I worry about it fitting on my long action. The Razor LH 2-10 barely fits.
New scope for a western hunt?
- Thread starter jaybr
- Start date
SWFA 6x MQ or an Athlon Helos 2-12. Those are pretty much all I use now, and I live and hunt out west.
As someone mentioned, elk are huge.
As someone mentioned, elk are huge.
My March DFP 1.5-15x42 in Mil came in a week ago so here's some comments about it.
The IQ is better than I thought it would be based on the IQ in my March DFP 1-10x28. 15x is fine yet a little out of focus at the edges of the FOV periphery. Not great that this is the case but I knew that going in so I ignore it since I'm looking mostly centered where 85% of the FOV gives a nice clean image.
The daylight bright center dot is a step brighter than in my 1-10. This feature was near the top of my list of my requirements and the whole illume system works well. I used it on my plate racks, other various steels at distance, and that red CD was awesome to have for quick shooting, no matter the magnification, this depending on distances or the specific way I was using it. For me this is HUGELY useful and I love having it!
When shooting at our 70Y 1/5th scale silhouettes I found it easier using the red CD to hit them offhand than without the CD being lit.
Of course the rest of the scope is top notch. It's compact, fairly light, Shuriken turrets are wonderful, all controls luxurious, good reticle design, and DFP.
DFP is HUGE too! Man what a great MPVO problem solver this is, especially combining with the illume! I don't need holds for low magnification and there the SFP reticle is easy to see. If holds are desired just increase magnification where you want it to be to use the FFP hashes.
One bad thing though. It needs to go back for warranty because there is a problem with the FFP reticle sliding off to the left very slightly when changing magnification counterclockwise. When I move the magnification clockwise the reticle alignes correctly again so that's how it is for now but I'm enjoying the scope so much that I'll wait until the USA warranty department is live before I send it off.
All in all I'm glad I got it.
Edit, if I was hunting any game, no matter the size, this would be my #1 choice for a riflescope and that by far. I already DRT'd two ground squirrels shortly after receiving this scope and with the lit CD it made doing so easy. One head shot and one small window for a center chest shot, both offhand. There's a lot of "just right" in this scope, enough to over look any short commings!
The IQ is better than I thought it would be based on the IQ in my March DFP 1-10x28. 15x is fine yet a little out of focus at the edges of the FOV periphery. Not great that this is the case but I knew that going in so I ignore it since I'm looking mostly centered where 85% of the FOV gives a nice clean image.
The daylight bright center dot is a step brighter than in my 1-10. This feature was near the top of my list of my requirements and the whole illume system works well. I used it on my plate racks, other various steels at distance, and that red CD was awesome to have for quick shooting, no matter the magnification, this depending on distances or the specific way I was using it. For me this is HUGELY useful and I love having it!
When shooting at our 70Y 1/5th scale silhouettes I found it easier using the red CD to hit them offhand than without the CD being lit.
Of course the rest of the scope is top notch. It's compact, fairly light, Shuriken turrets are wonderful, all controls luxurious, good reticle design, and DFP.
DFP is HUGE too! Man what a great MPVO problem solver this is, especially combining with the illume! I don't need holds for low magnification and there the SFP reticle is easy to see. If holds are desired just increase magnification where you want it to be to use the FFP hashes.
One bad thing though. It needs to go back for warranty because there is a problem with the FFP reticle sliding off to the left very slightly when changing magnification counterclockwise. When I move the magnification clockwise the reticle alignes correctly again so that's how it is for now but I'm enjoying the scope so much that I'll wait until the USA warranty department is live before I send it off.
All in all I'm glad I got it.
Edit, if I was hunting any game, no matter the size, this would be my #1 choice for a riflescope and that by far. I already DRT'd two ground squirrels shortly after receiving this scope and with the lit CD it made doing so easy. One head shot and one small window for a center chest shot, both offhand. There's a lot of "just right" in this scope, enough to over look any short commings!
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Way more hunting opportunities are lost or bungled due to scopes being over powered than underpowered.
There is almost zero 400yd shots on deer or elk that can’t be made very comfortably with a quality 10-12x scope.
A 2-10 or 3-12 scope is great for 99% of actual hunting situations.
