Nikon P-223

[don5]

I love Nikon scopes. They are, IMO, the best scope for the dollar. I have 4 3x9 p223 scopes, 2 3x p223 scopes, 3 3x9 rimfire, 1 p22 , and several monach and prostaff scopes. I have had no problems with any of them and all have performed well in both hunting and target shooting situations.

OP- you will like your scope! I start at 50 and then move to 100 yards. I sight in dead on at 100 yards.

BTW- I am not affiliated with Nikon in any way. I am just a loyal consumer and a happy customer.

 

[BluGrass]

Blu, While you will defintely be able to put a round on target with your new scope I suggest you not use your .223 for deer hunting. Many States have a .24 cal minimum for deer hunting for a reason. deer are tough animals and it's humane to do your best to try and harvest them with a 1 shot stop.
Shooting paper for group size is fun for a bit, testing different ammo's out to see what your rifle shoot's the best only keeps your attention for so long. Putting up reactive/steel target's, now that never gets old. Nothing like pulling the trigger and hearing that ping from a fmj on steel!

You can hunt deer in Texas with a .223. Like I said I wouldn't be shooting beyond 100 maybe 120 yards. I know .223 is not the ideal deer rifle but within a certain range and shot placement with a heavier bullet you can still make an ethical shot. More than likely I will be using my .270.

 

[mbjku]

I do have this scope on my M&P15S, it is great optic as anything Nikon does. My choice either Nikon or Bushnell, Bushnel went to my Saiga 7.62 rifle.

 

[78Staff]

78, I keep hoping Nikon will come out with a good QD mount, gooodness know's I have guy's ask me for one a few times a week, as often as I swap out scope's it would sure help me as well. Right now I have one Larue QD mount that I have a M-223 2-8 BDC 600 attached to it. One of my favorite scopes because of how compact and low profile it is.The BDC allows me to use it on whatever cal. rifle I choose and right now it mostly sits on a .300 BO upper.
Glad you were about to take advantage of the PROMO, this is the first time Nikon has had more then one AR scope PROMO in a year.

P-223 arrived this week, the Larue mount doesn't arrive till Tuesday 3x9 seems almost to long for the AR platform at first glance, but so many seem to use/recommend it so hopefully not an issue when mounted with the LT-104. Optically it looks very nice - I can see a brightness difference between the P-223 and the M-223 2x8 I had previously, (which was a bit shorter in length also) but it's a minor difference.

 

[Rastoff]

3x9 seems almost to long for the AR platform at first glance,...

Hmmm, now where have I heard that before? (Post #5)

 

[otisrush]

I'm a new P-223 owner. I've got it on my Sport.

I like it a lot so far - but I haven't used it a ton. There is another thread around here that tells of my experiences with those mounts and not seating them correctly. The input on that thread was to not use Loctite - but rather be sure you tighten them in an "x" pattern - and also after you've shot a few rounds because the scope will settle into the mounts.

I've had it out to the range since getting that input and the mounts have held tight.

OR

 

[78Staff]

78, I keep hoping Nikon will come out with a good QD mount, gooodness know's I have guy's ask me for one a few times a week, as often as I swap out scope's it would sure help me as well. Right now I have one Larue QD mount that I have a M-223 2-8 BDC 600 attached to it. One of my favorite scopes because of how compact and low profile it is.The BDC allows me to use it on whatever cal. rifle I choose and right now it mostly sits on a .300 BO upper.
Glad you were about to take advantage of the PROMO, this is the first time Nikon has had more then one AR scope PROMO in a year.

Hmm, not sold on this BDC reticle. Previous was the Nikoplex, a simple mil-dot style. After looking through the BDC and playing with the software online, the BDC seems gimicky. Maybe I'm just not understanding. The big selling point is the 200/300/550 dots, right - but when I go online those dots don't setup a those yardardes - they are more like 237/341/412, for eg. This using standard Federal 193 55gr load. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

Kinda thinking I should have just kept the M-223 2-8 nikoplex at this point, but the price went back up . Maybe I'll look at the 1-4 or the Burris and PA line...)

