Illuminated reticle any good?

I've found nightforce has one of the best illuminated systems in terms of brightness. The first setting is so dim the lense cap almost needs to be on to see it. It slowly increases as you dial and you end up with a day bright useful illuminated cross in daylight.
The only drawback of a nf optic is the weight. They offer great glass and amazing tracking. I love the illuminated center cross of the moar reticle. My all time fav is the illuminated g4a of which I have on multiple lpvo and they're great for hunting. My shots are generally not very far with the exception of coyote hunting. The moar is nice as I never dial I just hold over and the small center cross shows we'll on a coyotes head and chest
I have a hard time looking at any scope without illumination now. You don't always need it but when you do it's nice to have

Side note my xbow wears a blue illuminated reticle and it's great. I much prefer the blue to red or green
 
Once you have an illuminated reticle, and get a chance to actually use it in the field you will be asking yourself why you have waited sooo long to actually get and use one.

Early light, late light, fog, dark background when it is really sunny out: yep turn it on and notice the difference.

Yes the nightforce are nice optics. I started my foray into hunting with one, because of the way they advertise it. Mount, shoot, dismount, throw down range, hit post a few times with optic, remount and shoot great group. SOLD.

That said, I used them as a spring board to higher end optics. Yes they are nice, but def not top tier alpha glass. Remember once you go alpha there is no turning back!
 
wallz said:
Once you have an illuminated reticle, and get a chance to actually use it in the field you will be asking yourself why you have waited sooo long to actually get and use one.

Early light, late light, fog, dark background when it is really sunny out: yep turn it on and notice the difference.

Yes the nightforce are nice optics. I started my foray into hunting with one, because of the way they advertise it. Mount, shoot, dismount, throw down range, hit post a few times with optic, remount and shoot great group. SOLD.

That said, I used them as a spring board to higher end optics. Yes they are nice, but def not top tier alpha glass. Remember once you go alpha there is no turning back!
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Wallz what are you using for alpha glass now?
 
ZCO. March.

Don't get me wrong, I still have some leupold, a burris HD, and just recently an arken sh4j, and they do the job, just don't call the nighforce alpha glass. They are an awesome mid tier scope in the NXS lineup.
 
Illumination sounds like a great idea, but I think that I have only used it maybe three or four times while hunting. I can think of maybe two occasions when I wished I had it and didn't. I can honestly say that I have never been forced to pass on a shot due to the lack of an illuminated reticle.

The only type I would ever consider buying again is a simple dot like the Leupold Firedot, or perhaps a small illuminated crosshair in the centre like a Nightforce SHV. I'd never select some sort of illuminated Christmas tree or roadmap-type.

And I like Nightforce scopes, but...I could never put a 28oz scope on a hunting rifle, and then use the word "only" to describe that weight...:)
 
For me; 28 oz's is too heavy for a hunting scope to carry around all day up and down the slopes and wherever it takes me. 28 oz's then add more for steel bases and steel rings, even on a F/W that'll get a might heavy as the day wears on. May take the fun out of hunting.

For normal type hunting I'm good with the Leupold line of VX-3's at 12.7 to 13 oz. When I purchased the VX-7 at 19.2 oz it was noticeable right off so I mounted it on one of my F/W's and that brought it back to what I was used to.

If I wasn't carrying the rifle around all day then the NF would be nice to have but the extra weight for all day carry I might lose interest sooner than later.
 
Rod said:
For me; 28 oz's is too heavy for a hunting scope to carry around all day up and down the slopes and wherever it takes me. 28 oz's then add more for steel bases and steel rings, even on a F/W that'll get a might heavy as the day wears on. May take the fun out of hunting.

For normal type hunting I'm good with the Leupold line of VX-3's at 12.7 to 13 oz. When I purchased the VX-7 at 19.2 oz it was noticeable right off so I mounted it on one of my F/W's and that brought it back to what I was used to.

If I wasn't carrying the rifle around all day then the NF would be nice to have but the extra weight for all day carry I might lose interest sooner than later.
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I know a bit off topic. But what is your hunting rig weight all in with ammo that you do carry?
 
Rod said:
Toleralable. Off hand I don't know but I'm good with it.
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This is disappointing for a guy that says he doesn't want to carry a 28 oz scope but he doesn't know his set up weight.

See I carry a 38 oz scope, on a 6 lb 12 oz rifle, with ammo and fully equipped I'm a carry weight of 9 lbs 11.2 oz. This set up I can shoot out to 1000m which I practice with. I can shoot at literally first or last legal light with this illuminated reticle set up. Not boasting, just know what I have and know what I'm capable of when the situation presents itself.

That said, my kills last year were all in the 30 m range, so go figure. It happens like that sometimes.
 
I wouldn’t buy a scope that wasn’t illuminated anymore. Make sure whatever you get has an etched reticle so it still works like a regular scope when the battery is dead
 
wallz said:
This is disappointing for a guy that says he doesn't want to carry a 28 oz scope but he doesn't know his set up weight.

See I carry a 38 oz scope, on a 6 lb 12 oz rifle, with ammo and fully equipped I'm a carry weight of 9 lbs 11.2 oz. This set up I can shoot out to 1000m which I practice with. I can shoot at literally first or last legal light with this illuminated reticle set up. Not boasting, just know what I have and know what I'm capable of when the situation presents itself.

That said, my kills last year were all in the 30 m range, so go figure. It happens like that sometimes.
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Lots of things are disappointing. What did you expect? I'm to rush on into my safe and dig'em all out and find my scale and weigh them all? Not likely, too busy at the moment. I told you what my hunting scopes weigh and I'm sure you can get an idea as most F/W's are around 7 lbs and the standard weights are bit heavier. My goodness.
 
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