Just bought my first high-end scope last week. Yes, I was a little concerned about dropping $1350 worth of postal money orders in the mail, having never held one in my hand and looked through it, played with it and crank the knobs.
So, I called a trusted source of high end shooting products, and he said that he has used and abused all the major brands of scopes, and that for the price, there is not a scope on the market he would trust to put on his rifles for shooting animals at 1500 yards. So, mind made up and postal money orders in the mail, I waited.
The scope arrived exactly as the seller said it would (Snaglytooth here on the Hide. Thanks Eric!).
First impression. Stout and rather heavy. Knobs have a positive feel (both physical knob and cranking them). Positive clicks, not easily turned, not hard, but will not turn on accident.
Of the things I did notice, I noticed that the scope tube is two-piece. I found this weird since most companies brag about one-piece tube. Maybe an expert can chime in.
Magnification is very nice and smooth. Through out the range of magnification, image is crisp and clear. While sitting at my favorite restaurant (Wendy's) I could CLEARLY read street signs at 1000+ yards. We are talking a 6" tall letters at over a thousand yards. This, my friends, is where it is at. I have NEVER had optics this clear.
Reticle is SFP and fine. I hate reticles that you have to crank to 30x just to see your 1/4" target at 100 yards. I was also concerned initially about the illuminated reticle. Pulled the knob to see it light up and NOTHING! Read the manual. It appears that NF sets the rheastat to show illumination while it is quite a bit darker than noon.
NP-R2 reticle is perfect. Fine lines, easily visible.
3.5-15 x 50 is perfect combination of "OH SHIT, deer at 50 yards!" and "Holy crap, 800 yards on a 5x5 mule deer is out there, but I can see his vitals zone clearly."
I do not have it mounted (awaiting rings and bases). I will post more next week.
I will say that the initial cost is a shocker. I was not going to spend more than $700 on optics for my rifle (Savage 111 LRH 300 WinMag), but after a ton of research and some calls, I decided I would give it a try. So far, I am more than impressed.
This is all coming from a novice in the long range shooting arena and is intended for those that are considering a new high end scope. I have owned many scopes (Sightron, Trijicon, Leupold to name a few), and this scope blows them all away.
(Side note: wanted to share the experience with a few co-workers and brought it in one night. Bastards decided to play a joke. So, they put my scope away and promptly dropped an aluminum hole punch on the floor. Needless to say, my heart dropped. Folks, I have NEVER dropped a scope before, let alone a $1500 optic, so I had NO idea what it would sound like.
They all had a good laugh, I about made two nice ladies widows by murderizing their husbands.
OGRE
So, I called a trusted source of high end shooting products, and he said that he has used and abused all the major brands of scopes, and that for the price, there is not a scope on the market he would trust to put on his rifles for shooting animals at 1500 yards. So, mind made up and postal money orders in the mail, I waited.
The scope arrived exactly as the seller said it would (Snaglytooth here on the Hide. Thanks Eric!).
First impression. Stout and rather heavy. Knobs have a positive feel (both physical knob and cranking them). Positive clicks, not easily turned, not hard, but will not turn on accident.
Of the things I did notice, I noticed that the scope tube is two-piece. I found this weird since most companies brag about one-piece tube. Maybe an expert can chime in.
Magnification is very nice and smooth. Through out the range of magnification, image is crisp and clear. While sitting at my favorite restaurant (Wendy's) I could CLEARLY read street signs at 1000+ yards. We are talking a 6" tall letters at over a thousand yards. This, my friends, is where it is at. I have NEVER had optics this clear.
Reticle is SFP and fine. I hate reticles that you have to crank to 30x just to see your 1/4" target at 100 yards. I was also concerned initially about the illuminated reticle. Pulled the knob to see it light up and NOTHING! Read the manual. It appears that NF sets the rheastat to show illumination while it is quite a bit darker than noon.
NP-R2 reticle is perfect. Fine lines, easily visible.
3.5-15 x 50 is perfect combination of "OH SHIT, deer at 50 yards!" and "Holy crap, 800 yards on a 5x5 mule deer is out there, but I can see his vitals zone clearly."
I do not have it mounted (awaiting rings and bases). I will post more next week.
I will say that the initial cost is a shocker. I was not going to spend more than $700 on optics for my rifle (Savage 111 LRH 300 WinMag), but after a ton of research and some calls, I decided I would give it a try. So far, I am more than impressed.
This is all coming from a novice in the long range shooting arena and is intended for those that are considering a new high end scope. I have owned many scopes (Sightron, Trijicon, Leupold to name a few), and this scope blows them all away.
(Side note: wanted to share the experience with a few co-workers and brought it in one night. Bastards decided to play a joke. So, they put my scope away and promptly dropped an aluminum hole punch on the floor. Needless to say, my heart dropped. Folks, I have NEVER dropped a scope before, let alone a $1500 optic, so I had NO idea what it would sound like.
They all had a good laugh, I about made two nice ladies widows by murderizing their husbands.
OGRE
