Another vs thread!! NX8 4-32 vs mk5 5-25?

[mattwill00]

Another versus thread! Aren’t you excited?

So I’m replacing a scope with a higher magnification scope on a long range build and have narrowed it down to these two.

The details:

NX8 - I played around with one and the eye box doesn’t seem as bad as the 2.5-20. Very manageable in my hands, but obviously was not on a rifle. Glass seems good enough? Again, a brightly lit sporting goods store so take that with a grain of salt. I’m sure the parallax is finicky but I’m not too sure that it’s a deal breaker for me?

mk5hd - Everyone keeps saying leupold got it right this time. I have never owned one due to the fear of not RTZ/tracking correctly. Have they been out long enough to squash that? Glass might be a little better than the nx8? Not a huge point of contention for me honestly. Not a huge fan of the reticle options either, was planning on mil-c with the nightforce. Eye box? Parallax?

More so than anything else I want this scope to be durable and track. I’m tough on my stuff and I don’t want to be on a hunt that Ive been waiting for all year (or sometimes more than a couple) and have my scope crap out on me. I know nightforce has the durability edge. But at what cost? Are 8x erectors really that bad? Has the leupold been put through the wringer yet?

Lastly, the NX8 is on the extreme high end of my budget. Atacr is out of the question unfortunately. What other scopes should be considered on my end? SWFA? Not really interested in athlon. Weight is not a huge huge factor for me either. Just no bricks. A couple ounces here and there isn’t gonna kill me. Would love to save the money with the leupold if I could, just not sure at it’s the right move.
Help!!!!

 

[Brush Buster]

I really like my nx8 4-32. Parallax worried me at first but after using I actually kinda like it, especially for longer shots. I wouldn’t call it finicky but might call it fast. It’s easy to get it right for long shots where it is more important. I also considered the mark v but preferred the overall size of the NF and knew that it would track reliably. I was worried that an 8x erector with a low of 4 power might be a tight eye box and low FOV but it doesn’t seem to bother me either. The reticle is visible enough for me at 4x to use and you can always illuminate the reticle quickly if you need to. I shot a deer at 165 yards last season and it was no problem at all.
Probably better choices if you want something more dedicated for closer range shooting, but I find it to be surprisingly versatile.

 

[slim9300]

I really like my nx8 4-32. Parallax worried me at first but after using I actually kinda like it, especially for longer shots. I wouldn’t call it finicky but might call it fast. It’s easy to get it right for long shots where it is more important. I also considered the mark v but preferred the overall size of the NF and knew that it would track reliably. I was worried that an 8x erector with a low of 4 power might be a tight eye box and low FOV but it doesn’t seem to bother me either. The reticle is visible enough for me at 4x to use and you can always illuminate the reticle quickly if you need to. I shot a deer at 165 yards last season and it was no problem at all.
Probably better choices if you want something more dedicated for closer range shooting, but I find it to be surprisingly versatile.

This is dead on. I love how much Leupold has improved their optics in the last couple years, but I still wouldn’t trust their tracking. Just my opinion.

I’ll post my comment from the other thread. It should help some even if I have no significant experience with this model Leupold (beyond looking through one).


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[slim9300]

I think you will be more than happy with the NX8 optically. I bet the Zeiss has a very slight edge based on what I have read (the ATACR should be the clear winner), but my 4-32x50 can truly see perfectly, WELL after last shooting light. I compared it to a 5-40x56 March for a full month before selling the March, and honestly there is no comparison. The NX8 is a better scope than the March in every way. I too wanted a scope with the ability to be hammered and hold its zero, not to mention one that I would never doubt the tracking.

I literally ended up rolling my pack with NF and rifle attached 50’ down a cliff in SE AK a few years back, and the rifle never lost zero despite taking pretty significant damage. It’s a long story but I got cliffed out and had no choice. I was pretty lucky not to die that day. At the same time I gained some serious trust in NF products. This is coming from someone with a **** load of optics. I have easily $20-25k in optics.

