Idk swfa made cheap scopes that tracked and held zero. Leupold mark 4 fixed power same=tracked and held zero and they were reasonably priced.
What people want sells=stupid illumination, retarded zoom rations and crappy for hunting reticles.
Nightforce could own the hunting segment if they offered better reticles.
Leupold knows how to make a reliable scope that tracks and holds zero yet they refuse to.
SWFA dosent have any product in stock and hasn’t for years
Bring back fixed 6x with steel tube and German #4 or some thing like the thlr reticle minox has is a reasonably sized zoom and they’d do most everything you’d need or want but it wouldn’t be cool.
Some good points. I’m about to pop my nightforce cherry with an nx8 1-8 capped dmx, it’s mounted just need the cold snap to lift. But correct there’s maybe handful of current production hunt friendly options that pass the track and durability stuff. I think the trend will improve in this direction though as it seems to be starting. Credo 1-10 new, the atacr would work, the new maven rs6 just announced looks to have potential. We’ve heard about the maven rs1 but I see it as more of a longer range optic than a midrange with its 15x top end, unsure when the reticle becomes useable. Agree nightforce needs to get that dmx reticle into more models.
I follow a guy down south who’s cleaning up prs stuff with mark v and he laughs at the internet re how many Leupold mark v’s are being used at the top. So that Leupold topic a bit of an enigma to watch out for, something fishy there. I’m setting up another rig with a vx5hd I’ll see how it tracks out etc, damn nice scope! Listen to net though and...well the story gets weird.
It is hard to find it all though. Like midrange or say to 1000 with good glass do you really need parallax adjust step and mags over 10x for hunt set ups? Seems another step worth eliminating to me. Also I do not get reticle and dialling solutions. Pick one. But a dialling turret on a reticle should follow maven rs6 path, not too obtrusive but also locking and zero stopping. Reticle options otherwise need to be capped and 100% of time windage capped.
And going much further you seem to hear lots of desire for usable reticles in the 6x-8x range. I agree and now see benefit of ffp here as I can’t see to dial so going to 14x on an sfp really works best on the range.
On top of this we have other hunt features often overlooked. Snag free less tactical profiles. We slide our guns into things, Kifaru gun bearers, the rifle side down profile is a thing for me, don’t want some parallax and illum dink sticking into my ribs or holding the gun up every time I set it on something. This is where the vx5hd comes to mind, sleeker smoother hunt friendly envelopes. Trijicon and even nightforce could take some lessons there for hunt focus products as it is different than military and law enforcement type envelopes imo. Maven seems paying attention in the rs6 and rs1 but on the rs1 they need to add a mil reticle and the rs1.2 has it but adds illum on top of the parallax and it just went to a nope for me with that dink stickin out. The rs1 is capped too but dialler on the 1.2.
I’ve sort of stumbled into the nx8 as I’m at the point of fighting reading glasses for little stuff on the gun or turrets or charts so my solutions plan is ballistic rangefinder which you can focus to your eye and then A reticle based solution which you can also focus. So I’m now in the ffp mil game by accident if you will. I can already tell we will get along just fine and I’ll likely end up glad it is mil in the less is more sense for speed and simplicity for hunting which is my only care.
Excited to get going and see the value in eliminating the middle steps of going between a rangefinder and a scope. Seems I get my two scopes in one from jump shooting whitetail with a red dot or blood trailing or camp bear set up etc to could leave it on 5x and do it all as the reticle is usable there. That’s true 0-midrange versatile. And it’s compact to suit the little 308 I have and will carry a long time now so it’s looking like I have found the yin to that rifles yang and for no reading glasses goals.
I bet we see some other good options coming out of 2025 shot show and beyond heading this direction.
Pricy though if you want etched glass reticles that can’t be phased by magnification changes in poi and durability and then proper tough and accurate internals etc. Cant say I’ve seen anything else like the little nx8. The 34mm options (atacr credo rs6) would be next in line but a bit too long and heavy to suit my little short action lightweight 308, the nx8 just fits, it would likely be too short to get over a long action and stay in the rings without an extended ring or full length rail though so would have to look at those longer heavier 3 options. Unless full length rail mounting then nx8 will fit whatever. It’s a bunch of scope for 17 oz.
I think things are looking up in these directions.
Not sure the straight tube needs to be for the hunt options either. I’m guessing market capture for the gas guns is why they still keep with the lpvo profile but in reality take the 30mm guts and run low power 1-10x range with 36-42mm objectives with hunt usable ffp reticles with or without illumination will be coming. And get all the other design features looked at also. Most of them I think I’ve captured above but maybe I’m still missing a couple points they need to get right.
My nx8 without illum would appeal but the donut of death would need to be bigger in diameter and thicker. And maybe I won’t like the .2 mil per click on zeroing? Some say go atacr for the .1 mil per click but on my build and range hopes I don’t think it will matter. For diallers though it would and the atacr is exposed dialler with zero stop and .1 mil per click if anyone shopping this stuff.
Was fun getting back up to speed on the latest gear. Brief time with sig kilo 5/6k ballistic rangefinders is eye opening. Powerhouse rangefinders spitting instant solutions with applied ballistics engine and onboard atmospherics seem game changer to me.
It’s been interesting watch the ffp mil fad come around to the hunters realizing the prs stuff has limitations for hunting, almost as if it’s two different games
, and now looking for the best of what that gear offers translated over to best of (less is more to be faster etc) hunting focused solutions and envelopes. You can tell now where the future is headed and it’s lookin good for hunters to take advantage of these new-ish developments. Eventually minimizing all the trade offs up to recently and still only handful of currently available options but still some ways to go yet.
