Opinions and Reviews on the Nightforce Nxs F1
We take reviewed a number of Nightforce scopes in the NXS and high terminate ATACR range, simply Nightforce as well has a mid-grade line of scopes known every bit the Shooter Hunter Varminter, or SHV. The SHV was designed specifically to be a lower cost alternative to their gainsay proven NXS line and several versions are available with tactical features. Nightforce was able to reduce the cost of the scopes by focusing on limiting the available options, designing more uncomplicated controls and using a less complex manufacturing process. They claim that they were nonetheless able to use the high quality components which led to a scope that Nightforce says volition out perform any scope in the same price category and many others that are much more expensive. As is our normal process, we figured there actually was but one style to notice out if that was true, and that was to examination one ourselves. The SHV model we have for review is the most tactical of the SHV scopes, the SHV four-14x50mm F1 with a mid-power magnification range, first focal plane reticle and external superlative knob.
The SHV comes in a standard Nightforce box with a skillful set of operating instructions and the normal little Nightforce baggy with lens textile in it. In that location is too a set of inexpensive plastic lens caps that do not stay on the telescopic very well and a rubber bikini fashion lens cover that stay on better, though it is all the same a flake of hassle to keep rail of in the field. The SHV does accept a distinct advantage over the NXS line of scopes in that the entire eyepiece does not rotate when irresolute the magnification, so traditional flip up telescopic caps such every bit Butler Creek's, can be fitted and used without trouble, though none are included with the telescopic. Another noticeable absence from the SHV scopes is the lack of a sunshade, which the NXS scopes do include.
Flipping the scope over reveals that it is manufactured in Nihon where a big majority of the Nightforce lineup is produced. Nightforce does manufacture some of their newer models in the Us, including the compact NXS scopes, the ATACR and the Competition SR line of scopes. We would love for the SHV to exist made in the Us, simply Nihon makes splendid scopes as well and was no surprise given Nightforce'due south existing product lineup. The contents of the packaging are well-nigh what y'all would look for a $1200 telescopic and the initial impressions are were favorable for the scope.
The eyepiece is a 'European Style' fast focus eyepiece and is unlike than the NXS scopes. The unabridged diopter range is covered in 1.75 revolutions of the eyepiece and the resistance to the adjustment is repose stiff. This makes it a little more difficult to suit when needed, but information technology likewise helps go along it firmly in identify one time it is set. There is an indicator dot on the portion of the eyepiece that rotates which acts every bit a good reference point if you lot are adjusting the telescopic for multiple shooters. Though we need to mentioned that the dot gets covered when the eyepiece is adapted "in" so information technology loses its reference upshot. The end of the eyepiece does have a safety ring around information technology to assist minimize skin damage in the unfortunate outcome of a telescopic osculation during recoil. With the eyepiece adjusted all the style out, there is no slop and it does not move from side to side showing good design and construction quality. The chief eyepiece housing itself is stock-still and does not motion or rotate and there is a '+' and '-' sign on top indicating which management the diopter adjustment should rotate.
Located at the front of the eyepiece housing is the magnification adjustment ring which has some moderate knurling on it to improve grip. There is too a throw lever available for the magnification ring that helps provide even amend grip for adjusting the zoom. The resistance is not as stiff equally the eyepiece just information technology is nevertheless firm enough to insure that it stays where information technology is set up. The numbering on the zoom band itself is in a bold font that is easy to read, except that information technology is located on the forward sloping portion of the ring which requires the operator to really tilt their head up and forrard to be able to read the number. The F1 version of the scope, which nosotros are testing here, has a Front Focal Aeroplane reticle then the magnification setting is not disquisitional as the reticle will always exist the correct size for range estimation or agree overs.
In front of the magnification ring there is a chip over ii.3″ of scope tube area to locate your rear scope mounting band. The tube diameter is 30mm with a good matte black anodized end. The shoulder area of the scope has a rounded shape to it with flat tops where the three command knobs are located. As we typically practise, we first took a look at the elevation knob as this is the nearly important knob and part on a scope for tactical utilize.
The elevation punch is an external style dial of moderate size with no external dust cap. There is some moderate knurling on top of the knob to help with the operators fingers getting a good purchase with which to turn the punch. In that location are two set screws in the top portion of the dial which tin be loosened to allow the dial to exist "slipped" to zero and so re-tightened. The adjustments on this scope are in MILs to match the MIL-R reticle and each click represents .one MIL of adjustment. The numbering on the punch again uses an easy to read and large font for the whole numbers with a smaller sized font for each one-half MIL mark on the dial. In that location are 5 MIL of adjustment per revolution, which is half the corporeality found on the current NXS scopes. The factory indicates that in that location are 26.ii MIL of tiptop adjustments for this scope and our sample telescopic here actualy had xxx.three which is enough to take a 175gr 308 rifle from 100 to 1000 yards fifty-fifty without a canted base.
