Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Nightforce Scopes 4A Reticle

Why not in America? Not interested in any of the others.

If they would offer the SHV 3-10x42mm with a 4A I would sure buy one .

Doug are you listening ?

You would think a pro-active forward thinking scope supplier would see a possible scoop on his competitors, jump a few hoops, and make this happen.

Wink wink.

Night Force durability and reliability with a hunter-friendly German #4 Reticle, count me in. Sounds too good to be true.

Same here. Actually found a European dealer that had an SHV 5-20x56 4A in stock a few years back that was willing to ship to the U.S. but it was going to cost about $300 over list and he couldn’t guarantee a delivery timeline. Said it could be as long as 3-4 months. I ended up passing. Seems like a no-brainer to have them available in the states but what do I know.

25 MOA thin opening @ 10x is about 3x too large.

German #4 reticles generally do not do particularly well in the US, especially with older hunters and people who do not know anything about scopes. With people under 40, they do reasonably well. Multiple scope manufacturers have looked at the statistics when they offered both plex and #4 reticles.

ILya

In Nightforce's case, the #4 is a thin, very wide opening, #4.....it's a Leupold wide duplex #4. It's different than the "classic" bold #4 type of reticle that most makers use. Nightforce's Forceplex is a more visible reticle.

Nightforce screws hunting reticles up so badly.

Always listening as well as sharing items like this with the mfg's

I too would be interested if they offered a # 4 like Swarovski's 4a.

THIS.

Love the #4 in my Z3 Swaros.

Every scope I own is a 4A. I've not purchased a Nightforce as their reticles are too busy for me.

Yes, If Nightforce could manage a 4A similar to the one Swarovski is using I'd be on that pretty quick; just tell me where to send the money.

+1

The next thing someone will probably post on this thread is "The reason Nightforce does not offer a #4 on their scopes is because the number of people hear on 24 hour bitching about it, is just a very tiny percentage of the people buying scopes" Well, I say, maybe not really. There may just be a significent "Silent Minority" out there that that just don't do forums, that would also buy a Nightforce scope if they were available with the #4 reticle. Just say'n. RJ

Most of my Zeiss Conquest and all of my Swarovski have a #4 .

Is there a "way, shortcut" to jump around this not sold in USA and buy one of these from afar?

I am one of the older guys who still like duplex reticles, I have looked at the 4A, but am trying to think of an advantage to it. Please explain the benefits of it?

I guess I'm an older guy at 49 and I have just switched to the #4 reticle when I picked up a S&B Polar because of the illuminated dot reticle. I needed a low light optic and the Polar is the best thing that my deteriorating eyes have looked through. I hunt very thick hardwoods and have no problems seeing the reticle and then the illumination is nice when I really need it.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

They’ve made their choice. Buy something else. I did. Then, contact them and tell them what you bought, and why. Since they already make the 4a, there’s no real expense associated with offering it here as well, maybe as a direct sale item, or through a few select dealers.

While you’re up, take a look at the Tract Toric 2-10 w/T-Plex. The SHV has a bit more adjustment, but the Toric has more ER and is a bit lighter. Costs considerably less. I bought the 3-15 because I wanted the side focus. The T-Plex has side posts that come close to the center, which I find very helpful in low light. Also comes with a turret kit in the box, including zero stop, if that’s what you prefer

https://tractoptics.com/all-products/toric-uhd-2-10x42-t-plex-rifle-scope

I'll type it again....the NF #4 reticle isn't a traditional thick #4.

It's opening between the outer plex is 5 times as wide as the the same opening in the Forceplex.

The outer bars on the 4A are 1 moa while the outer on the Forceplex are .75 moa....the inner plex of the 4A are .2 while the Forceplex is .125......so it is a little heavier.

I'd like to take a look at one but I'm doubtful it would be much, if any, improvement over the Forceplex.


The Tract Toric 2-10 that Pappy348 mentioned is a very nice scope. That's not a knock on the SHV at all. I like and use both of them. The zero stop option on the Toric is a big plus.....Tract incorporated a great design in that for a hunting scope. It's not an extreme long range scope but it's a solid dialing scope for most hunting situations.

While we're wishing, perhaps a "hunting" version scope in 3-10 SHV or 2.5-10 NXS with 1.5-2" LONGER tube for more scope mounting latitude sans a rail.

Or have them simply bring back the NXS 2.5-10x32. The smaller objective is plenty bright for me at legal shooting light, gives much more mounting flexibility. And it weighs a skosh under 19 oz. a plain plex or simple ballistic reticle a la Burris would be fine, as would a #4. And while they’re at it, how about deleting the lighted reticle stuff including the left turret/illumination dial (maybe save a couple ounces?)

