Nightforce 50mm or 56mm?? Which One..

[Ingwe]

With the advice I received from some of you here I have decided to buy a Nightforce 5.5x22 Scope, probably with the NP1 Reticle...still thinking on that,

I would like your opinions on whether to go with the 50 or 56mm. It will be primarily a hunting scope with longrange shooting thrown in....Prairie Dogs as well.

I am not really concerned with the extra size of the 56mm since I will be buying a Manners Stock with an adjustable comb....I'll just crank it up a bit more.

I am wondering however, if that extra 6mm makes any/much/noticable difference in light-gathering and/or optical clarity.

Any experiences???

 

[C.O. Shooter]

What is your barrel contour??

 

[Ingwe]

It's a #4 on M70 action

 

[C.O. Shooter]

You should be able to get by with .885" high rings with the 56mm scope!

 

[Panchik]

I have a 56 NF and my friend has a 50. I have not seen a noticeable difference between them. If I bought now I would take with 50, because the weight is quite critical for me in the mountains.

 

[Ingwe]

No difference in optical quality bc of more light gathered?

 

[LONGSHOOTER]

If you at times hunt in low light situations, there will be some improvement in exit pupil sizing.

 

[Killertraylor]

I've never noticed a difference and all mine are 50's now.

 

[bruce_ventura]

At the same magnification setting, the 56 mm scope will be up to 25% brighter than the 50 mm scope, depending on the lighting conditions, the magnification and your age. There also could be no benefit under some conditions. It's purely an exit pupil effect.

 

[azsugarbear]

Some addl. food for thought: If you are looking at NP-R1 reticle in the NXS, you are most likely planning to hold-off for wind. Given that the NXS is typically a second focal plane scope, you stadia for hold-off will only be accurate at 22X. In low light situations, you will want as much light as possible (56mm) in order to keep the scope at full power (22X) and still be able to see both the target and the reticle. You can always compromise and go down to 11X to allow in more light, but your stadia value will then double from 2 MOA to 4 MOA with the NP-R1 reticle.

 

[Blkz06]

Theres a small bit of weight penalty by going with the 56mm, but I definitely saw a huge difference in clarity and low light performance between my ATACR 56mm and the NXS 50mm.

 

[ZSteinle]

Theres a small bit of weight penalty by going with the 56mm, but I definitely saw a huge difference in clarity and low light performance between my ATACR 56mm and the NXS 50mm.

Higher quality glass an account for that.

 

[918v]

Others might disagree about the "huge difference" part:

Tactical Scopes: Optical Performance Part 1 | PrecisionRifleBlog.com

 

[Greyfox]

Theres a small bit of weight penalty by going with the 56mm, but I definitely saw a huge difference in clarity and low light performance between my ATACR 56mm and the NXS 50mm.

I can't see much, if any difference between the NXS 50 and 56mm, and prefer the lesser bulk and weight of the 50mm. I also saw a more significant difference when using the ATACR but I think this has more to do with other design aspects of the scope beyond just the size of the objective lens......coatings etc.