Leupold or Night Force

[bruce_ventura]

Crusty,

Following this thread, I have a few more comments. My statement about NF scopes having triplet objectives was about the NXS and Competition scopes. I think the Benchrest models have doublet objectives. If so, your Leupold scope will have similar performance, especially for large elevation/windage adjustments. In fact, under turbulent conditions the Leupold may be a hair better because the objective is smaller.

A smaller objective collects less "turbulence" and tends to produce a higher resolution image. The difference between 50 and 56 mm is small enough that the difference in resolution would be difficult to notice. What model NF scopes are your friends using?

I think the guidance you got from NF about theIr scope seeing bullet holes is misleading sales talk. Obviously, higher magnification will produce a larger image. Under conditions of low turbulence, you will see more detail. However, under normal daytime conditions, I think you'll just get a larger blurry image with no more detail. Unless you have vision problems, I would recommend no more then 32X if you shoot under mostly turbulent conditions.

 

[WapitiBob]

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[Crusty Buck]

bruce_ventura,

Your advice is very much appreciated. My thinking is that the NF 8-32 in their lower end Precision Benchrest series will only be marginally better than the Leupold 8.5-25 LRT in magnification. NF told me today that this model will not take the abuse of a hunting scope, which the Leupold will. I like every feature of the Leupold, except the fact that i can't make out the bullet holes at 300. Maybe I'll get Lasik surgery

Crusty Buck

 

[C.O. Shooter]

I had compared a leupold 8.5-25 vs NF 12-42 a little while back. Side by side, both were very nice. I have to agree with what Bruce_Ventura stated, that the BR series of NF was on par with the leupold. I would say comparing the two in this case, the leupold was clearer and crisper! However, these were my eyes anyway!

 

[Crusty Buck]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the evaluation. I want to be able to use the scope I settle with for both hunting and BR shooting. I do not not question NF's quality or commitment to customer satisfaction, even on their less expensive Precision BR models. I do like the clear, crisp view through the Leupold. I watched a doe last night at 200 yds through it and she was beautiful. Her colors against the fall landscape was very nice. Another month from now, she may be in the freezer I'm very tempted to keep the Leupold and see what it does on normal days at the range. One thing is for certain, the extra $400 I spent on the Leupold for the clarity feels very worth every penny at this time. The 5-20 Monarch is a fine hunting scope as well and will end up on my 300 win mag Thompson Venture for deer hunting. It's been on that rifle before and performed very well. Yup, I know the 300 is definitely over kill for deer in Minnesota, but that's another thread.

Thanks again,

Crusty Buck

 

[Crusty Buck]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the evaluation. I want to be able to use the scope I settle with for both hunting and BR shooting. I do not not question NF's quality or commitment to customer satisfaction, even on their less expensive Precision BR models. I do like the clear, crisp view through the Leupold. I watched a doe last night at 200 yds through it and she was beautiful. Her colors against the fall landscape was very nice. Another month from now, she may be in the freezer I'm very tempted to keep the Leupold and see what it does on normal days at the range. One thing is for certain, the extra $400 I spent on the Leupold for the clarity feels very worth every penny at this time. The 5-20 Monarch is a fine hunting scope as well and will end up on my 300 win mag Thompson Venture for deer hunting. It's been on that rifle before and performed very well. Yup, I know the 300 is definitely over kill for deer in Minnesota, but that's another thread.

Thanks again,

Crusty Buck

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!

 

[dragman]

Leupold VS BR series of the NF are close, but if you move to the NXS or higher in the NF you are spending more yes but it's worth every penny! You don't know what your not seeing until you get something that can see it.

 

[Crusty Buck]

dragman,

I agree, good scopes are awesome. The part of them being worth every penny, well I may somewhat disagree with you there. I think that all depends on the forces competing for your pennies The trick of this hunting and paper punching obsession of mine is to figure out what is really necessary and what's on my itch list. I like Leupolds glass, but they are going to have to step it up some if they want to satisfy the BR guys. Have you had any experience with the NF 8-32 x 56 Precision BR? It seems like a scope that will work for dog hunting and BR apps, but I don't know if it's worth the extra cash and losing body parts once my wife sees the checkbook. I want a nice scope, but don't want to walk around the woods lopsided. Any miracles out there

Crusty Buck

 

[LONGSHOOTER]

The cost of a high end scope pales in comparison to the cost of keeping a woman.

