I spent about 30 minutes behind the rifles yesterday morning comparing my 4-16x42 ATACR and the new 4-32 NX8. No shooting, just looking in dreary, rainy, overcast weather. These are some initial observations.
- Turrets are good on the NX8, but the ATACR's are clearly better. NX8's are softer and not as sharp or loud, easier to turn, however the smaller turret helps negate this. If the turret were the same diameter as ATACR, it would spin too freely. No hysteresis or slop; quality turrets you would expect from NF. All other controls are on par for what you'd expect from NF as well.. just as solid and smooth as ATACR.
- Glass, I'm not a snob and pick a scope based on application and overall features.. however, ATACR glass agrees with my eyes very well in general. Comparing both scopes on 16x and 8x, I could tell the ATACR was better without looking too hard. We're not talking a step-function difference here and I was pleasantly surprised by the NX8. reading street signs was slightly easier with the ATACR. Color seemed close on both looking at various backgrounds.
- NX8 is surprisingly usable at upper end of mag spectrum. Some image degradation at 32x. I didn't find the eye box difficult on any magnification. Rifle has adjustable cheek riser.
- With a 24" barrel and 6" suppressor, the bottom 25% of sight picture is blocked at 4x magnification due to the FOV. Had to go to around 6x for unobstructed view.
- Slight tunneling on 4x to around 4.75x.
- Parallax is more finicky on the NX8. ATACR seems to just 'snap' to the appropriate setting without much hunting back and forth.
- Didn't check close focus
- Size is very similar to the 4-16x50, which this scope may replace (see pics)
- 30 and 34mm tubes both require same height rings (APA .856")
- Capped windage is small and compact (doesnt protrude far from main tube) I don't anticipate brass rash on turret cap.
- I much prefer the entire ocular rotating of the ATACR over the mag ring on the NX8.
Obviously very little time with it, but initial impressions are good. Why switch? The rifle is my primary "big game" rifle and I thought having 32x for game inspection would be beneficial at no size/weight penalty over the ATACR. Also, 35x ATACR's on my other match rifles has spoiled me a bit.
No experience with the 2.5-20, that scope doesn't interest me too much.. at 2.5x I would imagine most of my suppressor would block sight picture anyways. Between the 2.5-20 NX8 and 4-16 ATACR, I think the 4-16 is a better mousetrap for MY needs.
At the end of the day, I'll have one of each to move around as needed. Not sure if you could pin me down to choosing just 1. If top-tier turrets and glass outweighs upper end mag, the 4-16 is the one for you. If slightly smaller features, more mag, 30mm tube are higher priority, go NX8. These scopes are in different price brackets, so comparing them isn't really fair.. with that said, I think the NX8 is a step in the right direction replacing the NXS line without stepping on the toes of ATACR line.
- Turrets are good on the NX8, but the ATACR's are clearly better. NX8's are softer and not as sharp or loud, easier to turn, however the smaller turret helps negate this. If the turret were the same diameter as ATACR, it would spin too freely. No hysteresis or slop; quality turrets you would expect from NF. All other controls are on par for what you'd expect from NF as well.. just as solid and smooth as ATACR.
- Glass, I'm not a snob and pick a scope based on application and overall features.. however, ATACR glass agrees with my eyes very well in general. Comparing both scopes on 16x and 8x, I could tell the ATACR was better without looking too hard. We're not talking a step-function difference here and I was pleasantly surprised by the NX8. reading street signs was slightly easier with the ATACR. Color seemed close on both looking at various backgrounds.
- NX8 is surprisingly usable at upper end of mag spectrum. Some image degradation at 32x. I didn't find the eye box difficult on any magnification. Rifle has adjustable cheek riser.
- With a 24" barrel and 6" suppressor, the bottom 25% of sight picture is blocked at 4x magnification due to the FOV. Had to go to around 6x for unobstructed view.
- Slight tunneling on 4x to around 4.75x.
- Parallax is more finicky on the NX8. ATACR seems to just 'snap' to the appropriate setting without much hunting back and forth.
- Didn't check close focus
- Size is very similar to the 4-16x50, which this scope may replace (see pics)
- 30 and 34mm tubes both require same height rings (APA .856")
- Capped windage is small and compact (doesnt protrude far from main tube) I don't anticipate brass rash on turret cap.
- I much prefer the entire ocular rotating of the ATACR over the mag ring on the NX8.
Obviously very little time with it, but initial impressions are good. Why switch? The rifle is my primary "big game" rifle and I thought having 32x for game inspection would be beneficial at no size/weight penalty over the ATACR. Also, 35x ATACR's on my other match rifles has spoiled me a bit.
No experience with the 2.5-20, that scope doesn't interest me too much.. at 2.5x I would imagine most of my suppressor would block sight picture anyways. Between the 2.5-20 NX8 and 4-16 ATACR, I think the 4-16 is a better mousetrap for MY needs.
At the end of the day, I'll have one of each to move around as needed. Not sure if you could pin me down to choosing just 1. If top-tier turrets and glass outweighs upper end mag, the 4-16 is the one for you. If slightly smaller features, more mag, 30mm tube are higher priority, go NX8. These scopes are in different price brackets, so comparing them isn't really fair.. with that said, I think the NX8 is a step in the right direction replacing the NXS line without stepping on the toes of ATACR line.
Guess I’ll have to go back next week.
