Rifle Scopes Saturday Delivery, Yes Please, a BEAST has arrived

[KWilson]

Nice looking photos so far Lowlight. I know it's early days in your review but i am very interested to hear how the BEAST stacks up against the likes of Kahles updated K624i, Steiner 5-25x56 and S&B since many people hold that as the yardstick to beat.

Pricewise the BEAST is about the same as the Kahles and cheaper than Steiner and S&B in Australia.

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

Frank,

Thank you for posting the video on the B.E.A.S.T. I can tell the excitement in your voice. It really is a new design.

I guess the fine level adjustment is a way for Nightforce to get away from the large elevation turrets (US Optics, S&B, etc.) while still allowing the user to need only 2 revolutions to travel the entire range of elevation adjustment. What do people think about this during a stress situation? Would it matter that I need to throw a lever after adjusting my elevation to get the desired solution? I am not sure myself since I have never used that system. I have, however, gotten "lost in the turrets" on my last Nightforce NXS scope and thus changed to the double turn turrets for this reason. Is the .1 millradian or 1/4 MOA enough for me to miss the shot? Probably doubtful really. I do not like the "break" which functions as a lock. This seems to be a pursuit of the locking turrets in other scopes. Was this something that a lot of people asked for or was this to the military desire?

The windage knob is of a new design also. Interesting that Nightforce likely took a lot of input from the shooting community and made it a zero locking function since most long range shooters do not use the windage knob for wind hold overs, correct?

I look forward to the Finn Accuracy slide resolution test results. I am glad that at least some things are made in the USA.

 

[Lowlight]

The reason it is a "Brake" is because I believe Leupold owns the term lock, or locking turret.

The brake is a requirement for several military deals. When using a hold over reticle they want to be able to lock the turret off, or "brake" if you are NF. That way they can still dial on some elevation and use the reticle for the rest. These are features that were specifically requested. Which is why you see some many locks or caps nowadays.

I was planning on looking at the lever on different sized targets, whether throwing it on or off would be miss. Certainly on a 2 MOA it would not, unless it was an ELR situation, but distance is supposed to give you time and opportunity. In the heat of the moment, the speed of the 1/2 MOA or .2 Mils adjustment should still put on you target plenty fast. (Or use the reticle to adjust)

2 turns is a 120MOA that is a great deal for ELR shooters, or for anyone who has gotten lost on their turret before.

 

[kthomas]

I'm in the market for some glass for a new TacOps xray 51, this just may be the ticket. The original Steiner I bought for it is now sitting on a GAP Crusader. Debating on sticking with Steiner or trying the BEAST. The NF certainly is enticing...

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2

 

[S12A]

Sounds like a march salesman.

Funny how they try to spin the massive difference in elevation travel as nothing but yet still find a way to push the march in the same sentanc.

1/8moa clicks are prefferred for long range shooting by bench jockeys, the nightforce is a tactcal scope.

 

[KUSA]

Why is this thread being polluted by this March garbage?

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Fapatalk 2.

 

[Capt Academy]

Great info, thanks for posting it!

 

[MrSwede]

0311 Hesco, I stand behind what I said about March. However this applies to the 3-24x42.

Now that I finally understand how smart the 0.1/0.2mrad thing is on the Beast I'm finding myself wanting one.
For me how an optic tracks and how rugged it is is my number one priority. With this in mind I've had a hankering for an NXS earlier on.
I've been fortunate enough to look through 5 different 5.5-22x50/56 NXS while on the range or comps, and I found myself massively underwhelmed by their glass.
That applied to all 5 scopes. A side by side of an NXS and my Diavari was just depressing for the NXS owner. Really.
However my Diavari failed on a hunt, and despite having orgasmic glass it got sold of. If I don't trust the optic, I won't have it.

Therefore the Beast is certainly exciting - if Nightforce managed to put together an optic with stellar glass and their well known reliability this may be a winner.

If we are talking glass alone the best optics I've used have been Kahles and Swarovski. No doubt.

 

[Lowlight]

@0311 Hesco

Knock off the propaganda, this is not a March discussion and more than half of what you wrote is wrong.

They are great Benchrest Scopes, or F Class scopes (Belly Benchrest), but calling it tactical and ignoring tactical features doesn't make it one. I have a 3-24x it sits on the floor in my garage collecting dust. The eye box is way too small, the reticles are too thick, they objectives being small hinder lowlight capabilities, and the magnification range, the ones above 24x are too much for a tactical shooter. On top of the adjustments being too fine to be practical for a field rifle.

They do well in their lane and should stay there. You can't compare them to the NF BEAST cause you haven't used one.

 

[cjgemm]

"I have a 3-24x it sits on the floor in my garage collecting dust."

Dust it off and send it to me...

On second thought you don't even have to dust it off.

