Rifle Scopes Night force, s&b or something else?

[Rlbol]

Been using vortex for some time but it is time for a higher power scope.
The vortex is descent in bright light but seems a light darker then some others I have seen.
My curent vortex is a 4x16x50 ffp. I am looking at something in the 25 to 32 area. I know vortex makes one to 24 power and in ffp but I having been thinking about a night force or maybe a schmit & bender. The s& b is a lot of money so I have been looking at the night force pretty serious. So night force owners can you offer some advice? I noticed that they are sfp which I can deal with and they seem very very popular. So what are the differences? I am leaning towards the nxs models and moa since I am use to them. So other then that I would live to hear all the advise and suggestions! Or if there are other makes?
Thank you

 

[_RJ_]

Re: Night force, s&b or something else?

I've owned a few S&B's, 1 Hensoldt, 2 USO's and I always find myself coming back to NightForce. Great bang for the buck and a solidly built optic. Right now I have an F1 w/ MLR 2.0. Never had any of the Bushnell scopes but people seem to be really happy with them as well.

 

[Rlbol]

Re: Night force, s&b or something else?

So what did you like in the night force verses the s&b and USO?

 

[drjjl]

Re: Night force, s&b or something else?

You might also want to consider the kahles k624i in that price range

 

[i_rep]

Re: Night force, s&b or something else?

Your going backwards not gettin a ffp. Go to the Bushy XRS 4.5-30 G2.

 

[_RJ_]

Re: Night force, s&b or something else?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rlbol</div><div class="ubbcode-body">So what did you like in the night force verses the s&b and USO?</div></div>

Price IMO is fair. Company is great to deal with, (not saying the others aren't) and Orofino ain't that far from me either. Low light gathering to me is about the same. Really, you can't go wrong with the scopes you've mentioned. They are all rugged and as reliable as any man made device can be. You could look at this way too. I sold my S&B, bought an F1 AND a suppressor....

 

[Rlbol]

That was one of the main reasons for my questions! There is a pretty big difference in prices!

Now the night force is putting out more ffp scopes I wonder if the pricing will still be always apart?

 

[scissorhands]

I'm happy ( for the time being) with my NF NXS 8-32 NP-R1

 

[tactic-als]

NF is putting out more FFP scopes? I know of only the F1 and the BEAST....so they made one more FFP scope. Someone will have to remind me how the BEAST compares pricewise to the S&B, Premier and USO scopes...

 

[SOTA]

Im in the $1500 budget, AM I going to regret not getting ffp. Ive never had a ffp or even handled one. the best scope Ive ever shot with was a ziess victroy I think. The most expensive scope lve ever had was around $300

 

[mjh30]

Ribol, magnification isnt the end all, your looking to upgrade from a PST. If your looking for another ffp, then price is going to be a big consideration. Depending on much you want to spend, Kahles, NF, S&B, Hensoldt ain't cheap, But the quality is there.

 

[khw9mm]

I've been looking to try something different from my bushy dmr and considering the kahles 624i or S&B.

 

[Deej]

i think at this time the S&B is the scope to beat. i am shooting and NF F1 at the present but one of the guys i shoot with has an S&B and it is more clear and sharp. i'm not sure if the extra magnification is that big of factor in shooting but in calling the shots is sometimes nice. the clarity is a factor cause he can see targets that i can't at times. i miss the half mill marks for wind calls on his but i think i could learn to live w/o them. i'm thinking hard about switching.

 

[tylerw02]

Im in the $1500 budget, AM I going to regret not getting ffp. Ive never had a ffp or even handled one. the best scope Ive ever shot with was a ziess victroy I think. The most expensive scope lve ever had was around $300

You will regret it. Maybe not right away, but ultimately, yes. I'd look for a used scope that is functional and that you could get your cash back out of. Perhaps a 3.5-15x SFP NXS. You can find them used for 1200. Just make sure the reticle and knobs match. When you can save up another $800, put it up for sale giving you $2,000 and buy a NF F1 or a Vortex Razor HD. The FFP is well worth the expense once you start using it, you'll understand.

 

[Opticsspecialist]

hard to go wrong with nightforce, if you want ffp in the same price point vortex is nice. schmidt and bender is very nice, but given they are so expensive now and they only have a 2 year warranty on the pmII line, it would give me pause.