Beneath the actual punch are some horizontal reference lines to assist the operator go on track of the number of rotations that have been dialed in. The SHV 4-14x50mm F1 and the 5-20x56mm with external elevation knob, have what is chosen a Null-Set feature. This is not exactly the same as the Zero-Stop found on the NXS, but information technology behaves in a like mode. Once you have established your zero on the rifle, the operator volition and then loosen those two ready screws at the top of the elevation knob, slip the knob to zero, so press downwards on the knob to bottom it out, and so re-tighten those screws. By bottoming out the knob, it prevents it from rotating any farther downward and finer acts as a nothing terminate characteristic. It is not every bit definitive equally the Zero-Stop on the NXS scopes, but it is simple to set and it works.
The clicks themselves are a very dainty click with a very good tactical experience and a muted sound. There is very little, if any, slop between those clicks and they give a very positive and high quality feel to the knob. By limiting the number of adjustments on the knob to 5 MIL per revolution, information technology gives the clicks a larger space to be more precise in their feel. What you give up in single rotation capability, you gain back in ameliorate click experience. The direction arrows are upward on summit of the knob and not really visible from behind the scope, but the direction that the numbers count requite a good enough visual reference as to which direction is up. Virtually all scopes rotate in the same direction these days (counter clock-wise is upward), but there are still a few that are either the reverse or available with up in either management.
The windage knob is actually unlike than the elevation knob, which we do non actually get to say very ofttimes. It is a smaller knob in both meridian and diameter and information technology has a dust cap that covers it. Typically the knobs are either exposed, or covered, as a gear up, but at that place is some merit to an arrangement similar this and the dust cap can be removed at anytime. If the situation demands a rapid engagement, chances are that the operator volition not be dialing in whatever windage anyway, so why not continue the windage knob covered and prevent accidental adjustment until a deliberate adjustment is needed when the team is setup and ready? It however has 5 MIL of adjustment per revolution but the numbering only counts up in 1 direction, right, which is not our preferred setup. Though nosotros admit that this is however a perfectly functional manner of doing it and used on many other scopes. Each of the clicks is the aforementioned very nice click as the elevation knob. To slip the wind knob to cipher involves using a coin or screw driver to remove a large screw on height of the knob and then lift the knob and identify it back on the mail at zilch. It is different than the summit knob with its two gear up screws and we would prefer that the setup be the same for simplicity sake, but over again, information technology is actually not a huge deal. The simply direction indicators on the wind knob are on top which cannot be seen from backside the scope.
On the opposite side of the telescopic from the windage is the dual controls for both the illuminated reticle and the adjustable objective. On the inside portion of the knob, closest to the tube, is the adjustable objective with markings going from 25 yards to 500 so infinity. That entire range is covered using half of the dial which seems to exist almost right as there was enough precision to focus the telescopic without difficulty at all the ranges we tested it at. There is some knurling on the AO control knob to help with grip which is needed equally typically only finger tips can exist used as they reach over the illumination brightness command. It does rotate smoothly and with an fifty-fifty corporeality of pressure through the unabridged range.
The illumination control is stacked on top of the adjustable objective knob which makes for a adequately alpine knob, just it is well laid out and controlling the separate functions is simple enough. The illumination knob has 11 different brightness settings with an off detente betwixt each one allowing for the preferred brightness setting to be instantly selected without having to cycle through the entire range. This is now the standardized way of doing it, and for practiced reason. The detentes, or clicks, are very pronounced leaving no dubiety that the next setting has been selected. The illumination on the reticle itself only consists of the very interior portion of the crosshairs which you can see in the photo above. Holdovers and range estimation will not exist possible if the light is likewise depression and the rest of the reticle is not visible, which could be a factor. Though with such a small portion of the reticle illuminated, it should prolong battery life. We did, in our carelessness, accidentally turn the illumination knob a time or two when dialing in the focus during our testing.
The reticle on our evaluation telescopic is the Nightforce MIL-R reticle, obviously calibrated in MILs. Each of the large hash marks is a full MIL whereas the small hashes are one-half MILs. There are 5 MILs in a higher place the horizontal on the vertical stadia and a full 15 MILs below, though because it is a FFP reticle, the bottom iii MILs are not visible when the scope is zoomed all the way in to 14x. On the horizontal stadia there are 5 MIL on either side of the vertical and for the last 1 MIL there are small-scale hashes every .2 MIL. Additionally there is an inverted T scale in the lower right quadrant with hash marks every .1 MIL. This can be used to assist with even more than precise measurements when doing range estimation using the MIL Relation formula. The reticle can be a bit busy with the inverted T and many different hash sizes, just it is not too bad and provides all the tools needed to be effective.
