Ian M
Well-Known Member
VX7 3.5-14x50, NXS 3.5-15x50, Mark 4 M1 4x-14x-50, Bushnell 4200 Elite 6-24x50
Short and simple review - all scopes on 14 power, targets at 100 and 200 yards, thin overcast day, very little wind, fishtailing downrange so mirage observation was very interesting, nice temps - probably in the 70's (close to 20 C, whatever the heck that is). Did not take out my Navy resolution target, used a variety of squares, X's, diamonds, circles of varying sizes and spacings, plus .30 cal bullet holes that I applied with my old push-feed.
VX7 is very bright and sharp, tacky right out to the edges. Head to head with the NXS - my eyes called it a tie for resolution, seemed to like the NXS image coloration just a bit, VX7 is very bright and true tho. NXS had a big advantage re NPR-2 reticle vs Boone and Crocket in the VX7, much finer design but they were designed for different purposes. Turrets are a bit quirky, but they are working nicely. Not too crisp yet, plus there are 20 moa per rev. Zeroed up nicely, from a 100 yard zero here is what is on the turrets:
UP 26
DOWN - 24
LEFT 22
RIGHT 29
The elevation is standard, 1/4 moa spacings and easy to follow but it has 20 rather than Leupold's traditional 15moa per revolution. The windage is different, goes in two's each way from zero to ten. That way you see what you put on up to ten going left or right, no subtracting from 15 like their tactical turrets. If you go more than ten moa you are into the other set of numbers but that rarely happens unless you are shooting with my friends and the wind is blowing our ammo boxes off the bench. Got to remember this is a hunting scope, not a LR tactical/target scope - right!
Farily easy to zero the turrets, three setscrews, fairly good size rather than those dinky little ones that strip so easily.
Now here is an interesting psycological thing about this scope - I know so much about psychology I don't even know how to spell the **** word. You have to get used to leaving the caps up and used to a bit of wobble and play in the spring-loading in them. They move the reticle accurately, just a different handle than we are used to.
Same goes for the parallax dial - you simply have to pop it out and leave it out until your shot(s).
Mark 4 was not as sharp out near the edges as the VX7, by a small margin but I could see it. no biggie since I have never used the edge for anything. At the center it is remarkably good tho. Colors seemed accurate, particularly the greens and reds. Mildot reticle is good for longer shooting.
Bushnell was a very pleasant surprise - it was on the bench with some pretty serious glass and it held its own very well. Now this was at 14x, remember this is a 6-24 - I only compared at 14 today. Sharpness was right in there, bright but not as snappy an image as the bigger dollar scopes but very good. Edges were better than the Mark 4 to my eyes, definitely not up to the VX7 or NXS, but what the heck. Image was very good, did not see through mirage quite as well but still remarkably well. Impressed me, that Bushnell should be able to play with the big boys pretty well.
I did a lot of shooting today from standing, using crossed sticks and the VX7 set on 6 power. First three shots I fired touched each other at 100 yards, then reality set in and I used up a lot of the ShootnSee target.
Short and simple review - all scopes on 14 power, targets at 100 and 200 yards, thin overcast day, very little wind, fishtailing downrange so mirage observation was very interesting, nice temps - probably in the 70's (close to 20 C, whatever the heck that is). Did not take out my Navy resolution target, used a variety of squares, X's, diamonds, circles of varying sizes and spacings, plus .30 cal bullet holes that I applied with my old push-feed.
VX7 is very bright and sharp, tacky right out to the edges. Head to head with the NXS - my eyes called it a tie for resolution, seemed to like the NXS image coloration just a bit, VX7 is very bright and true tho. NXS had a big advantage re NPR-2 reticle vs Boone and Crocket in the VX7, much finer design but they were designed for different purposes. Turrets are a bit quirky, but they are working nicely. Not too crisp yet, plus there are 20 moa per rev. Zeroed up nicely, from a 100 yard zero here is what is on the turrets:
UP 26
DOWN - 24
LEFT 22
RIGHT 29
The elevation is standard, 1/4 moa spacings and easy to follow but it has 20 rather than Leupold's traditional 15moa per revolution. The windage is different, goes in two's each way from zero to ten. That way you see what you put on up to ten going left or right, no subtracting from 15 like their tactical turrets. If you go more than ten moa you are into the other set of numbers but that rarely happens unless you are shooting with my friends and the wind is blowing our ammo boxes off the bench. Got to remember this is a hunting scope, not a LR tactical/target scope - right!
Farily easy to zero the turrets, three setscrews, fairly good size rather than those dinky little ones that strip so easily.
Now here is an interesting psycological thing about this scope - I know so much about psychology I don't even know how to spell the **** word. You have to get used to leaving the caps up and used to a bit of wobble and play in the spring-loading in them. They move the reticle accurately, just a different handle than we are used to.
Same goes for the parallax dial - you simply have to pop it out and leave it out until your shot(s).
Mark 4 was not as sharp out near the edges as the VX7, by a small margin but I could see it. no biggie since I have never used the edge for anything. At the center it is remarkably good tho. Colors seemed accurate, particularly the greens and reds. Mildot reticle is good for longer shooting.
Bushnell was a very pleasant surprise - it was on the bench with some pretty serious glass and it held its own very well. Now this was at 14x, remember this is a 6-24 - I only compared at 14 today. Sharpness was right in there, bright but not as snappy an image as the bigger dollar scopes but very good. Edges were better than the Mark 4 to my eyes, definitely not up to the VX7 or NXS, but what the heck. Image was very good, did not see through mirage quite as well but still remarkably well. Impressed me, that Bushnell should be able to play with the big boys pretty well.
I did a lot of shooting today from standing, using crossed sticks and the VX7 set on 6 power. First three shots I fired touched each other at 100 yards, then reality set in and I used up a lot of the ShootnSee target.
