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Rifle Scopes Steiner M7Xi 4-28x56

I wouldn’t venture to guess technical differences in glass composition and/or coatings, but the optical platform is obviously considerably different than the M5Xi (5x vs. 7x mag range).

That being said, I always thought that the main disadvantage of the M5 was its glass. It’s not bad by any means but that design/product is a little dated at this point. I would put it on par with Razor Gen 2s, Kahles 6-24 (not 5-25), and similar. I’ve spent a fair amount of time behind all of these optics and am confident that most would share this same opinion.

The difference is immediately apparent looking through the M7Xi. Whether it’s because of the new optical chassis, the glass, coatings, etc. or a combination of factors, you can definitely tell that the new scope is in a different world as far as IQ goes. As I said before, this is largely subjective as everyone’s eyes see/react differently, however I’m also confident that people who have the opportunity to look through both will be able to tell a considerable difference.

When you get into this price range, I tend to believe that everything is a little “nit-picky,” and rightfully so for how much $$$ we shell out for these new optics. But so far, this M7Xi has not left anything to be desired as far as I’m concerned, especially with regards to the turrets and glass quality.
 
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just browsing said:
I wouldn’t venture to guess technical differences in glass composition and/or coatings, but the optical platform is obviously considerably different than the M5Xi (5x vs. 7x mag range).

That being said, I always thought that the main disadvantage of the M5 was its glass. It’s not bad by any means but that design/product is a little dated at this point. I would put it on par with Razor Gen 2s, Kahles 6-24 (not 5-25), and similar. I’ve spent a fair amount of time behind all of these optics and am confident that most would share this same opinion.

The difference is immediately apparent looking through the M7Xi. Whether it’s because of the new optical chassis, the glass, coatings, etc. or a combination of factors, you can definitely tell that the new scope is in a different world as far as IQ goes. As I said before, this is largely subjective as everyone’s eyes see/react differently, however I’m also confident that people who have the opportunity to look through both will be able to tell a considerable difference.

When you get into this price range, I tend to believe that everything is a little “nit-picky,” and rightfully so for how much $$$ we shell out for these new optics. But so far, this M7Xi has not left anything to be desired as far as I’m concerned, especially with regards to the turrets and glass quality.
Click to expand...

Thanks browsing, that's what I was hoping to hear. I've a similar opinion of the M5Xi, having owned 2 25X's and currently a older 16X. The 16X is noticeably better, was hoping the new models were at least the same or better than my model. Time to save up my money.
 
Good stuff Just Browsing.

The M7Xi's eyebox is really something. I pulled the scope out of the box, took it outside— I'm just free handing it. It's snowing. The FOV is smashing. Then I crank the mag ring. My brain is like "wow". The image is bright and crisp and the eye-box is gaping. I'm just standing here in the cold, out in the open, unbraced, not leaning on anything. It's so easy to get behind. So easy, I begin to doubt I'd turned it all the way up. In disbelief, I check and now my mind is replaying the last several moments. I'm literally a little bewildered. I check again. Yup, it's at 28x.

I really couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Today at the range, it's 18ºF, and despite the cold, I managed the controls just fine. Clicks are stiff. At first, I had to be a little careful I didn't run past an adjustment. Not a problem, just a different feel.

The way the scope handles parallax is interesting. I'm probably coining a phrase here, but depth of parallax is sort of shallow. Oddly, the way it's handled makes fine tuning really easy. The parallax knob is stiff, not Kahles stiff, and adjustments are distinct. Turing the dial you go from blurry to blurry with a nice fat sliver of sweet spot in-between.

The diopter adjustment is circa 2003 fast-focus-eyepiece fast. My first impression lamented it wasn't stiffer or locking or both. Flip caps quickly become unintentional levers when seated on diopter rings. This diopter ring didn't need a lever. At this point, this is really my only gripe.

As JP stated above there's every indication illumination is well executed. I ran through the illumination ranges, there are two—daylight and twilight and tested settings against various backgrounds across the magnification range. While, some might wish daylight bright be a bit brighter, particularly at the lowest magnification settings, I'm sure it would come at a cost—weight, dollars, battery life, loss of refinement at higher mags, etc.

