Glass is fantastic... if you like this scr reticle, i'd say go for it. - Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56mm Rifle Scope 34mm Tube First Focal Plane

Alright, here we go.... The GLASS is pretty dang good I have to admit. I own ALL of the T5xi Mil Radian offerings. I feel like the glass in my 5-25x is better than my 3-15x. The M5xi line says the glass is "HAND PICKED". This makes me believe that whatever line we're talking about, there can and will be variances in clarity.
That being said, I'm very, very pleased with the clarity of my 5-25x56. In fact, it's my clearest glass and I own Burris, Bushnell Elite Tactical XRS II as well as Vortex Viper PST Gen II.
Most people would assume the Steiner would be the best out of those and they would be right about that. My brother in law owns a Night Force NXS and I think that scope is horrible honestly.
I'll be honest here... I paid $1,350 for my 5-25x56 two or three years ago when I purchased it as a blemish. There's a little machining mark on the objective lens housing, which I consider completely irrelevant in every way. What a freaking steal.... Moving on to the heart of the matter.
GLASS: Awesome.... seriously AWESOME.

TURRETS AND RETICLE: My elevation turret is dead nuts on the money so far. In fact, I was just up at the famous North Springs ELR range in Price, Utah about a week ago with family and we were hitting milk jugs at 1,000 yards. Here's the raw truth on the performance of my turrets. I got my DOPE and dialed 8.7 mils elevation for a 1,000 yard hold shooting the Tikka T3x Tac A1 in 6.5 Creedmoor loaded with 140 grain Federal GMM Sierra Match kings bullets. The 8.7 was dead on. This is good because with the SCR reticle, YOU MUST DIAL IN because it isn't a Christmas Tree Reticle. That being said, on the horizontal part of the reticle you have 2/10ths mil tic marks for wind holds, which are fantastic.
* After we were done shooting at 1,000 yards I dialed all the way back down and then POINT 3 MILS BACK UP TO ZERO ( funny how one reviewer returned his because he didn't realize why Steiner does that, albeit sad that their customer support reportedly couldn't explain it to him ). So now I'm back down to my zero stop and I take a shot at the bullseye at 100 yards. I KID YOU NOT, it was a PERFECT SHOT. Literally PERFECT. The center circle I was aiming at was the size of a dime and I hit it dead center. So for ALL the old 2015 or thereabouts turret problems that Steiner did have... they have obviously corrected that problem years ago and what you have now is a scope with amazing glass, great turret tracking and great "non busy" reticle. I do prefer floating center dots to the cross hair though because I think you can really fine tune your zero better and hit small things at distance better with floating center dots... especially fine floating center dots. Granted I have hit the round 2.5" underbelly of a Coke can at 500 yards with relative ease with this SCR reticle... but it's easier with a fine floating center dot. I DO APPRECIATE that this reticle is FFP and has illumination. FFP is appropriate for this magnification range and the illumination is always welcome if done well..... which it has been. The turrets, while accurate, are somewhat mushy feeling. I have seen others say the same about this t5xi line and I would have to agree. It would likely be challenging to dial in by feel alone. I recommend getting your hands on one and testing it out before buying if that is a deal breaker for you. Maybe you won't find them mushy like myself and others have. The "Never Lost" turret feature is really great IMHO. That said, for those shooting ELR keep in mind there may only be 24 mils of elevation available or 2 full rotations, despite you using a canted base. Please verify that before purchase if you think you need more than that. I doubt you will but for those shooting that far, they will likely know what they need before hand.

ROBUST BUILD QUALITY: This scope appears to be built extremely well and my feeling / belief is that it is extremely robust. I have 2 of the T5xi 1-5x's and one goes on my SCAR16S and the other goes on my SCAR17S. Steiner customer service told me when I asked about the SCAR's famous optic destroying recoil impulse that their T5xi line would be right at home on the SCAR with no need to worry about any failing of any kind, be it the red dot illumination feature or the reticle / glass loosening, resulting in a canted reticle down the road. 34mm Tube is a must for this magnification as well as a 56mm objective lens. Steiner delivers on all fronts here.

WARRANTY: Among the best in the business. Steiner Heritage warranty is a lifetime, transferable warranty. You just can't beat that. Bushnell by comparison only offer UP TO a 30 year warranty depending on which scope you buy.

I suppose that's the end of my essay on the T5xi 5-25x56. I think this is probably THE BEST GLASS you can get for the money if you can get it for under 2K. I have not looked through the M5xi line or the new 7 either but the T5xi truly impresses me.

Finally, the locking diopter = muy bueno!!