Night force. NX8 vs Leupold

[35 Whelen]

Well like Don, I have owned a bunch of Leupold scopes since the 1970's. I always thought their III series were good value and still have some 1.5/5 models on "Woods Guns". I recently had need for a lower power "big field of view" scope for a low end rifle and did NOT want to spend $800 to go with a $400 rifle. An old guide friend in Alaska had shared with me that he had seen one of Sightrons new generation 2 scopes in 1.75/5 and was blown away with the glass! So I ordered one and was also very impressed. So after comparing it to my 20 something year old Leupold 1.5/5s I must sadly admit the new Sightron smokes it in about every way......
Certainly NOT American made....... not a big name item by any measure. But brilliant optically, extreme light weight (12oz) its unbeatable value in todays market! imho.
Because this style of scope is a "set it n shoot it" sorta item; dont imagine it to have NF audible clicks or tracking. I realize this is sorta off topic to comparing Mercedes to BMW's but thought some of scope crowd might find it interesting.......
Good Shooting
E

 

[xphunter]

Long time fan of Sightron.
Japanese glass

 

[FOTIS]

My leupolds are old vari x's that never get their turrets twisted unless they get bumped and need a sight in at the range. I do not own a single one with exposed turrets for any type of LR shooting by dialing.

All my serious scopes are:

Nightforce
Vortex Razors
Swfa
Trijicon
Maven
And yes even the Athlons especially the 2-12 Helos BTR. What a tank and tracks great.

Another make I can suggest is the Tract.

I have broken more Leupolds on my big bees than I can count. It used to be that you returned a scope for repair and within 10 days you got it back now it's weeks because so many of them are getting returned. Additionally some I have used lately now feature what I called the "Leupold wake up".

That is when you make an adjustment it doesn't take you make a second adjustment and shoot the gun and then all of a sudden it wakes up and it adds both adjustments and actually responds.
A few friends have actually done tall Target testing with some of the $2,000 hd5 models. Most results were disappointing put it lightly. Now if you have one and it works for you God bless but for me I will never buy a new Leupold again. For their price I can find something a lot more dependable. I will say the one thing I do miss is the light weight but if I need that I can always go to maven I believe it's the rs2 model 2- 10. It is something like 11 or 12 oz and I can take care of basically 90% of all type of hunting. My weather be ultra lights back countries Etc all have that scope.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I've seen a couple bad story's from all of them really. The NX8 and MK5 have had their own line of issues. NF is looking to redesign their NX8 after a good buddy of mine has had to send it back 3 times now for broken internals on a 338 Lapua. He's also broke a Razor HD 3 times for the same issue, broken internals. The MK5 had issues early on with their turrets repeatability. Haven't really seen or heard of any issues with the newer MK4, and to be honest the extra $800 you pay for the MK5 is simply not worth it. I had a long discussion with a Leupy tech about both the MK4 and MK5 and he said the same exact thing when I was in the market for a new LR scope last year. The tiny differnece in optical quality it has over the MK4 is hardly noticeable, and the turrets are better on the MK4. With that said, I decided to make the transition over to S&B PMIIs on all my rifles. Ive got the 12-50x on the 223, and picking up a 5-25x this weekend for my 7-300. The glass, turrets, and overall quality and toughness is noticeably a step above the Leupys and NF. I have yet to hear or see any complaints concerning the S&B PMII's.

If anybody wants a Leupy 8-25x MK4 or a NF NXS 5.5-22x56mm let me know. They're going to be for sale and I will be picking up another 5-25x PMII for the 6 Creed.

 

[walkinhorseman]

I’ve had Leupold on my hunting rifles since the 1960s. I’ve sent many back for service and early on, it was first class. Then their willingness to repair took longer and replacement became an iterative process. It was no longer worth my time to prove to them that their scopes would not adjust or hold zero.

We learned early on that their turrets would not track and were best used if set and left alone. We learned tricks like adjusting past the zero point and coming back into the tube springs. Then, we would tap the turrets to settle the adjustments.

I started shooting F-Class with a VXIII 8.5x25. It didn’t track close enough to give me what I asked for at 600 yards to get me centered on the X-Ring. My next move was to a Nightforce BR that not only gave me the granularity in adjustment but gave me 1/8 minute when i asked for it in the direction that I wanted. I also have a NF Comp that seems to be stable, however, the first one that I had would not hold zero. But that was not hunting rifle accuracy. I sold that NF Comp for a MARCH that I still have. I also have a Sightron match rifle scope that I like a lot.

I have had good luck with the Zeiss Conquest series in hunting rifles since I don’t dial for range but rather sight them in and leave them alone. I did have one Zeiss hunting scope that was a problem that I put through a warranty challenge to get satisfaction.

Swarovski, I have Z3’s and Z5’s. I did have a Z5 fail catastrophically at about 50 rounds of recoil. Swaro’s warranty service is slow but good. I like their optics and just set them. For my zero range.

The real sleeper in scopes are the Sightrons. I have those in the match series and hunting rifles scope series. They do track and hold zero.

Hunting rifles scopes have to give good optical quality and hold zero for me. For the hunting that I’ve done, there has never been time to range an animal and worry but twisting turrets for tracking to be an issue. Shooting for score at mid range and long range is another application that demands more from a scope. Hunting rifles scopes also need to mount low enough to allow good cheek weld and not overwhelm the handling characteristics of the rifle. That is probably one of the key attributes that drew me to Leupolds.


I sat behind a Schmidt & Bender FFP to help a friend sight-in three pounds of stellar Glass perched atop a Nosler 48 300 WM intended for an Elk hunt. That was a major mismatch and convinced me that FFP won’t work in the woods. Turn it down to the low end and you can’t see the reticle short of a target background.

I am WAY done with Leupold.