I love the way the battery compartment works. There's no prying. The battery just falls out when the cover is removed. This is a great improvement over the battery holder du jour, the one it seems like everyone else is using. The one requiring a knife or bionic lady-fingernail to pry a CR2032 from it's grip...

The box contained a scope with two flip caps attached, a ziplock bag containing a hex wrench, and another enclosing a lens cleaning cloth. That's it. No paperwork, warranty card, manual, nada... Spartan. I actually double checked the box seal thinking it might have been opened. It wasn't.

I wish it'd come with a manual, but I like it.
 
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kingston said:
Good stuff Just Browsing.

The M7Xi's eyebox is really something. I pulled the scope out of the box, took it outside— I'm just free handing it. It's snowing. The FOV is smashing. Then I crank the mag ring. My brain is like "wow". The image is bright and crisp and the eye-box is gaping. I'm just standing here in the cold, out in the open, unbraced, not leaning on anything. It's so easy to get behind. So easy, I begin to doubt I'd turned it all the way up. In disbelief, I check and now my mind is replaying the last several moments. I'm literally a little bewildered. I check again. Yup, it's at 28x.

I really couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Today at the range, it's 18ºF, and despite the cold, I managed the controls just fine. Clicks are stiff. At first, I had to be a little careful I didn't run past an adjustment. Not a problem, just a different feel.

The way the scope handles parallax is interesting. I'm probably coining a phrase here, but depth of parallax is sort of shallow. Oddly, the way it's handled makes fine tuning really easy. The parallax knob is stiff, not Kahles stiff, and adjustments are distinct. Turing the dial you go from blurry to blurry with a nice fat sliver of sweet spot in-between.

The diopter adjustment is circa 2003 fast-focus-eyepiece fast. My first impression lamented it wasn't stiffer or locking or both. Flip caps quickly become unintentional levers when seated on diopter rings. This diopter ring didn't need a lever. At this point, this is really my only gripe.

As JP stated above there's every indication illumination is well executed. I ran through the illumination ranges, there are two—daylight and twilight and tested settings against various backgrounds across the magnification range. While, some might wish daylight bright be a bit brighter, particularly at the lowest magnification settings, I'm sure it would come at a cost—weight, dollars, battery life, loss of refinement at higher mags, etc.

I love the way the battery compartment works. There's no prying. The battery just falls out when the cover is removed. This is a great improvement over the battery holder du jour, the one it seems like everyone else is using. The one requiring a knife or bionic lady-fingernail to pry a CR2032 from it's grip...

The box contained a scope with two flip caps attached, a ziplock bag containing a hex wrench, and another enclosing a lens cleaning cloth. That's it. No paperwork, warranty card, manual, nada... Spartan. I actually double checked the box seal thinking it might have been opened. It wasn't.

I wish it'd come with a manual, but I like it.
Click to expand...
Whats the total elev adj?
 
If the impressions and reviews keep on this positive note, they are going to sell a boat load of these scopes.
 
Kingston -

We share similar thoughts. Still need to put it through it’s paces to ensure that it’s up to par mechanically (I have no reason to believe that it won’t be), but otherwise there’s a lot of good and so far, nothing really “bad.” Some of it will take some getting used to - stiffer turrets, parallax, and fast focus diopter - but none of this strikes me as poorly designed or executed, just different.

I also took notice of the contents included in the box (or lack thereof), but then went on to think about how much stuff is included with other optics and just how little I use them... 95% of ‘accessories’ stay in the box and never get touched. It’s also pretty cool to think that Steiner knows a pair of scope caps is just about all that’s needed to make a customer feel good about their purchase. No need for a shade or fancy tools or anything. Put out a good product at a good price point and you don’t need to worry about the rest.

Good to hear I’m not the only one liking what I’m seeing so far.
 
