that plays into the turrets, scope body, ocular adjustment etc. The design and engineering time behind it. For those of you whom are scope snobs, beware... buy once cry once is bullshit.
Hopefully this helps others make a decision on whether or not they want to blow $4k plus on a tangent theta. Also I found on several threads there is a lifetime forever warranty; but, I don't see that exact terminology in the manual or tangent's website (unless I'm blind). Armament states they "stand by" their products.
I'll give my impressions and a quick comparison video. hkdave also did a great video comparing a ton of high end scope turrets. Scopes I've owned:
-Schmidt Bender 5-25 PM II (TWO) , Ultra-short 5-20 H59 (TWO)
-Kahles K624i SKMR3
-Minox ZP5 MR4 5-24 (TWO)
-Vortex razor 5-20, Vortex Gen II razor 4.5-27, Vortex viper PST II 6-24 (my first "high end scope"... bad bad gateway to spending more money on the above scopes)
-Leupold Mark 5 5-25.
-US optics ER 5-25 h59
Scopes I currently own:
-Nightforce 7-35, nightforce 5-25 atacr F1
-Tangent Theta
It's only fair to not do a direct comparison to prior scopes (I'll try hard to not do that but everyone always wants to know your opinion on comparisons) that I sold and no longer own. I'll tell you though, that I sold all the above scopes as I completely fell in love with nightforce. For my eyes, I just saw EVERYTHING with the nightforce. It's amazing when you find that scope that does that to you. I mean everything... not sure if it's psychological or not; but, I even feel it does make me a better shooter in competitions (and it shows with my results). This is not to say all the above alpha glass didn't allow me to see... but to the scope snobs out there, you guys probably know what i'm talking about. When you find that scope, and it just aligns perfectly with your vision... not sure how else to really describe it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To fill the gaps for other reviews (and there aren't very many out there on the tangent theta b/c it's probably too expensive ... more on my rationale later on this), I'm focusing on points I feel put the Tangent Theta over the edge compared to nightforce, Schmidt, Vortex, Minox, Kahles....barely over the edge.
1) Parallax - Tangent stomps the competition... I'm not sure what they did in regards to optical engineering and glass coating; but, they figured out a way to negate or severely reduce parallax past about 250 yds or so. I read about it; but, when I actually used the scope. It's for real.... it's incredible. It's a tactical competitor's dream in fact. To not have to touch that parallax ever, to have the confidence that if you dropped a shot it's not b/c your parallax was off going from 800 yds to 350 yds in the same string/stage.
2) Glass clarity/brightness - I'm not an optics expert, just a guy who loves seeing clearly downrange. I will admit that I did have that wow "pop" with nightforce when I compared it to vortex and schmidt... I remember that feeling with Minox as well, and I kind of did with Kahles until I saw that horrible chromatic aberration (please keep your comments to yourselves on this subject it's been beat to death and I've pre-ordered a K525i to emphasize I'm not a biased hater). But when I looked into that Tangent theta for the first time, I had it again... and this was compared to both my 7-35 and 5-25 atacr (to each his own). I did not see chromatic aberration in any of the scopes I had for direct comparision; but, where I really really saw a difference after nearly an hour (total not straight in a row) of back and forth comparison was micro-contrast. To better explain this, it is the detail in the details. It's like looking at 1080p compared to blu-ray compared to 4k TV. Tangent blew me away.
3) Reticle choice - I've not been a big fan at all of the Gen2xr, I was strongly opposed to buying this scope for this reason; but, when the opportunity came knocking, I took it. I'll tell you what, I like the gen2xr, this is coming from someone who's favorite reticle is the MR4 or EBR-7B. I'm a big fan of the small center dot; but, man there is something about the simplicity and the thin nature of the Gen2xr. Would it be nice if the gen2xr had a center dot and an open center yes... (I hear there's another version coming out soon... this year).
4) Turret - Let's get down to why I'm doing this mini-review (or not so mini). I'll start by saying my elevation turret was slightly mis-aligned and it's obvious when you look at my video. The marking is slightly off from the arrow indicator... and yes I've tried realigning it using the instructions; but, if you don't own a tangent theta you won't know that doing this (like on other scopes ) is not that straightforward... and yes TT and armament (their distributor) already is aware. What separates the TT turrets from the other high end players, is the feel and appearance. It's large... like the size of the vortex gen2 and or minox. It feels good in the hand; but, the knurling is machined to feel comfortable, with just enough grip. The actual movement of the elevation turret I find to be just "ok". I find the windage turret to be "something special" in the words of a fellow optics reviewer. It's incredibly crisp, incredibly crisp...imagine the best feeling turret you've ever felt (I thought nightforce was it for my hands).... TT blows what you felt out of the water. Now I exaggerate a bit, the reality is we are splitting hairs, and it's all personal preference. The elevation turret of the TT feels similar to my schmidt's and kahles when it comes to actual movement, precise, basically no play, that dull "thunk" that says it moved confidently to the next setting.
The windage turret feels like this and more. The line spacings on the elevation turret are perfect, they aren't cramped like they are on the schmidt PM2 DT, or the minox zp5. Even with the 15 mils on the elevation turret, the diameter is perfect. Would it be nice if they were 10 mils per rev like the gen 2 and with adequate spacing like the gen 2 razor...yeah I think it would have been nice; but, not necessary.
The turrets do spin more easily on the nightforce atacr in comparison, which maybe a nice feature in tactical comps b/c I would rather dial, and I spin fast. I'll have more input the next time I shoot a local comp.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Echoing covertnoob's sentiment, really the extra $1500 for this scope (actually its' more like extra $1000-1200 b/c retailers are discounting these FYI) is for the refined aspects and characteristics compared to the schmidt, minox, kahles, nightforce. The machining time that plays into the turrets, scope body, ocular adjustment etc. The design and engineering time behind it. For those of you whom are scope snobs, beware... buy once cry once is bullshit.
Hopefully this helps others make a decision on whether or not they want to blow $4k plus on a tangent theta. Also I found on several threads there is a lifetime forever warranty; but, I don't see that exact terminology in the manual or tangent's website (unless I'm blind). Armament states they "stand by" their products.
