Thread: Scopes for Long Range Shooting in NZ

Originally Posted by res

just to rock the nightforce boat, I have replaced almost all my nightforces with swarovskis. both my gong rifle and tops rifle have X5 5-25's on them and im extreamly happy with them

May I ask why ?
The only thing I can think of is weight

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Originally Posted by janleroux

Any specific models you can recommend?


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Not from personal experience sorry. The do have good reviews though.

Best to give them a call

075780995

I’ve had a few large NF scopes on my shooters, very happy with them but sold them a couple of years ago when having a clean out. A friend suggested an X5 on my new 300 win mag and am very happy with it.

Originally Posted by janleroux

I’ve heard that the swarovskis are good, but they also come with a hefty price tag. ..

The price difference has shrunk hugely in the last couple of years. Swaros have come down and the street price of Nightforce went up when Dead Eye had the agency taken off him.

Originally Posted by 6x47

The price difference has shrunk hugely in the last couple of years. Swaros have come down and the street price of Nightforce went up when Dead Eye had the agency taken off him.

Just like the Schmidt and benders went up in price when dead eye took over nz distribution, haha

FWIW IMHO The glass in the Swaro X5 is better than a NF NSX & possibly better, (depending on your eyes & bias) than a later ATACR but the NF is a more reliable & robust scope.

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

FWIW IMHO The glass in the Swaro X5 is better than a NF NSX & possibly better, (depending on your eyes & bias) than a later ATACR but the NF is a more reliable & robust scope.

I think the key there is our own Eye bias as you say Greg
The glass on my new Nightforce is certainly way ahead of my X5 ( let's not mention the swaro dial)
It's good to see nightforce have uped there glass game let's be honest it's been average for a few years.

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Originally Posted by BRADS

I think the key there is our own Eye bias as you say Greg
The glass on my new Nightforce is certainly is way ahead of my X5 ( let's not mention the swaro dial)
It's good to see nightforce have uped there glass game let's be honest it's been average for a few years.

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What model is the new NF if I may ask? Keen to understand which ones are the better ones.


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Originally Posted by janleroux

What model is the new NF if I may ask? Keen to understand which ones are the better ones.


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The latest models are called the nx8 line.
As in 8x magnification.
The three models are a 1x8 ,
2.5x20x50 and a 4x32x50.
All first focal plane with ed glass (better)
Lighter than the nsx and come standard with the great tenabrex covers.
They also have a magnification ring and power throw lever as it has gone away from turning the whole ocular assembly.
Ground breaking when put altogether in a smaller lighter package with their three R's
Rugged reliable and repeatable.

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@janleroux, the first thing you need to decide, and then tell us, is what your budget is.

Good optics cost decent money, really good optics cost twice as much, or more. What you have to decide is whether the upgrade to the really good is worth another grand or two, recognising that in many shooters' eyes, the upgrade is incremental and not always as significant as the price tag suggests. Some will say yes go expensive, others will say no... no one is "right". It is very much down to how your eyes work, your attachment to certain brands and how comfortable you are spending up big on stuff.

The tip about Bushnell is worth investigating if you are in the middle ground. I use Elite Tactical scopes and hunt / pest control with them a lot and am delighted with their performance for the dollars. Vortex Gen 2 is a shit load better glass than Gen 1. Both work for me in 6-24x50 FFP, bowling goats at 700m and if I had a magnum I'd be happy to take them on further. The mechanicals work, they are reliable, I can see through them, the reticles are great, and I'm not afraid to give them a hard time in bad weather, mud, scrub, etc.

Because I am a tight bastard I've never been able to stomach a $3000 scope so I buy a $1500 one... and another rifle with the difference! Doh!

A big part of your decision is how much you will use this new scope. If you were going hard out long range shooting every week, full on maximum gangbusters, then I'd say spend the money, get a NightForce, whatever. But if its just an occasional thing, and the scope is going to be waiting patiently in the safe for a few weeks at a time, then I'd caution against spending the big number.

This is really going to come down to how much money you have to spend.
For long range you are going to want a lot of elevation adjustment and at least 20x magnification, most tend to prefer FFP reticles but as above that is debatable.

If you are looking to stay under $2000 NZ then the likes of the PST Gen 2 is a great option, the Athlon Ares BTR/ETR is very popular in the USA and the Ares BTR can be had on a very good sale at the moment. Theres some options from Sig Sauer and Sightron that are worth looking at too.
If you are happy spending more $2000-$3000 you can get a Vortex Razor Gen 2, which is an extremely popular scope world wide and has a great reputation in the USA.
Other options are Leupold Mark 5hd, Burris XTR 2/XTR 3 (which is imminent) along with some options from Bushnell and Nightforce with the NXS and upcoming NX8.
$3000-$8000 will get you a Nightforce ATACR/Beast, Schmidt & Bender PM2 series, Khales K series, March, Tangent Theta and many more.

I suggest you decide on a budget and choice what reticle design you like as well as FFP vs SFP, as this will largely dictate what scope suits you.

Originally Posted by andyanimal31

The latest models are called the nx8 line.
As in 8x magnification.
The three models are a 1x8 ,
2.5x20x50 and a 4x32x50.
All first focal plane with ed glass (better)
Lighter than the nsx and come standard with the great tenabrex covers.
They also have a magnification ring and power throw lever as it has gone away from turning the whole ocular assembly.
Ground breaking when put altogether in a smaller lighter package with their three R's
Rugged reliable and repeatable.

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I'm really looking forward to seeing on of these in the flesh, part of me doesn't think NF can pull all this off for the MSRP they are posting.
If they do pull it off, this will be the ultimate Jack of all trades, Master of all!

Originally Posted by Beetroot

I'm really looking forward to seeing on of these in the flesh, part of me doesn't think NF can pull all this off for the MSRP they are posting.
If they do pull it off, this will be the ultimate Jack of all trades, Master of all!

I hopefully can get some rrp pricing early next week.
I will endeavour to bring a couple to the toby shoot for those that would like a fondle as will be be buying the 4x32x50 and will be looking hard at the 2.5x20x50!

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Value for money, it is hard to beat the Sightron III (I run a 6-24X mildot SFP). For sheer clarity (at much greater cost) the Schmidt & Benders are excellent. FFP has the advantage of all reticule measurements being accurate at all magnifications, SFP has a constant reticule size. Both are perfectly good once you learn to drive them. From experience I believe 24x is too powerful and makes finding targets more difficult when time is an issue, but it can give you excellent results if your rifle/ammo/shooter combo is accurate enough. 16x is probably good enough for most long range applications (I now target spot in the 12-16x range and crank up the magnification to shoot).

Originally Posted by andyanimal31

May I ask why ?
The only thing I can think of is weight

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to my eye the picture is more clear, it was weight for the tops rifle and when I recently built a gong rifle I wanted the same scope on it. They dont inspire the same grunt proof robustness that a night force has though. Unfortunitly every scope is a compramise in some way