Nightforce Comps opinions?

[Alex Wheeler]

Well, that is what Alex observed, but doesn't completely tell the story. @Alex Wheeler , would you elaborate on how much the scopes were moving? If I remember, it was in the 1/16th MOA range. Also, have you tested many since you first found the problem a few years back? Are the newer scopes (2019-2020 vintage) any different?

I have a side by side tester and check my scopes annually. Anything that even makes me slightly uneasy gets sent to the manufacturer for service, regardless of brand.

Most moved .1-.2 moa. I have not tested any that new, I think the last ones we checked were about 3 years ago. There aren't any new ones around here to check. If they fixed the new ones all they'd have to do is tell us and we'd probably buy them again. I believe it was just the erector tube spring, because a nylon set screw drilled and tapped into the housing to apply extra pressure to the spring locked them up solid. The 12-42 br would typicaly move 1/16 moa but only on the first shot after an adjustment then they were solid. I dont have a problem with that and use a 12-42 BR on my rifle still.

 

[Lostcreek]

I Have 3 NF Competitions and they have served me well.

 

[Snuggie]

I also have three NF-Comps. Never have had any problems.

 

[Ranger007]

Glad I stumbled upon this thread. I am about 90% ready to pick up a new NF Comp.

 

[davidjoe]

The first year model, (2013) did not have zero stop. When a gunsmith I know told me he had a friend who worked for NF, he told me that his friend admitted that there was a problem with the 15-55 comp scopes and told him also that they had a fix for it. I had at the time one 2013 model which was rock solid, but I figured that I'd call NF and basically outright lie to the tech on the phone and told him that my scope wasn't holding POI. The way I figured it if they had a fix for it, I might as well send it back so they could replace what they knew was wrong. That was my way of thinking anyway. When the tech called me back a few weeks later he told me that the scope was all ready to be shipped back to me. I said to him did you find a problem and he said no it was probably your lapped rings that was the problem. I told him I never lapped one set of rings that I've owned. He didn't know what to say. I had two friend send their scopes back and the person who they spoke to said the exact same thing that it was probably the rings fault. Ya right! The only 2 scope companies that told me the truth was Kahles when I complained that my K1050 was about as clear as looking thru a foggy day in London. They said that they replaced the ocular lens. and as we speak March is shipping a scope back to me because I was in a match 1200 miles from my home and it was like looking thru chicken soup it was so bad. I emailed them sent it back last May and they e-mailed me back in November telling me they replaced the complete eyepiece. Two companies that aren't afraid to tell the truth.

You don’t mention whether they actually did anything to fix your scope. I follow that you were aiming for a preemptive fix, but when he says it is ready to be shipped, and you asked if he found the problem, he honestly said no. Maybe they didn’t change a thing. You have to figure that if they aren’t going to crack open your scope if you simply tell them it works but why not have that done anyway, then they aren’t going to crack it open if they can’t find a problem.

Have you seen the promos of what NF does to test new, perfectly good scopes? I look away from the screen, to me just a lay customer, this is like testing a child’s joints by picking them up by each extremity in turn, again and again. Yours, they had to try to find out how it wasn’t working for you, which was impossible, so I can’t imagine that it was any less rigorous. I get that you talk of the scope in the past tense, but just saying.

 

[tom]

Well, that is what Alex observed, but doesn't completely tell the story. @Alex Wheeler , would you elaborate on how much the scopes were moving? If I remember, it was in the 1/16th MOA range. Also, have you tested many since you first found the problem a few years back? Are the newer scopes (2019-2020 vintage) any different?

I have a side by side tester and check my scopes annually. Anything that even makes me slightly uneasy gets sent to the manufacturer for service, regardless of brand.

