Nikon to exit the rifle scope business?

[Slater]

Never owned one of their scopes, but are/were they decent quality?

"Lastly, he stated that the plain and simple reason for Nikon leaving the riflescope business is purely a financial one. Sales data is reflecting a net negative for the company in the riflescope market but very positive indications for their other sport optics such as spotting scopes and binoculars."

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/12/26/nikon-withdrawal-rifle-scope-business/

[dmd08]

I've never owned a Nikon scope before but I took a chance on one due to the closeout prices. Picked up an FX1000 4-16 FFP for cheap. We'll see. Might put in on a rimfire trainer or something. I haven't mounted it yet but it seems okay for the price I paid.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Interesting, but not surprised. Nikon has been a big player in the Walmart, box store and $100 category and their scopes have been decent to good by those standards. That market is ultra-hyper-saturated and their offerings in higher price markets are much more limited. Pricing on one of the newest and higher-end scopes (Black Force X1000 4-16x50, as well as other magnifications in that lineup) has covered a 3:1 range in the past 12 months and is currently in the upper third of that range, vs. rock bottom about 2 months ago. None of their current products are compelling when you compare to recent Vortex, Burris etc. options, much less any of the fancy brands. And I don't think any of their current scopes are made in Japan or the USA, only the Philippines and China.

About 8-10 years ago, their Monarch-X line was relatively good if somewhat dated, back when Leupold Mark 4 was considered military quality and current. Nikon discontinued the Monarch-X line 6-8 years ago and never replaced it with any high end tactical scope, only some expensive hunting scopes. The X1000 series is a pretty good mid-price tactical-wannabe option but competing more with Leupold Mark AR, Vortex PST (Gen 1 more than gen 2) and maybe Burris XTR.

My 2 cents is that Nikon is flailing about all over the place. Last spring I wanted a new DSLR camera and my first thought was Nikon. Bought a prosumer level Nikon from a place with a great return policy - and used it, because it did not meet my expectations for usability. Replaced it with a Pentax DSLR of similar price and I'm much happier. It seems that Nikon camera technology is almost standing still while Sony and Canon in particular are moving forward, and my personal pick Pentax has a few nice niches (including a moderately priced and compact weatherproof DSLR, and a $5000 medium-format ultra-high-res DSLR that would appeal to pros for some types of photography).

[Arik]

They always seemed like decent quality and price if you wanted to scope your deer rifle

[Business_Casual]

They always seemed like decent quality and price if you wanted to scope your deer rifle

Exactly, they were missing the real growth market - tactical scopes. Also, they are Japanese, which isn’t Made in the USA...

[SkiDevil]

I have owned several of the lower end Nikon scopes (Pro Staff) which were well made, serviceable, and reliable.

My Pro Staff 3x9 is comparable to a Leupold VAR-II rifle scope.

If you need a scope the Nikon's are worth the money.

P.S. Lower-end models are made in Phillipines with the higher-end models Monarch being produced in Japan.

[gunnerblue]

Nikons, especially the Monarchs, were always a good relatively inexpensive option for general purpose big game hunting. I know many hunters who have used them for years without complaint.

As far as country of origin goes, Japan produces some of the best optics, especially tactical optics, in the world. About half of my Nightforces are so marked.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Also, they are Japanese, which isn’t Made in the USA...


As far as country of origin goes, Japan produces some of the best optics, especially tactical optics, in the world. About half of my Nightforces are so marked.

As I mentioned in post #3, I'm not aware of any current Nikon scopes that are made in Japan. Most are PI, cheap ones are China. It looks like the last Japanese-made Nikon scopes were the Monarch X and Monarch Gold:

http://opticsthoughts.com/?page_id=146

http://www.opticstalk.com/where-is-nikon-monarch-made_topic16836.html

Ten years ago the Philippines were definitely second if not third tier. That has changed and you can get some very good PI-made optics now, such as Vortex PST gen2 and Burris XTR gen2. Recent production of both of those is, in my experience, every bit as good as comparably priced scopes made in Japan at LOW for Bushnell. With the continued economic development across Asia and the extensive use of CNC equipment, the country of origin matters less than it used to, and far less than the quality control required by the maker or distributor.

Also, for what it's worth, a lot of Nikon and other "Japanese" camera equipment now seems to be assembled in PI or Malaysia, at least for consumer level products. Design and engineering in Japan, maybe some parts are made there, other parts manufacturing plus final assembly take place in a lower cost country.

As for the Nightforce comparison, it really doesn't mean that much. The same company that makes scopes and/or parts* for Nightforce also makes $150 mass-market scopes for Weaver (or did within the last few years). That factory (Light Optical Works Japan, aka "LOW") and others will make a scope to cheap specs, or to the best that they are capable of, depending on what the nameplate wants to pay for. LOW's best is excellent, but few pay for it.

http://www.light-op.co.jp/english/

And having owned dozens of higher-end scopes made by LOW for many brands: Nightforce, Vortex Razor, Bushnell Elite Tactical, EOTech Vudu, Weaver Tactical, and SWFA SS-HD, let me emphasize that LOW is just the supplier and the end product varies based on the nameplate's own decisions, engineering (if they do it, as NF does and I suspect the rest of that list also do except SWFA), and further quality control. I haven't seen a defective Nightforce. I've had to send back multiples of Bushnell and Weaver, plus one SWFA SS-HD, for quality control issues; mostly off-center or canted reticles, but also other issues. FWIW I once had a Japan-made Nikon Monarch X that was also defective out of the box, and went back. NF is very expensive for the feature set but it's nice to have something that simply works right out of the box, and keeps working 100% of the time. Don't expect that with other brands/models just because they came from the same LOW factory.

*Some Nightforce scopes are basically completed at LOW but quality inspected in Orofino, while others are basically a parts set shipped to Idaho and then assembled there, possibly with additional parts from other suppliers or made in-house.

[sundance435]

Also, they are Japanese, which isn’t Made in the USA...

"Made in Japan" is a selling point for most scopes. Maybe not the Wal Mart crowd so much, but for higher-margin scopes it is.

[Business_Casual]

Where did I say “made in Japan” exactly?

[Slater]

My SIG Bravo 5 says "Designed in Oregon. Assembled in China".

[Slater]

There's so many different optics on the market from so many different brands that it's hard to keep track. Just recently heard of these guys:

https://swampfoxoptics.com/arrowhead-lpvo-riflescope-series/

[Coal Dragger]

Nikon never had particularly compelling offerings although their glass quality has always been good. Good glass doesn’t make up for the fact their scopes were clearly not designed by shooters.

[SteyrAUG]

So probably somewhere between Bushnell and Leupold.

I only have a few Nikons, they are for my 10/22s.