Hey everyone,

The other day I found out that my 18" SPR upper is on its way from Noveske and will be arriving next week.

That means it is time to go optics shopping again, as I have no sights for it as of yet.

Between the rail and everything else, I've got about $2400 in this thing, not counting the SPR/M4 suppressor to mount on it. So I'm planning on springing for a nice optic for it. Most likely the nicest I own.

So far, these three are the leading contenders:

  • Nightforce 3.5-15 x 50 NXS
  • Nightforce 3.5-15 x 56 NXS
  • Leupold Mark 4 4.5-14x50mm LR/T M1 Illum. Reticle


I'm basically looking for something with a magnification range from 3-4X up to 13-15X or so, which these cover. They also have great reputations as manufacturers. I've got a few Leupolds already and I've read a lot of good stuff about Nightforce. But beyond that, I don't know too much about either one.

In addition, I'll also admit I'm not fully up to speed on the whole "mils" and "ranging" things you can do with these scopes, but that is something I hope to learn. Right now I mostly operate on the "estimate range to critter, hold over appropriate amount, shoot critter" model. With this rig, I hope to increase my sophistication a wee bit and learn more about range estimation and all the rest.

Any suggestions you can offer about scope selection, reticles, or anything else on this would be most appreciated.