I pulled the trigger and ordered a fierce mountain reaper in the 7mm prc. Now trying to decide what scope to put on. The local Gun shop that I ordered it through has Huskemaw that I was able to look through. Does anybody have or have used nightforce or zeiss? Opinions?
I owned Zeiss, Swarovski and Leuopold. I keep going back to Leuopold - features per dollar. Congrats on the new boom stick!
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If price does not matter go with a Swarovski! I high dollar gun deserves high dollar glass!! But, I digress… the high end Nightforce, Zeiss and Leupold all have very good glass. (Swaro 3X18X50 z6 would be my pick)
I have a few models of Nightforce ATACR , NXS, SHV. They are all excellent scopes. The only experience I have with Zeiss is while I was on a whitetail hunt in Montana I had a new Leupold VX6 and another guy had a Zeiss not sure which model now but I do remember he paid a lot more for his then I did. We had both shot our deer and had the two rifles set up on tripods in the lodge. There was a large window that you could look out for miles into the crazy mountain range. It was lunch time and most of the guys had come in for lunch. It became a scope comparison very quickly. It surprised me but everyone in the room chose the leupold as better then the Zeiss except the guy that owned the Zeiss. Lol. My Nightforce are awesome! But not as good as my VX6. I have no experience at all with the Huskemaw but I would love to try one out.
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I have a mountain reaper in 300 prc and I love it. Don’t think you will be disappointed. I love mine! That being said I went back and forth between zies v4 6-26 and nv8 4-20. I went with zies because I was able to get it on ExpertVoice with military discount quicker night military discount had 90 day wait. I like the ziess a lot the locking adjustable windage turret is nice. Plus it was a better price but I still kinda want ffp. The zies is very clear glass and well built only grip I have is that the at full zoom eye box is a little finicky. However once I adjusted the cheek pierce right it was no longer an issue. If you want ffp go nightforce. If 2nd focal plane go with ziess it is lighter, less expensive, and very good glass
I have a vx-6, vx5, vx3 all newer hds and they are super nice. I recently bought ziess v4 and it is also very nice, I like reticle in zies better, and the turrets better on the zies. Another plus for zies is adjusting zero stop is easier. The leupolds however especially the vx-6 have better eye box less finicky, locking elevation turret, push button illumination, and the lighter. Both have very clear glass, I do feel that I have to re-zero the leupolds more often. Where the zies it seems to hold the zero better. Ultimately still a Leupold guy.
I love the FFP scopes but they have become nearly useless to me since I have lost my near vision. Can’t hardly see the reticle on low powers. I’m a scope nut so I’m sure I will by a Zeiss sooner or later. Have a bunch more guns that don’t have scopes on them yet so I’m slowly fixing that. Found a Zeiss on line right now I’m thinking about for 799. Might just pull the trigger on that one.
One thing I really liked about the Huskemaw is they have the scope level right below the reticle inside the scope itself
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Never tried a Huskemaw. I’ve looked through some Zeiss and I’ve used Nightforce before. Between the three I’d lean Nightforce on account of build quality. All three have very good to excellent glass I assume so when talking build I think that may be a determining factor assuming the weight isn’t an issue. They are probably the most reliable optics on this side of a Schmidt & Bender. I currently own a couple of Swaros, a Leica, some Aimpoints, a U.S. Optics, and I’m probably forgetting some stuff.
I’ve owned Leupold in the past (about 20 years ago now) and will never buy another (terrible CS experience) that ultimately was resolved through the gun store. I know they probably have better management now and much better customer service from what I read than the experience I had. I’m happy to read that but once I’m done with a company then I’m done… I’ve also not bought a Pizza Hut pizza since 1996 so I’m clearly not above holding a professional grudge.
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Lol. Now that’s funny. They must have really ticked you off. C/S is usually their thing.
They did and that’s why I prefaced it with the time period. They seem to have their stuff together these days and I’m happy for them. I wish them no I’ll will and I concede that the products seem to be of better all around quality now. I think the approach that the person I talked to seemed to make it seem like the defect was my fault was really what irritated me. I understand that everyone can have the occasional defect slip through but how a company handles it means a lot. That being said the best warranty isn’t worth anything if the product is junk or I have to go through the hassle and time of going through a number of them to get a “good copy” but that’s another issue.
