I am currently having a precision hunting rifle built for me and I am a little stuck as to what optics to put on it. I do most of my hunting in Pennsylvania and South Carolina on property that I own. I will be going out west with this rifle next year and I'm sure a lot more in the future. Hopefully sometime in the next 35 years I will draw a bighorn sheep tag in Montana. All kidding aside I am looking for a scope that pulls double duty at both short and long ranges, something like a 3-18x50 or larger. I am partial to ballistic reticles because they are very fast to put on target. This is very important in South Carolina because we look down narrow roads and pine plantations. I currently shoot a swarovski 5-25x52, but I have been hearing a lot of good things about Nightforce. In addition I have shot a lot of Leupolds and have never been let down. I was hoping to get some feedback from anyone who has a scope that will meet these needs and what they think of it.
Scope Advice For A Custom Hunting Rifle.
- Thread starter jdm5267
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Senderofan
Well-Known Member
JDM:
You have an interesting dilemna on your hands....One thing that would be helpful to know....What are some of the specs on your new rifle? I'm thinking specifically in terms of rifle size...is it a benchrest / prone style or a lightweight stalking type rifle? The reason I ask....the scopes you're wondering about can get pretty large and heavy...and added weight to a stalking rifle that you'll be using at altitude to hunt sheep is not what you want.
Having said that...I use military style scopes on my hunting rifles. I'm just switching to a Premier Heritage 5-25X scope from a NightForce NXS 5.5-22X ( Which is going on my teenage sons rifle ). I have also owned / used an IOR 6-24x in the past. I really like the robust nature of the scopes...I also like the reticles. With the Premier....I'll now have zero stops....which is absolutely wonderful. My rifles tend to be heavy from the get go...they are more like bench style rifles....so these scopes do not overwhelm the rig. I also don't do much if any stalking when I hunt....so take my experiences with a grain of salt. I've not used my hunting scopes to shoot beyond 400 yards or so...but I've done that type of range without any difficulty at all. I have a varmint rig with a NightForce 8-32X BR scope that I've used to shoot prarie dogs out to 850 yards and the scope is amazingly accurate when dialing in my dope.
Good Luck...I've enjoyed my NightForce, IOR and now Premier scopes on my rifles. I think you'd be very happy as well...as long as you know that these scopes tend to be large and heavy.
Wayne
You have an interesting dilemna on your hands....One thing that would be helpful to know....What are some of the specs on your new rifle? I'm thinking specifically in terms of rifle size...is it a benchrest / prone style or a lightweight stalking type rifle? The reason I ask....the scopes you're wondering about can get pretty large and heavy...and added weight to a stalking rifle that you'll be using at altitude to hunt sheep is not what you want.
Having said that...I use military style scopes on my hunting rifles. I'm just switching to a Premier Heritage 5-25X scope from a NightForce NXS 5.5-22X ( Which is going on my teenage sons rifle ). I have also owned / used an IOR 6-24x in the past. I really like the robust nature of the scopes...I also like the reticles. With the Premier....I'll now have zero stops....which is absolutely wonderful. My rifles tend to be heavy from the get go...they are more like bench style rifles....so these scopes do not overwhelm the rig. I also don't do much if any stalking when I hunt....so take my experiences with a grain of salt. I've not used my hunting scopes to shoot beyond 400 yards or so...but I've done that type of range without any difficulty at all. I have a varmint rig with a NightForce 8-32X BR scope that I've used to shoot prarie dogs out to 850 yards and the scope is amazingly accurate when dialing in my dope.
Good Luck...I've enjoyed my NightForce, IOR and now Premier scopes on my rifles. I think you'd be very happy as well...as long as you know that these scopes tend to be large and heavy.
Wayne
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i have been useing a shepherd scope for 17 years and love them all! you dont need rangefinder--just range with scope and shoot. i have 1000yd range at home so know what i am talking about! i live in oregon and we have very little game left--finally saw buck deer at 710 yds and got him with one shot(25-06 115 bergers). USEING A SHEPHERD IS ALLMOST LIKE CHEATING
JDM:
I am in the same boat as you. I am currently looking at the Nightforce NSX 12-42X56 for a custom 300 RUM that I am having built. This gun will be around 17lbs so I will not be stalking at all with this. I had all but made up my mind with the NSX, but I have 3 friends that are all shooting the Leopolds on their 22-250, 300RUM and .50 BFG. All 3 of them say they have never had a truer scope than their Leopold. One of them has a NSX on a 6mm ppc and he has had to send it back for repair. Now that being said this was 5-6 years ago. I have heard nothing but good from Nightforce owners since then. What is turning me off to the Leopold right now is the range of power. You are looking at either 6-20 or 8-25, the NSX is available in 12-42... If I take a 1000-1500 yard shot at an elk, I would really like the 42X.
I am in the same boat as you. I am currently looking at the Nightforce NSX 12-42X56 for a custom 300 RUM that I am having built. This gun will be around 17lbs so I will not be stalking at all with this. I had all but made up my mind with the NSX, but I have 3 friends that are all shooting the Leopolds on their 22-250, 300RUM and .50 BFG. All 3 of them say they have never had a truer scope than their Leopold. One of them has a NSX on a 6mm ppc and he has had to send it back for repair. Now that being said this was 5-6 years ago. I have heard nothing but good from Nightforce owners since then. What is turning me off to the Leopold right now is the range of power. You are looking at either 6-20 or 8-25, the NSX is available in 12-42... If I take a 1000-1500 yard shot at an elk, I would really like the 42X.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
A lot of good scopes out there... I like my NF 
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
I can easily make out baseball size objects with my 5.5-22 on low (5.5) power at a 1000 yds. No problem making an accurate shot on a game animal, especially an elk at 1000 yds with a NF on 5.5 power.
For paper shooting, higher power is always nice.
Thank you guys so much so far, keep the comments coming. I guess part of my dilemma is I have never used or looked through a Nightforce. I am curious if anyone knows what the low light performance is like. This is crucial to me because in SC especially during the august velvet season shots come in the first and last half hour of light due to deer (sometimes Hogs) not wanting to move in the 90+ degree heat. From what I've heard the Nightforces are pretty much bulletproof they seem to be more like a mil-spec scope which are designed to be punished and still perform flawless. Swarovski and leupold both perform well in low light in my experience and they are extremely well made. The light transmission is my next concern because quite frankly I could probably shoot reasonably well with a junk scope in broad daylight. We don't normally get that luxury in most hunting situations. Thank you guys once again and I hope to get some more feed back.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
My NF 5.5-22x50 works fine in low light. A couple of years ago I was elk hunting in late Nov and we were on the east slope of a mountain. the sun had set behind us about an hour earlier and we were almost at 30 min past official sunset. I had no problem seeing some elk about 300 yds away. There was snow on the ground which helped illumination, but I have had my scope out numerous times at first and last light and I sometimes dont even have to illuminate the fine NF reticle.