Make sure the reticle is very visible in any light.
Scope size and weight matter more than rifle weight.
There is almost zero 400yd shots on deer or elk that can’t be made very comfortably with a quality 10-12x scope.
A 2-10 or 3-12 scope is great for 99% of actual hunting situations.
Make sure the reticle is very visible in any light.
Scope size and weight matter more than rifle weight.
NF NXS 2.5-10 x40 is a Very underrated hunting scope. This would actually be my first choice for the OPs described uses.
The ATACR 4-16 x42 is a superb mid- long range hunting scope.
The ATACR 4-16 x42 is a superb mid- long range hunting scope.
Explain to me, not a sarcastic ask, I really don't understand, what the NF scope does that an Athlon Helos 2-12 doesn't do just as well in a hunting scope.
Not combat or survival, hunting. Like carrying a rifle and shooting big animals out to say, 700 yards.
Not combat or survival, hunting. Like carrying a rifle and shooting big animals out to say, 700 yards.
Able to handle the bumps and bruises that happen in the mountains. If you’re hunting out of stand all season, probably nothing.
Also it’s not made in china.
I hunted in the mountains when I was a kid with a Tasco world class and it handled the bumps and bruises of the mountains fine. It wasn't even the cheapest scope in elk camp most years. 
I am not trying to throw the 2.5-10NF down the drain or anything. But the Athlon 2-12 proabaly has better glass. And for the 1200+ there are alot ofnother options.
I am not trying to throw the 2.5-10NF down the drain or anything. But the Athlon 2-12 proabaly has better glass. And for the 1200+ there are alot ofnother options.
Cool, shoot your Athlon then. I personally wouldn’t put Athlon in the same durability/reliability class as NF.I hunted in the mountains when I was a kid with a Tasco world class and it handled the bumps and bruises of the mountains fine. It wasn't even the cheapest scope in elk camp most years.
I am not trying to throw the 2.5-10NF down the drain or anything. But the Athlon 2-12 proabaly has better glass. And for the 1200+ there are alot ofnother options.
Cool. Spend more on them than a better scope.
I dontnhave an Athlon. I did have the NF 2.5-10 though.
Sir, my initial post was simply “NXS 2.5-10” as a suggestion to the OP. I respect your opinion for Athlon, I have my own opinions. Why does it feel like you are trying to make this personal?
His point is sound to those of us observing this confab. It would be a travesty if a $2K NF was not tougher than a $600 Athlon. No shit. Kind of like saying a 1 ton diesel isn’t better than a gasser to tow heavy. Thing is, in the matrix of cost, vs glass, vs “toughness”, paying a huge premium for a scope that can be mistreated a bit and not break is, for many users, the equivalent of buying an F450 diesel, when an F250 gasser does the job well as long as the user pays attention.
I used to have the NXS 2.5-10x24 on my AR for years. Not a bad scope but not great either, worth the money to me, maybe at first, then the years went by. IQ not that good, no parallax adjustment, BDC, and other things that I wasn't enthused about. It didn't break so there's that.
I found the Bushnell LRHS 3-12 superior in a number of ways to that NXS. The Helos G2 even more so "overall" if compared but that Bushy won in IQ. The Ares BTR G3 2.5-15x50 more so than the Helos G2, darn impressive scope. Now that I have the March 1.5-15x42, in spite of some things not being perfect, even more so than that Ares G3. I'd buy the same March over again but I'm waiting to see what comes out in 2026.
Funny, well not that funny actually, that my March has something wrong with it and the others didn't but costing MUCH less???
Did have a NXS 5.5-22 that went weird, dialing elev but no change in impact point, "erector stuck??", so I dialed all the way up and all the way down 3-4 times and it worked again. It was on my 375CT at one point so maybe got beat up.....
When the ATACR 7-35 first came out a friend bought one and we compared it to my Cronus G2 4.5-29. Our opinion was the IQ was the same at 29x. Otherwise it would have been my next purchase but 3x the money so nope on that too.
I think it's 5 total NXS I've owned including a F1 3.5-15, which had IQ like my SWFA, and sorry but NF isn't that impressive for the $$$$.
