Home AR-15 AR-15 The Ultimate 1-6X Scope

AR-15 The Ultimate 1-6X Scope

1390
43

My top 5 1-6x scopes: The Vortex Strike Eagle, The Leupold VX6 FireDot BDC, The Vortex Razor HD Gen II, The Kahles K16i SM1, and The Swarovski Z6i BRT-I.

Some qualifiers: Must be Second Focal Plane as First Focal Plane isn’t useful except at higher magnifications, IMO. Must have covered turrets since they protect your zero better and you shouldn’t need to dial for elevation when you can just use the faster BDC/MIL drops.

More scope-specific details:

1. Vortex Strike Eagle – The Primary Arms 1-6X ACSS is essentially the same scope so choose whichever reticle you like best. Personally, I preferred the ACSS reticle but I leaned Vortex due to their warranty and CS.

2. Leupold VX-6 – Due to the clunky illum knob, I’d suggest setting your max brightness indoors (i.e. blinks 5 times at max) and then letting the sleep and wake sensor do its magic. That way, you won’t have to adjust in bright sunlight as it’s hard to see in those conditions. Another consideration at the same price level is the Trijicon TR25. I prefer the VX-6’s BDC drops as I found the TR25’s MIL and MOA Dot drops were too widely spaced apart. Also, the VX-6 is 5 ounces lighter, however, the TR25 has slightly better daylight illumination.
VX6 UPDATE: I’ve since switched my illumination from green to red through Leupold CS. The brightness remains the same but the red now makes it easier to see in daylight. I’d recommend anyone purchasing the FireDot BDC to do the same.

3. Vortex Razor – If you have an early model with the stiff zoom lever, contact Vortex to loosen the zoom lever or ask them for DIY instructions.

4. Kahles K16i – Having shot the Burris XTRII 1-5x with the CQ MIL reticle, I know how something like the SM1 reticle with half mils can feel cluttered when shooting at distance. The G4B crosshair reticle may be a better choice.

5. Swarovski Z6i – This was a Gen 1 model. The current model is Gen 2, which has a reinforced zoom lever and a new sleep/wake sensor. Other than that, they are essentially the same scopes.

For 1X testing, paper targets ranged from 5-20 yards. For 6X testing, 10″ MGM flash targets ranged at 200, 300 and 400 yards.

All BDC drops were generated from Strelok Pro using 55gr with BC of .243 going 3000fps.

These videos could not be produced without the invaluable help of Max. Check him out on IG:

Lastly, my plans are for this to be my final review video. So, no other plans for the channel. Many thanks for watching and wishing everyone the best. See you guys on the range!

Note to readers: Please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, social media, internet forums. etc.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

43 COMMENTS

  2. Wow! Great review, very professionally done with great camera work….and some excellent shooting, too!

    I always second guessed the Vortex Strike Eagle, as my personal choice. It's been getting some bad reviews for longer distance shooting and knocks on its edge sharpness/glass quality. There aren't many other choices in this price range other than the Primary Arms. Many like yourself prefer the ACSS reticle. A few reviews said it's the same scope, but preferred the Vortex warranty and customer service, as you stated in your comments above.

    One other point is that there aren't many choices between say $350 up to $1K. You didn't have one (that you recommended) in that price range. The Leupold came close at just over $1K.

    I'm not a 3 gun guy or a competitive shooter, nor am I military or police. I looked mainly for value. So, I settled on the Strike Eagle, coupled with the Burris P.E.P.R. mount. I got it on a nice discounted package deal from Brownells.

    I don't regret getting the Strike Eagle, as it's a good value for the money. I just wished it did a bit better on a few fronts.

    Thanks for the excellent video. Too bad it was your final review video. It was very well done, enlightening and helpful.
    😎👍🏻🇺🇸💥

  7. SuperSetCA, I am looking for someone to create firearms videos for my company Desert Tech. If you are interested please call us 801-975-7272 and talk to my marketing director Mike.

  13. What a bunch of horse crap.. they go from a $300 scope to a $1200 scope and then even higher as if they are all in the same quality class. This is nothing but clever marketing to sell the Strike Eagle. Not all that clever actually.

  14. This is the best scope comparison video I've ever seen. What camera and editing software did you guys use? What mounts for the camera to the ocular piece of the optics? Would love to know gents.

  18. Leopold scopes always have really tight magnification rings. I’ve had 3 they were all that way. I just wish they put the primary arms in here that ACSS reticle is hard to beat it’s just a really heavy optic.

  22. WHAT A JOKE.. starts off with a $300 scope and jumps to over $1000??? LOL.. Nothing but marketing bull shit to sell the $300 scope… People actually fall for this garbage?

  27. Extremely stupid review pulls sneaky marking trick going from a $300 scope and pretends its in the same class as $1000 and $2000 scopes. Hey, if you're in a budget market for a sub $500 scope, then the review should stick to sub $500 scopes.. Same with the $1000+ scopes. But to stick a $300 scope into the same recommendation category as the $1000+ scopes just screams "I want to sell lots of the $300 units". Sneaky marketing.

  33. I think i would actually PAY to watch these on Patreon…. and i have never even been on Patreon. BUT FOR THESE KINDS OF QUALITY VIDEOS ? OH HELL YES !!!!
    Please PLEASE PLEASE CONSIDER IT !!!!!!!

  39. For those interested in the Leupold VX6, if you get the Red firedot reticle it is definitely daylight bright. However I had issues with mine flickering under recoil. It could have been just a fluke with my optic but I sold it instead of sending it in for repairs.

Leave a Reply