Nightforce Problem?

[Topshot]

There's not a locking nut on a Nightforce. The rear lens turns with the power adjustment.

Yes there is.
Its the thin ring between the power adjustment and the lense housing.

If you don't know that it exists then I think we have found the problem.
http://nightforceoptics.com/OwnersManual.pdf

See page three, item "D" Eye piece locking ring.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

You're right there is a ring. But all that is locked down solid. The movement is the entire rear lens assembly including the power adjustment assembly. It all moves on the rotation point for the power adjustment.

 

[Pdvdh]

Would be nice if you could show your NF to a gunsmith that has experience with NightForce NXS scopes and have him examine it in the effort to confirm it's in need of repair. Shy of that, I'd suggest you call NightForce and explain what's going on. Pretty sure it's broke - and they'll tell you to ship it to them for inspection and repair.

I'm surprised your rifle shoots as good as it does with the NF eyepiece wiggling around as described.

 

[WildRose]

By "move the rear lens" I mean grab the rear lens and wiggle it while holding the gun and rest of the scope still. If I look through the scope while doing this the cross hairs move on the target. I'm wondering if it's just my NF NXS or if they all do it. The barrel is floated and I don't believe the stock needs to be bedded. It is steady in the aluminium bedding block.

You have a busted scope one way or another.

Call your dealer or call NF directly ASAP.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

I've got a Leupold 24x that I'm going to put on it this weekend. That shoud tell me if the scope is the problem or if the gun is the problem.

I still wish another NF owner would take a look at their scope and see if their's does the same thing. It may not even be a problem. Like I say, I'm grasping at straws. I may have to bite the bullet and just have the gun rebarreled to make it shoot.

 

[INTJ1]

You're right there is a ring. But all that is locked down solid. The movement is the entire rear lens assembly including the power adjustment assembly. It all moves on the rotation point for the power adjustment.

I am a Nightforce owner. If the only movement is the entire rear eyepiece assembly rotating as you change power, there is no issue. If the crosshairs move when you rotate the eyepiece, there is a problem. I still think calling Nightforce is the answer.

I also wouldn't be surprised if you have a bad barrel or the throat is eroded badly. If I were running a 7 RUM, I'd use a Lothar Walter stainless barrel (the stainless LW uses lasts about triple a factory barrel) in an LV taper and make it 30" long.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

This must be harder to explain than I thought it would be.

The rear lens wiggles up and down and side to side enough that the crosshairs move 1-2 inches on the target.

I haven't tried adjusting the power while watching the crosshairs but that would probably be a good test. I'll need to lock the rifle in a shooting vice of some sort to do that.

I don't know if the crosshairs are mounted on the first or second focal plane but I'm a little surprised that the crosshairs move with the rear lens. I would have thought they would be mounted on a lens somewhere in the main tube of the scope.

If the groups get tight with the Leupold mounted on the gun I'll know the problem is in the scope. If not, then the NF doesn't have a problem, the gun does.

I appreciate the suggestion on the replacement Lothar Walter stainless barrel. Any suggestions on who the best person would be to do the install? I don't really want the rifle to be gone for months and there are no local smiths I'd trust to do much of anything more than mounting scopes.

 

[WildRose]

This must be harder to explain than I thought it would be.

The rear lens wiggles up and down and side to side enough that the crosshairs move 1-2 inches on the target.

I haven't tried adjusting the power while watching the crosshairs but that would probably be a good test. I'll need to lock the rifle in a shooting vice of some sort to do that.

I don't know if the crosshairs are mounted on the first or second focal plane but I'm a little surprised that the crosshairs move with the rear lens. I would have thought they would be mounted on a lens somewhere in the main tube of the scope.

If the groups get tight with the Leupold mounted on the gun I'll know the problem is in the scope. If not, then the NF doesn't have a problem, the gun does.

I appreciate the suggestion on the replacement Lothar Walter stainless barrel. Any suggestions on who the best person would be to do the install? I don't really want the rifle to be gone for months and there are no local smiths I'd trust to do much of anything more than mounting scopes.

Nimrod you have a busted scope. With all that free play in the ocular nothing else you do will make any difference.

You need to solve that issue first before even starting to worry about anything else.

Call your dealer and/or call NF. At a minimum the ocular is way out of spec and thus loose enough to leak gas which means at some point your scope is going to fog up and freeze on the inside.

 

[INTJ1]

This must be harder to explain than I thought it would be.

The rear lens wiggles up and down and side to side enough that the crosshairs move 1-2 inches on the target.

I haven't tried adjusting the power while watching the crosshairs but that would probably be a good test. I'll need to lock the rifle in a shooting vice of some sort to do that.

I don't know if the crosshairs are mounted on the first or second focal plane but I'm a little surprised that the crosshairs move with the rear lens. I would have thought they would be mounted on a lens somewhere in the main tube of the scope.

If the groups get tight with the Leupold mounted on the gun I'll know the problem is in the scope. If not, then the NF doesn't have a problem, the gun does.

I appreciate the suggestion on the replacement Lothar Walter stainless barrel. Any suggestions on who the best person would be to do the install? I don't really want the rifle to be gone for months and there are no local smiths I'd trust to do much of anything more than mounting scopes.