Heck I'd pick my old SWFA 3-15 over that old NXS 2.5-10 and the IQ is medium at best. Only because of how inexpensive it is compared.
I haven't fiddled with any newer model NF but I hope they've at least improved the IQ.
I found the Bushnell LRHS 3-12 superior in a number of ways to that NXS. The Helos G2 even more so "overall" if compared but that Bushy won in IQ. The Ares BTR G3 2.5-15x50 more so than the Helos G2, darn impressive scope. Now that I have the March 1.5-15x42, in spite of some things not being perfect, even more so than that Ares G3. I'd buy the same March over again but I'm waiting to see what comes out in 2026.
Funny, well not that funny actually, that my March has something wrong with it and the others didn't but costing MUCH less???
Did have a NXS 5.5-22 that went weird, dialing elev but no change in impact point, "erector stuck??", so I dialed all the way up and all the way down 3-4 times and it worked again. It was on my 375CT at one point so maybe got beat up.....
When the ATACR 7-35 first came out a friend bought one and we compared it to my Cronus G2 4.5-29. Our opinion was the IQ was the same at 29x. Otherwise it would have been my next purchase but 3x the money so nope on that too.
I think it's 5 total NXS I've owned including a F1 3.5-15, which had IQ like my SWFA, and sorry but NF isn't that impressive for the $$$$.
Heck I'd pick my old SWFA 3-15 over that old NXS 2.5-10 and the IQ is medium at best. Only because of how inexpensive it is compared.
I haven't fiddled with any newer model NF but I hope they've at least improved the IQ.
I guess that’s where my experience and opinion differs, and that’s ok. I personally don’t see $1300-1500 as a “premium” when the purpose of that optic is to ensure a clean kill. Sure a lot of scopes of all prices have and will be used to take big game animals. But if given the option, 10/10 times I personally would go with one that has a well proven track record of durability.
I've got two 6X MQ and a 10X MQ from SWFA, Gen 1 scope with hundreds and thousands of centerfire hunting rounds fired and hundreds of miles hunting, and I can't break them under normal field conditions.
I dropped one on its knob from a 42" concrete shooting bench bench onto a concrete pad under an 12 lb rifle and bent the turret.
SWFA said "The turret bent? That never should have happened." They sent me a new one.
For the OP's purposes, the SWFA Gen2 3-15 is a lot of scope for a little cash.
And, I don't know of anyone who's broken an Arken EPL-4 6-24X50 FFP Illuminated VHR/VPR - Zero Stop - 30mm Tube which is on sale for $303 bucks on their website.
Spending more money isn't necessarily getting "more" scope.
I dropped one on its knob from a 42" concrete shooting bench bench onto a concrete pad under an 12 lb rifle and bent the turret.
SWFA said "The turret bent? That never should have happened." They sent me a new one.
For the OP's purposes, the SWFA Gen2 3-15 is a lot of scope for a little cash.
And, I don't know of anyone who's broken an Arken EPL-4 6-24X50 FFP Illuminated VHR/VPR - Zero Stop - 30mm Tube which is on sale for $303 bucks on their website.
Spending more money isn't necessarily getting "more" scope.
I sold a friend one of my SWFA 3-15's six months before what I'm about to say had happened. He had been shooting as I rounded the corner and he's giving me a miffed look. Another friend standing close to him says hey his turret came off in his hand and sure enough it had broke off! I said the scope was fine when I sold it to him and asked if the gun had fallen over. He said no and I didn't see any dents on that turret or the rest of the scope, just the normal small blemishes. Long story short he sent it back and they sent a new one to him.
We were both glad for a good warranty.
Brother you’ve had a NF and an SWFA go wonky on you? You might just be cursed
It does feel that way sometimes. Had a IOR go down during a match, and a March 5-42 that had poor IQ at 42x. Had a Bushnell 8-32 AO with lash go back, a Bushnell 6-18 quit, a USO 3.2-17 with just about the worst IQ that I've seen, a S&B 3-20 which had to be sent back twice, and I'm sure more I've forgotten about.Brother you’ve had a NF and an SWFA go wonky on you? You might just be cursed
The amount of money spent doesn't exactly correlate to if the scope is super duper or not.
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