What happened to my Nightforce?

[Fotis]

OK after braking a few Leupies, I mounted my NIB NF 2.5x10x40mm Compact on my 378 WBY . A couple of shots later I get this.

What do you figure happened? What is this stuff? Every shot they would jump around! Very disappointed....

 

[FearNoWind]

IMO, whatever it is, if you don't find debris on the outside of the objective lense, the scope needs to go back to NF.

 

[Greyfox]

I would confirm that the scope is the issue by trying another scope. If it is, send it back to NF. They are very good about quickly giving the scope a thorough test.

 

[Fotis]

From what I can tell the scope worked great. This is the group I got with the 378 WBY with the
250 TTSX 113 gr of H4131 gave single digits SD and this is what she did at 3115 fps.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Send it back. I would ask for a new one. Its not like you got a bunch of use out of it before the contamination showed up inside the lens.

Steve

 

[Bravo 4]

Probably some anodizing broke loose from the inside of the tube, it happens. I have had several scopes develop some internal debris, from a $300 SS to a very expensive USO last year. You can take it off and smack it on a phone book to see if it dislodges. Bad thing is that it can come back and dance around inside. I have to say that it would bother me and I would send it back, especially on an upper end (expensive) scope.

 

[Fotis]

Called NF and emailed them picture. They confirmed it is loose debris.. They will have UPS pick it up and airmail it back to me ASAP. Nice!

 

[bruce_ventura]

When the particles are in focus like that, they are on the glass reticle. Unusual with Nightforce - not surprising they offered to fix it. More common with USO, because of their assembly environment and processes. Back in the day of wire reticles, this stuff didn't happen.

 

[Tikkamike]

That is surprising that it showed up like that. I had the same thing happen with a zeiss and they wanted to charge me $400 or some crazy number like that to fix it. then another $50 to ship it back after repair... or they would ship it back unrepaired for free... I took it back. Nightforce is a much better company to work with.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Not to get on the Zeiss bashing, but I had a 3-9 Diavari-C that was on my .340 Weatherby for over 20 years, and it seemed to stop holding the zero. I sent it back to Zeiss, and they replaced the tractor spring and returned it to me, no charge. When I looked through it, there were several black specks in the field of view near the crosshair, similar to what the OP has in his Nightforce. I figured that if they screwed that up, what else did they miss. I sold it, and got a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14, and that never seemed right. Field of view seemed "tunnel vision", and focus wasn't crisp as I expected. I sold that and now have a Swaro 3.5-18 with BRH, and love it. Zeiss seemed to fall a little in the QC, IMHO.
I understand that another company (Minox or something like that) services the Zeiss scopes that are returned now.