I examined both of the 6500 Elites at the SHOT Show in Vegas in February. The 2.5-16 is available with either 42 or 50mm objective, while the 4.5-30 has a 50mm obj. Both are built on 30mm tubes, have side-focus, and pull-up turrets that are disengaged from the adjustments when pulled up so they can be reset to the zero marks after the rifle has been zeroed. All three scopes have 1/4 min. clicks. Both 2.5-16s have 78 min. of adjustment, while the 4.5-30 has 93.6 min., according to the specs in the catalog they gave us at SHOT.
I ordered a 2.5-16x42 from Simmons late last week, and UPS delivered it a couple of days ago. Optical quality appears to be on par with a Leupold 6.5-20x40 LR scope I've been comparing it to. Haven't done a lot of anything else with it yet, as it was purchased for a hunting rifle in 250 Ackley Imp., and I'm patiently waiting on a Krieger #5 sporter barrel for the project. I may mount it on another rifle before then, just to get a feel for how accurate & repeatable the adjustments are. If it proves out to my satisfaction, there's a 4.5-30x50 Elite 6500 in my future. Cabela's latest shooting catalog lists both these scopes - though no one I've talked to so far has any of the 4.5-30s in stock yet.
