OK, So we've talked about what Rifle and what Pistol to get, so let's talk " Glass"

1whobuys

1whobuys

Joined
Mar 20, 2001
Messages
3,879
We all have our favs for rifles and pistols, but what about Scopes?
Not Red Dots or Eotechs, we all have those, what do you like for long range?
I have older rifles with Leupold and I have older Trijicon 6x56 on my HK 91, I've had 6x20 Zeiss on my high end air guns...

But, what do I put on my inbound SR25 ECC and my LMT MWS?

I just ordered my fist NightForce yesterday, the ATACR it's a 5x25 with the MOAR Rectical, I'm thinking it will go on the LMT with the 20" SS barrel.
On the lighter weight ECC I decided to go with the ATN Thor 640 5X, this will be my night hunter and go to survival rifle..

How do the NightForce hold up against the Vortex, Kahles, S&B and the like, What are your suggestions for Long Range Glass?
 
Nightmare is pretty high end man. Better than anything but the highest end vortex. Maybe a step below S&B and Premier Article, but the steps are so small at this level are so small it's ridiculous. I was a pretty high level local competitor with a Nikon. You will be happy with the NF.

All you need for good long range glass is repeatable adjustments, side dial focus is nice, and clear glass.
 
I prefer Leupold and Nikon but all of my scoped guns are hunting specific. I don't have any target guns. The model of Leupold I prefer so far is the VX-1 4x12x40mm with the LR Duplex reticle. It has handled any task put in front of it so far.
 
What's the maximum range you plan to shoot? That's the only other variable. 600 yards and less 6 to 8x is fine for field work. Dedicated long range say up to 1000 yards I would want at least 14x on top. F class rig I would want 16 to 20 x just to read the mirage and see my hits.
At 600 yards I set my scope at 12x. Any more and I started to have problems. Target fixation is a pain.
 
May sound weird but I have always been happy with Burris. Really like their ballistic plex reticle. I did check out some Nightforce stuff recently and I am sure I will get one eventually.

Garth
 
I'm going to take it out West to Will York's neck of the woods and wring it out. Love to shoot long range and hit little bitty targets.
The ATACR MOAR covers 4" at 1000 yards
Will probably shoot 200 - 400 yards out at Prairie Dogs and 400 - 600 at Coyotes

Flatsman, have you had NightForce before?
This new NF has what they are calling HD glass, talk says it is better glass than the NSX series NF and just under the glass in the Beast.

It's been a while since I had a Burris, but I always thought they clouded up and got hazy under power at distance.
It's been a while (17 years) since I looked through one tho..
 
I've got matching Millet DMS scopes on my LMT MWS 308 and my FN SCAR 17.. I like the reticle and mine are in the ATACS camo pattern. Also got a IOR VAldada M1 on a DSA fal using the Soviet PSO-1 rangefinding optic.. the Springfield 3 gen scopes are very nice as well, too bad they don't make them any more. I've got a Bushnell ELite 6500 tactical on a rifle that Mel made me from Snipercentral.com.. he's also making me one now with a Night force MOAR reticle. on it.. there are lots of good optics out there. the Weaver superslam tactical is good, Ive heard good things about the Nikon Monarch gold..
U.S. optics are very expensive and I've never messed with one, but would like to check one out.. and of coarse there's always old reliable... the Leupold MK IV.. Optics are odd, some swear by some, while others swear at them.. I've got a Hendsoldt 10X mil dot on Steyr PII where the 100 yard zero is the 4th mil dot up.. I guess who owned it before me was doing some super long range shooting for that to be the zero, but when I took off the elevation cap, all there was was a bunch of holes in a circle with a roll pin in one.. didn't even try to change it.. and from what I've gleaned, nobody out there knows anything about these scopes, so it will stay zeroed as is.
good luck
 
After looking through a 35mm Vortex with a MRAD reticle, I can't do Nightforce. I think they're clear, but that Vortex was just damn, and I like how you can get the first focal plane option. I just think the rings that Vortex makes for the 35mm Viper leaves something to be desired.

I like Leupolds, but their super high ends, the $2-$3 grand range, there are probably better out there, but they are still clear.

I like Nikon's rimfire scopes, beyond that I think the BDC is ehh, the reticles are too large, and the factory flip ups they send with cut the field of view down a lot.

Trijicons have amazing glass, but I think the reticles are too big.

Could always go Bushnell, they have a $2G tactical scope......:eek:

Longest I've ever shot has been 500 yards and that was with an old VariX III 3.5-10 with a duplex reticle, so my experience is definitely limited, but I've looked through a lot of damn scopes.
 
M67 said:
After looking through a 35mm Vortex with a MRAD reticle, I can't do Nightforce. I think they're clear, but that Vortex was just damn, and I like how you can get the first focal plane option. I just think the rings that Vortex makes for the 35mm Viper leaves something to be desired.

