Reply With QuoteI've got 4 Nikons mounted up now .I like em just fine.I'm having fun playing with the BDC reticle and Nikon's Spot On website.
Whats everyone's thoughts about the Mikon scopes..
At two cheaper scopes go bad this week. Like as no
adjustment on them..So I have been looking at the
Nikon 4 to 16 power.Figured this will be good for
out to possible 500 yards...Appreciate any remarks..
I've got 4 Nikons mounted up now .I like em just fine.I'm having fun playing with the BDC reticle and Nikon's Spot On website.
Get one of the side focus scopes. If you have any parallax issues it would be a killer at longer range. If you expect exposed turrets, then you need one of the M223 type scopes. Just check if the turrets are engraved in MOA.
About all i use on everything
Have a dozen at least mix of buckmasters and monarchs
Plenty of magnification for that distance. Looks like you will be almost doubling the distance that you do most of you shooting?
I also have 2 Nikons, one Buckmasters 6-18 (longer range), and Prostaff 4-12. Either work well to 500.
Last edited by JackinSD; 11-22-2012 at 10:53 AM.
I have 2 Monarchs and a Buckmaster. The Monarchs are a 3-12 and 4-16 and the Buckmaster is a 6-18. The glass on the 4-16 doesn't seem as good as the other 2. I prefer my Bushnell Elites to all of them. In fact I removed the 3-12 from my elk rifle and ordered an Elite 6500 to take its place. It presented me with a problem that you won't likely have but here it is: the parallax dial is huge and it interfered with ejection on my left-handed 7mm WSM X-bolt. It routinely cause the spent case to drop right back into the action and jam the rifle. For a hunting rifle that is unacceptable. It's a lefty problem though and not really the scope's fault.
I just got a Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44 in from Cameraland ($279 shipped with a plex reticule). I haven't had a chance to get it mounted, the rings and base won't get here until next week some time, but the glass appears to be better than the Monarchs and based on my other Viper scope that appearance will probably hold true. Additionally, the Vortex lifetime warranty is really tough to beat. The plex reticule model is special made for Cameraland and is otherwise discontinued. The same scope with a mil-dot or BDC reticule sells for $429. It does not come with an exposed turret, however you can order one from Kenton Industries for just over $100 calibrated to a specific load for ballistic compensation. For fixed distance shooting with sighters allowed, you really don't need exposed turrets, though.
Ace, My first post here. Great site, been a Savage rifle user for more then half my life! Lot's of excellent suggestion's here and definite criteria you need to consider before picking a scope. I have been shooting forever and can count one one hand the amount of times I have been to ranges where I can shoot 500 yards and I've never shot at an animal at that distance. Not that I wouldn't if all the stars were aligned and conditions favorable. I have been using Nikon's BDC scopes since they came out, long before I started doing any freelance work for Nikon. I had success, I turned other guys on tot hem, they had success, now that is all I use. Nikon has also come out with their Spot On Ballistic Program that allows you to enter the scope you are using, ammo and get the corresponding distances for your bDC circles. How accurate is it? I hand a bunch of friends have blown up 4 inch bottles of tannerite at 600 yards using stock rifles. Now over 1,000,000 fors are using this progrma so it must be doing something right. The BDC scopes can be found in all of Nikon's scopes series. I would pick the one that fits your budget and magnification needs. Defintely check out the Buckmaster in 4.5-14 BDC, that may be a great fit for you. Do I believe the BDC is for everyone, absolutely not, but I have seen a lot fo guys convery who were strictly mil shooters just because of how quickly you can get on target and make the shot with the BDC reticle. Quick and easy. Drop me a note if you have any questioon's.
Bart
Nikon Pro Staff
I'm not a fan of the Monarch scopes. I read all the positive reviews on them and went and looked at 4-16x to mount on my new 7mm-08 and was less than impressed for a scope in that price range. I ended up buying a Bushnell Elite 4-16 for $100 less after the $75 rebate they were offering last month. The last scope I purchased before that was a 3-9 Vortex Viper. I am very impressed with both the Bushnell and the Viper and would not hesitate to buy either one again. It could just be my eyes didn't like the Nikon glass for some reason, idk, but I would definitely look through a few different scopes side by side before shelling out that kind of money on the Monarch.