Hi Keith,

Not Alex, but let me start the post by first saying, "here's what I saw on a scope checker"(this should be what every post starts with). It wasn't the initial 1/16 to 1/8 moa move (post adjustments) that got any of them a "junk" rating. It was the continued walking AFTER that initial shot. The worst offender I seen was about .625" away after around a half dozen shots, and most were not anywhere near that bad. If my memory serves me, I would say there were only 3 scopes I ever tested that would have possibly been suspicious without the use of a scope checker, or a really good ppc. Not all 3 were the model/brand in question here, but 2 were. The whole point of those postings/threads were to test for yourselves, to possibly increase your own precision level. That kind of got lost, and the thread got deleted.

Tom

 

[JimPag]

the concensus seems to be the BR models have a little better clarity than the NXS models, and the comp has better clarity than either of the others. One reason ive wanted to try one.

Without a doubt the Comp has better clarity than any scope that I've owned

You don’t mention whether they actually did anything to fix your scope. I follow that you were aiming for a preemptive fix, but when he says it is ready to be shipped, and you asked if he found the problem, he honestly said no. Maybe they didn’t change a thing.

Have you seen the promos of what NF does to test new, perfectly good scopes? I look away from the screen, to me just a lay customer, this like testing a child’s joints by picking them up by each extremity in turn, again and again. Yours, they had to try to find out how it wasn’t working for you, which was impossible, so I can’t imagine that it was any less rigorous.

How do I know what they did to the scope. I wasn't in the factory overseeing them take it apart. All he said to me that they didn't find anything wrong with it and it probably was the rings. The standard answer that they give. Same when you send a 45X Comp Leupold back to the factory. Standard answer is we didn't find a single thing wrong with it and when you get it back from them by some miracle it's holding POI now.

 

[davidjoe]

Well, you’d agree I think that they were never going to be able to find a problem with your scope. If they run into that a lot, they just get more used to that “standard answer”. NF surmising that the “problem” was rings or something they didn’t have in front of them to test was not dishonest. It’s the best they could politely say.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

Most moved .1-.2 moa. I have not tested any that new, I think the last ones we checked were about 3 years ago. There aren't any new ones around here to check. If they fixed the new ones all they'd have to do is tell us and we'd probably buy them again. I believe it was just the erector tube spring, because a nylon set screw drilled and tapped into the housing to apply extra pressure to the spring locked them up solid. The 12-42 br would typicaly move 1/16 moa but only on the first shot after an adjustment then they were solid. I dont have a problem with that and use a 12-42 BR on my rifle still.

Thanks Alex.

I have one very new scope (2019/2020 vintage) that doesn't even move a smidge with my testing protocol. I am using the Field and Cave mount, but instead of firing a round, I smack the muzzle with a rubber hammer. I did find one scope in my inventory (much older, with a lot more use) that moved about 1/16th. After service, it's as solid as the new one.

You might try to find somebody with a brand new scope to try. It would be quite the success story if you drove change into the system that benefited everyone.

 

[Greyfox]

I currently own three 2013 NF Competition scopes and have owned a couple more. Since I don't really need the Zero stop and the 2013 is usually quite a bit cheaper, I have chosen to use them. I do have a scope checker and found that two of these scopes we shifting in the well know pattern. Both were returned to NF and both were repaired although in both instances the tech I spoke with denied there was a problem. We can a cordial conversation and I told him I really didn't care what they said as long as the scope was sent back to me in good working order and they were. I have several March scopes as well as the NF and while I do a have a little more confidence in the March scopes they simply aren't as bright and clear as the NF. The exceptions would be the HM 48X which is the best glass I've ever looked through and they hold aim point as well. They just aren't as powerful as these old eyes prefer.

Rick

 

[JimPag]

Well, you’d agree I think that they were never going to be able to find a problem with your scope. If they run into that a lot, they just get more used to that “standard answer”. NF surmising that the “problem” was rings or something they didn’t have in front of them to test was not dishonest. It’s the best they could politely say.

Well, you’d agree I think that they were never going to be able to find a problem with your scope. If they run into that a lot, they just get more used to that “standard answer”. NF surmising that the “problem” was rings or something they didn’t have in front of them to test was not dishonest. It’s the best they could politely say.

