WHich reticle for hunting? illumination yes or no?
going on a short action hunting rifle

If I was in the market and hunting was the application the IHR illuminated reticle would be my choice.

yep ^^^

green or red illumination? who has lowest prices on Nightforce, feel free to PM me to product the vendor if needed

The scope has both red and green illumination. Having shot and hunted with them I would suggest the mildot reticle with .1mil adjustments and zero stop. The mildot reticle is visually closer to a standard duplex than anything else and adjustmets should match the reticle. As well if you shoot it at longer ranges the mildots help there.

ALL NF dealers have signed an agreement not to advertise less than the M.A.P.P. price (Minimum Advertised something something). With that said, if you did find one who would sell less than that, don't go around bragging about it; he could loose his dealership with NF.

I've owned the 2.5-10x32 with NP-R2 for about 4 years now. Absolutely love it. VERY precise dial-ups for long range shooting. Almost sold it last month, thinking it didn't have a zero stop but upon taking pics to sell it in the classified, discovered on the end of the box it was marked "zero stop". It's now on top of my Sword Mk 15 AR15 and in a few weeks my new 2.5-10x42 with MOAR reticle is inbound. Also inbound are two with the IHR reticle. Their for friends. They dialup too. Me, I dialup as well as, sometimes, holdover thus the love of the NP-R1/R2 and MOAR reticle. I'm an MOA shooter. Can't fault those who are MIL shooters. I sometimes cross over with certain scopes I have. Some feel the IHR reticle is a clean reticle, not cluttering up the FOV. Some feel it doesn't have enough for wind holds and holding over. Just the opposite for the busy NP-R's and MOAR reticles; their either too cluttered or have what is necessary for holding over and holding into the wind.

The NF's are heavy but that's because of their thick wall thickness' and stoutly built construction. Just the opposite are the Vortex's. Cheaper but thin walled; thin enough to mess up their operation if you tighten down the ring screws too much.

Here is my 2.5-10x32 on my Pierce 6.5x47 moments before dropping my 3x4 Montana mulie at 500 yds.





Here it is on it's new permanent home, sitting in ADM's Recon QR mount.



I love the illumination because when it gets near the beginning or end of shooting light and I see something to shoot, I can simply twist the left knob and BAM, lit reticle. Some feel the reticles are too thin but with the illum feature, it's a no brainer issue.

Alan

Alan pretty well covered it. I also shoot the 32mm version. Mine is currently for sale because I wanted them to come out with a 40mm+ obj, better mil reticle, and parallax adjustment, which they did after I bought mine.

I was shooting in an LEO/MIL sniper match last month and got to talking to the NF rep (Bill Bracken is a very good guy) and he offered to comp me the adjustments if I bought the reticle. Based on the cost selling made more sense so I could just get the 42mm and SF also.

Aside from the fact that I have moved to mil/mil optics over the years as your tax dollar has paid for it I really like MOA. I prefer the MOAR reticle to the IHR for what it offers. I don't find them busy and if they look that way to you spend time with them until they don't.

Regardless, they are bombproof optics and I don't think you can go wrong with that scope regardless of reticle choice.

I have the NP-R1 on my 5.5-22X50 NXS and a Mil-Dot on my 2.5-10 X32 compact. Both are nice reticles but after using an illuminated reticle that only the center section illuminates I find it better for hunting applications as the illumination doesn't wash out the target as much.

Only the center section of the IHR reticle illuminates. This is why it would be my first choice for a hunting application.

Terry

GSSP summed things up well but I'll add my two bits worth. I bought a 2.5-10x32 with the NPR2 reticle about when they came out. It is used on my primary hunting rig a custom Model 70 in 338wm.

Reticles are fairly subjective so I won't try to sway you one way or the other. As another poster mentioned Mil or MOA are both good systems - I'm just an MOA guy. As I don't shoot much past 550 yards yet so I have the hunting turrets.

I will say though that I do not find the NPR2 reticle busy. As well, I find about the lowest illumination setting just right for first and last light.

A tough scope with good glass, killed a lot of critters with it. Although I am saving up for a 2.5-10x42 with the MOAR reticle.

Hitting an old thread with a question on the reticle for this scope.

Was looking at the MOAR but with the ability to dial so well (one reason to buy a NF), I'm thinking about the IHR. Wondering if the MOAR would be a bit cluttered, especially illuminated.

Any thoughts on what would be best reticle for an NXS 2.5-10x42 on an all purpose .308 build?

I have the 2.5x10X32 with MOAR reticle. Used it two weeks ago to knock down a buck. I wouldn't say it's the perfect reticle for some of the woods I hunt, but as an all around application, it's about the best.

I have the non-illuminated 2.5-10x42 with IHR reticle. I bought it because the price was very good and I wanted a hunting scope with adjustable parallax. My only complaint is the glass - it falls way short of my S&B and Zeiss Victory scopes. ...especially in the last minutes of visible light. Overall, it is a decent scope for the money, but not the best out there.