 

[Rastoff]

Is this the reticle you have?

If it is, it's really not much different than the Nikoplex. It just has the added hold over points for longer yardages.

Don't get sucked in to super precision with a scope like this. Yes, the calculator will give you values like you saw, but remember, the gun is only capable of about 1MOA. That's at least a 2" variation at 200 yards.

The scope can't be made to fit every bullet trajectory. So, the numbers you got are "close enough" to hit the target. If you really want precision, you'll have to forget this scope and get one that's made for it. At this price range there are serious limitations.

 

[Rastoff]

...when I go online those dots don't setup a those yardardes - they are more like 237/341/412, for eg. This using standard Federal 193 55gr load. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

Where did you get those numbers? Can you post a link?

 

[BluGrass]

Hmm, not sold on this BDC reticle. Previous was the Nikoplex, a simple mil-dot style. After looking through the BDC and playing with the software online, the BDC seems gimicky. Maybe I'm just not understanding. The big selling point is the 200/300/550 dots, right - but when I go online those dots don't setup a those yardardes - they are more like 237/341/412, for eg. This using standard Federal 193 55gr load. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

Kinda thinking I should have just kept the M-223 2-8 nikoplex at this point, but the price went back up . Maybe I'll look at the 1-4 or the Burris and PA line...)

The instructions say that this scope is specifically designed for .223 55gr. Polymer tipped.

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[78Staff]

Is this the reticle you have?

If it is, it's really not much different than the Nikoplex. It just has the added hold over points for longer yardages.

Don't get sucked in to super precision with a scope like this. Yes, the calculator will give you values like you saw, but remember, the gun is only capable of about 1MOA. That's at least a 2" variation at 200 yards.

The scope can't be made to fit every bullet trajectory. So, the numbers you got are "close enough" to hit the target. If you really want precision, you'll have to forget this scope and get one that's made for it. At this price range there are serious limitations.

That's the one - BDC600. Just seems like the nikoplex was clearer, easier to use with target turrets vs the software which I wasn't getting expected results from. I could be wrong though- operator error possibly .

Where did you get those numbers? Can you post a link?

http://spoton.nikonsportoptics.com/spoton/spoton.html

The instructions say that this scope is specifically designed for .223 55gr. Polymer tipped.

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That is a good point, I didn't think about the diff from 5.56mm.

I'm leaning towards just moving to a 1-4x, to be honest. The reality is I don't even have access to a range over 200 yards lol.

 

[Rastoff]

OK, here's what I got when I used that site:

These don't match the numbers you posted, but it doesn't matter. You have to pick the bullet that best fits what you have. Muzzle velocity and ballistic coefficient are critical to getting the right data. Also, you have to account for where the gun was zeroed and the height above bore. If the scope height is not correct, all your calculations will be wrong.

Welcome to the world of precision rifle shooting. There are so many variables you can drive yourself crazy. What you're going through right now is why I recommend spending more money on a scope. When you add the difficulty of the calculations to the inaccuracy of the scope itself, it's easy to get frustrated when shooting. AND, you haven't even taken a shot yet!

 

[Rastoff]

Oh yeah, one more thing. You have a 2nd focal plane gun. This means that your reticle indications are only accurate at 9x magnification. Change your magnification to anything else and all the BDC stuff won't work, you'll have to recalculate using that software. Just move the slider at the top and you'll see how the numbers change.

 

[Rastoff]

The Nikon is a decent enough scope, but it is a low end optic. If you want a really nice scope, in the 1-4x range, I highly recommend this one:

Vortex Optics - Viper PST 1-4x24 TMCQ (MRAD)<br />Tactical

Also a second focal plane scope, but fits your requirements perfectly.

 

[78Staff]

OK, here's what I got when I used that site:

These don't match the numbers you posted, but it doesn't matter.

Right, the numbers in my post were just an example (eg), not what I actually got when I ran the program. All the other options were setup as mentioned, my exact bullet (Federal 193 55gr), scope height, magnification, etc were all set. Looks like even with 223 the numbers don't line up as I would have expected, although they are closer.

