Last light scopes

Brathany · Monday at 9:29 AM

bluedog69 said:
All I have compared is a Leupold VX6, my Meopta Meostar R2, and my wifes Swaro Z8i.
At 600 yards away at the edge of green soybean field the Leupold lost leaf definition about 15 minutes ahead of the Meopta. The leupold basically turned into a dark blob where you couldn't tell where the beans ended and the tree leaves started. The Meopta still showed individual leaf definition, and you could still tell the beans from the trees. There were 4 of us that all agreed on this. I own the Meopta and my brother in law owned the VX6.

The Swaro honestly was so close to the Meopta that there really was no difference in the two until the last 1 to 1.5 minutes of the comparison. At which point you had to just say can't see at all anymore. So the Swaro might gain you 1 minute of "seeability".

Now my boys and I compared the Meopta and Swaro on probably 4 or 5 different nights. Legal shooting time is 30 minutes after sun set. Every night we were watching our cows and calves out in the field about 100 to 300 yards away. The Meopta and the Swaro would take us to about 30-45 minutes after legal shooting time.(1 hour to 1.25 hours after sunset)

How I started looking into this is the fact that I have pigment dispersion glaucoma. We don't use these scopes to hunt after legal time, but at least I can still see great with my Meopta when legal time ends. I had lost about 15 minutes(sometimes 30 minutes) of seeing clearly, so I was done 15 minutes before legal time was up. Yes, I could kill a deer no problem, but judging a rack was out of the question. Now I see like 30 years ago again.

This is with correct parallax set?

HSmithTX · Monday at 9:36 AM

Tract Toric is the best I have personally used. Unless foggy you can see quite well 30+ minutes before and after legal shooting time. Quite well as in counting the points on a deer, seeing that it's a 3" spike and not a doe, etc. If there is any ambient light you can see in the dark, you can shoot hogs without lights with a quarter or more moon in a field. Their bino's are INSANE, I have the 10x50 and they are silly how clear and bright they make things. Walking to a spot well before sunrise with full cloud cover and making sure you don't bump anything sure is nice. The rifle scope isn't as bright but it's not that far behind.

1wildcatfan · Monday at 9:39 AM

bluedog69 said:
All I have compared is a Leupold VX6, my Meopta Meostar R2, and my wifes Swaro Z8i.
At 600 yards away at the edge of green soybean field the Leupold lost leaf definition about 15 minutes ahead of the Meopta. The leupold basically turned into a dark blob where you couldn't tell where the beans ended and the tree leaves started. The Meopta still showed individual leaf definition, and you could still tell the beans from the trees. There were 4 of us that all agreed on this. I own the Meopta and my brother in law owned the VX6.

The Swaro honestly was so close to the Meopta that there really was no difference in the two until the last 1 to 1.5 minutes of the comparison. At which point you had to just say can't see at all anymore. So the Swaro might gain you 1 minute of "seeability".

Now my boys and I compared the Meopta and Swaro on probably 4 or 5 different nights. Legal shooting time is 30 minutes after sun set. Every night we were watching our cows and calves out in the field about 100 to 300 yards away. The Meopta and the Swaro would take us to about 30-45 minutes after legal shooting time.(1 hour to 1.25 hours after sunset)

How I started looking into this is the fact that I have pigment dispersion glaucoma. We don't use these scopes to hunt after legal time, but at least I can still see great with my Meopta when legal time ends. I had lost about 15 minutes(sometimes 30 minutes) of seeing clearly, so I was done 15 minutes before legal time was up. Yes, I could kill a deer no problem, but judging a rack was out of the question. Now I see like 30 years ago again.

We have three of the 56mm Meostars, awesome scopes.

bluedog69 · Monday at 9:52 AM

Brathany said:
This is with correct parallax set?

Yes, we focused them in.
I bought the Meopta sight unseen. I had never looked through a Meopta in my life.(or any $400+scope) I took the recommendations of several on here that for the price it would be the best low light scope your money could buy. I had no clue if the Meopta would hold up too the Leupold. In fact I figured it(Leupold) might end up better. So I was really happy that I had gotten what I was after...clarity in low light.
Now my brother in law assured me he would roast me in a prairie dog shoot. His Leupold had the fancy Christmas tree reticle. The guys that were there said he would shoot a "sighter" at a long range prairie dog and then hold for elevation and wind with a quick follow up shot using the dot in the reticle where his first bullet hit. Dead dog.
I guess he was making all of the range and dialer guys mad because he was shooting all of the dogs before they could range and dial.

