KONUS GLORY 2-16X50

Konus is an Italian scope brand that has gained a reputation for offering value-for-money optics. As usual, Far Eastern production helps trim costs, but everything I have encountered to date has impressed me on several levels. On test here is one of their more upmarket scopes from the ‘Glory’ range, the Konus Glory 2-16x50, and first impressions are highly favourable.

Presentation
Sometimes things are difficult to define, but anyone who has experienced quality optics will, I’m sure, appreciate this model. For a start, the single-piece tube construction is aesthetically pleasing, as well as preferable from a technical point of view, and so is the silky matte-black finish. Everything looks and feels precisely machined, and the bold profile certainly makes a statement.
Inside the box, alongside the scope, there are elasticated lens caps, a sunshade, a lens cloth, a throw lever, and instructions, and everything comes with a limited two-year guarantee for peace of mind.

Specification
Best described as tactical, the chunky turrets come with the now familiar push/pull locking system. The eye relief stays constant despite the magnification setting, and there’s a new erector system designed to be more robust and to withstand significant recoil. There’s a side-adjustable parallax (the wheel is an optional extra), fully multi-coated lenses for high light transmission, and a super-wide field of view. A power throw lever is supplied in the box, and this neat attachment screws straight into the magnification collar. In my experience, its ability to instantly indicate the magnification setting by feel alone can be a real advantage in the field, especially when light is fading and we need every advantage. As for the German No.4 reticle, this also offers illumination. A comprehensive package, then.

Set-up
Most scopes seem to be moving to the larger 30mm body tube, and this Konus takes this route. The parallax is adjusted via the inner dial on the left-side turret, and movement is reassuringly smooth, yet with resistance built in. The dial is marked 10 yards, then 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 300, 600, 1,000, and infinity. The close distances cater to airguns, whilst the outer figures cater to rimfire and centrefire-orientated shooting disciplines, so the Glory is nothing if not versatile.
The pre-zeroing task of checking and setting the rear dioptre proved easy, and with rubber protection and a firm twist, this quick focus won’t easily move off the setting it is put on. With the reticle now bold and crisp in the picture, it’s job done. At this point, you can opt to add the 4” sunshade. I’ve rarely bothered, to be honest, but I know many shooters who always have one in tow. The sunshade here just screws into position, so it’s an easy fit.
Zeroing proved quick and efficient, courtesy of the clearly marked ¼ MOA turrets, and a quick check that the turrets could return precisely to a previous setting proved the integrity of the mechanism. The click movement is pleasingly positive and audible, and once set, you push down the turrets, and the movement is locked.
The maximum magnification here is 16x, which is very handy for hunting, and when dialled to the max, the clarity is superb, with edge-to-edge crispness and no aberration. Likewise, being able to wind down to just 2x magnification is great when a target presents itself on the doorstep.
My next task was to wind the magnification down to 9x to experiment with shooting an HFT course, and it’s perfectly possible. With the parallax set to 25 yards, clarity through the ranges holds well, so the Glory passes the 8 to 45 yard rule, which is the target requirement in HFT that must be navigated without scope adjustment.

German No.4
Now, obviously, in today’s market, the clamour for Mil-Dots and an abundance of stadia means the reticle fitted here could be termed basic. The German No.4 reticle is indeed a simple design, but that’s sort of the point here, and as someone who has spent much of his life obsessed with vintage Zeiss hardware, I’m very familiar with this more uncluttered approach. The design sees a floating central dot and four equidistant thin lines around it. Three thick outer lines feature on the left, right and below, and that means tracking the fine central detail is made easier in bad light and dark settings. In really bad light, there’s always the option to switch on the illuminated central dot via the rheostat mounted on the tip of the left turret. The disc-style battery, incidentally, is housed in the left cap in the usual way. The dot can be illuminated in either red or blue, and there are five levels of brightness in each.
When it comes to aim points, proportion is key, and bracketing HFT kill zones is possible. A 15mm kill zone viewed at 25 yards fits within the bottom edge of the dot and the top point of the post, for example, whilst with a 35 yard zero, the bottom post will be close for a 45 yard aim point. The reticle is usable, and the precision and uncluttered image are refreshing. For those used to more of a ‘heads-up’ display with effectively a reference grid, this reticle may not be suitable.

Verdict
This Glory model is a fair bit more expensive than previous Konus hardware I’ve tested, and of course, much of the premium is justified by the internal specification. As mentioned, the clarity observed during testing was outstanding, and to be honest, the functionality was equally impressive, leaving little to fault. OK, the elasticated lens covers were a bit over-tight, but hey, I’m really nitpicking.