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Based on Kinston and JB it sounds like Steiner really did their homework with the M7Xi which is what I was hoping. The M5Xi was a pricey bugger and many thought it fell a bit short optically compared to other scopes in the price class, but it sounds like Steiner was able to reduce the price, increase optical quality and increase magnification while decreasing weight and length without many compromises. One of the few knocks against the Kahles K525i is that it suffers a bit in FOV and also in IQ towards the top range of the magnification, but based on Kingston's observations it sounds like the Steiner is most impressive in this area! I have an order in for a Schmidt 3-20 with MSR2 but am wondering if I should switch to the 4-28...
 
wjm308 said:
Based on Kinston and JB it sounds like Steiner really did their homework with the M7Xi which is what I was hoping. The M5Xi was a pricey bugger and many thought it fell a bit short optically compared to other scopes in the price class, but it sounds like Steiner was able to reduce the price, increase optical quality and increase magnification while decreasing weight and length without many compromises. One of the few knocks against the Kahles K525i is that it suffers a bit in FOV and also in IQ towards the top range of the magnification, but based on Kingston's observations it sounds like the Steiner is most impressive in this area! I have an order in for a Schmidt 3-20 with MSR2 but am wondering if I should switch to the 4-28...
Click to expand...
Since both offer msr2..between the sb 3-30 and 4-28 one is definitely bigger in size. For target purpose id say the Steiner..but for all purpose maybe hunt rifle here and there the 3-20 would be my choice..IMO
 
So far everything sounds promising. I'm still gun shy from the 25X models but if I can get a chance to look through one I'll have to sell my 16X and really need more money.

You guys that have one, what reticle are you running?
 
MSR2 for me but I am partial to non-tree reticles. To me they are overhyped and under-used. There are - at most - 2 or 3 stages a year out of Lord knows how many that I wish I had one. Otherwise they just get in the way and clutter the sight picture.

And that’s not even to say that the MSR2 is “bad” for hold-overs, quite the opposite actually. Just pointing out that having to hold over elevation and windage is rarely something that I am required to do so dealing without it those 2-3 times a year is worth it for the rest.
 
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bjay said:
Since both offer msr2..between the sb 3-20 and 4-28 one is definitely bigger in size. For target purpose id say the Steiner..but for all purpose maybe hunt rifle here and there the 3-20 would be my choice..IMO
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Thank bjay, that is what I've been waffling with, most of my rigs are all-purpose hunt as you put it...
 
bjay said:
Whats the total elev adj?
Click to expand...

Total elevation is “only” 27 mils.

On the bright side, zeroing is a piece of cake. Loosen 2 of 3 set screws and the turret spins freely without clicking. It does not come off completely and there is no cap or anything to remove. Simply zero the rifle using the turrets, loosen the set screws, and spin the turret to zero. Re-tighten and you’re done. No ZS to mess with - it’s .2 below zero and that’s where it stays.
 
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How much elevation adjustment are you getting? What round, what Moa on your base and rings? :)
 
hk dave said:
How much elevation adjustment are you getting? What round, what Moa on your base and rings? :)
Click to expand...

Will let you know tomorrow. 20MOA Impact rail + 20MOA MPA mount... probably overkill for a 6mm but I had it laying around.
 
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Looking at the trends, I think we will see several products that qualify as "more accessible to the rest of us".

The very high end is extremely saturated at the moment with several compelling designs.

The $1k to $2k market has several excellent 56mm scopes that top out around 30x. However, there is almost nothing that is small, compact and light. Call it a "precision gas gun scope". Manufacturers pay attention and I think we will see some competition there.

ILya
 
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hk dave said:
How much elevation adjustment are you getting? What round, what Moa on your base and rings? :)
Click to expand...

20moa rail, 20moa MPA mount
6mm Comet - 105 Hybrids @ 3,000 fps
6.5mm GAP 4S - 150 SMKs @ 3,150 fps

25.5 total mils w/ zero at 100 yards gets me over 1 mile with the 6mm and over 2k with the 6.5... if I really wanted to shoot either of them that far.
 
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Could any of you guys provide any input on what a "Like New" Steiner MX5i 5-25x56 with the G2B Mil Dot reticle is selling for. Thank you for your time.
 
jwknutson17 said:
Nice. Prob could ditch one of the 20 moa mounts then? Bring it back a little into center..
Click to expand...

I would probably leave it as-is on the GAP since I could feasibly want to dial that far at some point. On the 6mm (it’s home for the time being) I’m going to throw some rings on it and call it good.

Second M7 will be ordered... as soon as the wifey gets the new house she wants.
 
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Had a chance to put it through it’s paces today in some very unfavorable conditions.