My brother in law is far from a technical kind of guy, but he has super phenominal long range vision and he is a "shooter".
I just bought the wife the Swaro because I came across a great deal, and I wanted to end her *****ing at me because I had spent way to much on my Meopta. Kind of a you can't complain now, your scope was double the money mine was.

Brathany · Monday at 10:04 AM

bluedog69 said:
Yes, we focused them in.
I bought the Meopta sight unseen. I had never looked through a Meopta in my life.(or any $400+scope) I took the recommendations of several on here that for the price it would be the best low light scope your money could buy. I had no clue if the Meopta would hold up too the Leupold. In fact I figured it(Leupold) might end up better. So I was really happy that I had gotten what I was after...clarity in low light.
Now my brother in law assured me he would roast me in a prairie dog shoot. His Leupold had the fancy Christmas tree reticle. The guys that were there said he would shoot a "sighter" at a long range prairie dog and then hold for elevation and wind with a quick follow up shot using the dot in the reticle where his first bullet hit. Dead dog.
I guess he was making all of the range and dialer guys mad because he was shooting all of the dogs before they could range and dial. My brother in law is far from a technical kind of guy, but he has super phenominal long range vision and he is a "shooter".
I just bought the wife the Swaro because I came across a great deal, and I wanted to end her *****ing at me because I had spent way to much on my Meopta. Kind of a you can't complain now, your scope was double the money mine was.

I'm moving away from the tree reticles since I dial for elevation and hold for wind. I think the only real advantage the tree reticles have is seeing a miss and then quickly holding the dot closest to where that miss impacted and firing again. This works for static targets on the range with a backstop of a material that will show splash, but for hunting rarely is that the case. So yeah, I want to declutter the sight picture.

mecanic04 · 2024-12-11T07:16:04-0600

Redhawkrifles.com has "demo" scopes for sale. This is my latest NightForce optic: https://redhawkrifles.com/demo-like-new-nightforce-nx8-f2-riflescope-4-32x50mm-moar-cf2d/
Definitely consider these. Mine looked and acts like brand new. You can't tell it's a demo.

Varmint Hunter · 2024-12-11T09:30:22-0600

mecanic04 said:
Redhawkrifles.com has "demo" scopes for sale. This is my latest NightForce optic: https://redhawkrifles.com/demo-like-new-nightforce-nx8-f2-riflescope-4-32x50mm-moar-cf2d/
Definitely consider these. Mine looked and acts like brand new. You can't tell it's a demo.

I have read a few times that the Nightforce 4-32x50 has a critical eye box. That would make it a non-starter for me.
Is this true?

Rick Richard · 2024-12-11T09:35:12-0600

Varmint Hunter said:
I have read a few times that the Nightforce 4-32x50 has a critical eye box. That would make it a non-starter for me.
Is this true?

I have three and I don't have any issues…if it is mounted correctly for your LOP.

Varmint Hunter · 2024-12-11T09:42:37-0600

Rick Richard said:
I have three and I don't have any issues…if it is mounted correctly for your LOP.

Does the eye box accommodate moving through different positions, ie: sitting, standing, prone?

Rick Richard · 2024-12-11T09:44:32-0600

Varmint Hunter said:
Does the eye box accommodate moving through different positions, ie: sitting, standing, prone?

Those positions cover all my shooting…so yes if I understand your question. The only issue I have is if magnification is on the very upper end, but that is typically the same for all scopes IMO.

Varmint Hunter · 2024-12-11T09:46:04-0600

Rick Richard said:
Those positions cover all my shooting…so yes if I understand your question.

I might just give one a try.

Rick Richard · 2024-12-11T10:57:09-0600

Varmint Hunter said:
I might just give one a try.

I am not disappointed in my choice.

Last light scopes

Brathany

Well-Known Member

HSmithTX

Well-Known Member

1wildcatfan

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bluedog69

Well-Known Member

Brathany

Well-Known Member

mecanic04

Member

Varmint Hunter

Well-Known Member

Rick Richard

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Varmint Hunter

Well-Known Member

Rick Richard

Well-Known Member

Varmint Hunter

Well-Known Member

Rick Richard

Well-Known Member

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