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Debating between a Kahles K18i 1-8X24 3GR and a Nightforce ATACR 1-8X24 FDCM

stefan73

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  • Mar 6, 2006
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    As the title says I am debating between a Kahles K18i 1-8X24 3GR and a Nightforce ATACR 1-8X24 FDCM.

    What are your thoughts?
     
    For me, 1-8 is kind of a weird middle ground. The 1x isn't as good as a nice 1-6's, and the 8x isn't super great because parallax isn't adjustable on almost all 1-8's.

    If the choice has to be between NF and Kahles 1-8's though, I'd base it on how much you care about FFP and usable turrets. The NF turrets are actually really usable, and if I recall right are weatherproof even with the caps off (so you can just leave them off if you want), whereas with the kahles they're weatherproofed by the caps. Also they've got numbers on them, and the kahles I believe does not.

    Many people would never bother with the turrets on a 1-8, reasonably. I love my atacr, I just wish it had adjustable parallax.
     
    So, it sounds like a 1-6 is the better ground for my current AR .223 build. More reading to do, thanks for the responses.
     
    The 1-8 is just really, really long seeming. And the 1-6 is brighter, both in terms of optically and illumination.
     
    I'd try to side by side it before committing to a purchase. My atacr 1-8 has incredibly bright illumination, and is decently bright at 1x during dawn/dusk.
     
    I'd try to side by side it before committing to a purchase. My atacr 1-8 has incredibly bright illumination, and is decently bright at 1x during dawn/dusk.
    Yeah, the ATACR is great. I meant the Kahles 1-8.
     
    So not that I can swing any of these but why not the razor g3. It doesn't seem to get mentioned in these conversations and from reviews I watched seems like a solid option for the price$
     
    I'd try to side by side it before committing to a purchase. My atacr 1-8 has incredibly bright illumination, and is decently bright at 1x during dawn/dusk.
    My problem is that where I live that isn't an option.
     
    Eye box is bigger on the ATACR, but FOV is better on the Kahles. I like the image from the Kahles better in terms of clarity and size, while the ATACR has a lot of tunneling.

    ATACR reticle is much brighter, but the 1-8x Kahles is still daylight bright. I kind of like my 1-6x Kahles better then their 1-8x, except the reticle isn’t daylight bright.

    I have most of the popular LPVOs and if I had to buy another I don’t know what I would pick. What I mean is none are perfect and I think you would be happy with either.
     
    Darn it, now I'm looking at the Schmidt and Bender 1-8 PMII. This is as bad as asking my wife were we want to go to eat!
    The schmidt STILL doesn't have adjustable parallax.

    +1 to evo9's comment about the reticle. My ATACR has the reticle with the 2 minute dot... It's not a big deal, but I have to slap on an actual target for zeroing instead of just shooting at ipsc pasters.
     
    ... This is as bad as asking my wife were we want to go to eat! ...

    haha, where we live that's an easy choice "your place or mine" ... we have two kitchens, his and hers, mine upstairs, her's downstairs ... :D

    (we live in rural, nearest actual "restuarant" is 90m round trip, so that's a "never")
     
    The schmidt STILL doesn't have adjustable parallax.
    Yeah, for some reason, everyone making 1-8/1-10x optics but March missed the obvious, which is that adjustable parallax at that magnification makes a ton of sense...

    Maybe when someone goes nuts and builds an "LPVO" in the 1-12 range, then they will actually think to include the feature? :unsure:
     
    Yeah, for some reason, everyone making 1-8/1-10x optics but March missed the obvious, which is that adjustable parallax at that magnification makes a ton of sense...

    Maybe when someone goes nuts and builds an "LPVO" in the 1-12 range, then they will actually think to include the feature? :unsure:
    I get why. The first issue of the 2.5-10 nf didn’t have adjustable parallax either. Just sucks to wait for iteration, especially when you’re happy to be an early adopter
     
    I didn't want to drag this thread further into the weeds so started a separate thread on parallax features on LPVOs. Thought a separate discussion on specifics would be interesting. State your case.


    ./