In front end of the shoulder surface area of the telescopic in that location is an additional 2.25″ of tube for which to mount the forward telescopic ring. The forrard tube then tapers upwardly into the bell housing where the forrad 50mm objective lens is housed. The tube, similar all modernistic tactical scopes, is fabricated of aluminum with a matte black anodized finish. The tube is a two piece blueprint, like the NXS, with the forwards half threaded into the forrard role of the shoulder. Every bit has been proven with the stellar reputation of durability that the NXS scopes have established, a ii piece design tin be extremely rugged. One of the ways that Nightforce mentions they saved costs on the SHV scopes is by non over engineering science and over edifice the scope similar they do with their other lines. The SHV still appears to be plenty rugged and the overall quality of the scope appears to be very high, as information technology should be for a $1200+ scope. The scope looks practiced and has some very prissy features, but nosotros yet needed to exam the scope to see how information technology performed operationally.
For our applied tests we mounted the telescopic to our Remington 700P test mule chambered in 308. We used a set of Nightforce Ultralite 30mm rings of "low" height on top of a Warne twenty MOA canted base. This setup mounted very easily and kept the bell of the scope about .25″ off of the butt. For our shooting tests the weather was virtually 33 degrees (F) after a light snow had fallen the night earlier. While this is not what nosotros consider cold, information technology is nevertheless cool enough to stiffen the controls on some scopes but the SHV remained just as piece of cake to accommodate settings as when in warmer climes.
If you are not familiar with how we do our testing, please accept a expect at our How We Exam folio. All field testing was done using Federal Gilded Medal Match 168gr which this burglarize routinely shoots sub .5 MOA with. After the initial zero nosotros ran the scope through a box exam using 2 MIL sides to our box. As we expected, the results were excellent with the corners precisely placed and the concluding rounds right dorsum on top of the originals showing very good repeatability.
Later the box test we tested the accuracy of the click sizes past firing an initial group and so dialed in vi MILs of left adjustment, fired the second group, and and so dialed 6 MILs of correct back in and fired a terminal round to check tracking and repeatability again. Once over again, the last round was right on pinnacle of the get-go group, and in fact, that total grouping even so measured under .5 MOA. The distance between the center of the two groups was 21.93″, or six.09 MILs. This equates to one.v% of mistake. Considering of the error that is introduced into the test due to grouping sizes and other factors when shooting a rifle, nosotros consider a result that is less than 3% error to be accurate for a long range tactical scope, the SHV passed with no problem.
The windage and elevation adjustments performed well on the scope and the eyes on the telescopic are dainty with a articulate bright moving picture and expert edge to edge sharpness and dissimilarity. It is very difficult to compare optical quality, but sitting information technology next to a Vortex Gen2 PST the optics are very like on the ii scopes and they are both loftier quality.
For the final operational tests nosotros used our optical boresighting device to place a grid mounted to the rifle in order to check for reticle drift when changing both the magnification every bit well as the adjustable objective controls on the scope. Testing the magnification yielded excellent results with the reticle not drifting or moving at all through the entire 4-14x zoom range. When we tested the adjustable objective we did notice some reticle movement when nosotros adapted the focus from 25 – 100 yards, but then it became solid when going from 100 to infinity. We accept seen this behavior in other scopes and while it raises some eyebrows, it really is merely moderate concern as nigh of the movement happened on the very shut in distances. We wonder if the manufacturers perhaps set the depression end focus at 50 yards instead of 25 if it would assist in these regards. Overall though, for the intended purpose of the scope, the operation was solid at the ranges information technology will be used at on a tactical rifle.
Evaluating the scope as a whole, it performs well and it is a prissy culling offering from Nightforce to complement their other very respected high end scopes. The scope performs very well and has some desirable features including a zero stop, even if they phone call it a Nix Set. There were no surprises with its performance and the clicks are especially nice. The capped current of air knob offers a flake of uniqueness versus some other scopes, and it is bachelor with, or without, the illumination. The magnification range of 4-14x is but a 3.5x range which is distinctively less than some other competitors that offer a 4 or 5x zoom range. The scope is solid, offers the right features, but is priced at the tiptop of the range for other scopes of like quality and that take the same or even more than features. It is certainly a skilful offering and y'all know that you can trust that Nightforce will stand up behind their product, but it is grouped in a very tight field of competitors. Even with that said, we take no reason non to requite it the SC Endorsed tag as we know nosotros can trust it when in demand.
Sniper Primal
Source: https://www.snipercentral.com/nightforce-shv-4-14x50mm-f1-full-review/