Delta Stryker HD 5-50x56...

[Alex Wheeler]

I guess tactical is where the money is. I talk with hunters all the time and theres a huge gap. Nothing out there for a lightweight with good features. The VX6HD is the only thing close.

 

[JRS]

I guess tactical is where the money is. I talk with hunters all the time and theres a huge gap. Nothing out there for a lightweight with good features. The VX6HD is the only thing close.

Weight is the biggest reason I prefer a fixed power scope and 1" tube, though my VX-7 2.5-10x45 with 30mm tube weighs only 19 oz.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

They are heavy as a brick. March is the only one making a light weight, high mag scope.

The gap isn't too big. But I agree there's a gap. Just depends on how much magnification and elevation a person wants. If a person could put up with FFP, many companies are making their reticles a lot thinner so they don't cover up the target quite so bad on the long range shots. Still, I personally cannot stand FFP reticles. But a lot of people like them.

Delta makes a 3-24x50 that weighs in at 23 oz. if a guy wants a versatile lightweight hunting scope. I just picked up an Athlon Midas 4.5-27x50 which is another lightweight option. However, hunting is not my main intention for the Delta 5-50x56, at least not in the mountains.

If a guy wants all the bells and whistles with a lot of elevation on a turret theres gonna be some weight to it if it's built to withstand abuse.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Everything will be compared against my Kahles K 10-50x56 MOAK.

First impressions after arriving home today... The Delta is very well built. The 1/10 mil turrets are nice and big with 15 MIL per revolution. Clicks are nice. They are solid and don't leave slop. Though the K1050 feels more crisp and precise in this department.

The Delta glass does not resolve through heavy mirage as well as the Kahles, BUT the Delta resolves better than the Kahles in low light when there is less mirage. The Delta gives much better color contrast and true color rendition. The Delta glass is a much brighter image as well and avoids the white washout effect in low light that the K1050 gives. I will do more optical tests with both scopes when I get them mounted together on the scope tester.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

One thing I have picked up on lately. Optics ability to resolve mirage. I had a 6-24 kahles and a 2.5-25 march on the bench, and there was twice as much mirage in the march. That could be good or bad, but it is very noticeable. The kahles scopes seem to see less mirage than anything else.

 

[Earnhardt]

Everything will be compared against my Kahles K 10-50x56 MOAK.

First impressions after arriving home today... The Delta is very well built. The 1/10 mil turrets are nice and big with 15 MIL per revolution. Clicks are nice. They are solid and don't leave slop. Though the K1050 feels more crisp and precise in this department.

The Delta glass does not resolve through heavy mirage as well as the Kahles, BUT the Delta resolves better than the Kahles in low light. The Delta gives much better color contrast and true color rendition. The Delta glass is a much brighter image as well and avoids the white washout effect in low light that the K1050 gives. I will do more optical tests with both scopes when I get them mounted together on the scope tester.

Keep the info comin' man!
Thanks!

 

[Ledd Slinger]

One thing I have picked up on lately. Optics ability to resolve mirage. I had a 6-24 kahles and a 2.5-25 march on the bench, and there was twice as much mirage in the march. That could be good or bad, but it is very noticeable. The kahles scopes seem to see less mirage than anything else.

I would agree on this 100%. The Kahles slices through mirage like nothing I've ever seen before.

 

[johara1]

I would agree on this 100%. The Kahles slices through mirage like nothing I've ever seen before.

Why is that good? the mirage is still there..... or am I missing something, if you turn the power down you get the same effect but again the mirage is still there. jim

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Jim, its neither good or bad. If things are really clean you'd probably wish you could see more mirage. But if its a nasty mirage day the Kahles will resolve the target better. You have to look through one and decide if its your thing or not.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Why is that good? the mirage is still there..... or am I missing something, if you turn the power down you get the same effect but again the mirage is still there. jim

You can still see some mirage, just nothing on the level that you will find through other optics. Would definitely have to watch the lesser amount of mirage more closely for wind changes. I like it because even with heavy mirage, the K1050 is still very useable at max power. Always hear guys sayin they turn scopes down to 35x or 40x with heavy mirage, but with the Kahles you can stay on 50x no problem.

Its one of my favorite features about the glass. Others may not like it. Personal preference. Like Alex said, you just have to look through one on a day with heavy mirage. It's quite amazing how well it can resolve images on 50x where other optics just leave you with a wavy blur.

PS:* And I'm not just talking about the normal LR ranges. I am able to resolve objects at over 2K in heavy mirage at 50x with the K1050.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Getting the scope tester setup. The Kahles K1050 will sit in the NightForce Xtreme Duty one piece mount, the Delta in the new UTG Pro 34mm rings. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to test until next weekend. But I can mount the scope tester on my tripod and do some more optical comparisons.




The Delta is actually about an inch or so shorter than the K1050, but the Delta utilizes a longer sunshade. So when both scopes have their sunshades they are about the same length.

I will also add that the Delta comes with a sunshade. I had to purchase the sunshade for my K1050 separately. Not a significant extra cost at $60, but something worth noting on the K1050.

 

[#40Fan]

In for results, but there has to be an easier way to make a pair of binoculars.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Following

 

[hillbill]

I have a friend with the same Delta, he is really impressed with the glass quality, so far he is impressed with the scope overall but the jury is still out on tracking and durability.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Did a little early Sunday morning optics comparison...

Mounted the scopes on a tripod and just went through some paces while viewing a spot a little over 2K. Very little mirage, but a bit of haze.

