Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Kudos to Nightforce

Sent my NF scope for a cleaning due to debris being in the scope. They got it last Monday and Tuesday they sent it out!!!!
I was so surprised. Full inspection optical and mechanical. Wow!

Bravo nightforce!!!!!!

New inspection sticker and box!

The guy at the returns desk was happy to have something to do, it is a rare occurrence

Like the Maytag repairman.

DF

A refreshing thought in the scope industry.

No doubt

I take it they cleaned it etc. ? Good. A couple of years back, two different posters were upset when they were told if they sent their NF scopes in for minor repairs, it would be 6 months before they got them back. Looks like they got caught up. E

I'll bet the Nightforce repairman is a killer solitaire player.

Do you ever wonder what the debris that accumulates in scopes is?

Usually, I contend, it is metal ground off the erector tube by friction from the turret screws. The erector tube is usually made of some brass alloy. While the weight of it doesn't help resist damage from recoil, being a greasy metal, brass is less likely to 'gall' than steel or dural.

This wear is one reason I think adjusting your turrets for long shots is a seductive error. Not only do you take the erector lenses and spring(s) into dodgy optical and mechanical territory but you may forget to wind them back and, in the long run, wear the mechanism faster than if stadia are employed instead.

I imagine aficionados know of NF's claims to heroic strength and repeatability. I suppose you've seen the testimonial from the dude who fired 4000 rounds through a 20mm Vulcan tactical rifle without problems. But did you notice which model he used? It had a very long objective bell, probably a Precision Benchrest model with the third 'turret' resembling the Burris Posi-Lock. While I have heard reports of wrecked Posi-Lock scopes, I think a third screw is the only real answer for image-movement scopes on heavy kickers.

It is not, however, ideal for constant knob twiddling because, once the lock is applied, the zero is likely to change again.

Sent 2 NXS scopes in for a reticle change on one, and a knob change on another a month ago, both were completed and back at home in less than 4 weeks. I would say that was a good turn around. Damn good company to deal with.

I think some of it is the paint they use to kill internal relections. Been kinda-sort looking at nice old Balvar 8s, but internal debris is one hazard with those apparently, besides the dearth of mounts for rifles made after the Nixon administration.

Agree that twisting , especially on scopes not built to take it will wear stuff, but that's the price of doing that business. Best to go with one designed for it, keep an eye on things, and send them back as needed. Everything has a service life; silly to expect anything with moving parts to last "forever" without maintenance. For my field use, a multi-point reticle makes more sense anyway, but others have other situations that are best met with knobbery©.





©2018 FatGeezer Enterprises

Nothing you wrote is correct. Your thoughts and ideas of scopes and functioning are completely out of touch with reality.


The debris is generally the coating/paint used to reduce internal glare. Scopes can be built to take constant and repeated dialing and function absolutely correct regardless of how many rounds are fired. The Nightforce used in the add is a standard NXS.

Don't be bashful, how do you really feel?

women and snowflakes have feelings about stuff, engineers, scientists, and other linear thinkers just have the facts, facts just don't support Samberman338. What the hell is Seductive Error, other than a problem you might run into at a strip bar with too many 20's and not enough 1's.

I read Sambarman338's post twice. I reread it when I reached the 20mm Vulcan round tactical rifle in the first reading. The second time I read it, I laughed from start to finish. If that was not the intended effect, I apologize to Sambarman338.

NOTE: I followed this up by searching for Nightforce on a Vulcan. I found the Nightforce testimonial which does refer to its use on a 20mm Vulcan, although I think its the standard Vulcan externally powered rotary cannon and not a tactical rifle for the Vulcan round. I am still laughing.

Sorry guys, I wrote a long answer to your gentle rebukes but it disappeared into the ether, so I'll start again.

A recent Nightforce ad I've found claims they can withstand virtually anything, including blistering heat. Shouldn't that mean paint inside will stay where they put it?

Seductive is a word, jimmyp, that has application to your brain, as well as your jimmy.

While I am sure using machine guns to tot up the immense punishment NF claims their scopes have gone through makes sense, the mass and recoil absorption of those weapons is likely to be so great that the effect on a scope would be more akin to the vibrations of a massive engine than, say, a 10lb 505 Gibbs. However, the 20mm Vulcan I referred to is seen on p2 of their 2017 catalogue with the shooter, a Mr John Buhay. It is a very long tactical rifle with the long-objective scope I referred to mounted on top.

I am chuffed that you all like Nightforce so much, because the brand may be as Australian as Bushnell is American, and I suspect it is a fair bit more reliable. I would just like a bit more honesty from the whole optics industry about that 60-year-old elephant in the room, constantly centred reticles. Makers are always telling us about the marvellous new improvements they've made to fix it - but never exactly why they were needed.

The said catalogue (p23) shows an erector tube spring that spends two weeks in a polishing tumbler before going into their NXS model, "to assure there are no rough spots or burrs to interfere with perfectly smooth operation." Why is that necessary? Well, it is my belief that if ever a scope is wound to the edge of one of its turret adjustments (as is the new rage in long-distance shooting) the spring(s) may be compressed on a far-from-optimal arc against the outer tube. If there is any hesitation in its moving around that outer wall, the adjustments may not track properly and breakage of a contorted spring under heavy recoil becomes more likely. Even though the eulogy to that spring takes up a longish paragraph, no mention is made of these matters.

Similarly, two of the large pages are devoted to the Precision Benchrest line (p52/53). The scope photo stretches 40cm and everything you can imagine is explained EXCEPT that little knob at 7.30 on the turret bulge, at the central focus of the double-page spread. Perhaps it is ignored because the patent belongs to Burris, but they could have explained why it was needed (eg if you put this scope on a massive tactical rifle, the erector tube will really get jumping if you don't fasten it in place, somehow). I hope it works - and John Buhay seems to attest that it does, though I know of another guy who has wrecked three Burris Posi-Lock scopes on a 416 Rigby.

This one is on my 378 bee. It has broken 1 vari 3 and 2 mk4 leupies so far