I just checked my NXS 8-32x56. The only movement on the ocular is it rotates for power adjustment, and it is tight--though smooth--in it's rotation. There is no side-to-side or up and down play of any kind.

 

[Broz]

Nimrod you have a busted scope. With all that free play in the ocular nothing else you do will make any difference.

You need to solve that issue first before even starting to worry about anything else.

Call your dealer and/or call NF. At a minimum the ocular is way out of spec and thus loose enough to leak gas which means at some point your scope is going to fog up and freeze on the inside.

+1 This is good advice. There is no movement in any of my NXS scopes. Sounds like it could have been bumped or unscrewed to far. I would get her sent in for repair.

Jeff

 

[MuleHunter]

I had a leupold once that the ocular lock ring came loose on. I noticed when my groups started being random at 500 yds. Once i tightened the lock ring the movement went away and the groups tightened up.

To the best of my knowledge you have 1 of 2 possible problems.

(1) The ocular housing (rear eyepiece) lock ring is loose. It is seperate from the knurled power ring (just behind it). If you tighten that up by grabbing the rear eyepiece and tightening the lock ring the problem might go away.

(2) The ocular lense (rear lense) is loose. There is a ring that is threaded and holds the glass in place. If this is loose then the lense itself is loose and will move. If thats the case you should send it to Nightforce for repair.

If both of these are good there will be no movement of the crosshair when rotating the power adjustment. The whole rear eyepiece should move as one piece.

 

[TXTrained]

You might try swapping out that scope with a previously proven solid scope and see if your groups improve? I know of others that have used this technique to identify a problem scope. I've done the same thing myself when I was suspicious of a failing scope.

I've got a Remington Sendero 7 RUM that I'm trying to use for long range. I've got a Nightforce 5.5-22x56 on top mounted in NF steel rings and NF steel 20 MOA picatinny rail. I'm having a very hard time getting this gun to shoot sub-MOA. One day it will shoot a good, not great, group. The next time it won't hold them in a tea cup. Yesterday was a tea cup day. While sitting at the bench trying to figure out the problem, I tried wiggling the scope to make sure everything was still tight. It was rock solid until I got to the rear lens. If I tried to make it wiggle while looking through the scope, the cross hairs moved all over the target. I was surprised. Not so much that the lens moved because it turns with the power adjustment, but with the fact that the cross hairs moved so much. How do I know that they are staying constant when I change power or even shot to shot?

I may be grasping at straws here. Would some of you guys try this and tell me if your NF does the same.

I'm just having a hard time believing that I can't make this gun shoot. I've been shooting 700 Remingtons for 40 years and reloading for them just as long. This one is giving me fits. The only thing I haven't done it is bed the stock but it seems to be stable. I get no movement when I torque the front or rear action screw independently. There are only two new variables on this rifle: the caliber and the NF scope. I've never owned either one before. I'm thinking one of them is the problem.

I've got a Remington Sendero 7 RUM that I'm trying to use for long range. I've got a Nightforce 5.5-22x56 on top mounted in NF steel rings and NF steel 20 MOA picatinny rail. I'm having a very hard time getting this gun to shoot sub-MOA. One day it will shoot a good, not great, group. The next time it won't hold them in a tea cup. Yesterday was a tea cup day. While sitting at the bench trying to figure out the problem, I tried wiggling the scope to make sure everything was still tight. It was rock solid until I got to the rear lens. If I tried to make it wiggle while looking through the scope, the cross hairs moved all over the target. I was surprised. Not so much that the lens moved because it turns with the power adjustment, but with the fact that the cross hairs moved so much. How do I know that they are staying constant when I change power or even shot to shot?

I may be grasping at straws here. Would some of you guys try this and tell me if your NF does the same.

I'm just having a hard time believing that I can't make this gun shoot. I've been shooting 700 Remingtons for 40 years and reloading for them just as long. This one is giving me fits. The only thing I haven't done it is bed the stock but it seems to be stable. I get no movement when I torque the front or rear action screw independently. There are only two new variables on this rifle: the caliber and the NF scope. I've never owned either one before. I'm thinking one of them is the problem.

I had an issue with a Remington 700 PCR 6.5 Creedmoor with an Athlon Cronus BTR 4.5-29×56. It had been shooting great at 600 yards.I had 4 shoots in bullseye.I took a phone call.Got a drink and next shot did not even hit target I saw impact.Adjusted for slight wins.Barely hit paper.Ling story short the Windage Knobb inside messed up.Sent it back and put on a Tract Toric and it was shooting lights out again.I suggest same method of possible

 

[badthirtyone]

I had an issue with a Remington 700 PCR 6.5 Creedmoor with an Athlon Cronus BTR 4.5-29×56. It had been shooting great at 600 yards.I had 4 shoots in bullseye.I took a phone call.Got a drink and next shot did not even hit target I saw impact.Adjusted for slight wins.Barely hit paper.Ling story short the Windage Knobb inside messed up.Sent it back and put on a Tract Toric and it was shooting lights out again.I suggest same method of possible

Texas,

This thread is from 2011. I'll just bet they got it figured out by now.

Don't worry, it happens to the best of folks.

 

[sierracharlie338]

dang got me again haha