Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics U.S. Optics vs. Nightforce???

And the NF compact models are the worst offenders in the NF line!

Having spent a little time behind both scopes mentioned by the OP I can tell you there isn't a huge amount of difference in the glass quality of either scope mentioned and neither are great low light performers. One is reasonably priced but you get it one way except for a choice of reticles. The other will be custom made just for you but you'll pay a premium for that privledge and it may need to go back several times to get it right.

Now on the subject of low light performance. The difference between the best and the worst of any of the scopes mentioned so far equates to probably no more than 3 min. shooting time. Some find that worth an extra $1000.00 and some don't.

I personaly think if you really want the scope for hunting you'd do a lot better getting away from all this specialized tactical crap anyway.

Terry

FWIW:

Paraphrasing Lowlight (Frank) of Snipershide and Rifles Only: "No one ever missed because they had a NightForce."

Also, Zero stop is great for a Sniper, who dials dope, shoots and moves. When the shot is sent, you crank it down to the Zero Stop point and don't have to worry about where you left the dials.

Nightforce is a fine optic, you will be pleased with your choice.

BMT

I will agree with your 3 minute assesment at normal ranges, at longer ranges I have noticed longer periods between NXS becoming useless and say Hensoldt or even Premier becoming useless. Otherwise NXS cannot be beaten IMO. I wish I could find a scope that would allow long range viewing at least as much as a Kowa 88 spotter.

I'll take your word for it..And some day I may eat my words.While I have taken game past 700, there was plenty of shooting light.

The only time I thought I really had an edge with a scope in low light while hunting was on a muley buck.We sized him up with the spotter, and by the time we got the gap closed and set up for the 400 yard shot it was damn near dark, and he was still hanging out just inside of some dark pines..I could still see him ok thru my 3-12x56 V/MV, after I made the shot I was thinking I was glad I had that scope..I asked my friend (that was gonna shoot back up in case I missed) if he could even see him, he said he could see him fine. He had a VXII 3-9x40..

Laffin.

I don't night hunt. Half hour after sunset I'm done. I don't shoot at Whitetails past 400 yds. and I certainly ain't gonna try that shot at dark.

The two clubs I whitetail hunt at, there are only 2 areas that I can see that far. Where we shoot hogs, the range is never over 150 yds. usually in the 40-50 yd range.

Now coyotes are different. We call them during the day when light is not a problem. We hunt farm fields surrounded by timber, so the ranges are longer. I have killed them out to 600+ yds. and missed my share too.

To the Poster who suggested getting away from this "tactical crap" for hunting applications, all I can say is you wouldn't do too well holding over with a plex on some of our yote hunts...

If you can't dial or use a some type of ballistic reticle, you are gonna miss alot more than a fella who can. I've done it both ways, so I know. You will be S.O.L past 400 holding over with a plex reticle.

By having both Dials & BDC, I am able to use multiple loads. Don't have to be a genius to see the advantage in that.

JM

EddyBo,

Would you say a Nightforce 12-42X56 is not as good as a Swarovski Z5 5-25X52 in low light?

Three of our local SWAT team were over at the range the other day when I was there...I talked to them a little about their equipment..

they use Rem 700s in 308, with a 20 inch barrel.. and for Optics, they had Nightforce Mounted on them....

they had said they tested US Optics, Schmidt and Bender, Doctor, Swarofski and several other high end optics..

they settled on Nightforce as the best in their opinions...

just passing that on...

rosco1,



A guy I hunt with can see in the dark way better than me, so for me to tell you he used a Leupold and I used a Zeiss tells the group nothing. Without knowing if you are normal or below normal and your buddy is above normal this tells us nothing. Perhaps he would have done jsut as well with a Tasco. Do you know if you are or he is?

Dunno, I do not own a Swarovski Z5. I can only compare the NXS scopes I own to others that I own or have had in my possession for a while. I think NXS is a great value and a great scope just not great for shooting in low light at long range. But most of the experiances are just watching deer on my range, or shooting long range targets late. Sometimes there just are not enough hours in the day to get done shooting. I do a lot of pig hunting also, usually at long range, NXS is not the best tool for the job, but better than many.

I'm pretty sure I'm the special one

Conquest with Target turrets. They have 18MOA per revolution, which is plenty.

