The NXS was not even allowed into the Marine Competition because of political manuevering. However the Special Forces of the Marines including 1st Recon Detachment and S/S from the 4th ME Counter Terrorism Brigade, who have their own budgets all chose the NXS.
Not to mention the AMU who you can call and ask why they chose the NXS and purchased over 100 of them.
Lets not forget the German GSG9's who all shoot NXS scopes instead of buying their own country's products.
And don't forget the elite Canadian SF units that all use NXS scopes even though they are issued the other brand.
Both USO and S&B have won some contracts, but the NXS was not allowed for consideration because of political stunts when they did. The fact remains the the Elite SF units of the Free world use the NXS because their weapons are more accurate with the NXS mounted on them, and the scope is tougher than anything else on the market by a long shot. That is why it is mounted on every Naval Surface Warefare 50 cal. deployed today.
Telling partial truths like the above quote is just plain misleading and inaccurate. Its not about Tactical vs. Hunting. It is about being honest. Telling the whole truth.
Grizz i think your full of crap. and if you are in advertently calling me a liar then i don't take kindly to that.
Starting with GSG9. using the Blaser tactical with an NXS mounted was a stop gap measure when nothing else quite fit the bill, at the time the PMII's still didn't offer the options that they where looking for, and to be honest, i don't think they yet do, but i am working on that.
Going back to the US Marines, according to Maj Boothby they looked at what was currently available on the market and chose the best, and to hell with the cost when they chose the S&B. Currently on the market included the NXS, Leupold and USO and a few others, i have no reason to doubt his word, he is an officer and a gentleman, and a bloody good bloke to boot (hey he is into rugby !!)
Now there are units, who have budgets for buying thier own kit, but as we all know, that will do the job and it costs half the price will always be the deciding factor when it comes to chosing an NXS over the PMII. and lets face it, the NXS is better than anything Leupold has to offer.
what is the reason that rifles are more accurate with an NXS than a PMII ? it is simply because the Mildot reticle in the PMII is twice the bloody thickness than the reticles fitted in the NXS., so it covers more of the **** target, and when you try to shoot small groups, it helps to have a cross in the middle of the reticle that is covers less than what the rifle is capable of shooting in to, Ive seen this on my own 30-06, i put my 3-12x50PMII on it, Mildot reticle , covering 7.5mm @100m. the rifle shoots into around 1/2 inch at 100m, i put the klein reticled 4-16 on it, or a leupold 6.5-20, or an NXS with an NPR2, the rifle shrinks miraculously to 1/4 inch performance.and thats same ammo, same conditions, scope set on 12x.
The S&B PMII, with a mildot ret is a pure military sniping scope, one shot in the right place, or have you ever seen Haji the Horrible stand around long enough for some one to shoot 1/4 MOA groups on him,
S&B have been lagging behind for the last years,lagging behind in reticle options and such features that are desired, ive been telling em that and it took a while to get them to listen, slowly slowly the big wheel is moving, more rets and options are becoming available which is making the S&B more deployable in a LE Sniper role and as a target rifle scope as well as options desired by certain military organisations.
When it comes to budgets, the bean counters are in charge of budgets, and i don't care which military units it is, if they can buy something that will do the job, for the half of the price of the best equipment to do the job, the cheaper option near as always wins.
As far as the S&B's cold weather performance is concerned, ive personaly use the PMII in sub zero temparatures often, ive not heared any complaints from the Royal Marines using thier PMII's in the frozen parts of Norway where they do thier mountain and artic warfare training.
Ive seen and heared of far more cases of failed scopes in the NXS than i have in the PMII's infact the ratio pretty high.
The optical clarity in the S&B is superior to the NXS, the S&B is well capable of taking any abuse and more than the NXS is, the NXS may have more reticle options, but the S&B has 13mils of elevation i 1 turn, optical clarity and rugged performance.
I don't particularly favour the possition of the ret illumination control on the S&B, but the illumination control and the way the ret illuminates is far better than the NXS. The magnification adjustment on the PMII is nicer, as is the eye piece focus, i hate the way the whole rear end of the scope turns on the NXS.
Anyways, if i was in the situation of having to chose either the NXS or the PMII, and i was a military sniper, i'd chose the PMII.
Now if i was a competetive F Class shooter, then i'd pick the NXS for now, but i'd be contacting S&B about what i
wanted. and that would include, thinner reticles, more magnification.
anyway, i don't want to get into a ****ing match over scopes, i'll use my PMII's and you use the NXS. Ive used both already and i chose the best of the two.
Pete
