trivenes
Well-Known Member
So I've had night force kahles vortex sig optics and best I've found for toughest optics by for is nightforce. How would you guys rate a razor series scopes to nightforce looking at getting one for nrl matches
Toughest optic
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EM_556
Well-Known Member
I think Nightforce tops the toughest scope. You also pay the penalty in weight though, well besides the NXS 2-10 which is light. Razor series is good and would do fine for NRL, just have to weigh all the factors that are most important to you.
willfrye027
Well-Known Member
There's a whole "cult" of dudes on Rokslide who meticulously test optics with drop tests. Methodology looks good. SWFA, nightforce, trijicon so far have done well. A few others. Seems like the vortex options fail badly.
shooters
Well-Known Member
ZCO is probably the best.
Out of your list. Definitely NF
Out of your list. Definitely NF
NF or ZCO
RichCoyle
Well-Known Member
willfrye027,
What is a drop test?
What is a drop test?
Ucsdryder
Well-Known Member
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- Jan 23, 2016
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They drop them and confirm zero. Dial and make sure they RTZ, etc. drops are from 12-36" on a padded mat. Lots of failures. Seems like vortex is hit or miss, leupold is miss, nightforce is hit. Swfa does well but it's a crap scope in every regard except holding zero!
Do you own an SWFA? I have several and disagree with your last statement. Their base models are good scopes and HD models are even better. The glass on the base models is certainly not as good as my Trijicons and Nightforces, but is more than adequate. The glass on the HD models is every bit as good as Trijicon and Nightforce. Overall, I prefer the features on my Trijicons and Nightforces (capped windage and zero stops), but for $209 for base models and $699 for HD, SWFA scopes are hard to beat.
BillLarson
Well-Known Member
NF,SWFA
LDHunter
Well-Known Member
I'm a Nightforce guy because I find scope failure for any reason to be totally unacceptable. I spend countless thousands in gas, lease fees, equipment, guns, ammo and scopes and that's why failure of a scope is unacceptable.
I DO like Leupold scopes but don't trust them on big game hunts.
I DO like Leupold scopes but don't trust them on big game hunts.
Pizzaman1
Well-Known Member
Have you checked out the TRACT line of scopes?
rpierce
Official LRH Sponsor
Based on my experience building custom rifles full time for the last 10 years I can say the brand with the lowest failure number has been Nightforce. And I sell more of them than any other brand. I just don't like how NF handles issues. They say theres nothing wrong with the scope and it comes back fixed. As far as scopes go Ive seen every single brand have an issue. Some alot more than others. I won't offer an accuracy guarantee with leupold or vortex. Most of what I build is lightweight 30 cal magnums. Your 15-20 lb 6.5 creedmoor won't have issues with most decent scopes out there. For all my personal hunting rifles I now have Nightforce 4-20 ATACR on them. The durability of it over a Tangent, ZCO, Kahles, swarovski etc far outweighs the slight difference in optical clarity. I haven't personally had or had a customer have an issue w a ATACR yet. ZCO can take some abuse but Ive had the parallax go out on a few of them. Most of those issues were with Spuhr mounts. Tangents had the same issues in Spuhr mounts. Im not a fan of spuhr mounts as they clamp the scope too close to the turret housing. Had a combination of 7 tangents and zco that went out on spuhr mounts. If you torqued the rings to spuhr spec there was issues. Theyd still slip and cause issues w the scope in big lightweight magnums. So I bedded them into the rings and torqued them down. They didn't slip but still had issues occasionally so I don't use those mounts anymore. Haven't had any issues yet bedding a ZCO into the ZCO rings. I did have a windage turret freeze on my Tangent Marksman 3-15 when it was single digit temps. Brought the gun back inside and a few minutes later the windage worked. Brought it back outside and a little bit later it froze again. Scope was bedded into NF 6 screw rings. Tangent sent me a label and I had it fixed and back in a week. Their customer service has been stellar in the few times there has been an issue. Same with ZCO customer service, top notch.
I also have a scope tracking jig to see if the reticle will move due to recoil. Most scopes will allow the reticle to move due to recoil. Ive seen some move 1/2 moa in 10 shots. NF NX8 and ATACR, ZCO, Tangent, Swarovski, and kahles pass the reticle movement test. Others I have tested do not.
I also have a scope tracking jig to see if the reticle will move due to recoil. Most scopes will allow the reticle to move due to recoil. Ive seen some move 1/2 moa in 10 shots. NF NX8 and ATACR, ZCO, Tangent, Swarovski, and kahles pass the reticle movement test. Others I have tested do not.
highfinblue
Well-Known Member
NF is definitely tough. I was in some bad terrain, and I dropped my rifle and the scope was the first thing to come crashing down on a big rock; it put a nice mark on the tube and did knock my zero off, but after getting back to zero it has never caused me a minute's trouble. I have it on a 28 Nosler that is my go-to for big game and it has taken critters out to almost 900 yards since the episode. I can't say I have ever dropped another one of my scopes in the same way, but I am impressed with the NXS 5.5-22 that I'm mentioning here.
I did the NF Experience through cabelas. I didn't know much about NF until I saw their factory and their quality control. I've never seen anything like it, and I worked in quality control for several years in manufacturing. Watch the "Nightforce torture test" on YouTube. It says it all right there.