 

[Rastoff]

Looks like even with 223 the numbers don't line up as I would have expected, although they are closer.

Right, and they won't, ever. No scope will. This scope is designed for the average shooter who will go to the range, zero in at 100 yards and then shoot at the other ranges a little. It is not a high precision tool; it's a best guess for quick shots. It will get you close enough to bring down a deer, but you won't win any bench rest matches with it.

If you zero in at 33 yards, the cross hairs will be right on at 200 yards. This is why you hear of guys sighting in at 50 yards. 50 yards is a common target distance so, it's easy to use. Sighting in at 50 with a .223/5.56 will have you about 1/2" high at 100 yards and about 2" low at 200. That makes the gun very usable throughout those distances.

Did you look at the expanded BDC picture? Man, they really get down in the weeds with this stuff. I mean, you can calculate the distances for the top middle and bottom of the circles. In reality though, can you use that? I know I can't anymore. Maybe when I was 20 I could, but not now.

Just get out and have some fun with it. I'm sure you'll see that it will be fine once you get to the range. Every scope on the planet will give you weird numbers like you're seeing with this one. That's why all the high end scopes are marked in mrads (mils) and not yards/meters.

 

[78Staff]

Yeah, I finally looked at the expanded picture, your right. They really go into detail lol. Below were the actual #'s for 193 for me when I ran it...

I think I may hold on to it - the real purpose of this was for fun at the range, but I wasn't going to shoot with it on very much to be perfectly honest - the T1 will be the main optic most of the time, or shooting with irons sights. This was the draw of the P-223 - halfway decent scope for range fun without breaking the bank (Heck the mount cost more than the scope lol), while being different enough from a CQB optic to have useful value. This is what initially let me to the 2-8/3-9 over the 1-4's.

I did think about switching back to the M-223 2-8x since the price has dropped it's only about 50 more give or take. Still thinking the simpler nikoplex reticle would be better for 200 and under, and since my max range avail is 200 - 300 if a travel a bit. Plus it's a bit shorter overall length as well. The 3x9 is so long on the AR . Or the M-223 1-4x, which is a bit less $$ even, and shorter still, but the heads up reticle seems to get so-so reviews, but in reality should be fine out to 200

Still mulling it over really, I guess...




Here's a few quick pics of the P223 3x9 with larue LT104 also...

 

[BluGrass]

Yeah, I finally looked at the expanded picture, your right. They really go into detail lol. Below were the actual #'s for 193 for me when I ran it...

I think I may hold on to it - the real purpose of this was for fun at the range, but I wasn't going to shoot with it on very much to be perfectly honest - the T1 will be the main optic most of the time, or shooting with irons sights. This was the draw of the P-223 - halfway decent scope for range fun without breaking the bank (Heck the mount cost more than the scope lol), while being different enough from a CQB optic to have useful value. This is what initially let me to the 2-8/3-9 over the 1-4's.

I did think about switching back to the M-223 2-8x since the price has dropped it's only about 50 more give or take. Still thinking the simpler nikoplex reticle would be better for 200 and under, and since my max range avail is 200 - 300 if a travel a bit. Plus it's a bit shorter overall length as well. The 3x9 is so long on the AR . Or the M-223 1-4x, which is a bit less $$ even, and shorter still, but the heads up reticle seems to get so-so reviews, but in reality should be fine out to 200

Still mulling it over really, I guess...




Here's a few quick pics of the P223 3x9 with larue LT104 also...

I'm still wondering how they got those precise numbers. I went through and plugged in a bunch of different 55gr 223 bullets and the closest I saw was

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[BluGrass]

Whoops sorry hit the wrong button. As I was saying the closest I came to getting the 200 yards at the next dot was 197 and the last dot which is supposed to be 600 was 597. But as Rastoff said before it is not a precision tool

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[Badquaker]

I just picked up the nikon p300 for a 300blk I recently swapped for. I like the clarity. The bdc seems a little gimmicky. If I can settle on a single preferred round, I may get the calibrated elevation knob. I used to have an old scope with a calibrated yardage knob, it is very convenient.