If you have no reservations I’d make a checklist and then go with the one that fits the bill best. If it happens to be less expensive then that’s a bonus. Rarely have I ever been satisfied with not getting what I really have my mind set on though and I suspect that’s true for many. Occasionally you’ll get an unexpected find but those feel like the exception rather than the norm more often than not. I’ve rarely been disappointed with premium products from German or Japanese optics companies and American civilian products that are actually designed for military use (and also that win contracts) usually are of excellent quality as well in my use cases.
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Congratulations on your new rifle!
It would be great to get your impressions on it later.
What did you buy it for.
Hunting or PRS shooting?
For hunting I choose the Leica Amplus 6 in 2.5-15x56. The Glass is second to none.
The illuminated dot is so precise.
The edge to edge clarity is excellent
It tracks perfectly. eye relief is great.
The turrets are smooth and just the right amount of tension. And it is very rugged.
And different reticles available.
So can be used for PRS
And you would have to spend $500 to $1500 more to get the same quality.
I put one on my 42 Year old Remington model 700 in 7mm mag last year.
I am hitting Steel at 400 750 1000 and 1100 yards
From a bench.
The illuminated dot is a game changer for me.
As you can loose your cross hairs in an animals hide. I took a 170 class Whitetail at 94 yards and a Mule Doe at 250 last fall I put the Dot on where I wanted to hit and that’s exactly where the bullet went.
I really looked at the Swarovski it is a fine scope
But I couldn’t see paying $1400 CAD more for the same quality.
It is about the same weight as the Night Force
But heavier than the Swarovski and Zeiss.
I am happy with my decision on the Leica!
Before you buy try to find a dealer that lets you take them out side to compare them.
I was lucky that I found two guy let me do that.
Congrats again on your new rifle
Good luck with picking your scope.
Cheers.
@LZ56 I got it mainly for hunting. Ill try to remember to do a post of it once I get the rifle setup and some rounds downrange, it’ll be a bit yet, lead-time was 8-10 weeks when local gun store put the order in for it couple weeks ago. Thanks for the input on the Leica I might have to find somewhere local that has those and check them out too.
If you are looking for an excellent scope for less money, you might check out Arken. I have the EPL4. I bought it for my Ruger 10/22 just as a plinking scope and it is so fricking good I am moving it up to my better riffles and have already put and order in for another one. It was half the price of my of my best scope and way way better.
When you do a side X side comparison you can make educated choice.
Good luck
I had 3 of their, Arken, scopes to begin with, 5-25, 6-24, and 1-8. Picked up all three on sale at 25% off. Then for black Friday (before raising prices this week) I picked up a second 1-8 again 25% off. Then this weekend they introduced their first Thermal/IR 5-25 with 25% off still in effect. So I picked up one (but it is back ordered for up to 8 weeks) with tax and shipping came out to around $650 half the price of an ATN 5-25 LRF. The company rep assured me that all of their scopes are rated to handle 50BMG and can withstand recoil from SCAR17. But I am going to tell you, I did not pay MSRP on any of them. I look for sales and also have built a good working relationship with one of the sales rep at Eurooptic who is able to shave off an additional 5% of the sale price as well. Right now during the holidays everybody is running sales and specials. it is the right time to get something of a high end at discount prices. look on Opticsplanet/Dvor, or Eurooptic/Scopelist.
I would say try Scopelist because you can make an offer and see if they will accept it or at least meet you halfway.
What did you end up getting since you didn’t update us?
Actually haven’t pulled the trigger on a scope yet just about to be laid off for the winter so I’ll probably wait until we start back up in the spring but really leaning towards a Huskemaw.
I currently run a Nightforce NX8 4-30 and an NXS 2.5-10. I’ve had a couple of Zeiss scope in the past and like them. The Nightforce are on the heavier side but they’re also extremely durable. NF go the extra mile when building their scopes by doing things like bedding the objective lens with epoxy. The scope generally cost a bit more but they generally take a hit tend to stay zeroed… which is more than can be said for many of scope on the market.
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I’m stoked for your rifle purchase! I just picked up my Fierce Mtn Reaper in 7mm PRC about six months ago and it shoots like a dream. I put a Nightforce NX-8 and a Silencerco Onega 36M on it and couldn’t happier. The build quality of the NF is second to none.
Let us know what you decide on. Also, would love to see a picture when you get it put together.
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I’m about 99% sure the NX8 is what I’m gonna go with. What ammo are you shooting? Hornady or Federal?
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