Newbie Shooter, Night Force Scope??

[dale.gribble]

So I am new to scopes and bolt actions. Before this, I have only run black rifles with red dots.

So I bought my first bolt action a Tikka T3X Artic Ranger in .308, this will be my go to, all around bolt action. After selling off most of my collection, I try to keep my gun count under 10.

I would like to shoot this rifle up to about 500 yards.

From my research, it seems a 1-4x power scope would be ok to shoot out to 500 yards?

I also like a easy to use reticle, since I am a novice to scopes.

I read and fell in love with the NightForce NSX 1-4 with the FC-3G reticle.

What do you guys think of this scope / reticle? Are there better option out there for a all purpose rifle?

[ghostly]

2.5-10x would be better or wait for their 1-8x.


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[albatros43]

I think you'd want much more magnification out to 500 yards.

[WillBrink]

No expert here, but that seems low power for the distances you wanna go. I put a 1.5-4 X on my Ruger Scout with expectations of reliable hits 200 yards on medium/large targets. Then again, a sharp shooter I aint.

[markm]

Although 4x is plenty of magnification to get you to 500. 8 or 10 will allow you to call your shots/hits/misses. It's really about how precise you want your 500 yard shooting to be.

[TAZ]

Are you OK?? Why on God’s green earth would you want to keep your gun count to 10. I think we need an intervention.

A 1-4 will do you out to 500 on games. My eyes suck so I’d say that mag range would be minute of COM at best, which would suffice most likely.

Are you expecting to shoot at very close ranges as well aka CQB or dangeous game that may decide to charge you? If not you may want to look at some of the compact 2.5-10 offerings from NF, Vortex, Leupold...

[indianajonze]

Nightforce makes the best scopes in the world. I have that scope with that reticle and it's outstanding. That said...it's the worst scope I own. No regrets and I'd for sure get it again, but whenever I'm with that setup I'm constantly wishing for more magnification. Probably good for cqb or 3 gun, but for range shooting I greatly prefer the 2.5-10 or even the 3-15. My eyesight is pretty good, but idk how people claim they can use a 4x to 500 yards. I zeroed mine at 200 and it was a royal pita

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[albatros43]

Nightforce makes the best scopes in the world. I have that scope with that reticle and it's outstanding. That said...it's the worst scope I own. No regrets and I'd for sure get it again, but whenever I'm with that setup I'm constantly wishing for more magnification. Probably good for cqb or 3 gun, but for range shooting I greatly prefer the 2.5-10 or even the 3-15. My eyesight is pretty good, but idk how people claim they can use a 4x to 500 yards. I zeroed mine at 200 and it was a royal pita

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I'm glad you said it I have a 3X ACOG and unfortunately I only shoot indoors at 25 yards most of the time, but even at that distance the center dot is quite large. I can't imagine the 3X being all that useful at 500 yards, and my eyes aren't bad.

[Cold/Bore]

You can shoot with iron sights out to 1000 yards. NRA high power shooters do it all the time. A scope will not help you to hold your rifle steady. That said, you can’t hit what you cannot see. So shooting to 500 yards is certainly possible with a 1-4x scope, but is it optimal? No. Are you going to be shooting mostly at 500 yds? Or just occasionally? If 90% of the time you will shoot within 200 yards, a 1-4x scope will probably be fine. But, it’s better to have and not need, than need and not have. I think a 2.5-10x would be ideal.

[gunnerblue]

A very general rule of thumb would be 1x magnification for every 100 yards for general purpose shooting and 2x for any sort of precision. For a 308 out to 500, I'd say a NF 2.5-10 would be perfect. I have one of the newer 42mm models on a SPR and love it out to 600. Target ID and seeing splashes from missed shots should not be ignored.