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Thread: Newbie Shooter, Night Force Scope??

  1. #21
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    What is so dated about the NF 2.5-10x42? It's got digital illumination, zero stop, and mil reticle/knobs.


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  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by ghostly View Post
    What is so dated about the NF 2.5-10x42? It's got digital illumination, zero stop, and mil reticle/knobs.
    A 4x zoom range is mediocre given the price, for late 2017. The field of view is a tiny bit above average, but at the price I expect better - as you'd get from European competitors.

    Have you handled one? The "Digillum" is, in my experience, poor. The one-button operation is terrible, even worse than Leupold's Firedot button which is already bad. I consider the Digillum a big step backwards from the rotary dial used in the earlier generation 2.5-10x32 NXS.

    Continuing on the illumination, every NXS Compact, regular NXS and SHV that I've seen has uneven illumination across the illuminated part of the reticle. The compacts and SHVs also show bleed at higher settings, which I can't comment on for the regular NXS (despite having owned two of them) because adjusting its brightness requires partially disassembling the scope. Newer competing scopes either have a newer form of reflection (I believe it's diffraction grating based) that provides even illumination and no bleed, as seen on Leupold's Mark 6 1-6x and the Burris XTRII 1-5x, or a fiber optic dot in the center that provides one small dot and no bleed, as seen on Leupold's Firedot and the Razor gen2 1-6x. They both work much better and have been around for several years now. At $1400-1800 you should be able to expect current technology.

    Nightforce scopes excel at ruggedness and repeatability, both of which are very important features, but the NXS series is behind the times for everything else. It's kind of like the discontinued Leupold Mark 4: pretty good for 2005, but not serious in 2017. But at least there were crazy discounts on Mark 4s that brought them to fair value for a few moments in 2016.

    N.B. some people would talk about reticle focal plane, but in the lower magnification ranges there are excellent arguments for second focal plane reticles (which Nightforce has in all current NXS models (the F1 being discontinued and replaced by the ATACR)), so I consider that merely a feature and not a drawback.

  3. #23
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    Newbie Shooter, Night Force Scope??

    I agree, a SFP is superior in lower power scopes. The 2.5-10x42 seems on par for FOV at 10x to other scopes.

    One of the great things of NF is the weight. Compare it to a Vortex or even one of the Euro scopes. 2.5x vs 2x on the bottom really doesn't make much difference in actual performance it seems to me.

    The Mark 6 illumination is also terrible. But the 3-18x is probably a superior optic for similar weight and money. 3x isn't much more than 2.5x in terms of FOV and it goes up to 18x. I like the locked, zero-stop elevation with capped windage. The Mark 6 seems fragile, though.

    I still haven't found the perfect scope but I think a 3-20x that weighs less than 24 oz with locking/ZS elevation, capped windage and a dual focal plane (SFP illumination) would be great, and the same scope with a 1-8x SFP that was under 18 oz would be a good combo.


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    Last edited by ghostly; 11-15-17 at 22:34.

  4. #24
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    I spent some time researching 2.5-10x scopes this year and the NF x42 is unique among its peers. Try to find a scope in this mag range that has adjustable parallax, weighs less than 21 oz, and isn't $2k+. Durability and tracking accuracy should not be underestimated for a tactical scope, and NF is tough to beat here. The scope has some cons to be sure, but for some applications (i.e. 5.56 <600yds, LW hunting rig) it can be ideal.

    There's no perfect scope. You have to make compromises and find one that fits best.

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  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by bruin View Post
    I spent some time researching 2.5-10x scopes this year and the NF x42 is unique among its peers. Try to find a scope in this mag range that has adjustable parallax, weighs less than 21 oz, and isn't $2k+. Durability and tracking accuracy should not be underestimated for a tactical scope, and NF is tough to beat here. The scope has some cons to be sure, but for some applications (i.e. 5.56 <600yds, LW hunting rig) it can be ideal.

    There's no perfect scope. You have to make compromises and find one that fits best.
    Still working out for you? I have an ATACR 4-16x on the way to replace my NXS.

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by OrbitalE View Post
    Still working out for you? I have an ATACR 4-16x on the way to replace my NXS.
    Thanks for asking; I still like it quite a bit however I've hardly had time to run it. That ATACR would be a sweet scope if I ever got into bolt actions... argh I need to stop hanging out at SH.

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  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by bruin View Post
    I spent some time researching 2.5-10x scopes this year and the NF x42 is unique among its peers. Try to find a scope in this mag range that has adjustable parallax, weighs less than 21 oz, and isn't $2k+. Durability and tracking accuracy should not be underestimated for a tactical scope, and NF is tough to beat here. The scope has some cons to be sure, but for some applications (i.e. 5.56 <600yds, LW hunting rig) it can be ideal.

    There's no perfect scope. You have to make compromises and find one that fits best.

    Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk
    Sounds very interesting. Do you have a link?

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bullseye View Post
    Sounds very interesting. Do you have a link?
    Here's a Sniper's Hide thread that helped:
    http://forum.snipershide.com/forum/s...at-was-missing

    Lowlight also has a video review on YouTube, just search for the scope.

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  9. #29
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    Like other's have mentioned a max of 4x can work for hits. But it you want to test accuracy and precision a higher level of magnification at the top end will be much preferred.

    As I've gotten older I want even more magnification than before. Doing load testing I prefer a 5-25, no spotting scope needed just dial up and shoot, as long as mirage isn't an issue.

    With that said for most big game hunting I do (because of terrain) or marksmanship practice I like the 3 or 3.5-15 power for 500-700yds. It depends upon your use.

    I have 1-4, 1-8, 2.5-10, 3.5-15, 4-16 and 5-25x optics and they're all good for their intended purpose. Shooting paper or steel is different than gun games or animals in varying terrain and vegetation.
    Last edited by jethroUSMC; 11-17-17 at 07:42.

  10. #30
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    I am a huge fan of NF. On bolt guns, I shot f-class and NRA prone with their 42x benchrest model and it was fantastic. I currently run the NF 35x ATACR on my PRS ELR rifle and it is maybe the best scope money can buy today. I will soon sell both my vortex gen2 27x and buy more NF 35x. (I previously had 3x S&B PM2 25x that I replaced with the vortex on my PRS rifles)

    That said, the NF 1-4x is the worst scope I have ever owned. It is a total piece of crap. Do yourself a favor and buy something else. The main problem is how bad the glass fisheyes and is distorted, but everyone elses' low power variables have better knobs and are more ergonomic too. It is so bad I actually sent it back thinking it was defective and NF returned it to me saying that's how they're supposed to be.

    On ARs, my experience is a bit dated. I ran the 1-6x vortex HD and the swaro 1-6x and the USO 1-8x and absolutely loved all three. There may be something later and greater out.


    as for 500 yards, shooting a 10" plate with a 4x acog at 500 yards with an AR15 is easy As long as you have fresh paint. for precision shooting, or if your target is brown on a brown background, or if you need to identify your target or count antlers or something, I'd want more mag.
    Last edited by taliv; 11-18-17 at 21:01.

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