 

[dragman]

dragman,

I agree, good scopes are awesome. The part of them being worth every penny, well I may somewhat disagree with you there. I think that all depends on the forces competing for your pennies The trick of this hunting and paper punching obsession of mine is to figure out what is really necessary and what's on my itch list. I like Leupolds glass, but they are going to have to step it up some if they want to satisfy the BR guys. Have you had any experience with the NF 8-32 x 56 Precision BR? It seems like a scope that will work for dog hunting and BR apps, but I don't know if it's worth the extra cash and losing body parts once my wife sees the checkbook. I want a nice scope, but don't want to walk around the woods lopsided. Any miracles out there

Crusty Buck

The BR is good dont get me wrong. I have had them all! If you can afford the NXS get the 8-32 if you cant i would probably buy an SIII sightron before a BR if you want field and paper use because the MOA's in the turret on the BR suck for hunting.
Target - NF competition high end BR cheaper option
Hunting - NXS high end SIII cheaper option
All are good i truely like the siii over the leupold.

 

[bruce_ventura]

The BR is good dont get me wrong. I have had them all! If you can afford the NXS get the 8-32 if you cant i would probably buy an SIII sightron before a BR if you want field and paper use because the MOA's in the turret on the BR suck for hunting. Target - NF competition high end BR cheaper option Hunting - NXS high end SIII cheaper option All are good i truely like the siii over the leupold.

Are you referring to the 1/8 MOA clicks on the BR, or something else?

Have you noticed any issues with low contrast on the SIII? The ones I've looked through seemed susceptible to glare when facing the sun. For that reason, I've considered it a better target scope than a hunting scope.

I'm curious, why do you like the SIII better than the VX-3?

 

[dragman]

Are you referring to the 1/8 MOA clicks on the BR, or something else?

Have you noticed any issues with low contrast on the SIII? The ones I've looked through seemed susceptible to glare when facing the sun. For that reason, I've considered it a better target scope than a hunting scope.

I'm curious, why do you like the SIII better than the VX-3?

Yes with the .125 click on the BR it takes to many rotations to dial yardage and is a pain when coming back down from 1000+ With the NXS even with the .125 you get 10MOA per revolution which is much nicer. that was all about that.
Power for power on say 20 or 25 I have found the SIII just as nice as the VX-3 I just really love the ability for the extra power they offer too. I have not had any glare issues to speak off worse than any scope. Honestly I have had 7-8 sightrons over the years and some were a little clearer than others but all tracked perfect and served me well. I have had 3 VX-3's in that same time frame. 1 I had to send back for particles in the glass, the other two had parallax that I just couldn't get adjusted out. They were all 8.5X25's. Now my friend has a Mark4 8.5x25 and it is awesome but not for the money it's so close to a 5.5X22NXS in price that I can't see staying with the Leupold in that case.
Only Leupold I would use are the Competition ones and that would only be if I got it on a good deal I just am more comfortable with the SIII's with my exsperiences for that price range. Not saying the Leupolds are bad I just think that they are a little over priced for what you are getting

 

[bruce_ventura]

I agree with you about the Leupold price. The VX-3 and up have good lens coatings and high contrast. But you still have to justify a 20-25% higher price, mainly for the name.

 

[Crusty Buck]

Well Gentlemen, I sent the 8.5-25 x 50 LRT back to the supplier, the Italian guys withe green hats. They were absolutely awesome with the return. I took a chance on a Sightron SIII 10-50 x 60mm. Everything I read, and some of the comments from you guys persuaded me to try Sightron. This supplier is not quite as generous, so I have to figure out if the scope is going to meet my demands without mounting it. Any suggestions with this procedure? I'm thinking of using cleaning patches anand not tightening it in the mounts. I will shoot my other 30 cal to 500 and then scope it with the Sightron. Looking forward to the delivery. I sure liked the Leupold, sorry it didn't work.

Crusty Buck