Toughest optic

[andrewpurcell222@yahoo]

Have personally owned 3 SWFA scopes and they are about as bomb proof as the NF. Saw a guy throw a rifle off a tower once….I mean LAUNCHED it 10 feet off the ground and it lands 30 yards down the hill. …..with the SWFA and then shot it at 650 and made hits one after another. Gun weighed 19 pounds.

 

[fred007]

Interesting no mentions of Schmit & Bender, curious if that is just because they are not out there very much? Used to shoot Vortex Razors (Gen 1 and 2 and AMG) and had issues with tracking and visual effects. Switched to S&B and can only say we have not had any issues so far. I am a big (old) guy and fell on my S&B while at Thunder Ranch. Some decent scratches and dings but it was still on zero and worked flawlessly. For what it's worth.

 

[Greyfox]

Nightforce over Razor….By a wide margin…IMO

 

[khmplus]

If you don't use them as hammers or pry bars, most optics from the top brands will last a lifetime.

 

[BrentM]

So I've had night force kahles vortex sig optics and best I've found for toughest optics by for is nightforce. How would you guys rate a razor series scopes to nightforce looking at getting one for nrl matches

You can through Burris and leupold in the mix. I know a lot of dudes running the XTR and Mark 5 for PRS, all super happy. I'd go with either one of those, likely a MK5.

 

[Mark37082]

I am always interested in finding the perfect balance of durability, weight, and optical clarity in rifle scopes. I'll add cost to that list as well, since paying north of $3k on a rifle scope can induce other pain points. I respect the opinions of those who have significant experience with multiple brands and years of testing. Weight has been the sticking point for me as I look for that next scope. I really do not know what to believe anymore. Some say weight helps in durability and some think weight induces more stress on the internals. It makes sense that tube thickness would protect internals from clamping forces that can damage sensitive components in a scope. However, I'm not sure how weight helps reduce inertia stresses. I've put the TT315 on my short list, but I do pause a bit when I hear about the sensitivity to damage from clamping forces. Just hear to learn…

 

[Earnhardt]

Based on my experience building custom rifles full time for the last 10 years I can say the brand with the lowest failure number has been Nightforce. And I sell more of them than any other brand. I just don't like how NF handles issues. They say theres nothing wrong with the scope and it comes back fixed. As far as scopes go Ive seen every single brand have an issue. Some alot more than others. I won't offer an accuracy guarantee with leupold or vortex. Most of what I build is lightweight 30 cal magnums. Your 15-20 lb 6.5 creedmoor won't have issues with most decent scopes out there. For all my personal hunting rifles I now have Nightforce 4-20 ATACR on them. The durability of it over a Tangent, ZCO, Kahles, swarovski etc far outweighs the slight difference in optical clarity. I haven't personally had or had a customer have an issue w a ATACR yet. ZCO can take some abuse but Ive had the parallax go out on a few of them. Most of those issues were with Spuhr mounts. Tangents had the same issues in Spuhr mounts. Im not a fan of spuhr mounts as they clamp the scope too close to the turret housing. Had a combination of 7 tangents and zco that went out on spuhr mounts. If you torqued the rings to spuhr spec there was issues. Theyd still slip and cause issues w the scope in big lightweight magnums. So I bedded them into the rings and torqued them down. They didn't slip but still had issues occasionally so I don't use those mounts anymore. Haven't had any issues yet bedding a ZCO into the ZCO rings. I did have a windage turret freeze on my Tangent Marksman 3-15 when it was single digit temps. Brought the gun back inside and a few minutes later the windage worked. Brought it back outside and a little bit later it froze again. Scope was bedded into NF 6 screw rings. Tangent sent me a label and I had it fixed and back in a week. Their customer service has been stellar in the few times there has been an issue. Same with ZCO customer service, top notch.

I also have a scope tracking jig to see if the reticle will move due to recoil. Most scopes will allow the reticle to move due to recoil. Ive seen some move 1/2 moa in 10 shots. NF NX8 and ATACR, ZCO, Tangent, Swarovski, and kahles pass the reticle movement test. Others I have tested do not.

Now THIS is a review, I can, and will take heed in!

Thanks for posting this

 

[Ucsdryder]

Do you own an SWFA? I have several and disagree with your last statement. Their base models are good scopes and HD models are even better. The glass on the base models is certainly not as good as my Trijicons and Nightforces, but is more than adequate. The glass on the HD models is every bit as good as Trijicon and Nightforce. Overall, I prefer the features on my Trijicons and Nightforces (capped windage and zero stops), but for $209 for base models and $699 for HD, SWFA scopes are hard to beat.

