My First Nightforce

[CH4]

With very few exceptions all of my scopes are Leupolds. I’ve looked at NF and read great things about them, but some how stayed loyal to Leupold. Today I was visiting one of my fishing holes and spotted this NF sitting in the used case. The store owner told me it came out of the estate of a regular customer. The gentleman bought this scope and never had a chance to mount it.
After a little haggling, I walked out the door $950 lighter than I went in. Now to figure out what rifle it’ll call home.

 

[Oldsalt66]

Great scope, good luck with it.

I never find deals like that.

 

[pantannojack]

I can't seem to afford a good scope, tho I wish for reliable adjustment. You mention Leupold so I hope it will be alright for me to say, After 50 years shooting paper I trust them as long as I don't try to adjust the impact of my bullets. Hold over/under, or left/right is all I can only do.

 

[CH4]

The only trouble I had with what you mention were on the older friction turrets. I’ve never had trouble with the click adjustments, especially on 3, 4, 5 and 6 series scopes. Besides function, I’ve always liked the clean lines/aesthetics of Leupold scopes.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have about 20 Leupold scopes (all but 7 are Ver-X III w/AO, the others are M-8 fixed power. All have tall adjusting Knobs.)

I have 2 Nightforce Scopes. My first is a used 8-32x56mm Benchrest model (adjustable objective), paid $800 about 18 or 19 years ago. The second is a new 5.5-22x56mm NFX (side focus) model, paid $1750 in 2010. Both have reticles with MOA hashmarks, both designs currently discontinued.

The 8-32 is on a long-distance gun in 308 Win. The 5.5-22 is on a similar gun but in 338 Lapua Mag. Ohio summers have a great deal of humidity, on hazy days, I still get sharp resolution at 1000+ yards.

The 56mm Objective verses a 50mm. In surface area of glass the 56 is 17% greater than the 50! When shooting in open fields, you won't see any real difference. When shooting targets placed 10 yards back into the woods line or well back from a window opening, The additional light gathering is shocking. At the time of purchase, 56mm was only cost 6% more than 50mm! Best 100 bucks I ever spent on a gun!

Ivan

 

[Krogen]

For years, I was happy with Leupold. I have a bunch of them. I'd still be happy with Leupold had they not gone crazy with their reticle designs. I call them screen door reticles. So busy and cluttered that you can't reasonably see the target through them. And then there are the CDS bullet compensator knobs. . . .

I want a simple reticle. Ideally a dot on crosshairs. I can put up with a few hash marks on crosshairs. Give me simple 1/4 MOA adjustments.

You can get these reticles on a few Leupolds, but just a few. They closed their custom shop so you can't get a reticle changed.

In my opinion, Leupold abandoned their traditional market for the $$. I can buy all sorts of clothing, hats, bags and safety glasses from the but not a simple reticle.

I am now a Nightforce junkie. Leupold hasn't gotten my money on the last four scopes.

 

[BB57]

I have about 20 Leupold scopes (all but 7 are Ver-X III w/AO, the others are M-8 fixed power. All have tall adjusting Knobs.)

I have 2 Nightforce Scopes. My first is a used 8-32x56mm Benchrest model (adjustable objective), paid $800 about 18 or 19 years ago. The second is a new 5.5-22x56mm NFX (side focus) model, paid $1750 in 2010. Both have reticles with MOA hashmarks, both designs currently discontinued.

The 8-32 is on a long-distance gun in 308 Win. The 5.5-22 is on a similar gun but in 338 Lapua Mag. Ohio summers have a great deal of humidity, on hazy days, I still get sharp resolution at 1000+ yards.

The 56mm Objective verses a 50mm. In surface area of glass the 56 is 17% greater than the 50! When shooting in open fields, you won't see any real difference. When shooting targets placed 10 yards back into the woods line or well back from a window opening, The additional light gathering is shocking. At the time of purchase, 56mm was only cost 6% more than 50mm! Best 100 bucks I ever spent on a gun!

Ivan

It’s a difference of area of 2463 sq mm versus 1963 sq mm. Which is about a 25 percent increase in area.

It also allows for more magnification at a given exit pupil, and thus more usable magnification in reduced light.

 

[BB57]

I can't seem to afford a good scope, tho I wish for reliable adjustment. You mention Leupold so I hope it will be alright for me to say, After 50 years shooting paper I trust them as long as I don't try to adjust the impact of my bullets. Hold over/under, or left/right is all I can only do.

I have a similar opinion of Leupold scopes, at least the VX-III, VX-2 and VX-3 series. Their high end tactical scopes are ok, but way over priced.

