Thread: Nightforce scopes

Originally Posted by 55six

NZ is seriously gouged on NF. Our USA wholesale price on these is ridiculous compared to the retail markup here. We just aren’t allowed to import them. But this is pretty much standard for how NZ is monopolised on many popular brands. I need to put together a post on this and how local monopolies In a global market are now irrelevant... and also illegal.

I had a 20% MIL/GOV/LE discount with NF when I worked in the US. If NF makes a profit at that, imagine what Hardy is getting.

Now I am not defending them and they may well be a a massive margin but it just may go something like this
distributor landed price = "X" they have to provde support, parts etc and usually clean up any mess caused by retailers
Retailers cost price (in our industry) = "X" + 20%
Retail price = above + 20% which sounds like a lot but any discount to retail customer comes off that 20% and also they have to cover their oblications under the Consumer Gurantees act out of that (well some suppliers do any way others run away and leave it to the importer to sort out the mess)

Soo could you run a profitible business on 20% margin and low volume sales of expensive gear.

The only way to make a good margin while giving good discounts is to both be the importer and distribitor of the gear but this means undercutting your dealers which never ends well.

So if you want to save $$ better to import it yourself direct from offshore mail order / big box store and assume that if there are any issues then they are yours to sort and not the local distribitors.

NF 2.5-20x50 cost price landed exc GST $2362 - NZ price $4615
NF 4-32x50 cost price landed exc GST $2612 - NZ price $5082

I havent included GST as this is claimed back as a dealer. GST only becomes a hit on profit.

As you can see pricing is almost double or 100% markup. And our pricing is from a USA wholesaler not direct from the NF manufacture which would be less for the NZ importer.

NF pricing compared to other brands is at the very high end of kiwi gouging.

For some products Kiwi consumers would be better served by global distribution companies not domestic ones and I think the market will eventually get there. Its a global economy after all and its this economy 55SIX aims to tap into as much as possible.

I don't always agree with the things you post Andy but I do on this. I have a NX8 2.5 - 20 x 50 F1 with the Mil-XT and rate it above the following scopes I have used:

• NF 4-16 and 5-25 ATACR
• NF 4-14 SHV
• NF 5.5-22 NXS
• Leupold MK4 4.5-14 LRT
• Leupold Mk5 HD 5-25
• Leupold MK6 3-16
• Schmidt and Bender 3-12 P3
• Vortex Viper PST 5-25 Gen 2

There's been some talk about "this scope" is better than "that scope" based on glass clarity. Y'all need to be careful judging a scope's potential based on perceived optical clarity. Scope manufacturers will "calibrate" their lenses to perform in certain conditions. Whilst scope x may look clearer than scope y during a ad hoc eval at your local H&F, you may find the polar opposite when comparing in low light conditions. I can think of a certain spotting scope that is pretty average during the middle of the day but is on the money when I need it most during the last 30 minutes of usable light.

Furthermore, scopes should not be judged just on optical clarity. Pending type of use, I would recommend evaluating accuracy of scope turret adjustments, accuracy of reticle measurements, ability to adjust parallax etc.

For me the NX8 2.5 - 20 x 50 F1 ticks all these boxes for hunting out to 500m. I also plan on getting the 4-32 NX8 with Mil-XT for my long range rig - one day . Note: I purchase my NF gear direct out of the States.

Originally Posted by DBL

I don't always agree with the things you post Andy but I do on this. I have a NX8 2.5 - 20 x 50 F1 with the Mil-XT and rate it above the following scopes I have used:

• NF 4-16 and 5-25 ATACR
• NF 4-14 SHV
• NF 5.5-22 NXS
• Leupold MK4 4.5-14 LRT
• Leupold Mk5 HD 5-25
• Leupold MK6 3-16
• Schmidt and Bender 3-12 P3
• Vortex Viper PST 5-25 Gen 2

There's been some talk about "this scope" is better than "that scope" based on glass clarity. Y'all need to be careful judging a scope's potential based on perceived optical clarity. Scope manufacturers will "calibrate" their lenses to perform in certain conditions. Whilst scope x may look clearer than scope y during a ad hoc eval at your local H&F, you may find the polar opposite when comparing in low light conditions. I can think of a certain spotting scope that is pretty average during the middle of the day but is on the money when I need it most during the last 30 minutes of usable light.

