Review: Meopta Optika6 2.5-15x44i rifle scope

The best thing about the Meopta Optika6 2.5-15×44 scope is that it hits the sweet spot between a practical stalking-rifle scope and a longer-range one.

Its 6x magnification ratio, running from a mere 2.5x up to a generous 15x, will serve you well for large and small game at just about every distance you’re likely to shoot them from, bar the extremely close and ballistically way-distant.

Meopta Optika6 2.5-15x44 review — The Optika6 2.5-15x44i is a good fit on an all-round hunting rifle

Its weight of 820 grams is neither effortlessly light nor excessive, and while it’s not a compact scope, its length of 35.5cm far from too long. The bell housing of the 44mm objective lens is actually a fraction smaller in diameter than the widest part of the diopter housing at the back, so again, not compact but not big.

In other words, if you’re looking for an all-round optic to put on an all-round rifle, you’re off to a good start with this Meopta.

Furthermore, you cannot go wrong with Meopta’s optics. They are among the best — everything you expect of European optics except the premium price.

The sight picture is crystal clear almost to the edges, with excellent colour and contrast. Absolutely nothing to criticise here.

With 91% light transmission on top of that clarity, you can see plenty of details in the shadows, and target acquisition in thick bush becomes that much easier.

The 44mm objective means the exit pupil ranges between a mere 2.9mm at 15x to a more-than-ample 11mm at 2.5x. This translates to some difficulty using the higher magnification as the light dims in the evening, or under a spotlight, but dialling back progressively to no less than 6x helps enormously.

It also means the range of eye relief gets smaller towards the higher end, but even at 15x it is a generous 90mm with a little flexibility fore and aft as well as side to side. It won’t hinder you if you’ve got a rifle and mounting setup that fits you well.

Parallax can be adjusted from 10m all the way to infinity, increasing the versatility of the Optika6: you can use it precisely on an air rifle, a rimfire or a centrefire because it’ll focus at the ranges all of them operate in.

With six-fold magnification, parallax adjustment is an important tool as you’ve got potential for aiming errors at the very close and very distant end of the spectrum. Fine-tuning it using the side-mounted knob is easy.

In the middle ranges, there’s leeway. I usually left it set at 100m focus, which would enable snap shooting at anything from about 50m to 200m-plus without trouble — the picture was focussed well enough to be sure of a good shot at any game except the smallest.

Yet when you have time to re-focus before a shot, it’s worth it as you can see the difference even between 100m and 120.

Talking parallax, let’s go back to the size of the scope briefly. The left turret, which houses the battery for the reticle’s illumination as well as controlling illumination and parallax, is tall, protruding about 32mm from the scope body. It seems a lot but in truth it was not a big deal, in that it was more of an aesthetic thing than a physical impediment to comfortably carrying the rifle.

Meopta 4C RD reticle — The 4C RD reticle is an illuminated duplex-type with dot in the centre. It’s quick and easy to aim with

The illumination has six steps of brightness, with an off position between each one.

The grip surfaces of everything you turn — magnification, turrets, etc, except the adopter ring — have exaggerated knurling that provides outstanding purchase. You won’t slip!

You can also screw in a throw lever in one of four positions on the magnification ring. Personally, I preferred to leave it off in the field because it’s one less thing to snag on your clothing in the bush, but it’s an addition that does speed up the adjustments as well as giving you a non-visual reference for where you’ve got the scope set.

The test scope had the simple 4C duplex reticle, a crosshair with thicker bottom and side outer bars, fine inner wires and a floating dot in the middle; it’s the dot that lights up when you activate the illumination.

Alternatively, this scope is offered with a ballistic-drop reticle, the kind with lower bars to indicate holdover points. I like the simplicity of the 4C, because I tend to shoot within maximum point blank range with my stalking rifles, knowing in my head how much holdover is required to stretch it another 100m or so on the extremely rare occasions I might want to.

But the truth is that the 2.5-15×44 with the DBC3 reticle is probably the way to go with this scope if you really want to push the ability of its 15x top end and generous parallax variation. It’d also be more useful if you’re shooting small game, when holdover estimation is more critical.

Reticle adjustments are in ¼ MOA increments using clicks that are very well defined and not too fine, so easy to count — although the turrets are also clearly marked so keeping count isn’t crucial.

The adjustments were consistent and always returned to zero. The zero can be manually set after you’ve sighted in your rifle.

The 30mm main tube allows more than 2m of reticle adjustment, vertically and horizontally, at 100m. If that’s not enough to get your hunting rifle sighted, you may need a gunsmith!

Meopta’s quality overall is very good, with a standard 10-year warranty, and this Optika6 appears to demonstrate how well Meopta values good fit, finish and function.

I used the Optika6 on three rifles: my Lithgow Varmint .204, my Tikka T3 Lite .223, and my Winchester XPR in .350 Legend. It was a good match for three (although way more scope than the .350 Legend cartridge needs) and the more I hunted with it for the more I considered it an ideal all-round hunting scope.

For around $1000, with its great optics and good quality, it is among the best value scopes on the market.