I am in the process of having a new long range rifle built and am looking at various scope I have my eye on a Nightforce 5-25 x 56 ATACR does any one have one or looked through one yet? any and all options please. It will be mounted on a 7 stw.
new scope
- Thread starter accumark
- Start date
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
You won't regret buying an ATACR, they are a bit more clear than the NXS series. I would put them on par optically with SB (I have both) but for less $$. The other advantage I see over the SB is the reticle being more useful. It is true MOA with MOA turrets. My 5x25 PM11 has a P4F reticle which is some metric configuration with 1/4 MOA turrets, so apart from sighting it is virtually useless.
Both have less eye relief than I would like, the NXS has more, but there is always a trade off somewhere.
ultimate_monkey
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- victoria BC
please explain? the ATACR is MOA/MOA. but your SB is a MIL retical with MOA turrets.... would not having a SB with the P4F which is a mil retical be just as useful if you had bought it in a mil/mil set up?
hope you don't take me in the wrong way, youre a wealth of knowledge and when i started to get into the long range game i learnt a lot from your posts. im just not seeing the connection of how owning of a mil/moa set up makes the NF more useful then if the SB retical / turrets matched?
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
Yeah, Sorry I should have explained it better. 1 of those days
The ATACR comes in either a MOA/MOA or Mil/Mil configuration. The SB's are available in Mil/Mil or Mil reticle/MOA turrets. They do not offer any sort of MOA reticle.
I ended up by circumstance with a 5x25 PM11 that coincidentally had 1/4 MOA turrets (thankfully) and the P4F reticle, so put it on 1 of my rifles as my ATACR had not come in and having a new toy........ You get the drift.
It was handy to be able to do a direct comparison between the 2 optics once NF delivered.
Being an MOA guy I would not consider a scope in MIL's for 2 reasons. I know all my come ups in MOA and to relearn them in Mil's is just too much work. Also I firmly believe that the smaller unit of measure (MOA) is superior for extreme long range precision.
The rationale for the second statement is that at 1000 yards, which is a distance that I shoot at regularly, 1/4 MOA equates to 2.5" where as 1/10th mil is 3.6". When shooting at a 2.5" gong, and having the smallest incremental change being over 3" in a Mil equipped scope,the chances of consistent hits on that gong are nearly zero as 1 click moves the center of the reticle from totally off 1 side to totally off of the other. A 1/4 MOA gives 1 a slightly better chance. IF I ran the world we would have 1/10th MOA click values in scopes. Finer incremental change and easier math
Now as I do not use my reticle for range estimation or calling shots for others the fact that this SB has a mil reticle really does not matter to me, but for guys who do intend to use their reticle for range estimation I believe a MOA reticle like what the MOAR reticle in the ATACR has would be more precise for the reason of it being a smaller unit of measure.
Both of these are 2FP scopes, again I do not range so prefer 2FP over FFP as the reticle then remains the same size to the eye regardless of magnification. For ranging a FFP allows to range at any power where as the 2 FP you have to set at typically max power for the reticle to be in sync with the calibration. I find in FFP scopes the reticle increasing in size to the eye with magnification not only distracting but when the reticle covers the target, useless.
A couple other observations between the 2 scopes. The NF has the ZeroStop which once set up is idiot proof and a handy fall back.
The SB has a different type of turret that performs the same function. Both require a hex key to set up. IF SB had better instructions it would be GREAT!! As I think their system is marginally better.
My final observation is that both scopes would benefit from a touch more eye relief, they both have about 3" and extra 1/2 to 3/4" would avoid having the ocular touch my glasses on the heavier recoiling rifles. I know it is all about ME!
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- calgary alberta
On the new models from NF that have the HD glass like the ATACR, and BEAST (if we ever get them) I would say they are very comparable as far as clarity and light gathering. We have sold about 100 ATACRs to date and everyone I have spoken to is very happy with them. Having more MOA than the SB is also an advantage to those of us who really push the distance envelope. We are now making a number of plus 60 MOA rails for our Maverick actions specifically for calibers like 338 LAI.
The ATACR is about $600.00 less $$ than the comparable PM11 from SB.
The NXS series to my eyes were a notch below what the SB's offer in clarity and light gathering. Whether it equals the over $1000.00 price spread is something only you can decide.
