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nightforce optics

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katesdad View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote katesdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: nightforce optics
    Posted: February/22/2009 at 21:17
how do these rank with swaro, zeiss or even leupy?  does swfa sell them?   thanks
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote berettadt10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/22/2009 at 21:54

Extremely good optics.  Top of the line regardless of who you compare them with.  More on the line of Schmidt & Bender.  Nightforce, like Schmidt & Bender, is what you want when your target is shooting back and price is no longer an issue.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sparky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2009 at 00:17
Here is a link to SWFA's rating scale. Which I feel is fairly accurate.

http://www.opticstalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=8185

This rating scale is probably going to be updated soon from what I read on this web site.
Does SWFA sell them, no.

I own a number of NF scopes and I am very pleased with them. Optically there are a some better scopes available, but mechanically they are excellent.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote katesdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2009 at 07:05
thanks for the replies, that was the link i had been looking for as well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2009 at 07:33
Originally posted by berettadt10 berettadt10 wrote:

Extremely good optics.  Top of the line regardless of who you compare them with.  More on the line of Schmidt & Bender.  Nightforce, like Schmidt & Bender, is what you want when your target is shooting back and price is no longer an issue.

 



The glass is not as good as S&B, the internals are among the very best, very accurate, very precise, very repeatable.

They are the best deal going for a tactical scope.  You gotta pay allot more to get a little more scope.
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katesdad View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote katesdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2009 at 09:25
Originally posted by Rancid Coolaid Rancid Coolaid wrote:

Originally posted by berettadt10 berettadt10 wrote:

Extremely good optics.  Top of the line regardless of who you compare them with.  More on the line of Schmidt & Bender.  Nightforce, like Schmidt & Bender, is what you want when your target is shooting back and price is no longer an issue.

 



The glass is not as good as S&B, the internals are among the very best, very accurate, very precise, very repeatable.

They are the best deal going for a tactical scope.  You gotta pay allot more to get a little more scope.
 
what would the glass compare to then?  alot better than a leupy m4?
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Rancid Coolaid View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2009 at 19:57
Better than Leupold M4, better than Conquest, not quite as good as IOR, not quite as good as USO and S&B.

NF's real strength is their build quality and repeatability.  Most will agree the optics could use a little more, but I hear no one complain of precision and accuracy.

It is, in my opinion, the best deal going on tactical scopes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jonoMT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/04/2009 at 13:40
Originally posted by Rancid Coolaid Rancid Coolaid wrote:

Most will agree the optics could use a little more, but I hear no one complain of precision and accuracy.



Kinda makes you wonder why they don't punch them up a bit and establish complete superiority. But I'm already quite happy with mine. It is fully usable in legal shooting light and better than my Leupold (FX-II 4X).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/04/2009 at 16:14
They can barely keep up with demand now, but it would make business sense, at least to a non-business guy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jonoMT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/04/2009 at 22:18
Originally posted by Rancid Coolaid Rancid Coolaid wrote:

They can barely keep up with demand now, but it would make business sense, at least to a non-business guy.


Don't I know it. Took nearly 2 1/2 months to get one of the new 2.5-10s. As far as making business sense, well it only will when and if they feel the heat from competition. NF occupies a price spot below USO, Hensoldt and S&B but seems to lack only in optical quality in comparison. While there are, in my opinion, not many scopes in the same price range or below that come close, other than some Leupold tactical scopes and definitely IOR. I've got no complaints about mine.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rick983 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/12/2009 at 08:38
I've been reading this thread with some interest. Over the last 40+ years I've used numerous Leupold's, Weaver's, Unertl's, well, you get the picture. Last year I bought a Nightforce 8x32 NXS and I have to say it has the sharpest optics of any scope I've ever looked through. I have several high end Leupold's that come close but not better than my Nightforce. The only negative with the nightforce is the weight. Those suckers are built like Russian tanks. Good shooting !!! Big Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nova88 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/17/2009 at 17:04
for the price they are some good optics
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Urimaginaryfrnd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/17/2009 at 20:35
When I look at Nightforce and then look at U.S. Optics and it isnt but a few hundred of price difference I'm thinking U.S. Optics.  For now I'll just be happy with my vairable Super Snipers at a third the cost.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gferrett Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2009 at 12:20
There grate there made in Idaho, USA
 
ferrett
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2009 at 13:10
I think Rancid Coolaid pretty much nailed it.

