Re: Hensoldt and S&B
I've had both, and you can't go wrong with either. The Hensoldt doesn't have a zero stop, but after putting it in a 45 moa mount, it had exactly the same travel left under the zero as the 5-25- 0.5 mils. I actually preferred the turrets on the Hensoldt. To me, the S&B's turrets are hard to read accurately if your eye isn't directly behind the turret, where on the Hensoldts I can read them from any angle. The size of the package is much smaller on the Henny as well, but as Rob has pointed out in the past- I've never had the scope stick out past the muzzle, so from a practicality standpoint, it was a non issue.
On the other hand, my personal preferance is the Bender. I brought them to the range, and on the same magnification, side by side, the Bender had better resolution, though they both are so good that it is moot. I prefer the Benders reticle choices over the mildot- I have tried going through a series of different holds on target, and for me, I am much more accurate with half mil holds. To be fair, a Nh1 would do the same, my Hensoldt was a mil dot. The biggest reason for me to choose the Bender is because of the magnification. I don't use 25x to shoot, but it sure is nice for spotting. I don't often shoot at less than 8x, so the tunneling, while annoying, isn't a deal breaker.
So again, to me, the Schmidt and Bender 5-25 is the winner. I think if I were getting a 3-12 or a 4-16 though, the Hensoldt would win, and if the Hensoldt came in a 5-25 FFP with a good reticle, it would be tough to beat.
-Bob