I reviewed the Nikon Black X1000 4-16x50 and 6-24x50 scopes shortly after they were introduced. They compared extremely well to my NightForce scopes. That included adjustment accuracy and repeatability. They were superb bang for the buck, but unfortunately Nikon got out of the rifle scope business. Fortunately I bought three of them when they were in production.

 

[inspcalahan]

I'm a Nightforce fan. I started using them on my hard use work rifles about 25 years ago and those are still going strong today. I also like Leupold, mostly for their simpler "hunting rifle" offerings, although they make good high end stuff as well.

Nice scope you got there!

 

[loc n load]

Nightforce

Good buy! You have a good scope. The NXS line are great scopes. I have a bunch of NF scopes & Leupold scopes on my “serious” rifles & my dedicated long range precision rifles. Great glass. I toured the NF facility several years ago and was most impressed with the testing their scopes go through before going out the door.
I highly recommend Nightforce products.

 

[Leonard]

For prairie dog rifles, bean field guns like my 300 Jarrett I liked the Night force. I quite buying Leopold when they were no longer American made. My expensive hunts over seas guns that used scopes were Zeiss, Schmidt and Bender.
Schmidt and Bender had an interesting ad something to the effect that only rich people can afford to use cheap scopes.

 

[zeke]

I can't seem to afford a good scope, tho I wish for reliable adjustment. You mention Leupold so I hope it will be alright for me to say, After 50 years shooting paper I trust them as long as I don't try to adjust the impact of my bullets. Hold over/under, or left/right is all I can only do.

Access Denied

The link works Vortex Optics Viper PST Gen 2 Rifle Scope 5-25x 50mm

Have been very pleased with this Vortex line for repeatable adjustments
SWFA has economy line that also have repeatable adjustments, but the glass is not so good.

 

[JayCeeNC]

I've had 3-4 Nightforce scopes, mostly 5.5-22.
Best glass I've used.

 

[Fishinfool]

OP - Great deal on that scope. I am a Leupold / Vortex man myself, but I have shot a fair number of rifles with Nightforce Optics mounted.

My opinion is that the glass on a Nightforce isn't any better than the glass on a similar Leupold or Vortex.

I believe where they shine is in ruggedness and durability.

The rifles I shot with Nightforce optics were mostly owned, or "operated" by real "shooters" while I was Instructing at the FLETC. These guys swore by their durability. Could I drop my Leupold mounted on my 10 lbs. rifle from 3 feet onto concrete and not suffer a catastrophic failure? Don't know, not gunna try, but I seen several guys do it with Nightforces (Govt. owned, of course..).

Larry

 

[Krogen]

OP - Great deal on that scope. I am a Leupold / Vortex man myself, but I have shot a fair number of rifles with Nightforce Optics mounted.

My opinion is that the glass on a Nightforce isn't any better than the glass on a similar Leupold or Vortex.

I believe where they shine is in ruggedness and durability.

The rifles I shot with Nightforce optics were mostly owned, or "operated" by real "shooters" while I was Instructing at the FLETC. These guys swore by their durability. Could I drop my Leupold mounted on my 10 lbs. rifle from 3 feet onto concrete and not suffer a catastrophic failure? Don't know, not gunna try, but I seen several guys do it with Nightforces (Govt. owned, of course..).

Larry

I'd agree that Nightforces are built like tanks. As I noted elsewhere in this thread, I "was" a Leupold guy. I still have a bunch of Leupolds, but first the screedoor reticles made me go away. The I broke a Leupold and they didn't fix it, but replaced it with (you guessed it) a scope with a screendoor reticle. Yeah, they took good care of me, but I didn't care much for the replacement. The photos show what happened to my VariX-III. It couldn't have been much of a bump - I don't even remember doing it. A Nightforce would have just taken the hit.

 

[The Norseman]

Night vision

Wow. Maybe I should start considering
Nightforce for reliability and durability.

Lots of good replies above. The bent
Leupold above appears right on a seam.
From a video years ago, I swear Leupold
showed scopes being machined from one
piece of metal, no seams?

Interesting. Thanks all.

 

[Krogen]

Wow. Maybe I should start considering
Nightforce for reliability and durability.

Lots of good replies above. The bent
Leupold above appears right on a seam.
From a video years ago, I swear Leupold
showed scopes being machined from one
piece of metal, no seams?

Interesting. Thanks all.

Yes! I always thought Leupolds were one piece. You're right, though. There's a piece of aluminum below the seam that attached the bell to the tube. Clearly the bell is a separate piece. Apparently the adhesive failed. That said, this is the only Leupold I've owned that ever failed in any way.

 

[marinevet]

Nightforce makes a great scope..........but I am a Schmidt & Bender guy for any of my precision rifles.......