Element Optics Theos 6-36x56 riflescope

There is no doubt that Element Optics has become one of the most easily recognised brands amongst the rifle shooting crowd, with solid functionality and reassuring warranties, alongside designs offering good optics, reticle choices and intuitive mechanical controls, all without excessive complexity. The Helix and Magnus models covered most bases with their 30mm tubes, yet the latest Theos has stepped up alongside the Titan to a 34mm main tube. This means plenty of mechanical adjustment range without sacrificing optical quality.

The nitty-gritty

The main tube is hard anodised in a mid-grey colour and the 56mm objective lens allows plenty of light into the optical packages within. A 76mm sunshade is supplied, as is an aperture ring to increase the depth of field in bright environments. There’s loads of tube space on either side of the central saddle for eye relief setup on your rifle and the left-hand side shows a parallax dial that’s adjustable from 10m to infinity, making the scope suitable for any precision rifle. The parallax adjusts for a crisp focus without backlash in the dial and the aperture enables a slightly greater depth of field if that’s important to you, although, without it, the parallax is easier to set along with the corresponding image focus for a clear target picture.

There’s also a centre push button to control reticle illumination and the end cap unscrews to access the CR2032 battery. A long hold on the button switches the unit on/off, and quick presses change the intensity. The reticle doesn’t suffer from any red light bleeding away and the functionality is everything that is desirable.

The turrets are superb and the upper elevation turret offers 12 MRAD per turn and shows 0.1 MRAD (10mm@100m) click values. There is a zero stop five clicks below the visual zero point, enabling emergency negative adjustment. Also, importantly, the tactile dial has a rotation indicator that’s unlike anything I have seen before. It’s a small lever at the base of the turret and when you click past the first 12 MRAD and into the second rotation, the lever swings to the right exposing a ‘2’ to indicate that you are now into the second turn. It’s neat, visible and tactile.

You don’t need any tools to set the turret up, just dial it to zero, remove the knurled cap, and then lift off the turret. Next, replace it with the clearly engraved markings to indicate the new position. This also sets the zero stop and makes life so easy. There is no need for small Allen keys.

The windage is adjusted underneath a cap on the right side of the saddle, yet I like the fact Element has supplied a thread protector ring, so if you want to leave the large dial accessible at all times, you can do so without any risk of the threads getting damaged. The windage adjusts 5.5 MRAD left and right of centre and once your gun is zeroed, the cap is removable without tools, to mark the central position. The overall elevation travel is 29 MRAD, with 11.6 for windage.

Zoom in

The Theos uses a 6x erector tube and its reticle is in the first focal plane. The 6x zoom range enables 6-36x magnification and it can be adjusted silently without any perception of internal mechanical motion while using the magnification collar at the front of the ocular lens’ body. This is heavily segmented for grip and a throw lever is supplied that screws in position to further aid fast adjustability. The ocular lens body is parallel, and I fitted a TriggerCam to video and take still images through the Theos. The fast-focus eyepiece at the rear enables sharp reticle focus to suit your eyes.

I have used the APR-2 MRAD reticle in several Element scopes before and like its shape, first focal plane architecture and especially the crisp illumination. There are loads of hash marks engraved for reliable MRAD subtensions that agree exactly with those of the turrets, meaning aim-off or dial-off corrections are equally accurate at whatever magnification you are using.

The image quality here is a significant step up from Elements’ 30mm optics and even the 34mm Titan. All the lenses are fully multi-coated throughout and the scope is waterproof and fog proof, of course. The colour balance feels natural, without detrimental variation throughout the magnification range, plus the variations are gradual, with no ‘steps’ in brightness or milkiness. The contrast is also improved over the lesser Element scopes, but the most significant improvement is the availability of the exit pupil. It varies from 8.8 to 1.6mm in diameter throughout the magnification range, but because eye relief has been maintained at 89mm rather than 101mm (‘magnum’), the exit pupil and eye box are not as critical to head movement. You also get a vignette-free picture more easily, without tunnelling. All of this leads to less strain on your eyes and neck (if you aren’t running a supportive cheek weld).

Conclusion

The Theos is double the price of most of the other Element optics, but the riflescope world is a game of diminishing returns and I think Element has really bridged the gap to take on the ‘old guard’ brands, whose prices have gone the wrong side of £3K with no sign of deceleration! Everything that’s promised is delivered and I like the ease of setup, adjustment and accurate dialling.