What is a poor man's Night Force?

[gcollins]

I think that my title says it all!! Back many years ago when I lived and died Hunting, you found your self a rifle that did the job you wanted it to do and then you put on the best glass, that most of the Big Game Hunters in your area was using! And here in my area it was Redfield!! If you could afford one.
I shot Ruger #1B's with Redfield scopes. Around 1986 I decided that I had done all the Big Game Hunting I wanted. So I sold off my rifles and put my money in other places. In 2009 2 years after my injury, being bored out of my mind I decided to put toghter a 243WSSM on the AR platform and I then went internet glass shopping Man did I get a reality check lightbulb I had no idea that they make rifle scopes that cost more than what my Polaras 600 twin 4 wheeler.!!
I shopped and looked and looked, I ended up buying a 6x25x56 MIllet mil dot with tractical turrets. it is a good scope but it isn't close to the N.F.
I sure would like to hear from you all and get your options.
Thanks
Greg

 

[The Surgeon]

What is your price range? What kind of performance are you wanting to achieve?

There are many great scopes for under a grand for example, Nikon Monarch, Leupold MarkIV, Sightron, Trijicon, Vortex, Bushnell, and so on. I assume since you are referencing NightForce you are looking for clarity at longer ranges? Zeiss Hensoldt, NF, U.S. optics, S&B, Premiere Optics, and the upper echelon of Leupold all have one thing in common. They use the best cuts of glass thus the higher price tag.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

A used nightforce bottom line

 

[MachV]

If I owned one gun it would have a 5-22 NF on it with the R2 reticle!
IOR use to be a cheaper better glass alternative but these days they can bring more than a NF.
The ViperPST and Sightron S3 might be todays "Poor manns Nightfource" but who kow what next year will bring?

 

[gcollins]

Yes I want to be able to see a long ways. I owned a Photography Studio for 25 years and I had Carl Zeiss Len's . So I know a little about glass. The Glass in Tasco scopes that were made 25 years ago in Japan were decent. But you have to have the right match of elements in a scope and also the exact distance they have to be set at, and ect.
What I have found out was, if you get away from the N.F.,U.S. optics, S&B, Premiere Optics. You will find one person that thinks brand XX is awesome and then you will run acrossed a person and he will tell you to stay away from xx,
so I hoped that I would find a group of guys saying I use ZZ and paid $700.00 and that they just loved them.
Most of the time it doesn't cost me a lot to ask.
Were gaining!
Greg

 

[3rivers]

I think that you should look up some reviews on the vortex long range scopes. i haven't read bad review yet and i have looked all aver not to mention they are one of the most affordable out there.

 

[Tikka Lover]

You really can't beat the Sightron SIII series. Great glass, tracking and reticle. Sightron SIIII

 

[TikkaShooters]

You should take a very close look at the Vortex line.

Excellent customer service and performance here in the US.

I love everyone I have owned.

 

[midnightmalloy]

vortex viper line. i think the glass is as clear as my zeiss if not better. I worked in a big gun store where I got to look through all the scopes (nf, s&b, leupold, blah blah) and found that the new vipers are as good as your going to get until you make that $2k plunge. If i had only one it would be a NF since I have more than that its vortex. hard to beat. go check them out and see for yourself. thats the best way. My Vortex PST 6-24x50 is 8oz less than a 5-22 NF and costs $750. the extra $1000 is hard to justify when my new custom rig will cost me half as much as i paid for my car! any way you look at it the scoped now a days are leaps above what you had available when you stopped shooting.

 

[Jon Jackoviak]

I will through another one out there. The Clearidge Ultra XP5. They are becoming more and more popular and many customers have stated they really could not tell any difference optically between the NXS and the XP5.

Sightron is another one that is very popular and that I would highly recommend.

 

[gcollins]

Hi All,
I went and checked the Vortex Viper, nice looking scope I wished that there was a place that handle them in my area so I could look threw it. The price is less than my Millet!!! Don't get me wrong, I like my Millet's I have 2 of the same one.
I know that my memory is not very good and maybe I read this on another forum? I thoght someone listed a 8x80x50 Mach, and I checked them out, Kinda, looked like they would be $2000.00 at the low end. I would have to look threw one, but after looking at the U Tube video If I would win a Lottery I would have to have one! Plus a few N.F.'s
Thanks to all.
Enjoygun)
Greg

 

[Scot E]

Sounds to me like you need to look at the Super Sniper line from SWFA. They aren't very well known since they don't advertise and don't sell through distributors but they are top shelf in quality. If you stick with the 3-9, 10xHD or their new 5-25 you will find excellent glass, tough as nails construction, great turret repeatability, and a good ballistic reticle to boot. IMO they can't be beat if they have the features you want. They are all MIL/MIL scopes and don't have all the fluff like zero stops etc. but you can easily keep track of where you are with their setup.

They deserve a look if you are looking for premium quality at a good price. I don't think you can beat them personally. I just added their 3-9 with the new reticle and am very impressed with every aspect of the scope.

There is lots of good info here in the optics section and also on optics talk and the hide, if you are interested in more info.

HTH,

Scot E.

 

[Dean2506]

I know its not the fan favorite around here but i have a Leupold vx3 cds on my stw and i am very pleased with it so far. I have shot out to 600 yds so far and the turret is dead on. At 600 i shot a 4.1 in group and elevation was dead on. Glass quality is plenty for my purpose as a hunting rifle.The turrets performed well from 100 to 600 yds. I will shoot it out farther in the next week or so.

 

[screech]

In my experience there is no poor mans night force. Sorry. I own 6 of them now but then again I never worry about them when I go out. Its kinda like buying peace of mind. That being put aside I haven't played with alot of scopes because normally I save for my nxs but I have played with the monarchs and will say if im not buying a nightforce it would probably be a monarch. There internal elevation leaves alot to be desired but other than that im happy with what I've seen with them. Not saying I would be just as happy with a sightron or vortex I just haven't dealt with one yet and will not suggest something I haven't dealt with in real life. Oh and leupolds are. Probably good just haven't ever used one that had target turrets so I can't suggest without trying one out first