Initial thoughts... - Steiner Close Quarter Red Dot Thermal Sight

Physically:

Upon opening the box, I noticed the string connected to the battery cap was broken. A minor inconvenience but still not a good first impression. Overall, the weight is on the heavier side for an optic but there’s nothing to really compare it to. That being said, the weight wasn’t noticeable one mounted on my M4. A minor complaint about the mounting: a star key is required. Not a deal breaker but making mounting a bit more convenient would be nice.

Operationally:

I haven’t zeroed or shot with this yet. After minimal testing and scrolling through the menus, I noticed that I have to recalibrate the thermal overlay upon each power up. This is a problem. I shouldn’t have to scroll through menus to ensure my thermal pic is accurate. Although it only takes about 2 minutes (once familiar with the menus), I may not have that kind of time in a pinch. I’ve been through the manual and can’t find a way to save my changes. Saving under the debug menu is supposed to “save all current variables to memory” but it doesn’t seem to save the overlay adjustments I made. I’ll be contacting Steiner’s technical support to see if I’m doing something wrong. Other than that, this sight is really impressive. The thermal overlay modes provide quick acquisition and a clear picture.

I’ll have to rate this 4 stars due to the overlay calibration issue. If it turns out I’m doing something wrong (after contacting Steiner), I’ll gladly update to 5 stars. Although my complaints are minor, I feel I deserve to nitpick after paying $10k.