F-Class scopes..what to buy ?

[Mark Walker in TX]

Oh, you guys are way too kind, or maybe drunk is more accurate... Ben whips us all around at the midrange matches on a regular basis, heck he's the one with the 300 yard National Record!

OP, you see above another recommendation for a Sightron, take a serious look at them as well. The Ninja (David Gosnell) had one for a while, and he kept telling me as much as he didn't want to like it, he just had to like it. He beats us all around on a regular basis, so there must be something to it...

It's just good to have choices!

 

[Steve Blair]

OP, you see above another recommendation for a Sightron, take a serious look at them as well. The Ninja (David Gosnell) had one for a while, and he kept telling me as much as he didn't want to like it, he just had to like it. He beats us all around on a regular basis, so there must be something to it...

[br]
David has indeed beaten me on more than one occasion. He must know something. [br]
Seriously, I have two Sightron III 10-50 scopes and shoot them on F-T/R rifles. Except for a little focus touchiness at 50X, they both work just fine and I have never felt disadvantaged using them.

 

[lal357]

i to shoot a sightron 111 10x50 and agree the only draw back i have found is the side focus being a bit touchy. i'm looking to put one on a f open biuld i'm working on. for the money there hard to beat.

 

[smoking-brass]

Oh, you guys are way too kind, or maybe drunk is more accurate... Ben whips us all around at the midrange matches on a regular basis, heck he's the one with the 300 yard National Record!

Hey Mark,
they are kind but maybe they have been in the wine today....I like the sightron 10x50 SIII a lot...bought it from Ben....The leup. 45x or the weaver 36x are ok but there is no adjustment which sucks on sunny days...And Mark you are right... Ben is one heck of a mid-range shot....I taught him well. lol

Vinnie

 

[coreydelong]

Before I purchased my scope for F-Class I reviewed as many match results as I could find. Lots of NF's and Leupold's.... a few Sightrons and Weaver's, fewer March and S&B.

I got a NF 12-42x56 NXS, 1/8MOA, NP-R2. It had what I wanted overall. I liked it so much I bought another for one of my other rifles. Is it the very best? Surely not. I'm a new F-Class shooter and I'm not sorry for my choice. The scope is not holding me back at all. I've not shot anything less than a 197 with it. A $4K March would not have improved that at all..... those were bad mirage calls.

Look down the line and see what people are using. My local club has shooter's with about all the above mentioned scopes. Everyone thinks their's is the best thing on Earth since sliced bread.

A $900 Sightron would probably do me just as well as a $4K March. I could load a heck of a lot of ammo for $3K though. My advice..... look through as many pieces of glass as possible at your club. Is the $4K scope really twice as nice as the $2K scope- or even the $1K scope. That is all in your "eyes"

 

[DBailey]

Best all around IMHO= NightForce 12-42 BR with NP-R2 or NP-2DD. I've never felt the need for a different scope, or the need to turn the power down while shooting a string.

Cheaper fixed power choice would be the Sightron SIIB 36x42 BRD

Ben,
I started shooting Long Range F-Open in November 2011. I finished seven points behind Mark at the Berger SW Nationals in February and four points behind at Raton. At this rate, I should be able to tie him sometime in 2014.

Steve,
You do know that Mark has been holding back to keep his team mates from looking bad......

 

[Steve Blair]

Steve,
You do know that Mark has been holding back to keep his team mates from looking bad......

[br]
Now, that's just cruel. Mark told me you have a mean streak.

 

[jdfletch]

I'm a new F-Class shooter ... I've not shot anything less than a 197 with it.

Corey,

You must be really new at F-Class (but obviously a good shooter)! Just wait until the winds pick up and start fishtailing or swirling! We had national champions dropping 5-6 points per stage in our state championship last weekend...

OP,

I too am looking for a good F-Class scope. I prefer a crosshair dot with fine lines and about a 3/8 MOA dot for Highpower shooting (1/4 MOA would be better for F-Class). I would like at least 35x magnification for Long Range shooting. As stated previously, mirage can wreck havoc on the optics so I believe a variable power scope is in order, although mirage has never been a problem below about 24x. Are 1/8 MOA clicks necessary? I don't think so, especially on windy days. But maybe on calm days they would produce more X's. For ME, I would prefer the 1/4 MOA clicks because all my aperture sights and scopes for Highpower are 1/4 MOA. Money is an issue for me, but I don't want to limit myself either. Leupold doesn't have anything in a variable power above 25x, so they're out. March, Premier and S&B are out due to cost. So, here's my short list. I've shot with them all except the Sightron III 10-50.