After this morning, I will have to say that overall the Kahles resolves a little better at long range on 50x. Heavy mirage or not. For one reason is that the Kahles has a larger focus wheel that allows for finer adjustment. Goes to 800, then infinity. The Delta is smaller wheel that goes to 300, then infinity. But mostly, I think the Kahles resolves better at long range simply due to the fact that the glass is so much less affected by all atmospheric conditions. Mirage, haze, whatever. The Kahles stays nice and sharp through just about anything. Not sure how they pull it off, but it really is quite amazing. The Delta is nice and sharp on max power in good to decent conditions, but in heavy mirage, you definitely have to crank the power down to about 40x.

The reticle on the 2 scopes are almost identical. Love them both. Nice simple uncluttered light hash marks with a floating dot in the center. Probably my favorite reticle style of all.

You will notice the "white washout" effect Kahles uses to brighten the image in my photos. Some of the Zeiss glass does the same thing. Not one of my favorite glass features, but some folks like it. I personally prefer truer color rendition with greater contrast. The Delta definitely gives you an image with nice rich true colors. The photos through the scopes were taken with both set on 20x viewing a clearing at about 2200 yards. I couldn't hold my phone steady enough to get good pics on higher mag ranges. Too much coffee

The two scopes set up this morning. You can see the Delta is actually a shorter scope than the Kahles, but they even out in length with their sunshades attached.




Image wit the Kahles on 20x. Notice the whitewash effect in low light conditions. Tho still a very nice sharp image edge to edge.



The image with the Delta on 20x. Much richer true colors. Provides plenty of brightness without compromising color rendition.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Side note: I really like the UTG Pro 34mm rings so far. Very well made. I was very skeptical at only $50 shipped, but have been impressed with UTG as of late with some things. These new "Pro" series rings are very nice. Finish is top notch and they have an elegant moderized low profile design. Good looking rings for sure.

The rings have recoil lugs machined into the base that are identical to what is found in Seekins rings. Yet rather than using 2 base fastening screws of the Seekins, the UTG has a large center torx screw with 2 heavy duty steel guide pins on either side of the screw. Guide pins have springs behind them to keep the clamp perfectly straight and tight against the center screw head at all times. A very nice touch to the design details.

The finish is also a bit different than I've seen on other rings. It provides far better grip than other rings I've used. You set a scope in the rings with the tops still off and you can immediately tell the difference. The screws on the top caps are much larger heavy duty screws than most rings as well. Very nice. I have no doubt these rings will withstand recoil and abuse as well as anything out there.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

Weight is the biggest reason I prefer a fixed power scope and 1" tube, though my VX-7 2.5-10x45 with 30mm tube weighs only 19 oz.

Haven’t heard of this Leupold model before, and now they quit making it. I own many Leupold’s. The main thing I don’t like is that their line is changing pretty fast these days. I wanted to swap reticles in a scope that was only two years old, a VX-6, but they said the internals are different now and they couldn’t do it, even though it was the same size VX-6 A-BxC with 34 mm tube. I know the competition in this market segment must be pretty tough.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Haven’t heard of this Leupold model before, and now they quit making it. I own many Leupold’s. The main thing I don’t like is that their line is changing pretty fast these days. I wanted to swap reticles in a scope that was only two years old, a VX-6, but they said the internals are different now and they couldn’t do it, even though it was the same size VX-6 A-BxC with 34 mm tube. I know the competition in this market segment must be pretty tough.

You've lost me. This thread has nothing to do with Leupold scopes.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

You've lost me. This thread has nothing to do with Leupold scopes.

True. Sorry for the rabbit trail, and thanks for the review on the Delta.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I ran the scopes through the paces again at a 1500 yard cliff in bright sunlight and medium mirage. Again the Kahles resolved a little better to me. The color on the Kahles is definitely better in the sunlight, but still not as good as the Delta. The Delta resolves quite well in the medium levels of mirage. Definitely very useable at 1.5K on 50x. Had no issues picking out details on the rock face.

I'm still not sure if I could call one glass better than the other because they are so different. The Kahles has the edge in long range resolution with how it cuts through atmosphere so well, but the color in the Delta is so much better. And the Delta is no slouch in resolution either. It actually cuts mirage very well compared to other optics I've tested.

So to pick apart the finer details I wound them both down to 10x and set them on a leaf tree at 100 yards. Having never done this before with these two optics, I first looked through the Kahles. My first impression was "Wow! That's an amazing image!" Very detailed with ultra high resolution and good color rendition at this range.

So next I moved my eye to the Delta on 10x. First impression was "HOLY COW!!! That's even better than the Kahles!" The colors were so rich and true. I suddenly noticed very small darker colored berries hidden in the leaves of the tree that popped out at me due to the phenomenal color contrasting. Hadnt noticed the berries when looking through the Kahles. Looked back in the Kahles and could tell the color of the berries definitely blended in with the leaves more and were harder to pick out due to lower contrast. The Delta really is a world class image.

So I turned the scopes up to 30x and pointed them both back at the 1500 yard cliff. I decided I wanted a completely unbiased opinion on the 2 types of glass from someone who has no idea what they are looking through. So I called my wife over to look through them both. I asked her to just tell me which one she liked better. She started out with her face right up against the scope eyepiece. LOL! I had to pull her back saying "honey, this isn't the spotting scope, you have to keep your eye back about 4 inches" So she had it figired out, she went back and forth looking at the cliff. She finally came away and pointed to the Delta and said "Definitely this one". I asked her why? She said because the other one seemed zoomed out farther and she couldnt see as much detail. I explained that the Kahles has a wider field of view, but she said she didnt like it. So I turned them both up to 50x and told her to just pay attention to detail and colors and tell me which image is more pleasing. She came away and again pointed to the Delta. Said "I just like that one better."

To me the Kahles resolves a little better at long range through mirage, but like my wife, I also feel the Delta image is more pleasing. So honestly I can't say which one is better optically. It would completely be personal preference of the shooter. I honestly like them both and I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Plans have changed now so I will try to do some zero hold and tracking testing this week.