NF wouldn't tell you the truth if their life depended on it. Read what Rick Fox had to say about how some of his scopes were sent back because he had a scope checker and some weren't holding POI. The tech told him that they didn't find nothing wrong which was bullshit because when he got them back they worked like they were suppose to. Just for shits and giggles. The way I looked at it was say there were a few parts internally that had a flaw and could break anytime whether it be never or maybe next week. If they had my scope they could replace them with a couple of stronger upgraded parts. That's why I sent it back. It's pretty simple logic.

 

[jelenko]

Ewwwe.
If scope mfg's are fixing their scopes but saying that there was nothing wrong, it's disturbing.
Over the past several years, I've sent a couple scopes back to Leupold because, through shooting groups, I had confirmed they weren't holding zero. Both times the scope was returned saying it checked out.
This, of course, led me to question my position consistency.
And, yes, the problems went away after the scope was returned.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Thanks Alex.

I have one very new scope (2019/2020 vintage) that doesn't even move a smidge with my testing protocol. I am using the Field and Cave mount, but instead of firing a round, I smack the muzzle with a rubber hammer. I did find one scope in my inventory (much older, with a lot more use) that moved about 1/16th. After service, it's as solid as the new one.

You might try to find somebody with a brand new scope to try. It would be quite the success story if you drove change into the system that benefited everyone.

Id want to get at least a few of them to be sure they all seemed to better to be sure. It would be quite interesting if all the guys that gave me grief and said I was lying where now benefiting. I got the same grief over things I have said about custom actions and for a fact there have been changes in them that now they all benefit from. Those scopes are a lot of money just for me to buy one to test.

 

[Ranger188]

Not the same company, I had a Vortex GE that was shifting,
sent in and the gentleman told me that "it's rare" but mine did
have a problem. They fixed it and sent back.
At least they admitted it.

 

[davidjoe]

NF wouldn't tell you the truth if their life depended on it. Read what Rick Fox had to say about how some of his scopes were sent back because he had a scope checker and some weren't holding POI. The tech told him that they didn't find nothing wrong which was bullshit because when he got them back they worked like they were suppose to. Just for shits and giggles. The way I looked at it was say there were a few parts internally that had a flaw and could break anytime whether it be never or maybe next week. If they had my scope they could replace them with a couple of stronger upgraded parts. That's why I sent it back. It's pretty simple logic.

I understand the thinking. Scopes need to work. I have had issues at matches. I just wouldn’t send them on a snipe hunt is all.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Leupold and nf has never found a bad scope but they sure have fixed a bunch of them for nothing.

 

[JimPag]

Leupold and nf has never found a bad scope but they sure have fixed a bunch of them for nothing.

Couldn't agree with you more Dusty.

 

[group therapy]

If weight isn’t an issue, everyone I know who’s used the new Sightron SVSS ED says it’s the best glass out there (even when compared to NF comp) and they seem to be solid in recoil testing.

If holding zero is an absolute must and you are not willing to gamble on that issue in the least, then the undisputed champion is Kahles K1050.

ima 2nd this about the sved!! compared it to a march high master and nf comp, and got the sightron. if you can carry the weight its gonna be hard to beat it.......of course it won't get you in the glass circles if you have that at your club

 

[hoz53]

ima 2nd this about the sved!! compared it to a march high master and nf comp, and got the sightron. if you can carry the weight its gonna be hard to beat it.......of course it won't get you in the glass circles if you have that at your club

it must be quite a scope compared to the SIII 10/50 for the $ difference

 

[Ledd Slinger]

...I am using the Field and Cave mount, but instead of firing a round, I smack the muzzle with a rubber hammer.

I thought about testing that way a while back and find it difficult to believe that it will produce the same results. Plus I don’t like beating in my rifles with a hammer. Lol.

You will not duplicate the speed of force as a fired round using a hammer since your arm can’t move that fast. And how hard are you hitting it? Is it enough force to be the same as a fired round? You don’t know...
Plus you will not have the coupled effect of concussion from the muzzle blast. I think if you fired live rounds with stout loads in your testing you will probably see different results.