They are mechanically excellent.  Optically, they are quite good, but for what they cost I would expect better glass.  

Is better glass critical? probably not, but it is a competitive market and Nightforce may fall prey to their own success (in some ways, like Leupold did).  If they do not improve and innovate, competition will catch up and take over.

Nightforce is in an interesting position in the market.  They have been making utterly reliable scopes for some time now and enjoyed exceptionally good word of mouth.  However, price-wise they have been steadily moving up-market where they start getting dangerously close to better scopes like Zeiss/Hensoldt and S&B.  The new Premier scopes are even closer to Nightforce price-wise and, I may be going out on a limb here, but I will take a Premier scope over a similarly configured Nightforce any day and twice on weekends.

For quite some time, Nightforce had comparatively little competition in their price range and that competition had flaws:
  •   Leupold tactical scopes are (in my opinion, of course) are desperately in need of a non-cosmetic update.  
  • IOR is a love it or hate it proposition (usually, "love the glass" or "hate the service").  Besides IOR has had some well publicized reliability issues with some recent designs.  However, with the designs they've been making for a while (like 2.5-10x42 and 4-14x50), IOR reliability has been rock solid and that is also well publicized.
By moving a bit further upmarket, Nightforce has created some pressure for itself from the top end.  Super Sniper is now creating some pressure from the bottom.  While there are no directly comparable configurations, both optically and mechanically, Variable SS and 10x42HD SS are easily competitive with Nightforce if not better.  
For people who do not go into harm's way there are other less expensive scopes that create pressure from the bottom: Sightron S3 has glass that is as good as Nightforce or maybe a touch better.  It, perhaps, is not as rough and ready, but that is hard to evaluate for weekend bench shooters.  Glass is easier to see.  
Trijicon Accupoint scope line just got extended with a 5-20x50 model which while having some limitations also has a unique competitive advantage in the form of its reticle illumination technology (reticle illumination design on Nightforce is mediocre at best).
Bushnell Elite 6500 and Burris XTR scopes also hit Nightforce from the bottom a little.

The upcoming Vortex Razor scopes are probably going to be the most direct competition for Nightforce both in terms of price and features, but it is a newer and more modern design.

Time will tell how this market segment plays out, but from a business stand point, I can make a good case that you want to start slowly rolling in innovation while you are at the top of the market and before the competition catches up.  That requires a certain combination of corporate paranoia and corporate humility that I have not really seen from Nightforce.  However, I am not in any way privy to their plans, so perhaps they have something up their sleeve.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hunterwingler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2009 at 14:03
they are made less than 40 miles from where i  live. i wouldnt pay the price they ask for them your better off with one of the SS line.
I wasn't upset about the black cat crossing my path this morning but mouthing "your fu@#ed" as he passed was just rude.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2009 at 17:44
Originally posted by gferrett gferrett wrote:

There grate there made in Idaho, USA
 
 
Only the mechanical aspects of the scopes are made in Idaho.  The optics are made by Light Optical in Japan.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hunterwingler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2009 at 19:43
Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

Originally posted by gferrett gferrett wrote:

There grate there made in Idaho, USA
 
 
Only the mechanical aspects of the scopes are made in Idaho.  The optics are made by Light Optical in Japan.
How sure of this are you???
I wasn't upset about the black cat crossing my path this morning but mouthing "your fu@#ed" as he passed was just rude.

If Guns kill people mine are all defective
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2009 at 20:04
Originally posted by hunterwingler hunterwingler wrote:

Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

Originally posted by gferrett gferrett wrote:

There grate there made in Idaho, USA
 
 
Only the mechanical aspects of the scopes are made in Idaho.  The optics are made by Light Optical in Japan.
How sure of this are you???

That is a fairly well known fact.  

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2009 at 20:50
Originally posted by hunterwingler hunterwingler wrote:

Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

Originally posted by gferrett gferrett wrote:

There grate there made in Idaho, USA
 
 
Only the mechanical aspects of the scopes are made in Idaho.  The optics are made by Light Optical in Japan.
How sure of this are you???


100%.  I asked their national sales manager (Kyle) at the Dallas Safari Club show in January and he confirmed.  The reason I asked is because I have 2 of their scopes that have the label "made in Japan" on them, but some of the newer scopes now say "made in USA." 
Ted


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