Q&A on NF NX6 scope reviews

[Dobermann]

3-12, you've said 3-9 a couple times.

Good catch. I sold mine ... will edit my posts so as to not confuse people.

 

[Wprinkle]

Haha. I was like- “didn’t this MF’er shoot one for a week straight?”

And then bought one because i liked it so much… life’s hard when your dumb

 

[Sled]

@Rock'N Tacos: It's worth noting that a few people who were new here have had disagreements with Form have been invited to go and shoot with him. Some have taken him up on the offer, and have come back humbled, educated, and thankful.

I often thought it's an awkward way to be humbled. Can I skip the being an asshole part and just get the invite?

 

[RockAndSage]

Is there a better way to take lowlight reticle pictures than just holding your iPhone in alignment behind the scope?


I am asking because almost any day of the year, I have a ready-made platform, facing to the east, with painted targets visible, and right now I have a couple of cows there also. Doing some sort of assessment of when a scope fails, as either an aiming device or an observation device, would be pretty simple for me.

Would it be easier to simply look through the various options and make a note of the exact time that each one tapped out?

Use animal colored targets, in shadows - and look through the scopes pre-dawn, as well as at sunrise, and an hour or two after sunrise, all looking east. It's a pretty good test of a scope's usability in reality. Guys using these thin F1 reticles in open country at mid day have a very different experience from guys in deep timber, low in some draw, at sun-up or sundown.

 

[Wprinkle]

I thought you were trolling or baiting into why would folks need anything else kinda thing. Thanks for the chuckle.

Nope, I’m just an idiot… the trainer has a maven lol

 

[SDHNTR]

That's effectively what the RokScope will deliver ...

Yes, in theory, but given prior history of product rollout hiccups, I’m not in any hurry to fork over my cash.

 

[cottonant]

It works, but borderline. To hold wind, you’d need to be at 15x which is right about where too much mag limits FOV to the point for not being able to easily spot hits and make follow up shots. Less of an issue with a well designed stock and minimal recoil, but still an issue.

Interesting. When we were shooting whitetails past 600 yards we all used FFP Mil scopes BUT we were also using +/- 16 pound guns on benches in a shooting house. I really don’t see myself shooting must past 400 yards in the field with a lightweight gun unless I had plenty of time to set up in the Leofota tripod or shoot prone and was thinking SFP would probably work fine for 400 and in.

 

[Dobermann]

I often thought it's an awkward way to be humbled. Can I skip the being an asshole part and just get the invite?

Yes, it's called Shoot 2 Hunt University: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/shoot2hunt-university.357235/

@Rock'N Tacos - this could be your huckleberry.

 

[cottonant]

If you like SFP and MOA, MOAR is an excellent reticle and I highly recommend a Nightforce with that set-up.

Since testing/playing around with Mil, I have no interest in going back to MOA. This simply a preference and I'm glad we have choices. This is why I'm disappointed with NX6 reticle options. There is no SFP Mil option and the FFP Mil options are either Christmas trees or Mil-C which isn't ideal on low power.

Yea I much prefer Mil over MOA and FFP is a must for the long range matches we shoot. I’m thinking MOAR for hunting ranges 400 yards or less would be fine though since any hold could be based on inches instead of the MOA hashes if the scope needed to be turned down. The hold on my 7PRC with a 180 Hybrid at 2700 muzzle velocity in a 15 MPH 90 degree wind is only 8 to 13 inches (depending on elevation) so I’m thinking this hold could be achieved using the animals body.

 

[SDHNTR]

Interesting. When we were shooting whitetails past 600 yards we all used FFP Mil scopes BUT we were also using +/- 16 pound guns on benches in a shooting house. I really don’t see myself shooting must past 400 yards in the field with a lightweight gun unless I had plenty of time to set up in the Leofota tripod or shoot prone and was thinking SFP would probably work fine for 400 and in.

If I wanted SFP for 400 max, a 3x9 is all that’s needed. If I wanted more versatility and more mag, then ffp becomes necessary, imo.

 

[cottonant]

If I wanted SFP for 400 max, a 3x9 is all that’s needed. If I wanted more versatility and more mag, then ffp becomes necessary, imo.

My 63 year old eyes like a little more than 9 power

 

[SDHNTR]

My 63 year old eyes like a little more than 9 power

On a target or game? Ray Charles could hit a deer at 400yds on 9x!

 

[Chris in TN]

This is the way. Pictures through a scope in extremely low light do not show well.

Btw- there is a thread here from last year that compares exactly that with IIRC 17 scopes.

So, I'm a bit of an idiot, or at least a whole lot unprepared.

