• NightForce SHV 4-14x50mm F1 Rifle Scope Review

    One interesting thing I found was that the SHV seems to have a lower level of color saturation than most - and I like it. What I mean by that is that the SHV's image isn't overly bright and no one color really stands out from the rest in the field of view. For example, I've found that most Burris scopes seem to over saturate the red and yellow hues, while some Bushnell's seem to over saturate on the blue hues. For the most part this is a direct result of lens coatings, and often times the over saturation is done on purpose to make the optic appear to be brighter than it actually is. The SHV offers a nice even spectrum across the board that's plenty bright without any single color range standing out over another. The difference is quite striking - in a good way - when compared side-by-side with other scopes.

    Functionally I found the NightForce SHV to be very intuitive and easy to use. All of the knobs and adjustment rings have pronounced texturing for positive grip without being overly harsh or sharp to the touch. The turrets provide a solid detent between each click while offering a present, but slightly muted audible click (nice for hunters). The travel of the magnification ring and side-focus ring aren’t overly stiff or loose feeling and have no noticeable slop to them. Likewise, the clicks and detents on the illumination dial mimic those of the turrets. Overall it’s a very well built and sturdy unit with no noticeable shortcomings as far as build quality and materials go.

    Final Thoughts:

    Overall I’ve been very impressed with the NightForce SHV thus far. As my first experience owning a NightForce I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I have looked through and shot with a few NSX and Benchrest models in recent years to have a general idea of what to expect from their higher priced lines. As such I can confidently say that the lenses used in the SHV scopes are on par with what you’ll find in the pricier models from NightForce.

    Using this setup for most of my groundhog hunting this year I was able to get well acquainted with it, and in doing so there are a few things I’ve come to love about it and two things that I don’t much care for that I’ll share here.

    The first issue I found with the SHV has to do with the side-focus parallax adjustment and the fact that – at least on this example – the markings aren’t even close. In most instances, when adjusted for no parallax I would find the marking I was at on the side-focus dial was well below half the value of the actual yardage I was shooting at. For example, when shooting 200 yards at my local range I would be parallax free somewhere between the 50 and 60 yard markings on the ring. At 100 yards I found that parallax was absent when set between the 30 and 40 yard marks on the ring. I’m not the only one who came to this same conclusion as I had three very experienced long-range shooters take a gander through it without telling them my findings and all three of them came back with similar findings. Maybe mine’s out of adjustment and needs a tune-up, or maybe that’s just how they are.

    The second thing that I don’t care for is the reticle size at 4x. On the SHV F1 the reticle is tiny at 4x, but when the magnification is increased to 14x the reticle perfectly fits the view. Other first focal plane scopes (my Viper PST for example) have the reticle sized so it’s larger and more usable at the lowest magnification which is good, but the downside is that when zoomed to maximum magnification the reticle becomes too large for the view and thus some of it is lost. I can see the merits of both options to the end user, but as someone who’s primarily a hunter I would prefer the reticle to be larger and more useful at the lower power and give up a few windage and elevation sub tensions on the high end. It’s really a catch 22 situation for the manufacturer with FFP reticles, and I recognize that, but surely NightForce could have found a happier medium.

    With those two things out of the way, let’s get to what I really liked about the NightForce SHV F1…

    First, I really like the integrated illumination and side-focus turret. NightForce wasn’t the first to do this, but I really think their design is far better than the Leupold push-button design, and unlike the Vortex Razor HD Gen II there’s no need to pull the dial out to see what setting you’re on. Simpler is always better.

    The second thing I like that NightForce did with the SHV is having a cap for the windage turret. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve pulled my rifle from a soft case only to find that my windage turret had been turned when inserting or removing the gun from the case. One can always pull the cap and put it in their pocket or range bag if they wish, but you can’t put a cap on if/when you want to if none was ever provided. This is a feature I really wish more manufacturers would offer.

    Third on my list is the ZeroStop feature. Most major manufacturers now offer some type of zero stop feature on their premium and tactical lines, and they all work as intended, but it’s the simplicity of NightForce’s ZeroStop that I really like.

    Last but not least is the MOAR reticle. I know, I listed the reticle size as one of my negatives, but I really like the reticle design as it’s not overly busy and cluttered like some other reticles. I also like that the illumination only lights up the center dot and not the entire reticle like on my Viper PST. Again, it’s just a personal preference of mine.


    Additional Photos:


    The NightForce SHV F1 was mounted to the authors rifle using an American Defense Manufacturing Recon 30 STD cantilever mount. The Recon 30 STD mount offers plenty of clearance for the SHV F1's 50mm objective The reticle illumination dial is neatly combined with the side-focus knob assembly on the SHV
    Looking at the 200 yard berm through the SHV F1 at 14x magnification Looking at the 200 yard berm through the SHV F1 at 14x magnification Reticle size at 4x magnification

    Closer view of the illumination/side-focus dial the SHV F1's windage turret with the cap removed.