Nightforce scopes

MOCKBA

Active Member
Nightforce - they seem to get a very mixed reviews in terms of low light capability but there are a few deals about at the moment. I am looking for a good quality all round stalking scope, mostly roe but some red - for a 25-06. and was thinking of either nightforce 3.5x15, khales or buying second hand swaro or zeiss. The other option is a duralyt or doctor? Any help would be much appreciated.
 
If I was you and only going to use the rifle for stalking I would go with the swaro or zeiss scope just for the light gathering capabillity, not had any experiance of the doctor scope's but have used all the others! I personally use schmidt's

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Nightforce - they seem to get a very mixed reviews in terms of low light capability but there are a few deals about at the moment. I am looking for a good quality all round stalking scope, mostly roe but some red - for a 25-06. and was thinking of either nightforce 3.5x15, khales or buying second hand swaro or zeiss. The other option is a duralyt or doctor? Any help would be much appreciated.

I have schmidt, swaro and nightforce scopes but would go for the first two every time for light transmission. Just my tuppence worth.
 
|I have a nightforce and find its light gathering ability more than good enough, I wouldn't say theres any difference between it and a swaro I have on another rifle.
 
I have schmidt, swaro and nightforce scopes but would go for the first two every time for light transmission. Just my tuppence worth.
thks for that. Any major difference between schmidt and swaro - seems to be a few good value habicht scopes about.
 
I have a couple of nightforce scopes (one on a 25-06) as well as a top end swarovski scope.

To be honest i cant see any light gathering difference between the 2, but i prefer the reticle & turrets on the nightforce scopes.
 
thks for that. Any major difference between schmidt and swaro - seems to be a few good value habicht scopes about.
ok - and thks. The one thing i like the like the look of with the nf's is they seem to be more solid than many other scopes.
 
When ever you read reviews on the optical qualities of NF scopes - Words like " Adequate - and Good enough " appear.
These scopes cost well over a grand - and for my money there is better glass out there. Yes NF scopes are build like a brick out house , but IMO the optics are not as good as the european stuff - including IOR - and Meopta.

ATB
Alan
 
When ever you read reviews on the optical qualities of NF scopes - Words like " Adequate - and Good enough " appear.
These scopes cost well over a grand - and for my money there is better glass out there. Yes NF scopes are build like a brick out house , but IMO the optics are not as good as the european stuff - including IOR - and Meopta.

ATB
Alan

i agree with alan. one of my shooting mates had a nightforce on his 6 br great scope for day with great reticials for longrange target and vermin shooting. great turrets on it that offer massive moa adjustment.

but at night when lamping my zeiss victory really made it look poor imo when looking through both under the lamp. he ended up selling the scope and getting a zeiss victory
just pick a scope that suites your needs. if you do a lot of lamping then the European optics are the best under the lamp thats for sure
 
unless your a pro stalker and need that last few extra mlns of light i dunt see the point in pay 1k plus on top of a meopta price. thats what a ziess dealer told me. my local gun shop owner swears by them as he says i can sell you any scope but why waste your money.
was looking at meopta as well. Have you ever looked at the duralyt?
 
i agree with alan. one of my shooting mates had a nightforce on his 6 br great scope for day with great reticials for longrange target and vermin shooting. great turrets on it that offer massive moa adjustment.

but at night when lamping my zeiss victory really made it look poor imo when looking through both under the lamp. he ended up selling the scope and getting a zeiss victory
just pick a scope that suites your needs. if you do a lot of lamping then the European optics are the best under the lamp thats for sure

+1 :thumb:
 
Hi hbain


After having several scopes, Schmit & Bend, Swaro, Zeiss, and now Nightforce, I have three Night forcse scope and one Scmit & Bend, and they are now the only two options I would use for all staking, Red, Roe, Vermin.

Its down to budget and personal preferance, go with what works for you, as long as dont miss the target, surely that what its all about?

Regards

BirkG
 
I only use Schmidt and Nightforce scopes (the NXS) model. After hearing negetive feedback regarding the low light gathering ability of the NXS, I deceided to set up as near scientific test as possible without using expensive light measuring equipement.

Now please realise I was completely impartial when entering into this test. All I wanted was to establish how each one compared to the other.

For the test I took 1 x NXS (3.5-15x50) and a Schmidt (3-12x50) and placed an A4 sheet of paper on the cut out of a life sized roe silhouette target made from hard board and placed this 80 yards away. Upon the A4 paper I printed out letters of varying font sizes (similar to when you go for an eye test).