Interesting. Just how much recoil does a 50 have? I have shot 2. A Barrett and an Armalite. Both pulled AWAY from my shoulder at the shot due to the massive brake and the direction the gasses vere directed. If anyone is shooting a brakeless 50BMG, they need their head examined. Just always thought that "claim" from optics companies rather amusing.

You're paying for stuff you'll never use was my point. I promise once you get past the initial joy of buying the scope you'll find the lighted reticle useless with the small objective, You'll enjoy the clarity of your new toy but soon find out that lowlight and thin reticles are a bad combination for a hunting rig. Both scopes mentioned have an extremely small eye box and can be aggravating to use at high power. All this for an extended turret. Some folks just have to learn the hard way (me.) I owned a NF Compact and took it hunting ONCE.

I really enjoyed the scope. It was a marvel at the range, but for hunting applications you could do much better.

Terry

JM, I have sent about 400 rounds downrange and a few thru critters, have the 2.5x10 NF bolted to a 505 Gibbs, no failures, 600gns. @2400fps. makes an unmistakable point for durability.

Gunner

You make alot of assumptions about how I hunt. Find that amusing being that we've never met or hunted together...

I've got turrets on several scopes and do use them, quite often.

I'm going to pass on the Mil-dot reticle because I think it may be an issue in low light.

However, A gent in our club has the velocity reticle I mentioned, he was nice enought to let me look thru his scope one evening and I had no trouble seeing the reticle or the surrounding area in legal shooting light.

That's why I am going with it instead of the Mil-dot.

I've killed deer using a K 1.5. with a crosshair reticle out of some dark holes, never had an issue in legal shooting light and these scopes aren't know for their clarity, lens coating and low light performance....

Since you are adamant about it, I'll lay my money down for the scope with the agreement that I can bring it back the next day if I feel that it is going to handicap me in lowlight situations.

I think that's a good idea and hopefully will keep me from possibly making a mistake.

JM

Since you posted right after me... if you're asking me, no... but I do own the exact same scope (S&B 1.5-6X42 Zenith) with the #9 Flashdot reticle, and yessir, it is indeed eye opening! Outstanding optic in every way except weight. In fact, it may very well be my favorite hunting scope.

John, at the shot distances and price limit you've outlined here, you're kinda in that borderline territory where a true tactical style optic is really not going to be much more useful to you than just a good hunting scope with a ballistic reticle of some sort and maybe an elevation knob. This is the reason for the wide discrepancy in recommendations. If you don't really need all the tactical scope features for a hunting optic used at medium distances, then why have the additional weight and cost associated with having features you may seldom ever use? I don't think the NF 2.5-10 is a bad choice, although it's objective diameter is small for its power range, so light transmission will suffer. If you want a scope with 10X at the upper end, a 42mm (or larger) objective will give you better light transmission when you dial up past 5X.

I guess you didn't read my post about our yote hunting either.

This is done year around, whitetails get chased for 3 months.

How am I not going to not use turrets on longer shots 9 months out of the year????

Weight? The scope weighs 19 oz. and is 12" long, hence the name COMPACT. I don't want to hang a meter long scope on this rifle. I want the turrets as I shoot different loads at yotes and deer.

Comprende?

I hear what you're saying, and I agree.

But you did specify a 450 yd limit on game, 600 yd limit on steel earlier, and we can only go on our assumptions based on what you said.

My comments were just intended to help you look at all options. When you look at any piece of gear, you weigh all the pros and cons and decide based on what has more check marks in the pro column. I don't know ultimately how you'll use your scope, which is why I asked on page 1.

Go back and look. Yotes 600+. 400 on whitetails. You are not using what I said

The turrets afford the opportunity to use different loads without re-sighting a BDC for odd ranges.

I've looked at the options. I want something small, with medium magnification, that has a ballsitic ret. and turrets, which fit my intended use for the rifle.

My only reservation is low light performance, and my post to TC addressed that. If it fails in that dept. I'll go back and look at others.

You added this after I was already responding to you first comment.

No, the NXS isn't a heavy scope, but you are or were originally considering the USO SN3 as well, which is most definitely a heavy scope by any definition of the term. Plus weight is a relative term. Even though the 2.5-10X32 NXS isn't a long or heavy scope, it's heavy compared to other 32mm scopes and you can get quite a few 42mm class scopes in the same power range for the same or less weight.