Me and thousands of other Alaskans have for the last 50 years done just fine with a 2nd FP scope and a Duplex reticle. I mean year after year all species have been taken with that kind of a set up with a scope in the 3-9 power range. I only know one guy that uses a FFP scope and he is a long range shooter that does lots of practice and has attended classes ran by top instructors.

My main rifle is a custom Mod. 70 in .338 with a SHV 3-10 illuminated Force Plex reticle. It has the Kenton Industries ballistic tape on the elevation turret and is supposed to be good out to 650 yards. I will find out this next spring as I have not shot it past 300 yards and in over 50 years I have never shot a moose past 450 yards.

One of my favorite reticles is the one Leupold's defunct Custom Shop used to offer, a post-duplex. It is about half the thickness of the German #4 in my Leupold 1.5-5x20. That reticle really aids the shooter when the light is dim and the woods are thick. Which describes a lot of moose hunting scenarios, especially near the road systems.

If I have over 10 power I want a parallax adjustment and really don't need a scope over 6 power for almost any of my Alaskan hunting. I currently have only one FFP scope and that is a 3-9x42 SWFA on a Tikka 6.5 T3X Superlite. I bought that set up to improve my shooting out to 800 yards and for the grandkids to use.

I am hoping to find a sale on the Athlon 2-12 FFP scope I am hearing good things about. If I do I will swap out the WFA 3-9 on the 6.5 Creed. It will be fun to play with at the range, but I don't need that big scope to shoot game


I still have the old K4 Weaver with the post reticle I used on my first rifle, a 03A3 Springfield 30-06 my Dad modified into a good hunting rifle. That scope is now on his old Mod. 99 300 Savage. By todays standards it is lacking in about every area, except reliability. For way over fifty years the scope has worked and taken caribou at over 300 yards.


It all comes down to what a person believes they need to reliably anchor the animal with the first shot. Any riflemen worth a hoot can take a 4 power scope and kill any North American big game animal out to 300 yards all day long.

My 2 cents...........

JCMCUBIC makes a good point here. There is no "standard" on subtensions of any particular reticle design. Also, there is no guarantee that a reticle design will be the same across product lines within the same company. You can't always trust the depicted image of the reticle the manufacturer advertises either. Study the subtension diagrams if you can obtain them.

Many here have shown praise for Swarovski's 4A reticle. I am also a fan of this reticle....but the 4A reticle that Swaro includes in the Z3 line is not the same 4A reticle they include in their Z6 line.

What is advertised (MidwayUSA shown for convenience):




What you get:






Compare that with the Z6 version....what is advertised (again, MidwayUSA):





What you get (I did not bother to turn on the illumination):




Granted, the illumination on this scope would essentially negate the purpose of the 4A reticle and it's bold bars since you shouldn't need the heavier reticle in fading light if you have the lit dot. Still, this reticle is very fine and in my opinion, even worse than Leupold's wide duplex reticle when it comes to general hunting uses.

Like JCM mentioned, Tract's T-Plex reticle is VERY good and essentially on par with Swaro's Z3 line of 4A reticles (sorry, I didn't think to take pics of the reticle's in my own Tract scopes).

I am a big fan of the german #4A reticle. It is simple and effective. Just what you want for a “normal” (i.e. not super long range) hunting scope.

Scope makers have really learned how to screw up a useful reticle by making them wide and thin, and then misrepresenting them in their illustrations.

Seems like they sell more disappearing reticles to broad daylight target shooters than hunters that actually get into the woods and hunt.

I was reminded on my MT. antelope last Sunday why I like the Swaro 4a so much, I had to make a quick shot (173 yards) after dropping prone as he was trying to slip away, for me that reticle quickly brings my eye to center and promptly on target, still my favorite hunting reticle for my normal hunting situations.

Many made fun of the Bushnell Fireflys but the reticle is absolutely visible and useable past most legal shooting hours. Never mind “charging” it with a flashlight; there’s no need. The bold triplex works very well in acquiring targets quickly whether stationary or on the run. Wife has a 2-7 on a Browning Micro Abolt and a 1.5-4.5(?) on a Ruger Deerfield.44, I and my son have the 2-7 on a pair of stainless Model 7s; his a .260 and mine a 7/08. Son also has the 2-7 on a .50 muzzleloader shooting max Blackhorn loads with 250 gr Hornadys. So far none have died and all are bloodied.

Count me in.

I've been looking for something like that.