I did post my findings with pictures a few years ago on another forum but am unable to find it. However, to cut a long story short, I was absolutely without doubt unable to tell the difference between the 2 scopes (they were incidenatlly set on 8 power so testing was comparable) when it came to low light gathering capability. Remember this was an impartial test. It didn't matter to me which won out but I was interested to evaluate both as accurately as possible. The one difference that was noticeable was that the field of view was significantly better on the Schmidt but as far as low light ability - no discernable difference between them.

Also please note this test was comparing the NXS against a Schmidt and not a Zeiss or Swaro and of course I could not comment if either of these other two euro manufacturers would fair any better. Would be interesting to evaluate against them both though. The reality is they are all fine quality optics and all very good in low light.

Interestingly a family member was with me at the time of testing and asked me what I was doing. They have no knoweldge of shooting or the equipement used etc and after asking them which scope they thought was better in terms of reading the letters and making out the deer silhouette, they said the Nightforce was better. I actually don't think that was the case personally but it was an interesting comment based on the fact they had no preconceived idea about either scope.

Even if one was better than the other (which as previously stated I don't think was the case), the difference with the human eye would be impossible to detect and furthermore from a practcal view point, would certainly not provide the user with any advantage when shooting game at low light.

Just my findings and thought would be a worth while post.
 
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I only use Schmidt and Nightforce scopes (the NXS) model. After hearing negetive feedback regarding the low light gathering ability of the NXS, I deceided to set up as near scientific test as possible without using expensive light measuring equipement.

Now please realise I was completely impartial when entering into this test. All I wanted was to establish how each one compared to the other.

For the test I took 1 x NXS (3.5-15x50) and a Schmidt (3-12x50) and placed an A4 sheet of paper on the cut out of a life sized roe silhouette target made from hard board and placed this 80 yards away. Upon the A4 paper I printed out letters of varying font sizes (similar to when you go for an eye test).

I did post my findings with pictures a few years ago on another forum but am unable to find it. However, to cut a long story short, I was absolutely without doubt unable to tell the difference between the 2 scopes (they were incidenatlly set on 8 power so testing was comparable) when it came to low light gathering capability. Remember this was an impartial test. It didn't matter to me which won out but I was interested to evaluate both as accurately as possible. The one difference that was noticeable was that the field of view was significantly better on the Schmidt but as far as low light ability - no discernable difference between them.

Also please note this test was comparing the NXS against a Schmidt and not a Zeiss or Swaro and of course I could not comment if either of these other two euro manufacturers would fair any better. Would be interesting to evaluate against them both though. The reality is they are all fine quality optics and all very good in low light.

Interestingly a family member was with me at the time of testing and asked me what I was doing. They have no knoweldge of shooting or the equipement used etc and after asking them which scope they thought was better in terms of reading the letters and making out the deer silhouette, they said the Nightforce was better. I actually don't think that was the case personally but it was an interesting comment based on the fact they had no preconceived idea about either scope.

Even if one was better than the other (which as previously stated I don't think was the case), the difference with the human eye would be impossible to detect and furthermore from a practcal view point, would certainly not provide the user with any advantage when shooting game at low light.

Just my findings and thought would be a worth while post.

I have a high end Swarovski & a high end Nightforce.

Im going to try this experiment at the weekend just to see the difference.
 
i know of a nightforce going if you want buy and try if it isnt for you sell it on :D its the 5.5x22x50 with np2dd ir ret. as good as new £900
 
I used my friends Nightforce 5.5-22x50 at Bisley and wasnt impressed with it. After 18x magnification, the image was dreadful.

On a stalking trip, during the rut, we compared glass and my Zeiss was far clearer and brighter. The NF was sold and he now swears by Zeiss, and S&B for range work!
 
i think i read somwhere that peoples eyes percieve differently and can accept only so much light unlike some animals can see better in the dark due to cones an rods
also age may come into it i am 55 an got a nxs an a conquest an i cant see much if any thing beetween them but we are all different i personally cant see the hedge
clearly 2 fields away my son on the other hand can see the stones in yhe same hedge but he cant see that his girlfriend is a usless bimbo who couldnt boil an egg
but i can so personal eyesight may play a big part
 
I have an NXS 5.5 - 55 x 50. Nice scope, plently clear enough but a bit too heavy at 32 oz (almost 900 grams) for a stalking rifle. For this i want a 1" tubed Swaro in 4 - 10 x with a 42 mm objective. As a long range scope where repeatibility in the adjustments is a must and a zero stop is nice the NF wins out.
 
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