 

[0311 Hesco]

lowlight, I wasn't creating any propaganda maybe reread where I was going with them...I had found other things about a another scope that others said would potentially rival the BEAST. I was looking for an answer from you specifically about what YOU think, since you have one in your hand...none of what I posted was from me or advocated by myself (I have never even held a march scope either!), and that is why I specifically said "hey here is what so and so thought" Im just trying to get the best feel for the BEAST as I can. If you feel that I was out of line, forgive me. Just trying to find a good home for my deployment money...

 

[netranger6]

lowlight, I wasn't creating any propaganda maybe reread where I was going with them...I had found other things about a another scope that others said would potentially rival the BEAST. I was looking for an answer from you specifically about what YOU think, since you have one in your hand...none of what I posted was from me or advocated by myself (I have never even held a march scope either!), and that is why I specifically said "hey here is what so and so thought" Im just trying to get the best feel for the BEAST as I can. If you feel that I was out of line, forgive me. Just trying to find a good home for my deployment money...

Definitely don't spend it on strippers and used car salesman out the front gate.




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[0311 Hesco]

haha no joke! its not military anymore and ive shed some of the dumb since then! anyway....waiting on the rest of the review but in the meantime, Lowlight, does the brake lock the fine adjustment lever too?

 

[00bullitt]

haha no joke! its not military anymore and ive shed some of the dumb since then! anyway....waiting on the rest of the review but in the meantime, Lowlight, does the brake lock the fine adjustment lever too?

No, it does not. Only the large elevation turret.

 

[bodywerks]

if the glass is better than the atacr then it must be great to say the least

Glass is the same as the ATACR, and the ATACR has GREAT glass.

PCR/XLR/TAC338 http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz53/bodywerks/IMG_20130816_111453_255_zps1b498f0d.jpg http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz53/bodywerks/IMG_20130816_111325_951_zps290ebdd0.jpg

 

[redhooker]

Frank is correct. The Main adjustment never changes from .2mr or .5moa increments regardless of precision elevator lever. The precision elevator lever allows you to slide in between the larger increment of the large adjustment knob; if needed. The lever provides a single throw in the "Up" direction and does not auto reset itself.

If you are going for the Mil/Mil variant, think of the lever as odds and evens. When the lever is straight; adjustments on the main knob would be .2, .4, .6, and .8
When the lever is thrown to the right and rests at an angle, the adjustments on the main knob would be .1, .3, .5, .7, and .9

In all reality, the main knob is still fine enough, that I rarely utilize the precision elevator as the increments on the major adjustment usually suffice as they are still fine enough.

Let me preface this post by saying I love the NF products, and will continue to buy them. I just can't get my head around having a scope that adjusts .1 on the windage knob and .2 on the elevation. If .2 is sufficient then just build me a .2 adjusting scope and set up the reticle for my .1 holdovers. I am in the minority here and I am far from a "glass snob", so I have been satisfied with the NF scopes for quite a while, and have talked quite a few others into becoming NF owners because I have always felt that it was the best 2 grand anybody could spend on a scope. (and thank you for keeping the NXS line). Maybe subconsciously I am afraid those days are going away-and I always seem to cling to the past, I still dump $$ in my old LLY Duramax cuz I'm scared of the new technology

BTW a great feature would have been to make the zerostop push that lever back to zero as well. Thanks for listening to the rant.

 

[00bullitt]

The windage is often requested to be capped by certain Military end users. Some want the windage exposed but unmoveable without an input.

As Frank has mentioned, much of the requirements are born from the use of the Horus reticle. Most are being taught to stay in the scope and hold for everything. They establish a 100M zero and hold everything in the reticle.

The fast elevation (Xtreme speed) requirements are for the ELR engagements with the 338's and 50's. Having a fast 5 or fast 10 available also helps with the Horus when you only have 7 Mils down available in the field of view on 25x. They prefer not decrease their magnification to increase available drop visible in the FOV. They would prefer to dial 5 and hold the rest or dial 10 and hold the rest depending on their engagement distances.

Granted, this is Military requirement, which does not always translate well to the commercial market.

From personal use of the BEAST for the past two years, I have never once had an issue with dialing elevation in .2mr or .5moa increments. I rarely engage the lever unless I am shooting 1 MOA targets at distance. I hold all my wind and I use the MIL-R as I find it an extremely capable reticle. I enjoy the zero brake on the windage knob. Capped would also be suffice, because I do not dial windage corrections.

If you are a person who dials windage corrections, I could see some initial confusion.

The BEAST is not going to be for everybody. It will truly be interesting once they start delivering and feedback starts to hit the web.

 

[fx77]

Great Video...and Made in USA yet...another selling point..

 

[0311 Hesco]

From personal use of the BEAST for the past two years,

Jealousy does not describe the depth of it....

 

[Lawdog734]

Jealousy does not describe the depth of it....

While I suppose that some might be jealous, it's work nonetheless. It just happens to be very beneficial to be passionate about the work!

 

[jaycoux]

While I suppose that some might be jealous, it's work nonetheless. It just happens to be very beneficial to be passionate about the work!

I have a question about the throw lever. When dialing the elevation can i leave tbe throw lever engaged say, if i am going from 3.5 mils to 7.1 mils?

