Nightforce Velocity 1000 Reticle Review
By Scott Shreve
When I saw a chance to T&E the Nightforce Velocity 1000 reticle, I threw my name into the hat right away. I have ran the Nightforce 2.5-10x32 Compact scope with the 600 High Velocity reticle for years now on a lightweight 6x47 Lapua coyote rifle and relished the chance to try out the Velocity 1000 model. I already had the perfect platform in mind to test it on and was very excited when my name was drawn to test it out.
My first step was to get on the Nightforce website, and go the Velocity calculator tab, and enter all the data about my ammunition and atmospheric conditions. This easy online calculator guides you through the steps to select the right Velocity reticle to match your caliber, conditions and load. The calculator said that the 1000 UHV.5 was the best match for my rifle. With all the inputs entered and a 200 yard zero, my biggest deviation was at 1000 yards and was only a .12 difference from the reticle, which equals a mere 1.2" off at 1000 yards. This made me extremely excited to get it in the field! I choose a Nightforce NXS model in 3.5-15x50, feeling this would be well suited for a hunting platform rifle.
Upon receiving the scope from Nightforce, I got it unpacked and mounted up on my GA Precision 6mm Crusader that shoots the Hornady 105 Amax at 3300 fps here in Wyoming. I mounted the Nightforce NXS 3.5-15x50 scope to the 20 MOA rail on my rifle with the 30mm NF Ultralite medium height ring set.
The rifle is a GA Precision chambered in 6mm Crusader, it has a Modified Tubb contour 26" Bartlein gain twist barrel, tuned old style Remington trigger, Templar action, Manners GAT stock, and M5 bottom metal. It is my go to coyote hunting rifle.
A quick trip to the local range to get it zeroed in at 200 yards proved very easy. I first focused it to my eye, then locked the ring in place and started to sight the scope in. The knobs have precise movements and the power selector is easy to turn, with nice serrations on it for ease of grip or movement. The power selector ring has nice white markings to show what power you are on, and it rotates the eye piece for adjusting through the power range.
The windage and elevation knobs are a decent height, exposed knob, with white numbered markings and serrations that are also on the power selector. The clicks have a great feel to them and can be felt even with winter gloves on. The high speed elevation knob allows for 20 MOA per revolution, ¼ moa per click: a great feature in my mind. Both windage and elevation knobs have a set screw that allows you to set them back to zero after your initial sight in.
The focus, or parallax knob, on the left is the same shape as the others and is clearly marked with lines on it. A tack-sharp image at all distances was easily obtained, just as one would expect from a top quality optic with a good, wide focus range. The parallax knob also controls the illumination feature of the scope by pulling it out from the body of the scope. All Nightforce NXS models have this same, easy-to-use feature.
I also choose the zero stop option on this scope when ordered, which returns the knob to your original zero or initial reference. It makes it very fast if dialing for elevation. I will explain more why I added this feature to the T&E scope later on.
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By Scott Shreve
When I saw a chance to T&E the Nightforce Velocity 1000 reticle, I threw my name into the hat right away. I have ran the Nightforce 2.5-10x32 Compact scope with the 600 High Velocity reticle for years now on a lightweight 6x47 Lapua coyote rifle and relished the chance to try out the Velocity 1000 model. I already had the perfect platform in mind to test it on and was very excited when my name was drawn to test it out.
My first step was to get on the Nightforce website, and go the Velocity calculator tab, and enter all the data about my ammunition and atmospheric conditions. This easy online calculator guides you through the steps to select the right Velocity reticle to match your caliber, conditions and load. The calculator said that the 1000 UHV.5 was the best match for my rifle. With all the inputs entered and a 200 yard zero, my biggest deviation was at 1000 yards and was only a .12 difference from the reticle, which equals a mere 1.2" off at 1000 yards. This made me extremely excited to get it in the field! I choose a Nightforce NXS model in 3.5-15x50, feeling this would be well suited for a hunting platform rifle.
Upon receiving the scope from Nightforce, I got it unpacked and mounted up on my GA Precision 6mm Crusader that shoots the Hornady 105 Amax at 3300 fps here in Wyoming. I mounted the Nightforce NXS 3.5-15x50 scope to the 20 MOA rail on my rifle with the 30mm NF Ultralite medium height ring set.
The rifle is a GA Precision chambered in 6mm Crusader, it has a Modified Tubb contour 26" Bartlein gain twist barrel, tuned old style Remington trigger, Templar action, Manners GAT stock, and M5 bottom metal. It is my go to coyote hunting rifle.
A quick trip to the local range to get it zeroed in at 200 yards proved very easy. I first focused it to my eye, then locked the ring in place and started to sight the scope in. The knobs have precise movements and the power selector is easy to turn, with nice serrations on it for ease of grip or movement. The power selector ring has nice white markings to show what power you are on, and it rotates the eye piece for adjusting through the power range.
The windage and elevation knobs are a decent height, exposed knob, with white numbered markings and serrations that are also on the power selector. The clicks have a great feel to them and can be felt even with winter gloves on. The high speed elevation knob allows for 20 MOA per revolution, ¼ moa per click: a great feature in my mind. Both windage and elevation knobs have a set screw that allows you to set them back to zero after your initial sight in.
The focus, or parallax knob, on the left is the same shape as the others and is clearly marked with lines on it. A tack-sharp image at all distances was easily obtained, just as one would expect from a top quality optic with a good, wide focus range. The parallax knob also controls the illumination feature of the scope by pulling it out from the body of the scope. All Nightforce NXS models have this same, easy-to-use feature.
I also choose the zero stop option on this scope when ordered, which returns the knob to your original zero or initial reference. It makes it very fast if dialing for elevation. I will explain more why I added this feature to the T&E scope later on.
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