Besides my 2.5-10x32, which still sits on my Sword Mk15 AR15, I now own the 2.5-10x42 with MOAR reticle. Sooo much nicer. The 20 moa turret is not only quicker to dial but is more audible and tactile when it comes to the clicks. The parallax/illum combination on the left is awesome. Just last month, I was on a spike elk hunt. The elk were going in to and coming out of the trees within a few minutes of legal shooting light. The 2nd Saturday of the season I caught a spike and cow just coming out of the trees. The cloud cover made it even darker with about 10 minutes of legal light left. I ranged him with my Leica Geovid 10x42 HD-B's at 1020. I quickly scanned brush a bit closer and ranged one at 1008. My set will give me exact dope to 1008. I simply added 1 click and dialed 23 moa. It took me a few minutes to set up a prone shot which went right over his back. I was flabbergasted to say the least. Just 2 weeks earlier I made first round hits on my private steel range; 435, 558, 616, 732, 857, 1014 and 1390, with the exact same set up. My plates run all the way out to 2000 but for my purposes, the 1014 was sufficient.

I ranged him again and discover he'd moved in 70 yds to 950; 20.75 moa. The spike showed me his near front right quarter. At this point the reticle, thin as it is, was starting to get difficult to see. I simply reached over and clicked on the illum; BAM! I held 1/2 moa for a 3 mph 4 o'clock wind and killed him. Their was 4 minutes of legal light remaining.

Something awfully special is going to have to come along for me to ever consider selling my -42mm NF.

Alan

Let the hating begin....

GSSP do those style of scope caps are they available for the full size NXS like the 3.5-15x50 model. Do you like them more than the bikini covers they have always offered.

I've only see the style of caps on the 2.5-10 on the 2.5-10. I love them. They are quite pliable. The rear one pops open when I run the bolt to chamber a round when the hinge is on the left. I keep the front cap with the hinge on the right and it simply flops over, open, when I use my non-shooing, left hand to uncap it.

Alan

Something so heavy and expensive should only be bought with illumination feature. It makes no sense otherwise.

My struggle with getting the MOAR reticle is in the example given above. If I can dial for windage and elevation do I also need a large reticle like the moat? Seems duplicative?

Interesting observation about the glass vs S&B and Swaro - I compared one to my Swaro 1.7-10 and thought the swaro had it by a bit, but that was mid day. My thinking about the tradeoff was more toughness from the NF vs swaro.

Now I'm wondering if I should just get a Leica ER in 2.5-10x42 for a better price?

I agree to a certain extent although I would say IMO the windage turret should be small and capped. hold for wind because it changes too much. The part I don't see a need for is all the hash marks on the verticle cross hair. those are the ones they could get rid of. I don't see a use for them. However I have never thought of them as being in the way.

I have never seen a need for illumination though. I would actually rather the scope not have it. but then again I use the 3.5-15x50 model which may change the equation over the lesser power 10x model.

I've NEVER seen nor heard of a NF windage turret accidentally spun off a bit by accident. I shoot quite a few sniper matches each year and most of us hold for wind. Those who dial, such as my previous past, can atest to dialing in the wrong direction, especially when under the clock/pressure. Also, dialing can be a pain when the wind is either switchy from different directions or varying it's speed from a near constant direction. The beauty of holding for wind comes into it's own at this point.

Alan

I've got the illuminated version of the IHR with Zero Stop. Love it. Wouldn't change a thing personally.

-Dan

Let me add that if a situation exists where multiple targets are engaged or a single target is on the move to the extent dialing is not practical because by the time you compute your dope and dial, the target is at a different range/dope.

Alan

Gee, being simple pot hunter I never paid Night Force any attention. Always thought those were for guys shooting at "scarecrows" and flat sheets of paper > 500 paces away.

Gee, I don't think an elk fits the description of a "scarecrow" or a flat sheet of paper.

Why would one buy a scope designed for distance use and then hamstring it by getting it without a reticle offering wind holds....?

snipershide had some reports that the illumination (green worse then red) was pretty lousy....i also think based on past experience (not this model) that NF is not in the same leauge as swaro/s&b glass but i would ownder does it "need" to be... nowadays all higher end glass is more than acceptable to kill with...

I just ran a 2.5-10x42 NF through my night-time optics chart test, and it rated a 7+. No scopes have ever rated higher than 8, and scopes with illuminated reticles tend to to be slightly (emphasis on slightly) less bright due to limiting factors in the system.

On the other hand, I've always found the reticle itself to be more important in dim-light aiming than tiny differences in optical brightness. And 7+ is a much brighter than average view.

John,

Curious about how it compares to an FX 6x Leupold, when NF is on 6? Also, how is the resolution, and thoughts about NF reticle choices for hunting.

I have the 2.5x10x42 Velocity 600 HV sitting on top of a 243 AI. I really like the illumination, Red/Green it doesnt matter it really helps ME in low light.

I also have 2 of the NXS F1 3.5-15x50's with the MLR 2.0 reticle, EASILY my favorite reticle I have used.

Bump for a good thread!

Curious if you guys are still loving this scope, and how far you are shooting with it. It's my leading contender for the 6.5 SAUM I'm finishing up...

+1

I think the availability of good FFP hunting scopes has lessened the desirability of this scope.

5 year old thread.......