 

[tnrednk74]

I love my Nightforce-MLR reticle, .1mrad.

 

[samnev]

I have the Nightforce NXS 8-32X56 3.5-15X50 and 5.5-22x50 scopes as well as the Vortex 4-14X50 FFP and a USO ST 10 FFP. I don't feel I loose anything by using the Nightforce scope even though they are 2nd focal plane scopes. Nightforce remains my favorite. That said I am looking at the USO SN variable FFP scopes for my next scope.

 

[Quickdraw40]

If you are shooting faster paced matches, you will want the ability to lower the magnification. If you are shooting prone matches or just plinking, a SFP scope would be fine. Check out the Steiner scopes (4-16 is $2,300 MAP)!

 

[Graham]

Been using vortex for some time but it is time for a higher power scope.
The vortex is descent in bright light but seems a light darker then some others I have seen.
My curent vortex is a 4x16x50 ffp. I am looking at something in the 25 to 32 area. I know vortex makes one to 24 power and in ffp but I having been thinking about a night force or maybe a schmit & bender. The s& b is a lot of money so I have been looking at the night force pretty serious. So night force owners can you offer some advice? I noticed that they are sfp which I can deal with and they seem very very popular. So what are the differences? I am leaning towards the nxs models and moa since I am use to them. So other then that I would live to hear all the advise and suggestions! Or if there are other makes?
Thank you

For what purpose?

Again another Thread asking for information, and getting advice about specific equipment, but with no discussion about its purpose and intended use.

 

[SaepeExertus]

I've only read this far and In my experience the only reason you will need a Ffp scope is if you'll be shooting ukd ranges and need to us the mil reticle to do some target estimation. If you're not going to be calculating the range to your targets do t worry about ffp. Also owning both companies in question you can't go wrong with either but the night force will save you few dollars.

 

[Rlbol]

Thanks for all the input!
i finally got a shop that has a nice selection of optics. They carried the night force which are very nice. They also carry Schmidt bender. Wow is all i can say! The 5-25 pm2 is amazing! Even compared to the f1 nightforce. You could absolutely see the difference in glass. You could see a very slight off coloring as well as a little round blurring in the NF the SB was as clear as not looking throw a scope. Just your bare eyes. Granted there is a pretty big price difference and I was looking at objects at a distance not on a range focusing on targets!

 

[hk dave]

hard to go wrong with nightforce, if you want ffp in the same price point vortex is nice. schmidt and bender is very nice, but given they are so expensive now and they only have a 2 year warranty on the pmII line, it would give me pause.

I thought they came with a 30 year warranty?

 

[Redmanss]

I've only read this far and In my experience the only reason you will need a Ffp scope is if you'll be shooting ukd ranges and need to us the mil reticle to do some target estimation. If you're not going to be calculating the range to your targets do t worry about ffp. Also owning both companies in question you can't go wrong with either but the night force will save you few dollars.

Not necessarily true on the needs for a FFP scope. Yes, shooting UKD and needing to mil out your target at any magnification is important, but also for those that prefer to hold for wind rather than dial for it there is also that value. When you go into the higher magnification scopes that pick up too much mirage in the summer sun, you have to dial back to view a clear target. When you do, you no longer have the ability to reliably and simply apply your wind holds and you're restricted to dialing for wind. Same goes for movers too. Holding off for movers on max magnification is difficult at times, so you have to dial back for a larger field of view. You can do the math and use percentage values, but I prefer to watch the wind rather than figuring out if I need to double my correction or not, or if I got it exactly on the mag marker in my quick adjustment from behind the scope.

If you can afford FFP and believe you will ever have an application for it, then get it. You absolutely will not regret it when shooting practical/tactical style target shooting where getting rounds on steel, game or other target in the field is where it counts. I believe SFP is for benchrest and tiny groups in more controlled environments. Like Graham said above, what is your application?

 

[SFree]

Busnell, Vortex, Nightforce and others have upped the ante on quality at a reasonable price. I say "reasonable" at around $2000, which 4 years ago was astronomical, and still is, yet that seems to be the dividing line for the top tier makers. S&B are so far overpriced, great scopes, but now there are others that do so much for the shooting community where S&B does nothing. I've owned 2 S&B's, but warrenties that back up the product are the difference for me. Bushnell, lifetime, 1 year money back, no questions asked. S&B, not so much.