Thanks to all that took the time to respond. No choice made yet. This is a want and not a need so I will wait for the Memorial Day sales.
Really need to come to terms with myself to move up to a 6 power. I wish Leupold made their 34mm Mark 6 with a simpler reticle. Might try their Custom Shop.
To respond to some of the comments…
No magnifiers. The quality and clarity just isn’t there. Plus they are kind of old tech.
No to the Elcan for the reasons mentioned. I did look hard at them and almost bought one.
I have plenty of ammo and training. I have the means and looking for heirloom quality. I will not buy entry level. I’m looking at tip of spear stuff.
Stumbled on a poll on TOS. Surprising number of NF users. Don’t know if that’s good or bad! LOL! Also, if you were to seach the Web on high end scopes, NF is always on the list.
Great link with the, “Ruler of truth”.
Feel free to offer suggestions and comments up to Memorial Day where I promise I will make a purchase.
Now if Scalarworks would get their mounts to market, I’d be a real happy camper.
I had a Mark 6 1-6x and sold it. I was actually happy with the CMR-W reticle. Glass resolution was great, assuming bright daylight. A 20mm objective in a 34mm tube is, to put it gently, a head-scratcher of a design decision. Illumination was not great, and in fact not as good as a Burris XTRII 1-5x that costs 1/3 as much. I can’t see spending $2000 on a Mark 6 right now when you can get a 1-8x Nightforce that seems to be better in every possible way.
Your actual needs/desires could be met with a $500-700 scope like a Steiner P4xi, Burris XTRII 1-5x, Vortex PST 1-6x, etc. But if you want high end, go for it, because you’ll just buy it later and will have wasted the $$ on an initial lower cost purchase. Ask me how I know this.
NF generally don’t go on sale, and are often excluded even when there is a “storewide” 10% off or whatever. For other high end brands, among other stores you should watch EuroOptic for sales, as well as Sport Optics and G&R Tactical.
The Steiner P4xi meets all of your requirements except that it doesn’t cost as much as you’re willing to spend. And for being “entry level” you’re getting german glass, a nice daylight bright dot and simple BDC reticle, excellent durability and a lifetime transferable warranty. That said, regardless of all the other recommendations you’ve gotten so far, I’d say either the Vortex Razor HD Gen II, Kahles K16i, Steiner T5Xi or the Swarovski Z6i answers the mail if you’re willing to except a broader magnification range.
Kahles K16i. Put it in a Geissele mount. Done. You’re overthinking this and unnecessarily hamstringing your choices with the limitation of only having 4x capability.
Why spend heavily on 4x? Past a certain point, returns diminish quickly on a 4x optic. Buy a Steiner or AimPoint and spend the savings having your eyes lasered to 20/10.
If as you say 100 yards would be max distance, then I’d suggest looking at the Leupold VX6 1-6 with duplex Firedot reticle. It is daylight bright, simple bold reticle, 1x, large enough eye box that it can be used as a red dot or cranked up to reach way out there. Mine has a custom CDS dial on it and I’ve shot out to 600 yards.
I have a Trijicon Accupower 1-4 and though I can tell the illumination is on, it’s not daylight bright as already stated. The segmented circle reticle with BDC is very useable to me without turning it on but it’s not a red dot.
Frankly at just 100 yards I don’t think I can beat my EXPS2-0 on timed shots offhand.
Another 1-4 to look at is the SWFA HD 1-4 or 1-6, possibly the best choices in their class.
Like the OP, I decided I didn’t need anything past 4x. I was more concerned with how the scope performs on 1x. 0-200yds performance was my goal, with some significant value placed on weight, and 1x eyebox. Didn’t worry too much about daylight brightness. I chose an accupower and am real happy with it. The etched reticle is great, when the illumination isn’t there it doesn’t really matter to my eye. Eyebox and 1x is great. Some of these 1-6 and 1-8 scopes are friggin heffers. I’d be looking at a 1-4 accupower, or if you want something better and pricier, a 1-6 kahles. Both have acceptable weights and big eyeboxes.
I have not used that model. I was just getting ready to order a nf 1-8. Sprung for this in tan off of ebay. Will report back on the 1x. (This gives me a scientific reason to spend $3200)