Q&A on NF NX6 scope reviews

[Q_Sertorius]

To hit a 1” bullseye or kill a big game animal?

To hit an 8” gong. Holding dead center put the first two shots off to the left.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

To hit an 8” gong. Holding dead center put the first two shots off to the left.

What round and what bullet?

 

[Q_Sertorius]

What round and what bullet?

.223 - ADI 69-grain SMK

Edit - as I corrected above, the range was about 220.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

.223 - ADI 69-grain SMK

. Those have a pretty awful BC and combine that with a light bullet and heavy wind, yeah you probably had to hold. You wouldn’t have had to hold for wind if you were shooting a 6.5 prc with 147s or a 6cm with 115s. Gotta pick the right tool for the job.

I have a couple 223s and I love shooting them in the wind because its an exteme example and helps with practice. I hunt with high BC bullets, all over .3 so I don’t have to worry about wind and a 300 yard shot.

 

[cottonant]

Question for those not fond of the NF reticles: does the 2nd focal plane w/MOAR not work?

As an example the NXS 3.5-50 w/MOAR works well for me at short ranges - and at 15 power for longer shots would the windage hashes not work fine?

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

Question for those not fond of the NF reticles: does the 2nd focal plane w/MOAR not work?

As an example the NXS 3.5-50 w/MOAR works well for me at short ranges - and at 15 power for longer shots would the windage hashes not work fine?

It works perfectly fine. This whole reticle thing has been completely blown out of proportion on this forum. I didn’t know they were making their own scope until someone mentioned it on this thread, but I am fairly new here…this while reticle thing has to be some sort of strategy to sell their scope. I am sure it will be marketed as having the best FFP reticle out there and all others are unusable at all magnifications.

 

[Chris in TN]

That is what illumination is for. Nobody holds for wind when the shot is less than 300 yards so you don’t need to see the hash marks or numbers on low power. This should only be an issue if the scope doesnt have illumination and all these NF scopes do.

Artificial illumination is expensive (good for makers, bad for me), adds weight (heaven knows NF scopes don't need to weigh more), creates a failure point (mechanisms fail and batteries die) and creates a thing you have to do (remember to turn it on and off at dawn/dusk).

Does it work at the range? Yes. Does it work in the field? Ehhh. I turned my NFSHV reticle on once this fall just to look at a deer at maybe 260(?) yards, I could have killed her, I guess I'd have to say it works, but it is NOT a solution borne of a simplicity/reliability mindset.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

Artificial illumination is expensive (good for makers, bad for me), adds weight (heaven knows NF scopes don't need to weigh more), creates a failure point (mechanisms fail and batteries die) and creates a thing you have to do (remember to turn it on and off at dawn/dusk).

Does it work at the range? Yes. Does it work in the field? Ehhh. I turned my NFSHV reticle on once this fall just to look at a deer at maybe 260(?) yards, I could have killed her, I guess I'd have to say it works, but it is NOT a solution borne of a simplicity/reliability mindset.

The button for illumination on the NF scopes is tough to use in the heat of the moment. Lol . Why are you turning it on just because it is dusk? You can literally be looking through the scope at an animal and realize you need illumination and push a button without moving your head. If you are sneaking around in the pines at dusk and only have close shots, sure, turn it on.

 

[Macintosh]

Question for those not fond of the NF reticles: does the 2nd focal plane w/MOAR not work?

As an example the NXS 3.5-50 w/MOAR works well for me at short ranges - and at 15 power for longer shots would the windage hashes not work fine?

Depends. Yes it works. But its definitely not optimal because being a 2fp scope it only works for those of us with average sized brains at maximim magnification, and 15x is too much magnification most of the time.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

Depends. Yes it works. But its definitely not optimal because being a 2fp scope it only works for those of us with average sized brains at maximim magnification, and 15x is too much magnification most of the time.

In what world is 15x too much magnification for longer shots? I have a few NX8 4-32s and most of my shots have been taken between 25x-32x with them. You are talking personal preferences and stating them as a universal fact.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

In what world is 15x too much magnification for longer shots? I have a few NX8 4-32s and most of my shots have been taken between 25x-32x with them. You are talking personal preferences and stating them as a universal fact.

So are you. It’s okay that some people like different things or do things differently. The highest magnification I have ever used on any shot is 12x. That doesn’t make my preference superior to yours. We get used to what we use and, except at the margins, there’s very little that is objectively better or worse.

 

[Chris in TN]

Question for those not fond of the NF reticles: does the 2nd focal plane w/MOAR not work?

As an example the NXS 3.5-50 w/MOAR works well for me at short ranges - and at 15 power for longer shots would the windage hashes not work fine?

Second plane reticles are way easier to hunt with, IMO, for the 0-500 world that I live in. That wouldn't apply to everyone and doesn't held on windy days, which is sort of where the desire for FFP comes from.

 

[Chris in TN]

The button for illumination on the NF scopes is tough to use in the heat of the moment. Lol . Why are you turning it on just because it is dusk? You can literally be looking through the scope at an animal and realize you need illumination and push a button without moving your head. If you are sneaking around in the pines at dusk and only have close shots, sure, turn it on.

