need advice Night force, Zeiss, Sightron, Bushnell. no longer considerin leupold

[omahaguy]

I have heard some Leupold problems with backlash, and at LRT M4 prices I am not intrested..

The scopes now being considered are..

Night force 12-42x56 Benchrest
$1359.00@sportoptics.com

Zeiss 6.5-20 X 50 AO MC CONQUEST #43 MIL DOT RETICLE MATTE BLACK
$849.99@dnrsports

Bushnell 4.5-30x50 tactical Elite 6500 30mm, fov 21.6 - 3.4, Exit Pupil 10.4 - 1.6, moa 50
$699.95@swfa

Sightron SIII 30mm Tube 6-24x 50mm Side Focus Mil-Dot Reticle Matte
$806.79@midway

If you know of any better prices PLEASE, let me know although it will be a while before I can afford one.. "any one want to buy a kidney?..lol"

Thank you for your help and advice it is greatly appreciated!!
Jerry M.

 

[Preacher]

Re: need advice Night force, Zeiss, Sightron, Bushnell. no longer considerin leu

Sightron seems to be the best buy for your money,, but it's hard to beat out a Nightforce...

 

[cmillard]

are you basing your decisioin solely on price? buy the best scope you can afford--even if it costs more. but having said that, more $ doesn't always make it better. i have several leupolds--not bad scopes, but the daddy of them all is my U.S. Optics variable power. that thing is built like a tank and has a lifetime warranty. this scope is the best ive ever used--even thought the price tag was heavy, it wont be my last scope from USO!!

 

[k80skeet]

Larry D Scott has better prices on Sightrons than Midway. A real great guy to do business with.(270)924-5290

 

[Laurie]

Jerry,

what sort of shooting do you plan to do with the rifle the scope is going on? That has a big effect on choice.

Laurie

 

[MarkS]

omahaguy,

I ordered a 8 x32 30mm Sightron today from Larry Scott. Great prices!

Mark Schronce

 

[omahaguy]

Laurie, it will be mostly prone and BR type shoting..
Mark please tell, what was the price on that scope PM me if youd feel more comfortable letting me know, if I get an 8-32 which has got my intrest, I will probably wait till the mil-dot one gets released..

Hey real quick I would like to thank you all for helping me out here it is appreciated!!..

 

[Laurie]

Jerry,

of your list I have the 8-32 versions of the Nightforce and the Sightron SIII. Both are very good indeed. Over here in the UK, there are not too many 12-42 NFs, lots of 8-32s. 'People say' (can't comment myself) that 12-42 doesn't wear the extra power that well and you rarely go much above 32x as a result. So few will now pay the extra money for the higher power model.

The Sightron SIII is a superb scope in every respect. Our resident scope tester puts it up with the best optically but at less money. We don't have the 6-24 here, our importer has stuck to the more powerful model as that's what most target shooters want. We haven't had them over here that long, a bit over a year, so there is little feedback on reliability, but so far they seem excellent.

Good luck and shooting,

Laurie


PS how do the Burris 'Black Diamond' target scopes work out price-wise? Can you add either the 6-24 or 8-32 to your list as affordable? I have both and they're very good optically. Very small turrets though with tiny figures and the 8-32 only has 39-MOA elevation adjustment. The 6-24 is a good all-rounder even if it has a bit less elevation than some at around 50-MOA. Mine has been on three rifles to date and I used it happily for 600yd BR and 1,000yd F-Class for a while when I had nothing more powerful available.

 

[LarryDScott]

I just sold the last 8-32 that I had on reduced pricing. BTW Mark, Thanks again for your purchase. Larry in western Ky.

 

[dreever]

Save up the money and buy the 12-42 Nightforce with the NP2-DD reticle and never look back!

Danny

 

[omahaguy]

I have read several posts about the Nightforce and sightron and everyone that has professionally compared the two, say that sightron S3 is brighter and and the colors are more defined, the NF may have a very slight resolution advantage as that was reported by one of the reviewers. have you had a chance to compare the two, and if so may I ask what your findings were?

Thank you

 

[squirrelduster]

I have the 8-32 x 56 NXS Nightforce and the 8-32 x 56 SIII Sightron. I purchased my Sightron from Larry Scott, the glass on the Sightron is every bit as good as the Nightforce. If you are planning on clicking for range it works very well.
The only benefit of the Nightforce is the R2 reticle I use for varmint hunting. You are able to use one of the reticle bars if you have multiple targets at different distances.

