Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Unleashing the BEAST

For a couple of days now I have come home to a UPS sticker on the door letting me know I had to wait another day before I could get my hands on it. As I was leaving post I got an e-mail from UPS saying I could sign for my package at the distribution center 7:00PM and 7:30PM. I drove home, got out of my uniform, took a shower, then jumped back in the pickup to head into town. The clerk at UPS brought out a box that was about 1ft x 1ft x 2ft: Nightforce builds bombproof optics and ships them in bomb resistant packaging. I rushed home to set it free. This is the new Nightforce 5-25x56mm F1 B.E.A.S.T. and 34mm Ultralite MagMount.

Courtesy of our friends at Nightforce:




I owe you a review but I was too excited not to post it. My initial impression is this is a really intelligently designed optic. I will get the base bedded to the new rifle this weekend, test this scope on another match rifle, then ring out the new bolt gun and BEAST together.

Should be an awesome scope! They had a good review of it in the last edition of Sniper Magazine.

I saw it for the first time shooting against Beckstrand in a match a few months back. Then I saw the article you are talking about.

Look forward to hearing how it does. I'd like to try one myself but will have to wait till the cash flow catches up first.

Phew...

I thought somebody hacked my iCloud.

Carry on.



Travis

Ha! I had no worries on my end. For me its like putting a pencil in a mason jar. Just don't tell my wife I refer to her as Mason...

LOL

[quote=deflave]Phew...

I thought somebody hacked my iCloud.

Carry on.



Travis [/quot

Yeah, that's funny!

Got it all mounted up today. That scope and mount are rock solid.

Leveled and cleaned with denatured alcohol so as to be slip free:


Not sure how well you can see it but once I get the gun level I line up the bore, then the scope (rinse and repeat until everything lines up) with a square object. Today I used the water tower in the distance. This allows me to run the parallax to infinity and focus the reticle (prior to getting on the water tower), lock down the diopter ring, move onto the water tower, and keep everything plumb as I tighten things up:


Here is the match rifle the scope is for to give you some scale. I can't go shoot it because I didn't realize my brother had the scope mount holes opened to 8x40 when he traded it to me so I bought a 6x48 base while it was off getting barreled:


The rifle is a trued Rem 700 my bother had Kampfeld fluted but never ended up using. The barrel is a Benchmark 5R 1-10 crowned at 23" and chambered for .308 Win. The stock is a KRG X-Ray that needs to be painted.

Nice! Anxious to hear reviews.

The BEAST made it's last range trip yesterday after three months of T&E on everything from match rifles to smokeless muzzleloaders (pictured).



The glass is very good in regards to color, contrast, and resolution. Also, the eye-relief is generous and non-critical (or has big eye-box as is now trendy to call it).


The illumination is good for an FFP scope (more difficult to do than with SFP) and has an innovative push-button selector that changes from green to red and varies intensity. It is located in the parallax knob which also quickly eliminates that issue with no backlash.


The adjustments were accurate and repeatable though after initial testing I stopped using them since I had the H-59 reticle. The concept behind the fine and course elevation knobs is a neat and innovative solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. The guys this scope was designed for almost all hold for the vast majority of their shots. I would rather just have a .1 MRAD dial but the locking feature is one of the better designs in my opinion. Having a locking windage knob is also a plus if you are going to have an exposed turret. I couldn't turn the windage knob through its full range from the prone but who really needs to dial that much wind? I would rather just have a capped turret.


In all, it is a very good optic which will take a beating and keep performing. In a truly high class optic I am not sure it has many peers. The downside is that it is very heavy, long, more complicated than it needs to be and is competing in a market where guys want smaller, lighter, and a dollar value similar to what they are used to getting from Bushnell and Vortex. That will keep it out of most people's hands. If you are looking for a star from Nightforce I would hang on a little longer and wait to see the new FFP ATACR since it should have the necessary features, ditch the unnecessary, and be a little cheaper.

I had a buddy waited forever for the BEAST, but decided on a used ATACR because of availability and the good deal deal he was getting.

Looks like a Remington700 action, but what is the purpose of the allen head bolt on the last pic?

The new F1 ATACR should be awesome.

That is a Rem 700ML action that was re-barreled for use with smokeless powder. That screw is a retainer for the bolt and is what gives it the camming power. I'm using it and a centerfire 700 (also for smokeless muzzleloading) to test and develop bullets for a bullet making company I just started.

And I assume that you will attend the 12 month NightForce School on learning how to use that H-59 reticule??

No, does NF have a school? I have been shooting the H-59 for a few years at work. It really is a fast and simple reticle.