I currently have a Leupold VX III 6-20x50 scope on one of my Bench rest .223’s shooting 69 gr MatchKing bullets. It is a great scope and it has the fine duplex reticle on it where I can use the top part of the duplex for 100 yds, the cross hair for 250 yds, and the bottom part of the duplex for 350 yds. If I shoot any further then I have to adjust the scope.
This gun shoots 1/8" groups regularly at 100 yds. I was looking for a scope with higher zoom and smaller cross hairs. The Leupold cross hairs cover the bullet holes.
So I was looking at the NightForce with the NP-2DD cross hairs because I think I should be able to see the hole around the center dot. I was wondering if the 8-32x56 would be “too powerful” if Im shooting 100-600 yds. I was thinking about the 5-22x56 but I basically dont want two scopes in that optical range. And for a few extra dollars I can get the 8-32x56 and have more zoom then what I would ever need for this gun.
Are all the reticles illuminated on the NightForce NXS?
All the scopes Ive had are 1/4 MOA adjustable, is it worth it to get the 1/8 MOA scope?
What about the zero stop? Is it a must have item?
How is the adjustment for the parallax on the NXS scope? The NF Bench shooter scope has the standard adjustment, but I hear the NXS adjustments are finicky and hard to adjust.
If someone has a NightForce scope and can answer my questions, I would greatly appreciate it.
I have an 8x32 on my 7mm Lazzeroni but certainly wouldn’t call any of the NF crosshairs applicable for ‘true’ short range benchrest work.
Having shot a lot of short range benchrest in the past, I can tell you magnification is your friend…I have shot everything from straight 36x’s to a ‘bumped’ 55x scope.
If you want an upper end, look at the Leupy 45x with the 30mm tube…if you want to save some money, the Weaver 36x w/ 1" tube is a decent scope as well.
The discontinued 1" tube 36x Leupy has a good following in the used market and will set you back in the $500-$600 Range.
The variable NF just doesn’t seem like it’s a good fit for a dedicated BR rig…zero stop isn’t needed for short range BR either. Now if you are going to use it for both hunting and bench time, I think the 5.5x22x50 is a dream!!
This gun is mainly fired from a benchrest on sand bags and the bipod in prone. I use the rifle for 50-600 yds paper targets, varmint hunting, and some predator hunting.
I know the 5-22x will work for my needs and be just fine. But I cant see having another scope that is almost the same as the one I have on it now, plus the 8-32x is almost the same price. And I figured 5x vs. 8x is not that much different on the low end. and either low end would suit me.
So for the main purpose of the gun the scope that is on it now is great for that. But I was wanting something that can have higher zoom. The reason I want the higher zoom capability is because I know the gun can shoot better than the Leupold scope will allow it. Instead of shooting a nickel sized group at 250 yds, with higher zoom I could shoot a group less than a dime. Basically it will reduce the size of my groups even further, so I am mainly using this gun as a short range bench rest gun.
I thought I could later buy myself a 30 cal rifle and I could put this scope on it for 1000 yd bench rest shooting. I could get the 5-22x for my .223 later on if I did that and felt like the 32x was too powerful.
On the paper targets I use a 90 degree black sharpie line and I use the cross hairs to cover the lines. So even if I adjusted the scope where the cross hairs did not cover the bullet, it really would not help me out. When the cross hair covers the line by 1/4" at 100 yds, then that’s your room for error.