Newbie Shooter, Night Force Scope??

[WTF?Shane]

Seeing as everyone else commented on the magnification, those quick holdover reticles are nice, but might not work for your caliber, bullet weight, and barrel length. I would advise to go with something more general like some good old crosshair type reticle.

[Dr. Bullseye]

If those Night Force scopes are the best, well, they have a price to match. They make ACOGS look cheap.

[Fatorangecat]

I have the Nightforce 2.5-10x42 with a MILR reticle and absolutely love it. I think it would be ideal on a lightweight general purpose bolt gun. Throw lever is great for quickly spinning down to low end magnification. I cant see putting a 4x on anything other than a carbine or a 22lr.

[HD1911]

Ballistic Reticles suck bigtime. Go Milliradian based and don't look back.

[Failure2Stop]

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?

First things first, where did you find the T3 Arctic Ranger? I crave that gun. Are you not in the US?

Anyway, the NSX 1-4x is a great optic, and the FC-3G reticle is great, but I find them more at home on 14.5 and under 5.56 guns and similar, due to what they excel in and their applicable range band.

For that rifle and the most likely use, I'd lean toward a 2.5-10x.

[GH41]

The Ranger is a "Scout style" rifle all day long. I'd put a NF 2.5-10x42 compact on it and call it a day.

[Coal Dragger]

I have an NXS 1-4X24 with the FC-3G and really like it. Sure more magnification would be nice, but on 5.56mm carbine 1-4 is realistically suitable for 95% or more of your shooting. Plus the NXS is the most compact and light 1-4 I’ve seen that is also of good quality.

That said the 2.5-10X32, or 2.5-10X42 is where I’d lean for use on a .308 bolt gun. Maybe even a 1-8 if you can find one you like.

I also need to know where to found this rifle....

[CRT2]

First things first, where did you find the T3 Arctic Ranger? I crave that gun. Are you not in the US?

Anyway, the NSX 1-4x is a great optic, and the FC-3G reticle is great, but I find them more at home on 14.5 and under 5.56 guns and similar, due to what they excel in and their applicable range band.

For that rifle and the most likely use, I'd lean toward a 2.5-10x.

Is this what you are looking for? http://www.gunsinternational.com/gun...n_id=100912317

[Failure2Stop]

Is this what you are looking for? http://www.gunsinternational.com/gun...n_id=100912317

Not for $1900!
They sell in Canada at around $1100.

[SomeOtherGuy]

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 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?

It depends a lot on what you mean by "shoot out to 500 yards." 1-4x is adequate, just barely, for hits on larger steel at 500 yards. You won't be using the full potential of the rifle, or making ethical shots on game at more than 300 yards.

Nightforce is a very high quality company, but their current 1-4x and 2.5-10x offerings are dated tech at very high prices. They are not competitive right now. The scope you asked about is intended for 3-gun shooting and is decent for that (though far from the top of the options), but fast blasting at steel is not how most people would use the Tikka you bought.

If you want a 1x low end, the Vortex Razor 1-6x is better than the NF in every way except weight, and going up to 6x is more useful at distance. It has as good or better glass clarity and a wider field of view. It also has better illumination. There are three reticle options, but I strongly recommend the mil (MRAD) based reticle for greatest flexibility. There is an OK BDC reticle if you insist on going that route.

There are also 1-8x options from several companies including Trijicon and Burris, and I'd bet on several more coming out by winter (SHOT Show), possibly including one from Nightforce. The 1-8x scopes generally have 34mm tubes and are heavy compared to other options listed in this post.

You would also be well served with a 2-10x, 2.5-10x, or 3-12x scope. Vortex has a Razor LH hunting-oriented scope in several flavors including a 2-10x40mm that is extremely light and has great glass, along with very good field of view. They list/MAP at $799 but are available for less with some shopping. Another option would be Bushnell's LRHS, which is a hunting/tactical scope with a mil based reticle (also an MOA option), with great glass, rugged construction and some nice features. Those can be found for around $1000.

What would I buy?
-If this rifle will see frequent use at less than 50 yards, the Razor 1-6x.
-If the rifle will be used for a mix of serious target shooting, casual plinking, and hunting, the Bushnell LRHS.
-If the rifle will mostly be used for hunting, any of the above but I would at least look at the Razor LH, due to its low weight.