As the interest in firearms has grown over the years, so has the interest in optics. From getting an optic on your handgun to putting a scope on your new prized rifle, sales have exploded. However, the challenge many face when choosing glass is knowing exactly what they are looking for or even looking at. Scope prices range from bargain-basement options to needing a second mortgage, and everything in between. To the uninitiated and honestly the uninformed, price drives many of their purchases. The result, in most cases, is buyer regret as their optic doesn’t perform as they would like it to. I speak confidently about this because, like many of you, there was a time when I did not really know what I was looking at. However, education and experience have served me well, and I would like to share what I have learned over the last 40 years. In short, price matters, and I am committed to the buy once – cry once philosophy. Quality optics take time and precision engineering to make, and that comes at a cost. One of the best in the professional-grade optics world is Steiner.

Steiner has been a leader in the optics world for almost 80 years. While they are well known in the shooting world for scopes, their first success came in the form of binoculars. In fact, they were the first company to produce binoculars that were nitrogen-filled. This helped eliminate fogging and avoid moisture contamination of the interior surfaces. The design was revolutionary, and the rest of the industry sprinted to try and copy their homework. That innovation has spilled over into their rifle optics division, and just like their binoculars, their scopes have changed the way people see high-performance scopes. One specific set of users is special operations troops. In situations where quality and reliability are critical to survival and mission success, teams around the world choose Steiner. While accolades like this are impressive, I believe it’s more important to understand what makes an optic exceptional. In short: What am I looking for in a high-performance optic?

First up, we need to look at the clarity of the glass and light transmission. This is where glass quality becomes critical. It is also one of the factors that drives the price of performance-based optics up. It is intensive time-consuming to produce, which translates to increased production costs. The phrase “you get what you pay for” is especially true here.

One of the benefits of high-quality glass is something called minimal chromatic aberration. You may not be totally aware of it, but if you have looked through a cheap scope, I can guarantee you have seen it. Chromatic aberration is where you can see multiple colors around the perimeter of the scope lens. In some serious cases, color aberration can even be seen in the subject you are looking at. The most common cause of this is a company trying to use a minimal number of lenses in the scope, and in turn, the light coming through isn’t focused correctly. Much like a prism, the light is separated into colors and can be easily seen. Steiner optics do not have this issue because they use multiple lenses to work together and provide a single focal point for all light wavelengths. 
 
With chromatic aberration solved, Steiner also worked to deal with the next biggest problem in optics – reflection. This is more than just light reflecting off the front of your scope’s objective lens. Instead, it refers to light being reflected by all lenses in your scope. We all know that that light reflects off glass, but what you may not realize is that any light reflected away is light lost in the optic. There is a phrase thrown around with optics that says that they have “Light gathering” capacity. That sounds interesting, but scopes do not gather light. They transmit it, and any reflection diminishes that. The goal is to reduce glare or reflection as much as possible. This then maximizes the available light transmitted through the scope and to your eye. The answer to this is the use of anti-reflective coatings, and in this case, the more, the better. 
 
I am sure you have seen advertisements for optics that say their lenses are coated. While any coating is better than no coating, we need to understand what is “good” and what is “best.” A coated lens does provide reflection dissipation, but “fully multi-coated” is the premium level of coating. This means that all surfaces of the scope’s lenses get multiple layers of anti-reflection coating. This not only helps with reflection but also provides us with a clearer, sharper image with greater contrast. An understated benefit of all this is a reduction in eye strain from being on the scope. If you have ever spent any time looking through a scope, you know that after some time, your eye begins to fatigue, and it becomes difficult to see what you are looking at. Clear, fully multi-coated, professional-grade glass almost completely eliminates this.

All these touchpoints are standard operations for Steiner. My career has given me the opportunity to travel internationally quite a bit; and during my travels, I’ve found Steiner as a staple in military and law enforcement. Steiners commitment to quality includes steps that others simply can’t replicate or just choose not to implement. This includes air-to-glass multi-coating their lenses with their proprietary mineral and rare earth compound formulations. This ensures maximum clarity and optimal light transmission and gives us a bright and high-contrast view through our scope. While their scope line is extensive, there is one specific optic that I am a fan of: The T6Xi 1-6×24.

