Rifle Scopes Nikon to stop making scopes???

[bobtodrick]

I’v heard they are anti gun.

Not anti gun per se. I'm the industrial manager for one of Canada's largest photo retailers. Nikon has been concerned since 2013 when they first started to feel a concerted effort from the part of the photographic community who complained mightily (particularly in Europe) that they couldn't abide with Nikon's support of hunting. Unfortunately they spoke with their wallets.
Nikon tried for years to ignore this...but with photographic sales taking such a hit from cell phones...something had to change.
I purchased one of their Nikon Black X scopes last year...great scope for the money.

 

[Glassaholic]

Not anti gun per se. I'm the industrial manager for one of Canada's largest photo retailers. Nikon has been concerned since 2013 when they first started to feel a concerted effort from the part of the photographic community who complained mightily (particularly in Europe) that they couldn't abide with Nikon's support of hunting. Unfortunately they spoke with their wallets.
Nikon tried for years to ignore this...but with photographic sales taking such a hit from cell phones...something had to change.
I purchased one of their Nikon Black X scopes last year...great scope for the money.

I'm assuming that the majority of those who complain about Nikon's involvement with hunting eat meat, do they realize an animal had to die to give them that sausage they love so much. And they probably don't realize that if hunting were not allowed the government would have to find other means to ensure a healthy habitat because if left unchecked, herbivores will often destroy their own habitat. Hunting is not only a resource for the government (via hunting licenses) which in turn often provides funding for conservation, but it is also a very effective and humane way to control the population of the habitat.

Sadly most people in western society are uneducated when it comes to hunting, or they are educated but through bias and so they are given one point of view. Here in the US there has been a movement of late for hunt-to-table or field-to-table that espouses the idea that getting your meat naturally (instead of from a slaughterhouse) is actually a good thing, which of course for many leads to hunting. Even some of the most rigorous anti-gunners have seen the value of hunting and the realization that states support conservation and preservation through hunting and fishing licenses.

But I'm preaching to the choir here, most of us undoubtedly know this, it is educating the rest of the people that becomes the challenge.

 

[ToddM]

I'd imagine in the case of both Nikon and Swarovski and probably others, that for awhile the birding/nature/photo community as a whole is probably not that fond of hunting/guns and was a much larger market share of their sales. So it probably made sense for them to downplay their hunting/shooting products/marketing, regardless of the fact Swarovski's first rifle scope was made in 1959. This was probably especially true up till about 15 years ago, where 99.9% of hunters/shooters would never spend $1000 on a rifle scope, binoculars, spotting scope. These days I'd bet at least for swarovski, maybe not Nikon with their massive camera sales, their hunting sales far outnumber birding/nature. Especially when you consider they own Kahles. Almost every range trip I take I see someone using multi-thousand dollars optics, if not several someone's. So in the hunting/shooting world people have become much more willing to spend thousands of dollars on optics, than even 10 years ago.

It's all how to market to what part of your customer base, many shooters/hunters would not like the fact that Swarovski has done joint projects with the Sierra Club, so you certainly don't see them mention that with any of their shooting/hunting marketing

 

[nrspence]

Probably for the best, I have not been to impressed with the fx1000 black I bought.

 

[ssdrew]

I'm not really surprised. They haven't haven't done anything to keep up with the current demands and got left behind by all other major riflescope brands. I've never been impressed with any of their optics I've messed with.

 

[atepointer]

I can see how they came to this decision with the camera business I just looked up their business segment revs and margins OUCH. Think of all the journalists, cameramen, news organizations, film/movie, internetters bloggers, house moms: has there ever been a segment of society more clueless about firearms than the aforementioned(minus politicians)? They are a publicly traded corporation with a first responsibility to the shareholders to return value.

 

[Thunderhorse]

My first riflescope was a Nikon Buckmasters 4.5-14x40 mil-dot that I bought to put on my Tikka around 2006 when I first bought it in high school. The scope was like $280 IIRC and I never had any issues with it. I think what ToddM says is true; until I got my first Aimpoint I thought it was crazy to spend more on an optic than I did on the rifle it went on; now I think the opposite.

That Nikon is on my .22 now and is probably more scope than that rifle can use. The Tikka wears a Gen 1 Razor.

I'll agree that newer manufacturers already filled Nikon's niche before they announced their exit from the market, but it certainly doesn't make me happy to see them go.