I made 4 criticisms and you addressed one of them.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

I made 4 criticisms and you addressed one of them.

I don’t think any of them are valid. lots of things we use have batteries now - rangefinders, gps/phones, headlamps etc. replace the battery. Cheap vortex scopes have illumination, so how expensive can it be?

 

[Macintosh]

In what world is 15x too much magnification for longer shots? I have a few NX8 4-32s and most of my shots have been taken between 25x-32x with them. You are talking personal preferences and stating them as a universal fact.

You and I aren’t agreeing on much today are we?
That’s fine, we don’t have to agree. I think I’m on solid ground to say that what I’m expressing is at least extremely common among shooters, even if it isn’t universal. I define long range as any range where I need to make a correction, be it wind or holding/dialing elevation. And yes, 15X I think is significantly compromised in the 300 to 400 yard range, especially if you are using a harder recoiling rifle. Really don’t think I’m at all out on a limb saying that. Ditto with the reticle choices. We don’t need to agree on this stuff, only acknowledge that my way is not your way and your way isn’t the only way either.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

I am just offering a different, obviously unpopular opinion on NF reticles as a heavy NF user - their reticles aren’t a reason not to buy one. Other reasons are valid - weight, you can’t afford it etc. but don’t make it seem like their reticles are a deal breaker. My only motivation is to ensure NF keeps selling a lot if scopes so they stick around because they are one of the few that truly gets it and makes a scope worth taking into the backcountry.

The only other optics company you could argue are as good as they are at building reliable scopes is trijicon.

 

[Chris in TN]

In what world is 15x too much magnification for longer shots? I have a few NX8 4-32s and most of my shots have been taken between 25x-32x with them. You are talking personal preferences and stating them as a universal fact.

I shot an elk a couple years ago at first light and 18x (with a zeiss V6 that's as good or better than any NF glass) was too much. I backed off to maybe 12x-14x (I don't even remember, I was dialing and holding dead on and didn't need to fiddle with reticle math, just dial and shoot). The doe I gawked at with my NFSHV this fall, that I referred to earlier, 14x was too much to see her well. I had to get in the 10x-12x range to see her at the end. The elk I refer to was 450, the doe was 260. But there's two cases where 15x was too much. So, yeah, that exists.

With good light I guess I could personally see using 18x on distant game, but it is incredibly difficult for me to imagine needing more than that. I have terrible eyesight, including a bit of astigmatism, and I strongly prefer more magnification than the 6x-10x that a lot of guys here prefer, but even with that, I still see no need for anything above 18x and honestly I would draw the line at 16x. I'm not criticizing you using a 4-32 here - you do your thing and I'll do mine - but yes, 15x can be too much. For that matter so can 10x at times. For eastern whitetails in food plots in wintertime when they are spooked but hungry and sometimes come out at the last legal moment, or in the woods where they do the same (sometimes food plots are just long narrow openings in timber anyway), there are times that you catch yourself balancing light transmission against target resolution, but even then I almost never see a need for more than 12x at last light. The Germans used to use a lot of 6x to 8x scopes and for low light at moderate ranges those made a lot of sense.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

I shot an elk a couple years ago at first light and 18x (with a zeiss V6 that's as good or better than any NF glass) was too much. I backed off to maybe 12x-14x (I don't even remember, I was dialing and holding dead on and didn't need to fiddle with reticle math, just dial and shoot). The doe I gawked at with my NFSHV this fall, that I referred to earlier, 14x was too much to see her well. I had to get in the 10x-12x range to see her at the end. The elk I refer to was 450, the doe was 260. But there's two cases where 15x was too much. So, yeah, that exists.

With good light I guess I could personally see using 18x on distant game, but it is incredibly difficult for me to imagine needing more than that. I have terrible eyesight, including a bit of astigmatism, and I strongly prefer more magnification than the 6x-10x that a lot of guys here prefer, but even with that, I still see no need for anything above 18x and honestly I would draw the line at 16x. I'm not criticizing you using a 4-32 here - you do your thing and I'll do mine - but yes, 15x can be too much. For that matter so can 10x at times. For eastern whitetails in food plots in wintertime when they are spooked but hungry and sometimes come out at the last legal moment, or in the woods where they do the same (sometimes food plots are just long narrow openings in timber anyway), there are times that you catch yourself balancing light transmission against target resolution, but even then I almost never see a need for more than 12x at last light. The Germans used to use a lot of 6x to 8x scopes and for low light at moderate ranges those made a lot of sense.

I just got Lasik a couple weeks ago. It will change your life.

 

[atmat]

most of my shots have been taken between 25x-32x with them

This explains a lot.

 

[Chris in TN]

I don’t think any of them are valid.

Ok. That's fair.

You buy them. I won't. At this point the Maven RS1.2 with the moa-2 reticle checks more boxes than anything NF makes, and Trijicon makes numerous scopes in the under-$1200 range that checks all the same boxes and also misses the reticle box. If I'm going to spend $1800+ and live with a reticle I don't like, I'll go with S&B.

Also, if Minox put their 'good' reticle in their 3-12 or 3-15 and it was reliable, that would absolutely be an option.

NF just doesn't bring anything to the table here that I value that I can't get elsewhere for less.