I *should* plan to do this at some near future date when I could do it in a more organized fashion. That's likely to be several days off. But this is what I did this afternoon:

My phone was dead. No pics but I was able to get it to come on enough to know when legal sunset was, then it turned on for another moment at the end, so that I could guesstimate times in between. Very dark/overcast in front of the storm coming in from the W/NW- it started raining before I was finished with my 'test'.

I sat down about 10 minutes after sunset with the SHV and banged out 5 quick hits on white steel at 425 yards. Easy. I switched to the old Leupold vari-x III 3.5-10x. I had both scopes (the SHV is a 4-14x) on 10x. Overall image quality was brighter on 10x than 14x but the SHV reticle seemed to last a hair longer at 14x, despite poorer overall image. But I switched to the duplex rifle when I could still see the NF thin reticle, and while I could see the *center* of the duplex very well, there was no way I could reliably discern the ~3moa transition point between thin duplex and thick duplex, and without that there was no way to even pretend to make a reliable holdover. No shot. In short, past MPBR, in lower light, it's dial or don't shoot. Even a dialing scope with a thin reticle, will outperform a more visible duplex type reticle if you're trying to use it to establish holdovers. I suspect that a BDC type would be slightly more usable with elevation and windage hashmarks that formed little 'crosses' but nothing is ever going to be as visible as the main center cross of a reticle. I'll test that in the future, maybe, as I have a few BDC type reticles. As it is, it never crossed my mind to look at any part of the NF reticle other than the actual cross center. For this part, the NF absolutely lasted several minutes later than the duplex - I could see the center of the duplex very well, but couldn't even begin to guess a holdover. NF probably faded out around 15-17 minutes after sunset. Which, honestly, isn't terrible on a really overcast day.

I also compared both scopes to a cardboard box at 200 yards - could see it much better with the NF but could *aim at it* just as long with the darker leupold with its duplex as I could with the NF. Advantage: thicker reticle. Both scopes tapped out about 22-23 minutes past sunset there.

Then I used both to look at my big brown cow at ~150 yards. Again, NF glass is definitely better, but the cow was sort of silhouetted against a green pasture backdrop - and I could see her well enough to shoot with the NF until ~29-30 past sunset with the NF and maybe 31-32 past with the leupold. I mean, the leupold image was terrible, but I could make out a cow shape and put crosshairs on it.

I will try to do this again in a few days with more planning ahead and a charged phone so I can make better notes. If I organize it well enough to have any useful insight I might just start a thread afterwards about it.

 

[Gstew1930]

And then bought one because i liked it so much… life’s hard when your dumb

I can relate

 

[Dawg In Montana]

@Formidilosus How would you compare these to a comparable ATACR? Like the 3-18 SFP to the ATACR 4-16-50 SFP? I like the wider mag range and weight but unsure how much the optical quality of the two compare.

 

[Formidilosus]

@Formidilosus How would you compare these to a comparable ATACR? Like the 3-18 SFP to the ATACR 4-16-50 SFP? I like the wider mag range and weight but unsure how much the optical quality of the two compare.

The DOF and parallax are more forgiving on the ATACR compared to these two. Otherwise, despite what people delude themselves into seeing- without the reticle no one would know which was which…. That includes a whole lot of “alpha” scopes too.

 

[Dawg In Montana]

The DOF and parallax are more forgiving on the ATACR compared to these two. Otherwise, despite what people delude themselves into seeing- without the reticle no one would know which was which…. That includes a whole lot of “alpha” scopes too.

Thanks..one other question…did any of these tunnel at all? I know some NF scopes, like the 4-20 ATACR, tunnel and don’t give true FOV on the low end.

 

[Castle Rock]

Yes, in theory, but given prior history of product rollout hiccups, I’m not in any hurry to fork over my cash.

Good plan, I never buy the first release on anything, wait till they iron out the bugs.

Interesting. When we were shooting whitetails past 600 yards we all used FFP Mil scopes BUT we were also using +/- 16 pound guns on benches in a shooting house. I really don’t see myself shooting must past 400 yards in the field with a lightweight gun unless I had plenty of time to set up in the Leofota tripod or shoot prone and was thinking SFP would probably work fine for 400 and in.

Get out and try it, you will be amazed if you put a bit of effort into training how easy it is.

Yes, it's called Shoot 2 Hunt University: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/shoot2hunt-university.357235/

@Rock'N Tacos - this could be your huckleberry.

You are on fire lately, did they put you on the payroll

 

[Dobermann]

You are on fire lately, did they put you on the payroll

Ha ha. Just on holidays and nursing a couple of injuries that means I'm not doing the renovation work I should be doing ...