I have owned 3. I still own one. It's like looking through the bottom of a coke bottle. The turrets are mushy enough that you can't feel a tactile click with gloves on, barely can without gloves. There is no zero stop so you're forced to Jerry rig a zero stop with rubber/plastic washers. They do a good job of holding zero, but the rest of the scope is junk. This is on the non-he. I haven't owned a HD but have shot one.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Based on my experience building custom rifles full time for the last 10 years I can say the brand with the lowest failure number has been Nightforce. And I sell more of them than any other brand. I just don't like how NF handles issues. They say theres nothing wrong with the scope and it comes back fixed. As far as scopes go Ive seen every single brand have an issue. Some alot more than others. I won't offer an accuracy guarantee with leupold or vortex. Most of what I build is lightweight 30 cal magnums. Your 15-20 lb 6.5 creedmoor won't have issues with most decent scopes out there. For all my personal hunting rifles I now have Nightforce 4-20 ATACR on them. The durability of it over a Tangent, ZCO, Kahles, swarovski etc far outweighs the slight difference in optical clarity. I haven't personally had or had a customer have an issue w a ATACR yet. ZCO can take some abuse but Ive had the parallax go out on a few of them. Most of those issues were with Spuhr mounts. Tangents had the same issues in Spuhr mounts. Im not a fan of spuhr mounts as they clamp the scope too close to the turret housing. Had a combination of 7 tangents and zco that went out on spuhr mounts. If you torqued the rings to spuhr spec there was issues. Theyd still slip and cause issues w the scope in big lightweight magnums. So I bedded them into the rings and torqued them down. They didn't slip but still had issues occasionally so I don't use those mounts anymore. Haven't had any issues yet bedding a ZCO into the ZCO rings. I did have a windage turret freeze on my Tangent Marksman 3-15 when it was single digit temps. Brought the gun back inside and a few minutes later the windage worked. Brought it back outside and a little bit later it froze again. Scope was bedded into NF 6 screw rings. Tangent sent me a label and I had it fixed and back in a week. Their customer service has been stellar in the few times there has been an issue. Same with ZCO customer service, top notch.

I also have a scope tracking jig to see if the reticle will move due to recoil. Most scopes will allow the reticle to move due to recoil. Ive seen some move 1/2 moa in 10 shots. NF NX8 and ATACR, ZCO, Tangent, Swarovski, and kahles pass the reticle movement test. Others I have tested do not.

My main issue with the NF is the weight. I had a NXS and it was heavy. It made the gun feel too heavy if that makes sense. I didn't like the balance of it with the scope mounted. I don't think anybody can argue with the durability aspect of it though!

 

[Beluebow]

NF for the win.........again.

 

[PApa Black]

There's a whole "cult" of dudes on Rokslide who meticulously test optics with drop tests. Methodology looks good. SWFA, nightforce, trijicon so far have done well. A few others. Seems like the vortex options fail badly.

Is the Arken scope tested?

 

[parshal]

Based on my experience building custom rifles full time for the last 10 years I can say the brand with the lowest failure number has been Nightforce. And I sell more of them than any other brand. I just don't like how NF handles issues. They say theres nothing wrong with the scope and it comes back fixed.

That's my only complaint about NF as well. First thing I'm told when I call is "that can't happen" or "it's not the scope". I have had three come back with "nothing wrong". The last one I was going to send in I didn't because I discovered the issue just after creating the RMA. Of course, they were right, it wasn't the scope. But, they were wrong when they said "that can't happen".

 

[Chas1]

NF...just gotta pay for the toughness.

 

[MostlyUselessLurker]

Based on my experience building custom rifles full time for the last 10 years I can say the brand with the lowest failure number has been Nightforce. And I sell more of them than any other brand. I just don't like how NF handles issues. They say theres nothing wrong with the scope and it comes back fixed. As far as scopes go Ive seen every single brand have an issue. Some alot more than others. I won't offer an accuracy guarantee with leupold or vortex. Most of what I build is lightweight 30 cal magnums. Your 15-20 lb 6.5 creedmoor won't have issues with most decent scopes out there. For all my personal hunting rifles I now have Nightforce 4-20 ATACR on them. The durability of it over a Tangent, ZCO, Kahles, swarovski etc far outweighs the slight difference in optical clarity. I haven't personally had or had a customer have an issue w a ATACR yet. ZCO can take some abuse but Ive had the parallax go out on a few of them. Most of those issues were with Spuhr mounts. Tangents had the same issues in Spuhr mounts. Im not a fan of spuhr mounts as they clamp the scope too close to the turret housing. Had a combination of 7 tangents and zco that went out on spuhr mounts. If you torqued the rings to spuhr spec there was issues. Theyd still slip and cause issues w the scope in big lightweight magnums. So I bedded them into the rings and torqued them down. They didn't slip but still had issues occasionally so I don't use those mounts anymore. Haven't had any issues yet bedding a ZCO into the ZCO rings. I did have a windage turret freeze on my Tangent Marksman 3-15 when it was single digit temps. Brought the gun back inside and a few minutes later the windage worked. Brought it back outside and a little bit later it froze again. Scope was bedded into NF 6 screw rings. Tangent sent me a label and I had it fixed and back in a week. Their customer service has been stellar in the few times there has been an issue. Same with ZCO customer service, top notch.

I also have a scope tracking jig to see if the reticle will move due to recoil. Most scopes will allow the reticle to move due to recoil. Ive seen some move 1/2 moa in 10 shots. NF NX8 and ATACR, ZCO, Tangent, Swarovski, and kahles pass the reticle movement test. Others I have tested do not.

Which Swaro's? Z5? Z6 and up?