Toughest optic

[morgaj1]

When the parallax went out on em I couldn't get anything focused in the scope. Thats why Im using the ATACR for my hunting rifles. I cant afford to have a scope go out on a once in a lifetime hunt. Same with my customers. After I explained my experiences to customers they have decided to go with the ATACR and NX8 for the vast majority of the hunting rifles. Now if I was shooting PRS or something like that and my rifle didn't have a ATACR on it I probably would use a ZCO or a Tangent due to the glass clarity etc. In the rare occasion the scope breaks its not a $10-20k hunt. But the difference in glass clarity doesn't matter for hunting. I do have a Tangent 5-25 on my 6.5x47 NRL hunter rig, that Ive never had time to take to a match LOL.

This is excellent advice. Until I had a scope fail, I assumed that all scope tracked, held zero, etc and I shopped for glass quality. Now, I shop for reliability first, glass quality second. If a scope isn't reliable, it doesn't matter how good the glass is...

 

[crazymonkey]

This is certainly a good read . Real world experiences with alot of the top scopes. It's right at the perfect time for me as I'm down to picking glass for my new build. My top 3 scopes were tangent, zco, and the atacr. I was leaning towards the zco or tangent based on clarity and weight . I was impressed with the clarity of the zco over my atacr and the difference in weight. I guess I should think about reliability and if it's worth a few extra Oz of weight.

 

[rpierce]

This is certainly a good read . Real world experiences with alot of the top scopes. It's right at the perfect time for me as I'm down to picking glass for my new build. My top 3 scopes were tangent, zco, and the atacr. I was leaning towards the zco or tangent based on clarity and weight . I was impressed with the clarity of the zco over my atacr and the difference in weight. I guess I should think about reliability and if it's worth a few extra Oz of weight.

I went w the 4-20 ATACR due to durability. I didn't need the 7-35 ATACR as I never shoot at game above 20x. Usually its 10-15x that I shoot at game. In my opinion its the best all around hunting scope. Ive banged it around and the zero didn't shift. Shot in really cold weather with no issues, single digits.

I have the highest dealer volume discounts on any scope brand I sell. I make the same percentage roughly on all of them. Therefore I don't need to push one or the other for money. Ill push the one thats the best for the customers application. Alot of rifle builders or dealers will push brand X cause they get a discount on it, even though its junk.

I personally don't want to buy a scope because of a great warranty. I want to buy a scope cause Ill more than likely never have to use the warranty.

 

[RPrice]

Interesting there's been little discussion re: Schmidt and Bender. I own a S & B 5-20x50 PM II Ultra Short with Tremor 2 FFP reticle, mounted on a custom 6x47 Lapua. This combination is an extremely precise long range "system", and a joy to shoot. It is a fairly heavy scope, designed primarily for military/tactical use, and thus is reported to be very "tough". It works great for long range hunting too! Maybe there's just not many hunters who use these??

 

[Mark37082]

I guess us weight conscious rifle shooters are out of luck when it comes to putting durability as a first priority. Adding another 10 ounces really defeats all the $$$ I spent keeping the weight down. I've heard the Trijicon 10 mile getting favorable reports, but do not have first hand experience with one. They check the box for weight and price by a fairly wide margin, but there are always compromises involved.

 

[Barehandlineman11]

If you want weight savings nx8 is best scope for it. Me personally i dont cut weight in my optics most critical components. If my nl pures weighed 5lbs id pack them lol

 

[Huntnful]

I guess us weight conscious rifle shooters are out of luck when it comes to putting durability as a first priority. Adding another 10 ounces really defeats all the $$$ I spent keeping the weight down. I've heard the Trijicon 10 mile getting favorable reports, but do not have first hand experience with one. They check the box for weight and price by a fairly wide margin, but there are always compromises involved.

The tenmiles are legit. I've owned 5 or so of them. Wouldn't hesitate to put one on a pack rifle. Up in weight from there would be an NX8 that 2.5-10 NF

 

[bultinkle]

My trijicon weighs 23 ounces I believe. Solid scope so far

Schmidt pm2 10x42 is 21 punces

 

[Mark37082]

The tenmiles are legit. I've owned 5 or so of them. Wouldn't hesitate to put one on a pack rifle. Up in weight from there would be an NX8 that 2.5-10 NF

Good to hear. It sounds like they punch way above their price point. The TT315 is still hovering at the top of the wish list, but I would hate to make $4K mistake.

 

[wolffman]

Thank you Ryan for the responses. I actually have a dall sheep in NWT in 3 weeks ! So know wondering a lot about swapping to atacr.
I do have e ZCO that has to be on Infiniti's for it to be in Focus. Makes me wonder if that is causing issues. Will shoot that rifle and see if it does.

 

[rpierce]

Good to hear. It sounds like they punch way above their price point. The TT315 is still hovering at the top of the wish list, but I would hate to make $4K mistake.

The only issue Ive had with a TT315 was the windage turret froze in single digit temps. They replaced a part and it never had that issue again. Had the scope back in a week. It survived being abused in ALASKA last fall for a week. I took a fall and the rifle landed on the scope. Scope was fine. If you do end up going with a Tangent give me a shout as I offer the best deals on them. I do have a 3-15marksman on the shelf.

 

[rpierce]

Thank you Ryan for the responses. I actually have a dall sheep in NWT in 3 weeks ! So know wondering a lot about swapping to atacr.
I do have e ZCO that has to be on Infiniti's for it to be in Focus. Makes me wonder if that is causing issues. Will shoot that rifle and see if it does.

thats what happened to mine right before it started going out. Then it got to where I couldn't turn it far enough for it to focus. If I were you Id throw the ATACR on it for the dall sheep hunt.

 

[blvette75]

I've had one for about a decade. Tough as nails. Superior glass. 40mm tube provides for all the elevation needed. It's really too heavy to hunt with.

Hi Chris, Thanks kindly for your response. James

 

[big7fan]

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.

Good info thanks Ryan