im gonna need a new scope here pretty soon and have been looking at the Nikons as of current,, im thinking of a Monarch 4x16x42 with the BDC ,, ill probly set it a top a 270wsm m-70,,, anyone have anything to say about the Nikons ???? good or bad im open to suggestions :wink:
Nikon Monarch ????
- Thread starter romex2121
- Start date
Richracer1
Handloader
- May 12, 2005
- 2,137
- 114
I have a Monarch w/BDC (bought in 2006) sitting on my 300RUM with the power range your looking at. I has proven to be a great scope and haven't considered replacing it.
- Thread starter
- #3
Richracer1
Handloader
- May 12, 2005
- 2,137
- 114
romex2121":3riib9pz said:
I've looked at the "higher end" scopes and just can't justify dropping that much coin when I know a $500 - $600 VX3 or Monarch will work just fine for my purposes.
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,044
- 5,363
The Monarch has always had excellent reviews by those who use them. About the only other scope I'd suggest would be a Leupold VX-3, and my primary motive for that suggestion would be reputation and service. While the Nikon has a reputation that is very good, I've never really heard anyone discuss their service. While it is possible that no one ever needed to service their Nikon, I rather suspect that it is more likely that the issue simply hasn't come up in any of the forums I frequent.
Mountain Goat
Handloader
- Dec 14, 2010
- 386
- 11
I've never had an issue with a Nikon Monarch as far as needing service. They have always been a great scope for the money and actually have better resolution than most scopes, even at much higher price ranges. The BDC works very well, but it is designed to be used on the highest power setting. This has prompted me to sell by BDC scopes. The circles are nice on longer shots because it allows you to "see" your target instead of covering up the target. The circles also have a tendency to draw your eyes to them naturally which can make finding the crosshairs difficult on a quick pull-up shot or one at a distance which the BDC circles are not needed. If the reticle were on a different focal plane (I can't remember if it's first or second) then the BDC would be "active" at all power settings and represent the same distance for each corresponding circles. Instead, the 300yd circle is 300yds on high power, but could be 542yds at the lower setting. This is just a no-go for me. I gave them a shot, and they worked well shooting gongs out to 400+yds, but I just didn't find animals as cooperative as gongs.
My hunting buddy has BDC Monarchs on 3 of his rifles, and he loves them. He's used the 3rd circle down to take a few deer and one bull elk and can't say enough about the BDC. Me, I think I'm more effective knowing where my zero distance is, what distance the bottom post point is and what size is represented between the top and bottom posts on a standard duplex reticle. This gets me hitting the kill zone out to distances I'm comfortable with. I've also hit a 10" gong with boring regularity at 400yds using this method. Now, 10" is not a small target, nor does it represent precision shooting, but neither does shooting deer at these distances. I just hit them in the vitals and go get my hands bloody.
In addition, I don't hunt out of shooting houses, over feeders, food plots, agricultural fields or the like. I'm not dissing these, but simply stating that it doesn't exist in my part of the public land hunting on the west coast. I'm just not comfortable with a reticle that must be on the highest setting in order to be accurate, or accessing a chart showing all the different yardages for all the different power settings. Hunting from a fixed location might be ideal for BDC and allowing you to have your scope set on high.
I'm seriously considering a fixed 6x with a "multi-distance" reticle. This could eliminate a lot of variables and confusion. Sorry for the lengthy post, but just giving my input.
My hunting buddy has BDC Monarchs on 3 of his rifles, and he loves them. He's used the 3rd circle down to take a few deer and one bull elk and can't say enough about the BDC. Me, I think I'm more effective knowing where my zero distance is, what distance the bottom post point is and what size is represented between the top and bottom posts on a standard duplex reticle. This gets me hitting the kill zone out to distances I'm comfortable with. I've also hit a 10" gong with boring regularity at 400yds using this method. Now, 10" is not a small target, nor does it represent precision shooting, but neither does shooting deer at these distances. I just hit them in the vitals and go get my hands bloody.
In addition, I don't hunt out of shooting houses, over feeders, food plots, agricultural fields or the like. I'm not dissing these, but simply stating that it doesn't exist in my part of the public land hunting on the west coast. I'm just not comfortable with a reticle that must be on the highest setting in order to be accurate, or accessing a chart showing all the different yardages for all the different power settings. Hunting from a fixed location might be ideal for BDC and allowing you to have your scope set on high.
I'm seriously considering a fixed 6x with a "multi-distance" reticle. This could eliminate a lot of variables and confusion. Sorry for the lengthy post, but just giving my input.
- Oct 30, 2004
- 24,140
- 2,738
Nice but heavy~
