Konus Diablo 4-16x50

Konus is an Italian company, but like many rivals, its route to market, via sub-contracting production to the PRC and beyond, enables it to offer comprehensive optics that continue to make an impact. On test here is the boldly styled Konus Diablo 4-16x50, and this sizeable scope has a number of appealing features that give it a good start in life.

Basic specification
The Diablo features a one-piece 30mm body tube for rigidity, the option of a side parallax wheel, a screw-on sunshade, and a highly practical, non-glare matte finish. Internally, this model gets an engraved reticle for added strength, a newly designed erector tube system for increased robustness and reliability against heavy recoil, and the push/pull lockable target-style turrets that have become so popular. The Diablo also benefits from Konus’ ultra-wideband fully multi-coated lenses, for increased light transmission and finer clarity. The lenses are also specified with a hydrophobic lens coating, for enhanced shooting in wet conditions, so yes that spec sheet looks good on paper!

Setup
It seems that 30mm body tube scopes are dominating of late, indicated by the fact that some scope mounts now hitting the market are only being presented in this format rather than the old 1” tube spec. Alongside the Konus we get a 3” sunshade, and it is a simple screw fit up front. With the shade in place, the elasticated lens caps still fit nicely, which is important.

Focus on the action
With the Diabolo mounted up, the first task was to quickly tweak the rear dioptre and fine-tune the sharpness of the reticle and image. This dials in a smooth but controlled manner and features rubber around the ocular eyepiece for added comfort. Zeroing proved textbook on test, and I took the opportunity to make sure that the zero returned when dialled out and back again. Pull up the turret to open the mechanism, and push to lock. Click values are ¼ MOA, and the turret clicks are super-positive and very audible – just how we like it.

Dialling in
This model features side focus via the left-hand turret. Apparently, there is a side wheel that can be purchased as an extra for the task. However, with a maximum magnification of 16x, this is no FT scope, so the add-on wheel would add little in my view. Parallax is marked up from a minimum of 10 yards, then 15, 20, 30, 50, 75, 100, 200, 300, 500 and infinity, making the Diablo very airgun friendly, just not for FT. Indeed, the usual quick test of setting the mag to 9x, and the parallax to around 25 to 28 yards, soon revealed that this model would be very at home on an HFT course. The clarity of the targets, while using this basic setting, from eight yards through to 45 yards, meant they were all shootable, and the brightness of the image and edge-to-edge sharpness was, I have to say, very impressive indeed. The field of view seems wider than average too. Dial up to 16x, and the image is still sharp. So far so good.

Ballistic reticle
Konus fits this Diablo model with its 550 Ballistic Reticle, and this elaborate design features four lower lines with middle aim points in between. The attached diagram shows the central reticle design, but in the second focal plane specification here, the reticle maintains a constant size across the tube, at around a quarter the width of the image, so the diagram is slightly misleading. It comes with the added bonus of illumination too, with five brightness levels in each colour, all controlled via the rheostat dial on the end of the left turret. Settings 1-5, then an ‘off’ stage in each direction. With this Diablo, the entire reticle image, other than the outer posts, illuminates, which may or may not appeal. As for the disc battery to power the unit, just unscrew the left turret cap for access, in the usual way.
Looking at the reticle, the bottom thick post relates to 550 yards, hence the name, but ignore this and the reticle is perfectly proportional for airgun use. For example, with the magnification wound to 9x, viewing a 25mm knock-down target kill zone set out at 25 yards, perfectly brackets between the central dot and the first big lower line. With reference markers in direct proportion, it’s possible to do our homework and arrive at viewpoints and aim-points, for a variety of distances. However, for the record, those predetermined long-range distances down the reticle, set by Konus for centrefire stuff, are accurate when viewed on 16x magnification. Either way, for either discipline, this is a very usable, highly versatile reticle.

Conclusion
The Konus brand is definitely in the mix, and with its growing list of models covering a variety of disciplines, they are starting to look like a brand that has no intention of standing still. The build quality of this Diablo 4-16x50 is well up to the mark, with a pleasing level of finish, but all importantly, the image quality in the field really does suggest a level above the asking price. Hard to fault and a lot of scope for the money.