Hello everyone. I'm looking at NF ATACR either 5-25 or 7-35 for my new 300 RUM. The older RUM has a 5-20 (SHV) and had a bull at 147 yards last year and I had a few issues finding him in the brush. I'm fairly new to long range shooting but I'm out to 900 yards pretty confidently. I want to venture further out and like the idea of 7-35. I'm leaning towards the 5-25 as this rifle will mostly be a hunting rifle, while practicing as far out as I can. I think the 7-35 will be too much for up close shots. What do you think? Shots will range from up close and personal to my comfort zone of 6-700 yards(for taking an animals). I will have a NF 40 MOA rail and will be shooting the Berger OTM 230. Running ballistics I shouldn't run out of elevation to around 2200ish yards. I'm not there yet but someday I want to be. Thanks for your time and input!
ATACR 5-25/7-35
- Thread starter Jcook02
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308win
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Hey man, just got my ATACR 5X25 F1 so I'll give you my 2 cents. First of all, love the scope. Never been able to shoot at full magnification with my other optics, this one, no problem. My only complaint would be the small eye box. In regards to your question, I would not do the 7x35, just too darn heavy. You said you were using this as a hunting scope for a hunting rifle then weight and sight picture are working against you with these scopes. I put this one on my M70 featherweight while I'm waiting on my other rifle to get built. Lets just say, it aint a featherweight no more! The scope is heavy and big! I too will be hunting with the rifle I'm building, but I'm not having to carry it far. My hunting set up is a 8ft flatbed on my pickup that I sit over a canyon so I don't have to carry far at all.
Back at 5x I wouldn't have any problem with the scenario you described in your post. Not sure why you did unless you were set at 20x? With that being said, If I were you and wanting a NF, I would be looking into NX8 series. I put a 2.5x20 on a friends M70 Featherweight 300WSM last year and that rifle is still what I would consider a "hunting" weight rifle. If you are wanting more magnification the 4x32 is still considerably lighter than the ATACR. As far as quality of glass on the ATACR being superior, I just don't see it? I will get to put the two side by side in a couple of months and maybe I will change my mind? As I recall, I had no problems with the NX8. Shooting at 850 yesterday with my ATACR I gotta say, not only was I spotting my hits, I could in detail see the crater on the plate (not sure that made any sense?). My point is, the glass is very nice. To be fair, if I were going to do a "hunting" rifle I would probably have gone with either a VX5 or Mark 5 as they are both smaller and lighter than the NF. I just wanted a ATACR, maybe you do too? In that case, get it and don't look back, you will be happy. Safe shooting my friend
Back at 5x I wouldn't have any problem with the scenario you described in your post. Not sure why you did unless you were set at 20x? With that being said, If I were you and wanting a NF, I would be looking into NX8 series. I put a 2.5x20 on a friends M70 Featherweight 300WSM last year and that rifle is still what I would consider a "hunting" weight rifle. If you are wanting more magnification the 4x32 is still considerably lighter than the ATACR. As far as quality of glass on the ATACR being superior, I just don't see it? I will get to put the two side by side in a couple of months and maybe I will change my mind? As I recall, I had no problems with the NX8. Shooting at 850 yesterday with my ATACR I gotta say, not only was I spotting my hits, I could in detail see the crater on the plate (not sure that made any sense?). My point is, the glass is very nice. To be fair, if I were going to do a "hunting" rifle I would probably have gone with either a VX5 or Mark 5 as they are both smaller and lighter than the NF. I just wanted a ATACR, maybe you do too? In that case, get it and don't look back, you will be happy. Safe shooting my friendThe 7-35 weighs 1.5oz more Than the 5-25, that's nothing to worry about. What is to worry about. On a shorter range shot, and you're in low mag range, the reticle will be very small on the 7-35. Where the 5-25 will be larger on equal powers. I shoot the 5-25atacr in MilC, love everything about it, cept the weight. Also have nx8 4-32x50 in mil C. Glass isn't as good parallax needs constant adjustment. Anything about 25x darkens very quickly. Anything below 7x reticle is so small tough to use, so the scopes basically a 6-24x optic in a spot where the optic performs.
10oz is a big weight penalty between em, but the glass on atacr is very good. Their reticle choices are some the best out there, turrets are good. But my scope parallax is very stange at the 25x and 500y target my parallax is maybe 175y setting. I rarely have to go past 400y on parallax dial to focus out to almost a mile. That is odd but not necessarily a bad thing.
Scopes that rival or exceed atacr:
Khales k525i
Minox zp5
Swaro X5I
Vortex amg
Mk5hd
Xtr3
Those scopes are all in same price range or cheaper than NF, but have glass and features that compete with their atacr line. The place where the NF falls short, low light performance. The khales minox and even mk5hd will exceed here. The mk5hd is noticeably lighter with locking turret. Idk there are so many options, nightforce is a **** good overall choice, they just tanks. I have 2x NF, a khales, 4x mk5hd, 2x xtr3, and prior owned a few AMG. My order of scope criteria :Tracking, low light performance, Reticle, weight, FOV. In this price point glass should all be great, so glass isn't a priority. I'll work with something that has a bit less resolution or more CA to have a scope that works better 30 mins after sunset.
10oz is a big weight penalty between em, but the glass on atacr is very good. Their reticle choices are some the best out there, turrets are good. But my scope parallax is very stange at the 25x and 500y target my parallax is maybe 175y setting. I rarely have to go past 400y on parallax dial to focus out to almost a mile. That is odd but not necessarily a bad thing.
Scopes that rival or exceed atacr:
Khales k525i
Minox zp5
Swaro X5I
Vortex amg
Mk5hd
Xtr3
Those scopes are all in same price range or cheaper than NF, but have glass and features that compete with their atacr line. The place where the NF falls short, low light performance. The khales minox and even mk5hd will exceed here. The mk5hd is noticeably lighter with locking turret. Idk there are so many options, nightforce is a **** good overall choice, they just tanks. I have 2x NF, a khales, 4x mk5hd, 2x xtr3, and prior owned a few AMG. My order of scope criteria :Tracking, low light performance, Reticle, weight, FOV. In this price point glass should all be great, so glass isn't a priority. I'll work with something that has a bit less resolution or more CA to have a scope that works better 30 mins after sunset.
milo-2
Well-Known Member
I have a friend that is looking to get rid of a 5-25F1, has the MoarT reticle, pm me if interested.
One thing that you may want to consider is the number of times you may use that top end magnification, particularly on a hunting rifle.
IMHO, much above 15-20 it gets really hard to reasonably quickly find the target. Many times at long range the mirage will wash hard enough that you can not use the top end magnification. I shot a match in November out to 1200. There was enough wind and mirage that nobody could use anything above about 18 or so when we went beyond 900.
IMHO, much above 15-20 it gets really hard to reasonably quickly find the target. Many times at long range the mirage will wash hard enough that you can not use the top end magnification. I shot a match in November out to 1200. There was enough wind and mirage that nobody could use anything above about 18 or so when we went beyond 900.
Thank you, but I have purchased one already.
