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Waiting for somebody to do a side by side with the Steiner P4xi. I keep hearing that the Steiner has the best glass in the price range, but I really like my Raptor. The reticle is top notch.
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I can kinda do this. I can give you some initial impressions (read my post above). I am taking both to the range tomorrow, so hopefully I will have more to say.
Normally I would set up an eye chart and some of my wife's trendy magazine's pages at 100y and start comparing contrast, color, clarity, FOV, etc. But on an LPVO I don't really care. I wouldn't use an LPVO to shoot 1/2" groups, I just need to be able to see soda cans, clay pigeons, and rabbits at 200y, and I can do that easily with the Steiner and the PA. All are fixed-parallax scopes anyway, if we assume fixed at 100y, anything with modern lenses should be able to return adequate clarity at that distance. From my back door, the bricks on my back wall (10y away) and the leaves on my plants (same distance) are in focus at 4x and 6x respectively on the Steiner and PA. And the palm tree in my neighbor's yard at 200y. Beyond that, tiles on roofes are clear, if slightly out of focus. Both scopes are fantastic in the clarity department, overall.
Both are very bright during the day, I will have to get back to you about brightness at dusk. Slight edge on brightness goes to the Steiner, but I literally had to get behind each scope about a dozen times to come to that conclusion.
The PA image is warmer, more yellow.
The Steiner image is cooler, more blue.
The PA has noticable barrelling across all mag ranges. It was worse in the older SFP scopes. The Steiner has none.
The PA introduces CA as the target moves to the edges. The Steiner does not. I don't ever shoot at targets at the very edge of my scope, so I don't really care.
You already mentioned the usefulness of the reticle. The Steiner has a few stadia below center for elevation holds, but nothing for wind. Well, I guess that's not technically true. I'd say MINIMAL for wind. The ACSS is way more adapted to holding vs dialing.
The Steiner is SFP, if that matters (at this magnification range it doesn't, to me). The Steiner's turrets are terrible, mushy, and have too much play. If that matters. It doesn't to me.
I like the Steiner's big throw lever.
The Steiner is short.
The PA is lighter, at least in the mounts I am using.
If you pay MSRP for the Steiner, its a lot less of a deal. If you get it used or at a discount, its a fantastic deal. If you have access to Expert City, go look at the price on the Steiner. That alone should help you decide. I waited six weeks for mine to arrive, they estimated eight. They can be found on fleabay cheaply, from time to time.
If you want 2x more magnification on the top end to reach juuuuuust a wee bit further, the PA is the deal. I have never dealt with Burris for warranty issues but I know PA will back you 100%.
The PA comes with caps, the Steiner does not.
The PA can hold an extra battery, the Steiner cannot.
If you want an Aimpoint, and I do mean actually Aimpoint bright, get the Steiner. This alone shocked me when I saw it. Every budget-friendly LPVO I've ever got my hands on had terrible daytime illumination, if that sort of thing is what you need. I've read speculation that on optics like the USO, Steiner, S&B, Leupold etc, which include only a tiny illuminated center dot, they are able to achieve daytime- or near-daytime-brightness because the LED is focusing 100% of its photon energy on one tiny spot, vs a big reticle in other scopes. Makes sense to me. On the other hand, you have to decide for what purpose you will be using the scope. Run-and-gun, super bright tiny dot is great. But shooting targets at range in low light, like a coyote under at tree at dawn, I don't need daytime bright, just enough illumination to contrast the reticle against the dark background. The PA does that well.
The optic on my patrol rifle at work has been a 3x9 Leupold Mark IV for about the last 11 years, and I have become very proficient at using a non-illuminated reticle (the scope has illumination but I never use it) for very close work. Having said that, I used an Eotech for a few years daily alongside it, and fell in love with it (until all the glass started falling out of all of our Eotechs). Its going to depend on what you are used to (illum vs non, red dot vs magnified, dot vs x-hair) and/or what you intend to adapt to. There is room for both.
I like both. Different purposes with some overlap. The Steiner is on a fighting rifle with a non-standard barrel length. The PA is on a hunting rifle where I have a higher degree of probability of matching up the bullet's performance metrics with the reticle, and its the lightest rifle I have, so weight mattered. I do wish I could move the PA just a few MM further forward in the mount. Mostly my fault for being too lazy to swap mounts.
At the end of the day, I'm very glad I have both.
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If you have specific questions, I will try to answer them.