Furthermore, scopes should not be judged just on optical clarity. Pending type of use, I would recommend evaluating accuracy of scope turret adjustments, accuracy of reticle measurements, ability to adjust parallax etc.

For me the NX8 2.5 - 20 x 50 F1 ticks all these boxes for hunting out to 500m. I also plan on getting the 4-32 NX8 with Mil-XT for my long range rig - one day . Note: I purchase my NF gear direct out of the States.

The 2.5x20 is the do every thing scope I reckon.
Whether sfp or ffp you get the glass mag range and toughness that no other scope on the market can yet compete with at the pricepoint.
If you love your shooting and hunting you owe yourself an optic that wont let down.
I rate mine at the top.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by DBL

I don't always agree with the things you post Andy but I do on this. I have a NX8 2.5 - 20 x 50 F1 with the Mil-XT and rate it above the following scopes I have used:

• NF 4-16 and 5-25 ATACR
• NF 4-14 SHV
• NF 5.5-22 NXS
• Leupold MK4 4.5-14 LRT
• Leupold Mk5 HD 5-25
• Leupold MK6 3-16
• Schmidt and Bender 3-12 P3
• Vortex Viper PST 5-25 Gen 2

There's been some talk about "this scope" is better than "that scope" based on glass clarity. Y'all need to be careful judging a scope's potential based on perceived optical clarity. Scope manufacturers will "calibrate" their lenses to perform in certain conditions. Whilst scope x may look clearer than scope y during a ad hoc eval at your local H&F, you may find the polar opposite when comparing in low light conditions. I can think of a certain spotting scope that is pretty average during the middle of the day but is on the money when I need it most during the last 30 minutes of usable light.

Furthermore, scopes should not be judged just on optical clarity. Pending type of use, I would recommend evaluating accuracy of scope turret adjustments, accuracy of reticle measurements, ability to adjust parallax etc.

For me the NX8 2.5 - 20 x 50 F1 ticks all these boxes for hunting out to 500m. I also plan on getting the 4-32 NX8 with Mil-XT for my long range rig - one day . Note: I purchase my NF gear direct out of the States.

How do you do that?

I would like to know too please.

Originally Posted by Woody

I would like to know too please.

It's a matter of finding a retailer in the USA who are willing to ship to NZ.
Not all will but all it takes is a few emails and you'll find one eventually. Not everyone will ship Vortex or Leupold either but some do, just a matter of finding them.

Just priced a few of the 2.5-20x through some US online retailers, $1600-$1800 difference from NZ retailers.

NZ$ or USA$$ ?

$1600 - $1800 NZD I didn't search very hard.

I just checked a few. The shv and nxs in US$ , when converted to NZ$ looked on a par with prices here, at least in the lower end of the scope range, so it does not look to me that we are getting burned in the sub $3000 range.

I heard somewhere that the night force pricing policy was generally 25% margin for distributor and 25% margin for shop .
Low kiwi$ does not help for sure.

Euro Optic, not the cheapest unless on special, $1290Usd for the SHV F1, translates to 1937 here, say 2k landed then if you add gst $2300

NZ retail $3100 ?
And our retailers won't be buying retail from Euro optic.

Low Kiwi $ makes it worse.

Originally Posted by Friwi

I heard somewhere that the night force pricing policy was generally 25% margin for distributor and 25% margin for shop .
Low kiwi$ does not help for sure.

I would expect that is a fairly common formula from suppliers along with a volume discount ie the more you order, consistantly the better your "buy" price will get.