I really don’t think you can get a better all around long range hunting scope when failure means the end of the hunt than the 4-32x50 (and now they even have the SFP option for guys that don’t like FFP). I have zero experience with the lower power NX8, and I hear the eyebox is touchy, so you may want to look through one if that’s your model.

Just a few weeks back I shot a 4” group at 1000 yards with my Rbros .300 RUM. It’s not the first time I was able to shoot that well, but I really love this setup. The scope really fits it perfectly. In its first full season of use, the scope has laid down some fine animals also.

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[AlwineArcher]

I currently have both scopes and much prefer the Mark 5.
Tracking has been great on the 4 I’ve tested

 

[slim9300]

I currently have both scopes and much prefer the Mark 5.
Tracking has been great on the 4 I’ve tested

How many rounds do you have through them? I’m just going off all the threads and comments all over the net/forums. Unfortunately for Leupold, they have quite the reputation for not holding zero or for tracking issues. NF is quite the opposite.


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[AlwineArcher]

The one I have been shooting comps with I have probably 1,500 rounds behind in the past 3 months..
0 issues, and it gets beat

 

[mattwill00]

Slim Thats a hell of a torture test for a mounted scope. Glad to hear you got yourself out of it and the scope held zero to boot.

Thats my only fear with leupold. Granted I don’t plan on launching it down a cliff but I’d like to know that it can withstand some abuse. I can get it for a $400 discount compared to the nx8 which has me leaning that direction I just question the durability and tracking. A lot of people claim this has been addressed in the mark 5 but it’s always in the back of my head.

i appreciate the responses thus far. Has anyone had to send any mark 5’s back for failure to track/RTZ or other QC issues? I did read through that thread on the hide about the nightmare NX8 that NF claimed was fine. Had to take it all the ways to small claims before it was addressed...

 

[AlwineArcher]

When I first got my NX8 it tracked about 2-3% rich, and I sent it back and NF was really quick to fix it.
I’m not complaining about the NX8, I think they are a great! But in this price point, the clarity of the MK5 wins for me between the two (especially edge clarity)

 

[slim9300]

The one I have been shooting comps with I have probably 1,500 rounds behind in the past 3 months..
0 issues, and it gets beat

Jesus! That’s impressive. Full transparency though. Did you pay full price (or discounted if you are LE or military) for the scope? Or was it given to you?


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[slim9300]

When I first got my NX8 it tracked about 2-3% rich, and I sent it back and NF was really quick to fix it.
I’m not complaining about the NX8, I think they are a great! But in this price point, the clarity of the MK5 wins for me between the two (especially edge clarity)

Never heard of a NF doing this. My $1000 Sightron has this problem but it’s more like 5-6%. Good to know. Wonder how that is adjusted?


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[AlwineArcher]

Jesus! That’s impressive. Full transparency though. Did you pay full price (or discounted if you are LE or military) for the scope? Or was it given to you?


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I paid full price for the first several I got.

I also hunted with a 3.6-18x last fall and had great luck with it.
(as I did with the NX8 and ATACR I hunted with)

I not trying to badmouth NF, I’ve used them a ton.. but there are a lot of guys with Leupold issues due to scopes made before I owned a Long Range rifle

 

[slim9300]

Slim Thats a hell of a torture test for a mounted scope. Glad to hear you got yourself out of it and the scope held zero to boot.

Thats my only fear with leupold. Granted I don’t plan on launching it down a cliff but I’d like to know that it can withstand some abuse. I can get it for a $400 discount compared to the nx8 which has me leaning that direction I just question the durability and tracking. A lot of people claim this has been addressed in the mark 5 but it’s always in the back of my head.

i appreciate the responses thus far. Has anyone had to send any mark 5’s back for failure to track/RTZ or other QC issues? I did read through that thread on the hide about the nightmare NX8 that NF claimed was fine. Had to take it all the ways to small claims before it was addressed...