 

[Vamike9]

Will warranty support shut off completely also? My father has a scope that needs to go back for repair and I guess he should get on it!

The representative from Nikon told me their warranty still stays the same, however the new scopes purchased will fall under a limited lifetime warranty rather than the old No Fault warranty.
We should still call them and tell them we want them to continue.
Pressure is coming from the other side, why not ours?

 

[koshkin]

The representative from Nikon told me their warranty still stays the same, however the new scopes purchased will fall under a limited lifetime warranty rather than the old No Fault warranty.
We should still call them and tell them we want them to continue.
Pressure is coming from the other side, why not ours?

Given how many riflescope companies are out there, why would we want Nikon to continue?

ILya

 

[Glassaholic]

I own a bunch of Nikon lenses and cameras but I do not own anything from their sport optics division, as ILya mentions the competition is already fierce and Nikon did not understand the market well enough to stay afloat. I do find it surprising they launched the FX line and shortly after announce they are discontinuing, guessing it was their last effort or pressure from the anti-gunners got to them. Nikon is not nearly as diversified as Canon or Sony and their core business is photography, so I'm guessing they are discontinuing sport optics to help sustain their photographic division during a time of fierce competition there as well.

 

[Niles Coyote]

I love my Nikon Monarch Gold's and original Tactical's... the two tactical's were better in every way compared to the three MK4's I briefly owned.

 

[ratton]

I own two 1st Gen (Japanese made)Nikon Tacticals 4-16x50. One with the original Gen2 reticle copied from Premier and the other has a Nikoplex. They were fine scopes and very comparable to Leupold's MK4 line. Too bad they were the Rodney Dangerfield (never got respect) of tactical scopes.

 

[Glassaholic]

My first "high end" scope was a Bausch & Lomb Elite 4000 4-16x50, Bushnell eventually purchased the B&L scopes which over time has evolved into the Elite Tactical line we have today. It will be interesting to see if some other company is able to purchase the Nikon Sport Optics division...

 

[MATADOR]

I have 2 older Japanese made Monarchs that are some of my favorite optics. One of them is a 2.5-10x Mil on a 6.8 that I literally drag through the woods looking for hogs, it just won't die.

I know they never gained popularity in this forum, and for mostly good reason, but I will say this.... My oldest son saved all his Christmas/Birthday money for a Ruger American Predator in 6.5. Had to order online and ship to store cause he's a lefty. When I went and picked it up from Academy I grabbed a Diamondback and threw it on there so he could shoot the next weekend. Long story short, I then found out of the Eurooptic sale and decided to try out one of the M-tacticals on closeout. It was the same price as the Diamondback and now it (Diamondback) is back at Academy. For a starter scope I was really impressed. Now I get my Tikka/S&B back and he can learn with his own shit.

Unlike many, I actually hate to see them go. I have always had good luck with mine.

 

[supercorndogs]

My first "high end" scope was a Bausch & Lomb Elite 4000 4-16x50, Bushnell eventually purchased the B&L scopes which over time has evolved into the Elite Tactical line we have today. It will be interesting to see if some other company is able to purchase the Nikon Sport Optics division...

My first were 416 and 312 Burris XTR and a MK4. They are all gone now, but I still have a Nikon monarch 2.5-10 from that time on one of my hunting rifles.

 

[escotch]

Nikon is in some financial trouble as the SLR camera market tanks. They have given up a lot of ground to SONY mirrorless and photogs don't upgrade cameras like they used to as improvements hit diminishing returns. Their CEO even said in Nov their camera division needs to justify their existance.

I'll be looking to pick up a discounted 1000 series for a nice .22 trainer build on their way out the door. If they actually chose to liquidate these scopes.

 

[supercorndogs]

I think the FX-1000 had 50y minimum parallax.

 

[MATADOR]

Nikon is in some financial trouble as the SLR camera market tanks. They have given up a lot of ground to SONY mirrorless and photogs don't upgrade cameras like they used to as improvements hit diminishing returns. Their CEO even said in Nov their camera division needs to justify their existance.

Yep.... there was some dumbass rumor that the anti-gunners got to them but the truth is that they bet against mirrorless camera tech and lost. Due to the saturated scope market they decided this was the first to be cut. At the end of the day it’s just business, or the lack thereof in this case.

I still might try one if their Black line scopes at half the price.