We got about 6” of fresh powder last night and the sun was out today. Super bright conditions. Handles CA very well. Very small traces of it are noticeable looking at certain things against bright backgrounds (t-posts, tree limbs, etc.), but overall it’s very good at controlling high contrast situations.

Mechanically it is spot on. No issues with zeroing, dialing, or returning to zero. I will run a box test at 200 yards to determine the actual correction factor but it will be right up there based on how it shot out to 1k yards.

It was a great day for watching trace when the sun went behind the clouds. I was able to watch rounds into the target starting at 400 yards. Spotting other rounds was a breeze as well. The clarity in this thing is excellent when the parallax and diopter adjustments are set correctly. Those two adjustments do take a little fine tuning - some of which I attributed to the overall harsh conditions today - but do take some getting used to. That’s about the only thing I can point to as a “gripe” from my experience thus far, so I’ll be interested to hear what others think as they start rolling in.
 
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My M7Xi is now in service since several months. I have many premium scopes from Kahles, Zeiss, Schmidt & Bender, but this M7xi is really outperforming all of them. The clarity and contrast is just amazing and mechanic is accurate. I still can't believe how Steiner can produce such a great scope at this price.
 
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.338master said:
My M7Xi is now in service since several months. I have many premium scopes from Kahles, Zeiss, Schmidt & Bender, but this M7xi is really outperforming all of them. The clarity and contrast is just amazing and mechanic is accurate. I still can't believe how Steiner can produce such a great scope at this price.
Click to expand...
In service???
 
I compared it with the Zeiss Victory 6-24x56 and S&B PM II 5-25x56. Both scopes are around 10 years old.

I put up a paper target at 100m, 300m and 500m. The target was marked with letters in different dimensions. (Similar to the test at the eye specialists) Comparison was done during different light conditions. I used each scope at same magnification and tried to read the lowest numbers in the centre and at the edge. The biggest difference I saw at low light conditions. M7Xi was the only scope I could see the bullet hole at 500 meters.
 
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What about parallax and diopter focus sensitivity? Is this scope easy to focus so there is no parallax? Somebody mentioned it’s a little finicky. You would be a second opinion.
 
I needed to play for around 20 sec to have the right settings. My eyes are still very good. The diopter setting was around - 0,3. Parallaxe adjustment was easy. What I did like is that the Parallax nob is moving smooth, but not too easy.
 
CCW for all U.S. models. I believe there are some European versions floating around with CW turrets, but anything ordered here will come with counterclockwise turrets unless otherwise specified.
 
The M7Xi 4-28 was not available until June so I am having the Schmidt 3-20 with MSR2 shipped this week, I might be coming back and asking if someone would like to swap with some cash for the Ultra Short if I continue to hear such awesomeness from the M7Xi, but at this point it's almost sounding too good to be true.
 
wjm308 said:
The M7Xi 4-28 was not available until June so I am having the Schmidt 3-20 with MSR2 shipped this week, I might be coming back and asking if someone would like to swap with some cash for the Ultra Short if I continue to hear such awesomeness from the M7Xi, but at this point it's almost sounding too good to be true.
Click to expand...

Let me know when your US comes in. I have 2 of the m7xi's inbound next week. Was going to order up the US 3-20 MSR2 at some point to try out. I'll optic swap one of them with you for a week or two for T&E if you want to try one out. As I would like to see what the 3-20 US is about too.

Or if you're in Colorado, we could meet up for an afternoon to shoot.
 
jwknutson17 said:
Let me know when your US comes in. I have 2 of the m7xi's inbound next week. Was going to order up the US 3-20 MSR2 at some point to try out. I'll optic swap one of them with you for a week or two for T&E if you want to try one out. As I would like to see what the 3-20 US is about too.

Or if you're in Colorado, we could meet up for an afternoon to shoot.
Click to expand...
I am in Colorado, just sent you a PM
 
My M7Xi arrived today. It was too dark outside to compare the glass to the M5 by the time I got home.
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just browsing said:
Click to expand...


Doesn't look like it can get much better then that. Glad the windage is about identical to the elevation from the way it looks. A lot of optics cant replicate the feel and sound from one to the other. This keeps getting better.
 
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