Jerkin, I understand and that is why I try to just give guy's the fact's on Nikon Scopes and then let their eye's be the deciding factor. Always best to look down a few tubes so that you know you are getting the scope that best fit's you. I do not sell Nikon Scopes, I just try to help guy's out when I come upon a question or if someone let's me know about someone having an issue with a product. Buying a scope is like buying a car, lots of different makes and feature's, finding the one that works for you is all about a test drive.
Bart
Nikon Pro Staff
main thing I have in mind is for it to be clear..I looking thru a sightron and I thought
it was foggy..May have been my eyes as well..Here where I live there are very,very
few places to go look at scopes.Most are small shops and only stock the lower end
if you know what I mean...
bman940: Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your thoughts and sharing your experiences and opinions. Thanks you also for your honesty in stating up front that you are working/have worked for Nikon. Your opinions are as valid as anyone else's opinions, but it helps that you are open and up front right away.
I have a 3-12x42 Monarch with a custom turret for 308 168gr match ammo. I have a 4-16x50 with a custom turret for 75gr HPBT ammo in my 223.
The first Nikon I had was the African 1-4x20 which I bought for my AR-15 but I found that my eyes needed more magnification than that. Also, that version does not have an illuminated reticle, so despite the low mag, it does not work as a night coyote scope either.
Personally, I have found my Nikons to be optically excellent (it will probably take someone with better eyesight to tell the difference) and also important, the turrets on all the scopes have worked reliably every time.
I wish Nikon would go to exposed turrets on all their scopes Monarch and above. It is a pain to keep track of the cover, every time you take it off to dail an evelation change. And with fast moving species, you basically have to keep them off.
Second peeve is the lack of reticle options. No FFP options that I am aware of and basically Nicoplex or BDC. Thats it. Something with more index points would be useful to help judge hold over/lead when there is no time to dial.
From here on out, I am working up a switch barrel system (2 of them) and the short action will be wearing the 4-16x50 PST FFP scope and the long action will be wearing a 6-24x50 PST FFP scope and I am no longer going to have a safe full of bolt guns. The rest of the space will be for the millsurp stuff.
i have a couple of leupolds, 4 vortex vipers 3 nikon prostaff, some bushnell elite 4200, and cheap old tasco they all work. i honestly say i just sent 1 of my prostaff scopes back to nikon for repair they sent me a brand new nikon 3x9x40 prostaff back, in a new box with papers! Thanks Nikon! i like the warranty, the glass is clear, and they stood behind their product!
Last edited by reloader; 11-25-2012 at 04:57 PM. Reason: spelling
I have two Nikon M-223 scopes with Nikon mounts for my .223 AR. I also have the Spot-On app for my iPhone. These all work great on the AR and I go from 3000 feet to 6000 feet altitude and the corrections for air density are right on. Good experience so far, but I've only had them for a few months and have used mainly the 2-8x. The other is a 1-4x. I put the 2-8x on my new Savage today and I had it sighted in in 3 rounds, even with a 20 moa correction for the rail on the bolt gun compared to the AR.
I've been very happy with the Nikon scopes.
Joe
T., Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. I am definitely not hear to try and convince anyone to buy Nikon, picking out the right scope is like picking out a vehicle, not evey make is right for every person/situation. If someone has a Nikon question I'll do my best to get correct answer's, if you want to hear about promotion's on Nikon product's, just let me know and I'll make you aware of them. You'll have to got your retailer to take advantage of them as I'm not in sales.
I've been a Savage fan for many years and am very pleased with Savage's latest offerings!
Thanks again for the welcoming comments. Happy to be here!
Originally Posted by thomae
Bart
Nikon Pro Staff
My Nikon Buckmaster just arrived today going to install it this weekend on the 308. Fantastic diffrence from the Tasco that now resides on my wife's 10/22.
Basic Member
As of now I would NEVER recommend a nikon product to anyone I care about. I have nothing but Nikon products but am in the process of swapping them all out. I am still "working" with the nikon service center to try and get my Binos all back together. It is going on 6 weeks of nothing but BS and stalling tactics. I love the glass for the price and if warranty service is not something you will take into consideration then go for it. But if you have to send something back for warranty service then I would say it is a coin flip on whether they take care of you or just jack you around. Just my personal experience.
