125 YEARS OF FOCUSING ON THE ESSENTIALS

Our formula for success since 1898

Our formula for success includes a detailed understanding of applications, a wealth of knowledge accrued over 125 years of practical experience, innovative flair, openness to new solutions and the courage to uncompromisingly implement even new ideas. But most importantly, the ability to consistently focus on the essentials. This ability sets us apart, guides our thoughts and actions, and is an integral part of a corporate culture that has been passed down through generations. It is this mindset that allows us to continuously provide intuitively simple products and services offering a perfect experience.

Our objective – intuitively simple products and a perfect experience

We devote a lot of time to understanding our customers’ expectations and work every day to develop solutions designed to help them focus fully on themselves and their actions in every hunting situation or in sports competitions. Many of us are active hunters and sport shooters ourselves and, with the support of various international team members from the hunting and sport worlds, we know precisely what is relevant in each individual application.
We hone in on the truly relevant functions that make that crucial difference in practical use. Our aim is to isolate these requirements and develop the best possible response – with no compromises! Rather than technical data and supposedly useful extra features, what matters to us is noticeable differences in practical use. Only when our products are a joy to use do we feel satisfied that our objective has been reached.

Karl Robert KAHLES – the inventor of the rifle scope as we know it today

This was the man responsible for the ground-breaking development of the rifle scope around 1900 and its worldwide success. Karl Robert KAHLES replaced the previously simple lens construction with achromatic lenses, achieving a noticeable improvement in colour rendering, a far larger field of view, a significantly shorter tube and greater eye relief. This was the birth of the rifle scope as we know it today. His pioneering spirit and passion laid the foundations for a 125-year success story, that was marked from the very start by great achievements and enduring milestones in long-range optics.

Defining milestones in long-range optics

Various historic milestones set the course for the development of modern rifle scopes, including the first waterproof HELIA SUPER rifle scope with a patented O-ring seal (1960) and the achromatic multi-layer coating (1972) which allowed, for the first time, over 90% light transmission through the entire device. In combination, these developments created the technical and structural foundations of the high-quality optical rifle scopes we still use today.

Simple, smart ideas and solutions with far-reaching effects

One more recent notable example of a KAHLES’ smart invention that has become a market standard is the Automaticlight function (2007), the intelligent on/off switching function for illuminated reticles. This is now a standard feature in high-quality hunting rifle scopes. Innovations currently still protected by our patents include the innovative positioning of the parallax wheel below the elevation turret (various K-series models), allowing the windage adjustment to be placed on the left or right (2014), as well as the novel TWIST GUARD, a unique protection system that uses a freely rotating end cover to prevent accidental movement of the windage.

Our passion for shooting sports is based on a fascination for sport competitions at the highest level, combined with a constant quest for perfection

Ambitious sport shooters and professionals appreciate the precision and reliability of our K series rifle scope models. As well as developing high-performance rifle scopes, we are also actively involved in different shooting disciplines such as PRS, IPSC and F Class, and promote shooting competitions at an international level. Our own series of competitions offers keen shooters an opportunity to compete in cross-border events reflecting our values of safety, fairness and mutual respect.

Perfect tools for practical hunting

Under the HELIA brand, as well as rifle scopes, we also offer a carefully selected range of binoculars, rangefinders, red dot sights and thermal imaging devices. They all impress with an uncompromising focus on the real essentials:  functionality, reliability, handling and aesthetics. To allow hunters to focus on the essentials in every hunting situation.