Damn. What was the issue?


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[slim9300]

I paid full price for the first several I got.

I also hunted with a 3.6-18x last fall and had great luck with it.
(as I did with the NX8 and ATACR I hunted with)

I not trying to badmouth NF, I’ve used them a ton.. but there are a lot of guys with Leupold issues due to scopes made before I owned a Long Range rifle

Fair enough. I really love how much Leupold had stepped up their game in recent years. I said for a decade that if only they could have comparable optics to the other ‘Alpha’ glass, they would be in great shape. But it wasn’t until the last few years that I started being able to afford alpha glass.


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[CCooper]

Can’t comment on the Leupold, but I just traded my NX8 F2 4-32 for another trusty NXS. I spent 6 months trying to warm up to the reticle in the NX8 and couldn’t, the parallax is Not forgiving. I find the multiple subtensions and fine reticle to be a little to busy as well for my taste. I new it would cost me a low light quick shot eventually, so away it went. A shame, because I really wanted to like that scope, I think they knocked it out of the park feature wise with that model otherwise. As a guy whom generally purchases NF, I would try the MKV before I bought another NX8. My 2 cents.

 

[prm]

I paid full price for the first several I got.

I also hunted with a 3.6-18x last fall and had great luck with it.
(as I did with the NX8 and ATACR I hunted with)

I not trying to badmouth NF, I’ve used them a ton.. but there are a lot of guys with Leupold issues due to scopes made before I owned a Long Range rifle

Don’t want to derail the OP‘s thread, but I’d like to hear about 3.6-18 as a hunting scope. I’m considering one to place on a rifle for a NRL Hunter comp or two, but mainly for hunting.

 

[mattwill00]

I’m interested in hearing about the functionality of 3.6-18 as well. How does the reticle look on the low end? I’m about to pull the trigger on an NX8 just due to the fact that the reticle I want on the leupold is out of stock for the time being. Figure if I hate it the resale isn’t too bad on them. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a quick exchange if the NF doesn’t cut it for me.

Don’t want to derail the OP‘s thread, but I’d like to hear about 3.6-18 as a hunting scope. I’m considering one to place on a rifle for a NRL Hunter comp or two, but mainly for hunting.

 

[Brush Buster]

I’m interested in hearing about the functionality of 3.6-18 as well. How does the reticle look on the low end? I’m about to pull the trigger on an NX8 just due to the fact that the reticle I want on the leupold is out of stock for the time being. Figure if I hate it the resale isn’t too bad on them. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a quick exchange if the NF doesn’t cut it for me.

The 3-18 leupys reticle is more pronounced than the reticle on the 4-32 NX8. Not that the NX8 isn’t usable, the leupold is just a bit easier to see quickly. With illuminated reticles im not sure it matters. On the flip side the reticle is a bit thick for me on the high magnification for the leupold where the NX8 has a nice reticle when at max magnification.

 

[prm]

The 3-18 leupys reticle is more pronounced than the reticle on the 4-32 NX8. Not that the NX8 isn’t usable, the leupold is just a bit easier to see quickly. With illuminated reticles im not sure it matters. On the flip side the reticle is a bit thick for me on the high magnification for the leupold where the NX8 has a nice reticle when at max magnification.

So the Leupold reticle (TMR or PR-1MIL) might be acceptable for hunting without illumination? Illumination is $400-$500. I've found Leupold scopes tend to do well in low light.

 

[Brush Buster]

The rifle I played with that had the leupold on it had the tmoa reticle I believe (if that’s what it’s called) and to me the reticle at 3x looked like a simple duplex reticle and was easily usable for fast shots where the holdovers aren’t needed. To my eyes I wouldn’t need the illumination.
The NX8 is helped more by illumination in my opinion. but I supposed everyone’s eyes and preferences are different.