Well fortunately for me, I guess, my Nikon scopes and binos have performed well to this point. The only warranty service I've needed on an optic was a Vortex Razor spotting scope that had a fleck of dirt on the prism. Sent it off and they turned it around in a day and got it back to me. Out of my hands for a total of 2 weeks. All but one day of that travel time.
Scopes. Well.....I happen to be in the mist of upgrading 'em this past year. I had the Buckmasters in I believe it was a 4.5-14X and it was a good scope. Clear and always held it's zero....but when I wanted to "upgrade" to a Ballistic Comp. Dial, I could not find where that could be done for the Nikon. I had a Leupold VX-I that I sent back to the Leupold Custom shop and for $120, they installed a set of "click" turrets, and the target turrets on it. For the cost....it's a much more user friendly scope now.
Then I decided to bite the bullet and go with a higher magnification scope for long range shooting. So I bought a Vortex Viper PST 6-24X 50mm and installed it on my Savage 6.5 Swede. Of course, it's a nice step up from my previous 12X and 14X top magnification scopes, and those 300 yard or 400 yard targets now seemed much easier to see and hit. But one morning when getting my stuff range ready, my rifle was bumped lightly. Too my surprise the scope was bumped off of it's zero. Now, this was not a heavy hit....not a light one, but one that...as a hunter...I would expect the scope to "survive" it's zero.
So, about a month ago I sprung once again for another higher magnification scope. This time a Leupold VX-3 with the Varmint reticle. I mounted this on my Savage .223 Carbine and I am getting 5 shot groups at 200 yards of under 1". I have not yet (hunting season....priorities!!) been out to shoot it at longer ranges yet. But I like the Leupold "more" as the glass is a bit clearer. So, a shootin buddy made me an offer on my Vortex and it will soon "turn into" a second VX-3.
So....by what you can afford, and buy the best you can afford. You won't be sorry you did.
Dave
I would be seriously inclined to believe that this was a mount problem, not a scope problem.
Had a Monarch 6.5x20 and the clarity wasn't so good, ended up taking it off and selling it.
ManI just ordered a Monarch 6-25-50, I hope i didn't screw up. Went to bass pro and looked at various Luepolds Nikons and Bushnells, the all within the same power range, looking at the same light across the store, the Nikon seemed clearest. Oh well wife just stopped biching at me about this purchase, I will have to wait and see on this one.
I have 3 of the buckmasters 6-18 with the bdc on my 22-250's I like them they are good scopes I can hit pdogs past 400yds with them. I will be upgrading soon but for the money they served me well
Sounds all good..So are these fine cross hair or dot,etc....
LOL...my first experience with Nikon was rather interesting. It was back when we did the two different comparison reviews for hunting and varmint scopes in 2004/5. Everything went fine up until I had to return the two Monarch scopes to Nikon at the conclusion of the review. Shipped them back to the NY address provided on the consignment invoice, but someone there thought it was a warranty return and forwarded it out to the warranty center in CA without even looking at the packing slip. About a month later I get a letter in the mail informing me that Nikon has turned me over to a collection agency for the amount of those two scopes, at which time the fun began. Called Nikon and got the run-around with about 10 people before they finally got me to the right person (some old gal in accounting). Gave her the UPS tracking number and the name of who signed for the package, then she had to call that person and the warranty center to confirm they had them, then it still took 3 months for the letters from the collection agency to stop. Needless to say I haven't tried to get a Nikon scope for review since.
That however has nothing to do with the quality of Nikon's optics, which I've never had a problem with. The lens coatings they used on those Monarch's seemed to flatten the image a little making it harder to tell if one item in the view is closer or farther away than another item in the view (i.e. is that bush closer or further away than that tree?) They also don't seem as bright in bright daylight (almost like they had a slight tint), but the low-light brightness has always been more than adequate for me. Just purchased a new M-223 2-8x32mm for my AR and so far from what I can tell it doesn't suffer from either of those conditions.
"Life' is tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid." ~ John Wayne
“Under certain circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” —Mark Twain
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