 

[Recko555]

I have a SIII 6-24 Mildot from Larry. I click it off for my hunting shots and it is working out great. Happy with the Sightron purchase.

 

[long40shot]

Re: need advice Night force, Zeiss, Sightron, Bushnell. no longer considerin leu

I never have had a problem with my Leupolds. In fact, thats what everyone of my rifles are wearing.

-Matt

 

[omahaguy]

One of the many reasons why I decided to stay away from Leupold is a report done by the professional bench rest shooters over at 6mmbr.com in the scope and optics section it says;

Leupold LRT 6.5-20x Zoom
Pros: Excellent resolution, clarity, color rendition and contrast. 72-moa elevation range is best among all scopes tested. Smooth-functioning controls with distinct, positive clicks. Exceptionally good lifetime warranty service, not limited to original owner. Silver finish available. Good value, especially if you shop around for discounted prices.
Cons: Max power is actually 19.2x and you get some edge distortion at full zoom. Lash issue with side focus. Leupold is shipping too many with off-axis cross-hairs--look before you buy. When set to minimal parallax, target can be slightly out of focus.
OVERALL: This scope gives a great image of the target--sharp with good contrast, good color balance, with very little edge distortion up to about 18.5x.

Besides I hear the S3 has it beat and it is several hundred dollars less.. But I know many people that love them and I have looked through a few and think the glass is good, and it has a reputable name and it is American made, so I am not trying to put them down or belittle the company, its just I am poor and need to make every dollar count.. lol

 

[DukeDuke]

I have cheaper scopes and for me it's hard to say to much about the glass of the Nightforce, specially at 100F, but the reticle+zoom combination, in my eyes has no match. By far the best!

 

[flatlander]

I've been a long-time Leupold user, and still have four 6.5-20s, all LR models with 30mm tubes - from a 40mm objective model up to a Mk4 M1. Always been satisfied with their optical quality, but had issues with the Mk4 shifting its zero a year or so back, so shipped it back to the factory where they went completely through it.

Bought one of the Sightron SIII 8-32x56s when they came out (after reading the +positive reviews here), and have been extremely impressed with it on a BAT 3LL prone rifle with barrels in 6.5x55 AI & 284 Win. Have purchased four additional SIIIs since then - all 6-24x50s, two dots & two mildots. I'm very satisfied with these fine scopes; only wish Sightron would see fit to develop a reticle something like NF's R2.

Also bought a Bushnell 6500 2.5-16x40 a couple of years ago after seeing them at SHOT 2008. I realy like the pull-up knob zeroing feature, but feel the optical quality falls short of the SIIIs by a noticable margin.

 

[cliffy]

My favo-riot scope is my Burris Signature Select 6-24x44mm for 300 yard carnage .223 Remingtonwise, yet my Leupold 3-9x40mm Rifleman series scope works well on my .243 Winchester, but my Nikon 4.5-14x40mm cannot be faulted in any application. I trashed many lesser scope including BSA, Bushnell, and especially BSA $100 and Simmons $40 buck specials. Ya get what ya pay for regarding scopes, clarity and cleverness of designwise. If you have $2000 plus for some of the very best, reputationwise, you're better off monitarilywise than I am. My best scope costed $565 of hard-earned money spent wisely. You got to live with it at $500 PLUS, so chose wisely, and ONCE. I selected BURRIS, if that helps, and I love it. Cliffy

 

[LarryDScott]

You hear people make a statement about any brand scope they just purchased, "its a good scope for the money" To me that means, they probably didn't get the quality they wanted, but yet they didnt pay a lot for it.

The statement that I want to make about Sightron products, "you get more quality than you actually pay for."
Take your best scope, in a side beside test w/a Sightron of like power. Only you can be the judge of what you see. Now compare the prices, throw in a lifetime warranty by Sightron. Now who is the winner?? Larry in western ky.

 

[varminater]

I have read several posts about the Nightforce and sightron and everyone that has professionally compared the two, say that sightron S3 is brighter and and the colors are more defined, the NF may have a very slight resolution advantage as that was reported by one of the reviewers. have you had a chance to compare the two, and if so may I ask what your findings were?

Thank you

I bought the S3-8-32x56mm dot scope and Love it. You will get your best buy and service on one of these from Larry Scott, IMO. Not enough extras with the Nightforces to justify the cost, when compared with the Sightron.