Thanks!
J

 

[Lowlight]

Yes you can.

 

[0311 Hesco]

speaking of work, where is the rest of the review lowlight? hop to it!

 

[bas402]

Tag for later

 

[Lowlight]

I never do a one day or few day review, I want rounds under it as much as possible. My reviews aren't off the cuff that way. I would not expect an official review for at least another 10 days.

Yesterday I took it to the Trigger TIme Make Up Day / Alumni Shoot and everyone was pretty impressed with what they saw. I took the Spartan Sniper's Hide build out to 1000 yards with it, getting dope and was really impressed with it.

One FYI, I shot everything from 300 to 1000 yards on 2 MOA plates and only had to use the 1/4 MOA lever on one set of targets. (800 or 900 I have to check again) So you can get pretty darn centered up on steel without having to use the lever. None of the shots were just touching the plate, I made sure i was as close to center as reasonable.

I let anyone who wanted to look through it, use it, and everyone was impressed with it. Especially the size, they did not expect it to be as short as it was in person and it was definitely noticeable when compared to other 5-25xs on the line.

 

[dtibbals]

LowLight...how would you compare the optical quality to an S&B 5-25?

 

[jerry1]

Great info. I have yet to hold a "beast" in my hands but like many I knew it was coming. It sounds like another great scope for Nightforce. I have always felt the glass on the older Nightforces was fine. If the glass on the Beast is even better that is gravy. I have three Nightforce scopes and I will not be selling. The rifles are always for sell at the right price but not the scopes. The scopes are tough and the clicks feel good. The scope repeats on clicks and that is the most important thing for me. I will be looking forward to the reviews.

 

[hogdealer]

Lucky!!
I have two on order - FOREVER

 

[Lowlight]

Another video showing the turret adjustment and POI check... no problem.

Also this the Sniper's Hide Build rifle with factory ammo from SW Ammo. So the accuracy was pretty darn good for out of the box.


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[bodywerks]

That didn't work...

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Lowlight]

You tried viewing while I was editing it

 

[bodywerks]

Maybe it's a tapatalk issue

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[pmclaine]

I couldn't focus on what you were saying at the end of the first video because I was too horrified that the Beast balanced on top of the mounted scope was going to fall off the rifle and crash to the deck.

Nice work on the videos.

 

[bodywerks]

For those of us that use tapatalk almost exclusively...
www.youtube.com/embed/OJOKXgbbh-M?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Lowlight]

Oh, it would not have fallen it was balanced up there for some time.

 

[hogdealer]

8-( NO BEAST - November now?

 

[dtibbals]

Oh, it would not have fallen it was balanced up there for some time.

Damn I think you have more money in video equipment then rifles!!! I am glad I only have to fund one addiction!

 

[Artifact]

Damn I think you have more money in video equipment then rifles!!! I am glad I only have to fund one addiction!

I was thinking the same thing, the video equipment is a Beast in itself. Thanks for the videos Frank, that's a nice offering from NF.

 

[Blasst]

well I'm going to order one and forget about it. IT gets here when it gets here. This will be my first nightforce. I'm using a Premier Reticles 5-25 right now. It will be interesting to compare.

Guess I'll go with the Mil-R reticle . Do you Nighforce guys like that one?.......especially out past 1000? I'm gonna stick it on a DTA 338L.

Jim

 

[Coltster]

The suspense is frickin killing me waiting on my MIL-R, hurry up NF!

 

[Collector]

I called. Adorama has stock on the MOAR and TReMoR rets in moa. Still waiting on mil....

 

[bodywerks]

What's up with the review? Any news?

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[Collector]

I called. Adorama has stock on the MOAR and TReMoR rets in moa. Still waiting on mil....

Crap, they just called me back on the rest of my order AND advised that the BEAST was not shipping. Seems I was told incorrectly. Hurry up and wait.

 

[jff_stvns]

Been almost 40 day's since Lowlight got the Beast and no final review yet, this is not a good sign.

 

[bas402]

I wouldn't say that, i know the guy has been super busy for sure!

 

[diverdon]

Been almost 40 day's since Lowlight got the Beast and no final review yet, this is not a good sign.

That Sir, is a very interesting observation.

 

[Keith03]

I took months to review my Kahles and I don't have anything but praise for it. Don't start jumping to conclusions.


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[hogdealer]

Month 9 since I paid for two BEASTS Still no glass.

 

[Lowlight]

Been almost 40 day's since Lowlight got the Beast and no final review yet, this is not a good sign.

youre crazy, this scopes rocks. I have been moving it from rifle to rifle and just rezeroed it on another rifle that showed up.

I love this scope , it's on my top secret rifle right now. That video won't be out until SHOT.

You guys are drawing the wrong conclusions, I am just busy doing other stuff.

 

[Lowlight]

Month 9 since I paid for two BEASTS Still no glass.

you have already been told, maybe XMAS more than likely January. If you don't want to listen to what you are being told canceling your order and get your money back.

Nobody gives a shit about your whining over this when I have said for a month it will be late December / January.