Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics nightforce or swarovski?

Having never been able to handle either, am looking at a long range tactical style woodchuck gun. Looking at the nightforce 5.5-22, or the swaro Z5 5-25. Anyone with experience with either, please chime in! If it makes any difference either way, I can get the swaro through a friend for about 500 less. Like I said, neither of these scopes is popular enough here for me to have touched one, so any input is helpful. Thanks!!

TBurroughs,

The z5 5-25X52 have a love affair going. It is the lightest of the very good scopes. It is not as bright or as clear as my NIghtforce 12-42X56, though. But it is very nice.

At a ranged 521 yards the Swarovski needs to be on 16 1/2X and the Nightforce needs to be on 12X for me to descern the lines and spaces which are about a 1/4" wide on my line chart. If I turn the z5 down to 16X I see a pale grey rectangle.

The Nightforce has A.O. and he z5 is side focus.

I have seen used Nightforces for sale occationally selling for as low as $1100. The best I saw for the z5 was $1,250. You will be happy with either.

If weight of the rig doesnt matter to you I would probably go NF NXS. I have the NF and only thing I would complain about with it is the weight. They are built like a tank and have very good repeatable mechanicals.

The Swaro has better glass. The Nightforce has better turrets.
The Swaro is lighter. The Nightforce is stouter.
The Nightforce has a lighted reticle.
Both are very good scopes it just depends on what is most important to you................dj

How is it that I went had to get four z5's before I had a keeper if the glass is better than the Nightforce? How did you determine the glass is better? Can it take more abuse before it scratches?

Ring, he's talking about the glass being better optically. Kinda like the last discussion we had on the Swaro against the Tasco and Bushy!!!

+1

Again both are good scopes. The Swaro is lighter and better optically, the Nightforce is good optically, has excellent turrets, a lighted reticle and is tougher. The Swaro would fit better on a lighter weight gun like a walking varminter, the Nightforce would be the better choice for a hard use tactical gun. Just depends on what you want.....................................dj

djpaintless,



Upon what do you base this statement?

Post your side by side comparisons like I did. Let us make up our minds which is optically better based on something beside anonomus internet prejudice.

I would go with nightforce. It's about the only scope I will run anymore. They are heavy but are as reliable as he!!.

Read the 2nd little sentence in red again..................................dj

Again I ask you to post a comparison with a Swarovski z5 and a Nightforce using some kind of line chart or eye chart.

Certainly you can do that with a couple of your many scopes.

compared a NF 2.5-10x32 to z z6 1.7-10x42.....no comparison optically, swaro easily better

Go to a schmidt and bender and you have the best of both???

Exactly the same feeling here!!

SAKO75,



We're talkin' z5 here.

Never the less tell us what power the z6 needed and what power the Nighforce needed to see the same details of a line chart or an eye chart. How much longer in the evening does the z6 last?

Swaro has very nice glass & the Nightforce is about as tough as they come................either way you're getting a VERY good scope!!

Check them both out & decide which is best for YOUR needs.

Dear God!

Why would I? I don't hunt charts. :-)


Kidding aside, I just don't see the need to use your inconclusive and slanted tests. There is far more to optical performance than sheer resolution. Resolution is important but so is exit pupil, depth of focus, depth of field, clarity, light transmission etc.. You think that because you run 1 test of dozens that can be run you've proven something, you haven't. Your "tests" are completely focused on using your scope as a secondary spotting scope which is something that a lot of ethical hunters won't do. Resolution tests are usefull but they are not the all in all of optical performance.

But as I've said before, Nightforce Scopes have good glass and coatings and are tough as nails. Swarovski's optics are better and they are lighter. I really see the 2 as scopes for different types of guns.....................dj

djpaintless,

So then you are not going to answer the O.P. question with objective info but subjective opinion?

How do you decide the glass is better in a Swaro? When I compared my Bushnell 6500 with my Nightforce by looking at leaves and twigsand bark they looked the same. But when I compared them on a chart the better glass of the Nightforce was easily observable by anyone. Tell us again how you know the Swarovski has better glass.