Night force? what are you using?

Tikkamike

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Big Horn Basin, Wyoming
Ok to start off I have always shot Leupold exclusively not because I like only leupold but I just use what i know. Last year I bought a Zeiss conquest 4.5-14 with a Rapid Z-800 and fell in love with the idea of long range shooting and hunting. Anyway I am in the process of building a 338 Lapua and my goal is a carryable rifle for elk hunting but also a great bench gun. I am thinking I want a vx-3 with M-1 turrets. I want to be able to effictivly shoot 1000+ yards. I know its a big ticket to fill but its my goal. My question is about the Night Force scopes. I want a 40mm objective but will consider 50mm. what is the Night force scope/reticle combo you use or like? Or what are you using for 1000+ and how do you like it? Any and all opinions welcomed
 
I use a NXS 8-32 with the NP-DD reticle-Love it, if dialing is your pleasure.
Took an antelope just beyond 1K using a FFP NXS 3.5-15 (MLR Reticle).
Didn't feel underscoped with 15x at that distance.
 
That is what I was thinking. People always seem to want the high powered scopes for long range the 3.5 -15 sounds pretty nice to me. Plus from my experience over about 15 the mirage gets pretty bad. anyone else?
 
Alot of folks here use the NF 5.5-22x for hunting and have good things to say about them...perhaps some of them will comment. The 5.5-22 comes in both 50mm and 56mm which is somewhat bigger than the 40mm you mentioned.

I prefer the NF 12-42x56 as the eyes aren't what they used to be and shoot alot of paper. Mirage can be an issue.
 
I pretty much dial for each shot using a 100 yard zero. I do not have any trouble with just the plain duplex of the Leupold V3 at 1K in a 6.5-20 X 50mm. I have both the NPR1 and NPR2 reticles and what they do for me is give a measuring device for wind or elevation corrections if I miss and can spot the impact. In Night Force I use the 56mm exclusively. As Chas1 said, around about 15 minutes past sundown when the little forkhorn comes over the rise way out there you want the larger objective unless you just like to eat chikin. :D
 
For a hunting scope the 5.5-22 gets my vote. If paper is your pleasure 12-42 is the way to go. If I were put a Nightforce on a 338, I believe that I would opt for the 5.5-22 for hunting and the greater elevation adjustment in the scope. 5.5 =100 moa elevation. 8-32 = 65 moa elevation 12-42 = 45 moa elevation.
 
I used a 3.5-15 x 56 NPR2 last fall in Wyoming. My longest shot was only 526 yards but would have felt very comfortable shooting out to 800 with that scope.

I just sold it and upgraded to the 5-22x56 on Shawn Carlock's recomendation for the 338 Edge he is building for me. He recommended the larger scope for shots past 1000 yards. I also wanted the zero stop.
 
Canderson, excellent point on elevation moa...don't know why I overlooked that but, glad you mentioned it.
 
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I have the 5.5-22X56 with the NPR2 recticle on my long range rifles. I love them, but if you don't have a adjustable cheek piece you might run into some fitting issues.


Brent
 
That is good info. I like the idea of the NXS1 and 2 for reference also I like the Leupold TMR reticle for the same reason. I guess I need to look into the NF a little more can anyone tell me the outsife diameter of a night force 50 mm?
 
I used 8-32X56 NPR-R1, and I love the extra magnification.
I choose 8x32 for cutting off the Spotting scope and I don;t look back.
Last Year I got the US-Optics Spotting scope, but in field I noticed max 32 is enough for spotting ans see the trophy rams up to 1400yrd.
Using to much you get the mirage so you have to turn down the magnification.
 
After having a 5.5-22x56 BR version, I sold it for an NXS. I got the 3.5-15X50. While I enjoyed the 50mm better than the 56, I missed having the 22x. 15x was decent and all but 22 was much more comfortable. I sold it for a 5.5-22x50 NXS with zero stop, MLR reticle and MilRad turrets. This is hands down the best Nightforce I have owned to date. Before the BR version, I had a 8-40x56. I find that the 40x was just too much. Between the mirage and haze, it sucked. 20-22x is about as high a power as I care to go. The image is much clearer and crisper without all the mirage and such.
 
Hi Tikka Mike,

I just installed a brand new NightForce 5.5 - 22 X 50 NXS onto my Savage 10FP 308. I sorta was a bit unsure if I really needed to go to the 'big' 22 power though. My brother kept me in the game by thinking a little differently - He said: "You can always adjust it down to 15 Power, but not if you maxed at 15 with a smaller scope, plus if you really have to you can use it like a spotting scope at 22X".

So, I went with the bigger power, physically the size is not that much different. But, man I love the visual quality in this new scope it's just fantastic!:)
Also went with the mil radians and MLR reticle, I like this combo so far.

Ok to start off I have always shot Leupold exclusively not because I like only leupold but I just use what i know. Last year I bought a Zeiss conquest 4.5-14 with a Rapid Z-800 and fell in love with the idea of long range shooting and hunting. Anyway I am in the process of building a 338 Lapua and my goal is a carryable rifle for elk hunting but also a great bench gun. I am thinking I want a vx-3 with M-1 turrets. I want to be able to effictivly shoot 1000+ yards. I know its a big ticket to fill but its my goal. My question is about the Night Force scopes. I want a 40mm objective but will consider 50mm. what is the Night force scope/reticle combo you use or like? Or what are you using for 1000+ and how do you like it? Any and all opinions welcomed
 
I run a NXS 5.5-22x56 with R1 reticle on my .338 Edge. I am very happy with it.

On practice shots way out past 1500 yards, just spot your own shots, read the correction straight off the reticle. Dial in the correction and put the next bullet right onto the target.

It is that easy.
 
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