I like Leupolds, but their super high ends, the $2-$3 grand range, there are probably better out there, but they are still clear.

I like Nikon's rimfire scopes, beyond that I think the BDC is ehh, the reticles are too large, and the factory flip ups they send with cut the field of view down a
Click to expand...

Mark
If you do like the FFP scope, have you looked through a FFP NightForce?
That's what NF's new BEAST is only.
 
I really liked my USO 1.8-10 that I had on my 21" AR-10 when I had it.

USO and S&B are my optics of choice for high power, long range stuff.
 
I've not looked through Nightforce or Vortex, but I've used many rifle scopes over the years. My general impression is that Leupold and Burris are on par with each other at what I would call "entry level" for good clarity/brightness and definitely a cut above Redfield, Weaver, Bushnell, Simmons and the like. I'd put Nikon a shade better than Leupold or Burris, but I've gone to Zeiss for my best rigs and specifically their German-made Diavari scopes with T* lens coatings. I do have an American-made 4.5-14 Zeiss Conquest with the MC lens coating, and it's almost as good as my T* Diavari's.

I will say this--if you take a 3-9 T* Zeiss and look through it alongside a 3-9 Vari-III Leupold or Burris at the "witching hour" when shooting light is almost gone, the Zeiss will make you put the Leupold and Burris away and never look back.

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned the Swarovski's. The ones I've looked through are on par with my T* Zeiss scopes, and I know many swear by them.

Sorry I missed you last time around, Chuck. My wife and I are moving west again in a couple of months, so we may have to re-calibrate.
 
Last edited:
Will York said:
I've not looked through Nightforce or Vortex, but I've used many rifle scopes over the years. My general impression is that Leupold and Burris are on par with each other at what I would call "entry level" for good clarity/brightness and definitely a cut above Redfield, Weaver and the like. I'd put Nikon a shade better than Leupold or Burris, but I've gone to Zeiss for my best rigs and specifically their German-made Diavari scopes with T* lens coatings. I do have an American-made 4.5-14 Zeiss Conquest with the MC lens coating, and it's almost as good as my T* Diavari's.

I will say this--if you take a 3-9 T* Zeiss and look through it alongside a 3-9 Vari-III Leupold or Burris at the "witching hour" when shooting light is almost gone, the Zeiss will make you put the Leupold and Burris away and never look back.

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned the Swarovski's. The ones I've looked through are on par with my T* Zeiss scopes, and I know many swear by them.

Sorry I missed you last time around, Chuck. My wife and I are moving west again in a couple of months, so we may have to re-calibrate.
Click to expand...

My experience exactly. I now run zeiss on all my hunting optics. I estimate the Zeiss gives me up to an additional 5 minutes to hunt at dusk and dawn vs leopold or nikon (which is what I used to run).

In discussing this subject with a dealer who sells all brands of top european optics I asked if there was anything better than Zeiss that I should consider for hunting. He told me he'd love to sell me something more expensive, but there is nothing better in the same or similar price range for that application. Seeing is believing... :D

.
 
I am partial to Leupold, have a 1.5-5, 2.5-8, 3.5-10 (x2) plus several fixed 4x and 6x versions. They are the bext bang for the buck. If yu want the *best* (hard to quantify that but lets take price out and stick with optics) Swarovski, Zeiss and *some* Schmitt and Bender and close to it. The Nightforce is right up there as well no question. I am overseeing a 12 month trial of a Leupold Mk4, Trijicon and Nightforce all in variable (all out to 20x). So far they are all doing well, I would say the Nightforce has the best optics (to my eyes).
 
I have, and like the Leupold Vari x lll, 4.5x14, 6.5x20, and 8.5x25 on my long range rifles.
Have 2x7, 3x9, and 3x12 Burris LER on my hunting/target handguns.
 
I've got a leupold vx-3l 6.5-20x56 with varmint reticule on my .308, not the highest end scope but it serves my purposes.
 
Once you get in the $1000 territory the differences are pretty small as someone already stated.
I like nikon as best bang for your buck optics though. lots of them on .22s and others where range isn't a huge deal. To me it doesn't make sense to put a $500 optic on a firearm that's only reaching out 75 yards or so.

The Zeiss I've had have all been awesome- but I sold them to get into S&B on my customs because I liked the adjustment dials better. Not enough difference in the glass to me to argue about however.

That being said- your requirements may demand a different brand. For example I'm currently waiting on a SWFA 1-6 FFP Illuminated reticle because the hash marks are in mills as are the adjustment turrets. And for the price I couldn't beat it. Of course if it comes in and I hate it I'll order a Bushnell with similar specs, but twice as much.

IMHO it's all about what your use is.
 
You done the right thing. I only own 3 brands. Nightforce for my long range rifle, Zeiss Conquest for my hunting rifles, and Burris for my "Tactical" guns...

Nightforce is right up there with USO and for the price, i can't think of anything that beats them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top