Nightforce vs Leupold

[kfreeze]

Yeah I'm a little worried about being able to see the reticle on low power hunting. Can you see the reticle better on low with the F1 ATACR? The ATACR has some better power range offerings, just a little more money than I'd like to spend and they are heavier. For that price I'd be tempted to try a Kahles.

Seeing the reticle on low is no worries. Its fime, but I just use the illuminated reticle and can see it plain as day. I bought my first nightforce and it is the nx8 4-32×50 f1. I really like it. So much that my atacr will show up thursday. Haha. Really wanted to compare the glass for myself to see if I'm really giving up anything when they are both set on the same magnification

 

[Mike D Texas]

On the 32x NX8, is the reticle pretty usable in that 12-16 power range?

It's pretty tough between 4-7x, but the illumination helps with that.

 

[BrentM]

I'm in the market for a new scope to put on the top of a 7 PRC build I just finished. I have had a Nightforce NXS for a few years that I have been very happy with but would like something in first focal plane. I have been looking at the Nightforce NX8's. The 2.5-20x50 would be perfect I think but the short design will probably not fit on a long action with rail. I've seen some guys have used it on long actions but doesn't look like a great fit, especially if you want to keep it low. The 4-32x50 will fit fine, but I honestly think 32 power is way overkill for a long range hunting scope. I've heard some say it can be used to replace packing a spotter, but I don't see any other advantages.

This has left me looking at other options. The Leupold Mark 5 5-25x56 I think checks a lot of boxes. I just feel like I'll be giving up some durability compared to the Nightforce. Although the Mark 5 seems very popular in PRS and NRL Hunter lately and not many are using Nightforce. Is there a reason Nightforce isn't as popular?

That leupold is legit and I get the belief that leuy isn't as durable...... I was there once too. They did fall off the wagon years ago but today, and for the last bunch of years, they are making top level tacitical scopes for the combat, competitive, and hunting world. I had a couple NF and they were good scopes, but right now, I would not give up my leuy's period unless going to a tanget theta..... that isn't happening.

 

[WeiserBucks]

That leupold is legit . . . . they are making top level tacitical scopes for the combat, competitive, and hunting world.

A well known member here bought a Mark5 recently, Leupold sent him a MOA scope with MIL internals. Top level indeed! Regardless of the internal SNAFU it still didn't maintain zero or return to zero.

 

[Csafisher]

I'm in the market for a new scope to put on the top of a 7 PRC build I just finished. I have had a Nightforce NXS for a few years that I have been very happy with but would like something in first focal plane. I have been looking at the Nightforce NX8's. The 2.5-20x50 would be perfect I think but the short design will probably not fit on a long action with rail. I've seen some guys have used it on long actions but doesn't look like a great fit, especially if you want to keep it low. The 4-32x50 will fit fine, but I honestly think 32 power is way overkill for a long range hunting scope. I've heard some say it can be used to replace packing a spotter, but I don't see any other advantages.

This has left me looking at other options. The Leupold Mark 5 5-25x56 I think checks a lot of boxes. I just feel like I'll be giving up some durability compared to the Nightforce. Although the Mark 5 seems very popular in PRS and NRL Hunter lately and not many are using Nightforce. Is there a reason Nightforce isn't as popular?

How long is your rail? My 2.5-20 clears my 6in long tikka rail just about right. If it was any longer I would probably have to raise the scope just a bit.

 

[Okanogan]

I've got the NX8 F1 in 2.5-20 and 4-32. The last two scopes I bought were NX8 F2 4-32.
The F1 scopes worked great for me when hunting in Eastern Washington where almost all my shots were 200yds and more. I generally was shooting off a tripod and cranked the power all the way up. It may have been overkill but I knew where my shot was going to hit with a high degree of accuracy.
I switched to F2 scopes after moving to western Montana. The F1 reticle was too thin for me to see reliably on lower powers in the woods.
In my case the F2 provides me greater flexibility for closer and low light shots. I figure if I am hunting at extended range, I will likely have the time to crank the power up and figure out any hold adjustments if I'm not at full power. My shift to F2 was driven in part by missing an easy shot in low light with lower power with an F1 scope. If I'd turned on the illumination, it wouldn't have been an issue but I tend to forget about the feature most of the time.
My only complaint with the NX8 series is that the eyebox tends to be a little more finicky to me. Careful mounting of the scope position and more practice has mostly overcome the issue for me.
I also have NF ATACR and Beast in F1. While I have shot game with the Beast, both are too heavy in my opinion for most people to want to put on a hunting rifle. I also have the NF 2.5-10 which mounted on a 6.8 SPC. It is light weight and works great for my backyard/ <150 yd gun. I want more magnification for longer range work though.
I can't give you much first hand experience with Leupold as the only one I owned was a LPVO for a defensive AR platform.

 

[Leader]

Would love to know what scope Huntnpack ended up with, sound like he's
had the kind of information we all are looking for.

I had tracking issues with my Leopold scopes, I switched to Nightforce about 15 years ago, with the NXS, have great success with them, they are a little heavy but they are tough! My wife dropped her rifle down a rock cliff and it landed on the scope. Beside being beat up it never lost zero! I am impressed. I run the NX8 4x32 on my latest build and love it, generaly shoot game on 10 to 16 power but like the ability to zoom up in power to inspect possible game prospects. I'm almost 70 so I don't carry my spotting scope anymore .

 

[Bergerblaster]

Would love to know what scope Huntnpack ended up with, sound like he's
had the kind of information we all are looking for.

I had tracking issues with my Leopold scopes, I switched to Nightforce about 15 years ago, with the NXS, have great success with them, they are a little heavy but they are tough! My wife dropped her rifle down a rock cliff and it landed on the scope. Beside being beat up it never lost zero! I am impressed. I run the NX8 4x32 on my latest build and love it, generaly shoot game on 10 to 16 power but like the ability to zoom up in power to inspect possible game prospects. I'm almost 70 so I don't carry my spotting scope anymore .

With your NX8, is the reticle pretty usable in that 10-16 power range? I'm assuming yours is an F1?

 

[COmtnman1]

For me personally, I've never had any problems with my Leupolds that Leupold didn't fix & that was only one Mark 4. Have multiple Mark 4's & a Mark 5 with no issues.

 

[Leader]

My NX8 is F2, I use F2 now with all my hunting scopes, old eyes!

 

[PatriotHenry]

With your NX8, is the reticle pretty usable in that 10-16 power range? I'm assuming yours is an F1?

I have 2 NX8 4-32 F1 MOAR on hunting rifles and yes to the 10-16X question.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

TASCO ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[chutinlead]

The 4-16 ATACR is worth every penny over the 4-32 NX8 IMHO. I have both, the NX8 on my target rifle and the ATACR on my hunting rifle. With the locking elevation and capped windage it is simple. Also a little feature people don't mention much is the windage on the ATACR is rotation limited as well to just under 1/2 a rev each way so you can never be a rev off even if you do decide to dial wind.

The eyebox is also much more forgiving on the ATACR and easier to get behind than the NX8.

 

[Bergerblaster]

Awesome thank you. Sounds like that's the scope I need to go with.