NIKON MONARCH MIL-DOT SCOPE

[Ian M]

Just got a sample of the Nikon Monarch 6.5-20 with an illuminated reticle and mil-dots. Mil-dot setting is at 12 power. Illumination is innovative and effective - turn a dial one way, the reticle turns varying degrees of red, turn it opposite direction and reticle turns varying degrees of green. In some light conditions green is better than red.

Small difference in Mil-dot design - the crosshair does not enter the post, there is a tiny gap that really does not mean anything. Will be checking that the dot spacing is good and try to determine what distance the gap represents, might be a good thing to have a 1 or 2 tenth mil indicator.

Very sharp scope, good adjustments that return to zero very well. Nice size, not too big with a 44 mm front end. New model has eyepiece focusing plus paralax adj. on objective - very nice to use. Not sure that there will be enough adjustments for real long shooting, will find out shortly, problem has been 1/8" adjustments instead of 1/4".

Actually got to shoot early prototypes of this scope last summer, now they are going into production.

 

[Matt Regalia]

Ian M,

I just bought that scope without the Mil-Dots. So far I have been very please. It did take some getting used to with the 1/8 MOA clicks vs 1/4's. So far is has returned to zero flawlessly. Yes with only 38 total MOA elevation it will not get you out to LONG ranges without the use of a Long Range base. Over all, I am very please in its performance for the price. I have it on my .308 silhouette gun. So I am only concerned with 550 yds (500 m) at the present time.

Matt

 

[CatShooter]

Ian and Matt...
Where is the battery housing? on the side of the elevation turrets, or in a housing over the eyepiece like the Leupold?

CatShooter

 

[Ian M]

CS,
Scope I have does not have instructions but I am confident that it is a 1/8 minute clicks there are 6 moa per complete revolution.

It does not have a side turret, change it the focusing on the eyepiece and the illumination (as well as the mildots of course). The dial for illumination is 1 1/8" in diameter, therefore somewhat larger than the turret caps. The dial has 12 index marks that click into position as it is rotated. The indexes are marked B (off), red 1 to red 5, then another B exactly opposite the first one (12.00 and 6.00 o'clock positions), then green 1 to green 5.

The dial is located at on the top of the eyepiece - it is actually sitting on the seam where the eyepiece narrows down to the power ring. The top of the dial unscrews and there is a Panasonic CR2354 3V battery inside. The top cover has a rubber O-Ring for a seal.

The actual wire used for the reticle is somewhat thicker than used on the duplex reticle, I like it as it stays in view nicely, is not too heavy. Army dots, ie. round ones.

More info to come.
ian

 

[Ian M]

Scope I have does not have instructions but I am confident that it is has 1/8 minute clicks - there are 6 moa per complete revolution.

It does not have a side turret, the big change is the focusing on the eyepiece and the illumination (as well as the mildots of course).

The dial for illumination is 1 1/8" in diameter, therefore somewhat larger than the turret caps. The dial has 12 index marks that click into position as it is rotated. The indexes are marked B (off), red 1 to red 5, then another B exactly opposite the first one (12.00 and 6.00 o'clock positions), then green 1 to green 5.

The dial is located at on the top of the eyepiece - it is actually sitting on the seam where the eyepiece narrows down to the power ring. The top of the dial unscrews and there is a Panasonic CR2354 3V battery inside. The top cover has a rubber O-Ring for a seal.

The actual wire used for the reticle is somewhat thicker than used on the duplex reticle, I like it as it stays in view nicely, is not too heavy. Army dots, ie. round ones.

 

[Nate Haler]

Interesting that a complete revolution on this Nikon would have 6 moa vs. the 'typical' 7.5 moa on other scopes featuring 1/8 adjustments (like Sightron). On the Leupold scopes with 1/4 adjustments, a full revolution equates to 15 moa.

Nikon is pretty good about service, they can be reached via 1-800-NikonUS, and they have a repair facility in Torrance, CA which turned around a repair for me in 10 days, including transit time to/from northern CA.

Nikon's Monarch scopes are built in a Nikon-owned factory in Thailand, not in Japan as the pre-Monarch scopes were. Just FYI.

For those of you not wishing to add a long range base or rings capable of forward tilt (like the Burris Signature type w/offset inserts), you *can* use the mil-dot reticle for pretty effective holdover, provided you know what the spacing equates to. By the way, standard mil-dot spacing is 3.6" at 100y, so it would equate to 3.6 moa at all yardages from center of dot to center of dot.

I use a Sightron 1" scope w/mil-dot reticle for long range matches. It runs out of up at 800y, so I use the mil-dot holdover at 900 and 1,000y, and it works fine.

Lastly, if you want a reasonably priced 'long range base', although for just a few types of actions, check out the newish Leupold base (one piece, Redfield ring style compatible), which has about 15 moa tilt, for about $20 at dealer cost. Add a set of regular Burris Signature (not Zee type, they are for Weaver style bases) rings with 10 or 20 moa offset, and you got a neat workable setup for less than half of what most one piece bases alone would cost you.

 

[esldude]

The Monarch scopes from Nikon are now being
produced in Japan again. Don't know if it is
a Nikon factory, or just jobbed out to someone else's factory. But I have a recent
Monarch in 6.5-20x and it is "made in Japan".

 

[Ian M]

I have shot the new 6.5-20 quite a bit now and it is performing very nicely. The mil-dots are exactly 3.6" at the 12 power setting.
There is a unique design with the mildot reticle - the crosshairs do not actually meet the posts. I am estimating a gap of just over three tenths of a mil (0.34) from the end of each post to the beginning of each crosshair. No a big deal as the mildot spacing is still accurate. Would have been nice if it had been exactly .3 so we could use it for a referance.
The scope has been returning to zero perfectly, gives exactly 1/8 minute per click, nice crisp adjustments. Will need a long range base for any distance but it is a hell of a hunting scope for most ranges. I did not have any problem obtaining a 500 yard zero with a 10 minute Badger base and standard Badger rings - did not shoot it any farther to date.
By the way - did you folks know that Nikon is giving a certificate for a free MILDOT MASTER with every Mil-dot equiped scope - including the 6.5-20. Hell of a good idea.

 

[Guest]

What is the eye relief of 6x20?The 5.5x16.5 I'v got does not have enough eye relief for a hard kicking round,otherwise a very good scope=CJ

 

[Matt Regalia]

Mach5,

I have mine on a 308. I would not want it on my 338 Lapua just for that reason. My Leupold has lots of eye relief. I wear glasses to so eye relief was a concern. I do not want to creep on the Lapua.

Matt

 

[Ian M]

Nikon's 2002 catalog says 3.1 to 3.5 inches eye relief for the 6.5-20 scope. The new model has an adjustable eyepiece, which still has the rubber ring on it.

The scopes that I have shot have had good eye relief, have only shot them on .308's so far.

 

[Blair0352]

I own two Nikon Monarchs and would gladly trade them both for one Leupold. The glass is average,durability poor and their service is the worst in the industry. It took me a total of 3 months to get my scope back. Open the wallet and get the Leupold or better. Leupold has the best service dept. All scopes used hard can fail, it is the service that makes the difference. [email protected]