The T6Xi 1-6×24 riflescope is an LPVO Optic from Steiner that was built in collaboration with Jon “Mochabear” Dufresne from Kinetic Consulting. The new optics include a new reticle design Steiner has named the KC-1. It is designed for fast target acquisition without the need to dial the scope when time doesn’t allow it. This line has several options as well, such as the choice of either caped or open turrets to fit your own personal or mission needs. It also includes a diopter locking ring to prevent inadvertent movement once the reticle is focused on the user’s eye. If you have ever carried a rifle across any serious terrain, you know how important this is. Another tip of the hat to serious shooters is the inclusion of a throw lever for magnification changes. It adjusts fast and easy even if you are wearing gloves. The entire line is made right here in the U.S.A.

While a quick overview of the optic shows promise, it only touches on how nice this scope is. I have been a fan of the LPVO (low-power variable optic) since it hit the market. It works across a variety of shooting situations and is, in essence, a multi-tasker. The T6Xi is the nicest LPVO I have used. First up is the incredible clarity of the glass. When you have spent time looking through less quality glass, a look through the T6Xi is like moving from old-school TV to HD. There is a very noticeable difference. Beyond that, the optic offers a spectrum of real-world application features. These include a 6x zoom range, an illuminated reticle, precision elevation and windage turrets, a throw lever, and a second rotation indicator. The optic is also waterproof, fog proof, and shockproof. In application, the scope works very well. The clarity of the glass cannot be overstated, and targets were easy to acquire during testing. The throw lever made moving from close contact targets to 400-yard targets easy and fast. The KC-1 reticle also made for quick and easy work with targets set at various distances around the range. When dialing was needed, the turrets offered solid, precise movement with good tactile feedback. They also stayed in place during hard use. A critical feature for me is the scope capacity to hold zero. Under heavy and professional use, many optics tend to drift. During testing, I zeroed the rifle at the beginning of the session and then ran it hard. This included several turret turns and changes for distances and applications. At the end of the day, I pushed all the spent brass aside and benched the gun one more time to check zero. The result was zero reticle movement during the testing. I attribute this to the quality of the overall scope, as well as the turret design, which was low profile and firm. There was no accidental movement on any of the turrets.

As I alluded to earlier, I have made some bad optics choices in the past. I was focused purely on price and was ultimately disappointed in my purchase. The Steiner T6Xi 1-6×24 is simply one of the finest pieces of glass that I have ever worn. It meets all of the performance criteria that I laid out above and even went beyond. My suggestion is that you take a serious look at this optic and add it to your list of critical gear. Don’t waste your money on cheap glass, but rather invest in an optic that will serve you for a lifetime. You will not regret it. 

Steiner T6Xi 1-6×24

• Objective Lens Diameter: 24 mm
• Magnification: 1 – 6 x
• Reticle: KC-1
• Tube Diameter: 30 mm
• Reticle Focal Plane: First Focal Plane (FFP)
• Exit Pupil: 4 – 10.3 mm
• Illumination Color: Red
• Field of View: Linear: 19 – 114 ft at 100 yds
• Eye Relief: 3.4 – 3.9 in
• Color: Black
• Weight: 20 oz
• Adjustment Click Value: 0.1 Mil Rad
• Length: 10.4 in
• Adjustment Type: Mil Rad
• Parallax: 100 yds
• Illumination Type: LED
• Battery Type: Lithium Metal, CR2450
• Operating Temperature: -13 – 145 Fahrenheit
• Water Resistance Level: Waterproof
• Shockproof: Yes
• Fog proof: Yes
• Magnification Type: Variable
• MSRP: $1954.99
• Manufacturer: Steiner; 1(888) 550-6255; steiner-optics.com