Sightron III 8-32 LRTD (1/4 click)
Sightron III 10-50 LRTD (1/8 click)
Nightforce 8-32 BR (1/8 click, CH-2 or NP-R2)
Nightforce 12-42 BR (1/8 click, CH-2 or NP-R2)
Nightforce 8-32 NSX (1/4 click, CH-2 or NP-R2)
Nightforce 12-42 NSX (1/4 click, CH-2 or NP-R2)

As I said, I like 1/4 MOA clicks, so my first choice is the Nightforce 12-42 NSX. At almost half the price, the Sightron III 10-50 is a great choice, but has 1/8 clicks (Arrrgh!). Maybe I could get used to the 1/8's... Of course, the Sightron III 8-32 is no slouch, has 1/4 clicks and can be had used for $750 or less right here on this forum. It just lacks the magnification for Long Range. Hmmmm.... Even with my short list the choice is tough! I don't think you would be wrong with any of them.

Good luck!
Doug

Doug

 

[FroggyOne2]

Doug,

The way to look at those 1/8th clicks is this way, what you would click with the prone gun for wind with those 1/4 moa clicks would translate to the same with the 1/8 moa on the F/Class target.. at least that is the way I would be doing it.

 

[XTR]

Doug, you want the 1/8 MOA for elevation. With the stable rest you get in F class be it Open or TR with the purpose built bipods you can dial your elevation extremely accurately. The X ring is only .5moa, the 10 ring is 1MOA, one click on a 1/4 MOA knobs moves you 1/2 the width of the X ring. My windage I almost always dial 2 clicks at a time, you just learn to think that way. After you shoot a dozen or so matches you'll get to see enough strings shot on clean targets to start to recognize the "I needed to come down 1/8" groups where the center is just above the water line.

If you start to hold off it's more precise to hold on the "9" (you can see the numbers at high power) or on the water line at the 9/10 ring vs trying to hold bottom of the x-ring elevation at the 9.

I've heard of some scopes that NF modified for the US F-TR team that had 1/8 elevation and 1/4 windage. I've never seen one. That would be the perfect setup.

 

[lal357]

not all sightron 10x50's are 1/8 click mine i got last year is 1/4 click and at times it can be a pain shot a f class match that went to 1000 yards and 1 click would move to one side or the other so i had to move off center to hit center. all in all i like the sightrons so much i'm going to get another for my open rig i'm work in progress with now but will need to find one with 1/8 clicks.

 

[jdfletch]

Thanks XTR for the explanation. 1/8 makes sense for elevation to track with the fattest portion of the 10 or X-rings. Froggie, your theory works for 10 and X rings, so that could be good.

OP (Bill), Didn't try to hijack your thread! From your original comment, I'd still suggest a variable power scope over a fixed power. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the Sightron or Nightforce scopes mentioned.

Doug

 

[weedhopper]

Well guys I looked at a Nightforce the other night and is sure was nice.
The 12x42 Br was very nice. NP-R2 reticle looked ok but is that fine enough for f-class shooting ? Im staring to look at the 8-32 NXS because of the 65moa of elevation and the big knobs this scope would work for both f-class and some of the long range steel plate shoots that can be form distances from 200 yards to 1200 and your always moving the elevation knob.
So I think I be spending some cash soon .

Bill

 

[Immike]

I would research bases also. 20 min bases give you the full use of a scope. The higher power limits range in minutes but use all of them. Mike

 

[Steve Blair]

I use the R1 with no problem in F-Open.

 

[coreydelong]

Well guys I looked at a Nightforce the other night and is sure was nice.
The 12x42 Br was very nice. NP-R2 reticle looked ok but is that fine enough for f-class shooting ? Im staring to look at the 8-32 NXS because of the 65moa of elevation and the big knobs this scope would work for both f-class and some of the long range steel plate shoots that can be form distances from 200 yards to 1200 and your always moving the elevation knob.
So I think I be spending some cash soon .

Bill

NP-R2 is perfect IMHO. I personally think the NP-R1 is too "busy".

My ideal reticle would be fine crosshairs with only1MOA windage marks.

 

[Immike]

I have shot the np-r1 alot and it's wonderful, NF #1 reticle. I use a DD now and it's great too!! All good if you get used to them. I would take the advice of these competitors and get the higher power scopes and put 20 min bases under them. Mike

 

[bsoutlaw32]

One more vote here for Nightforce, I own 3 of the 12-42 benchrest FCH and they are awesome scopes for the money. I have tried the S&B 50 power and the sightrons, I still prefer the Nightforce! The problem I had with the S&B was trying to dial out the parallax!

 

[Steve Blair]

NP-R2 is perfect IMHO. I personally think the NP-R1 is too "busy".

My ideal reticle would be fine crosshairs with only1MOA windage marks.

[br]
It's worth noting that the NP-R1 is ~1 MOA at 42X. The ticks are 2 MOA at the reference magnification, 22X.

 

[weedhopper]

Looks like im going with the 12x42 Nightforce Br
Thanks for all the input .
If it works for a sleepygator it should work for me..

Weed