Before mounting it at home I directly compared it to a Meopro 4.5-14x44 which is an amazing 1" tubed scope for the money. Viewing street signs from 40 yards to 300 yards, It was very evident the Steiner has better glass in all regards. Viewing the hillside behind my house at a range of 1,028 Yards, the Steiner was very clear and even though the max power is 16x, it was very easy to pick out details in the cheat grass/rimrocks and red bushes. Contrast in this scope is very good, as is the resolution.
Back at the RANGE:
You can never evaluate glass without having a direct comparison. So, I had my Howa Alpine with LRTS 3-12 Bushnell Elite Tactical at the range as well. I can tell you the Steiner is a noticeable bit more clear. Particularly on the edge to edge clarity. Both scopes seemed close to the same brightness when the sun came out. However, in the rain and dark cloud cover, the Steiner was more "bright". Not by much, but I could see the difference. Not exactly fair due to 44mm vs 56mm objectives, but is what it is. What stood out the most was the depth of field, color pop, and contrast the Steiner has. It was very nice to look through, the eye box is amazing. Eye relief is great and very easy to "get behind", even with my Not so optimal ring height. Scope was crystal clear to my eyes. Really just looks like your looking with your naked eye, just closer. Reticle focus was easy and I never had to mess with it after initial setup of the fast focus eye piece. The parallax adjustment worked perfectly and smoothly.
I did not notice any severe chromatic aberrations, even though I believe my eyes are really not sensitive to that anyway, so it may pop up more to someone else. I know that others have noticed it to a small degree in this model of Steiner. In my pics you can see some, but while shooting I never noticed. It also was WET everywhere and in my experience, WET/Cloudy with sunshine really brings out the CA......think "rainbow".
Ridge line............300 yards away(ranged). The Tree Top behind the skyline is 520 yards away.......scope set on 16X
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100 yards (through scope pic just to show reticle size at 16x............obviously it doesn't show glass quality)
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https://i.imgur.com/qj8snuv.jpg?1[/img]
All in all, my first impressions of this scope are VERY HIGH. It's only a few ounces heavier( like 4 ounces) than the Bushnell Elite Tactical 3-12 LRTS.....on my scale. For $100 more than the Elite Tactical, you are getting much more scope.....in my opinion. Assuming your fine with 56mm objective, 16x top end, and 34mm Tube, I think this Steiner is indeed a "best buy".
Here is where I'd buy one.................before they are all gone.
https://cameralandny.com/shop/stein...0136-2c97-00163ecd2826?variation=1857314Maybe Doug will send me the next one for FREE
.....(a guy can wish right?)
