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NF ATACR 5-25×56 for comp rifle

762 ULTRAMAGA

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 29, 2018
923
2,221
Idaho
I'm in the market for a dedicated match optic, PRS and NRL Hunter mainly.
The ATACR is at the top of my list, any other optic I should be considering in the $1500- $2200 category?
I can get the 5-25×56 mil C demo for $2200, just a tad more for a G3 Razor but I'm leary of their durability.
 
I'm in the market for a dedicated match optic, PRS and NRL Hunter mainly.
The ATACR is at the top of my list, any other optic I should be considering in the $1500- $2200 category?
I can get the 5-25×56 mil C demo for $2200, just a tad more for a G3 Razor but I'm leary of their durability.
Kahles K624i CCW RSW SKMR4 reticle... I have both of these scopes (my ATACR F1 is MIL-XT reticle), and they would both work good. But I would definitely go with the MIL-XT reticle in the NF over the MIL-C, if that's the direction you go.

The glass on the Kahles is better than the NF (Austrian SCHOTT vs. Japanese LOW), and the Kahles turrets are smoother. Contact @Euro.Connor and he might can get you into the same price range.


The black EuroOptic exclusive Razor Gen3 6-36x is a solid scope, too. I have one of these, as well. With the amazing warranty Vortex has, I wouldn't worry about it, they'll take care of you.
 
I’d save up a few more bucks (or buy used if you don’t have a mil/LE to use) and get the 7-35 MilXT. I started with the 525 MilXT and upgraded to the 735. But I’m running an AXSR w/ an UltraMount so weight isn’t a concern for me. If I had NRL Hunter on my yearly list, I’d go MK5 735 w/ the PR2 and rings to allow for a good weight buffer (depending on your setup).

Note: if you ever want to run a TriggerCam/ocular mounted camera, just go with another brand. I love me some NF and the rotating ocular never bothered me…until the wife got me a TriggerCam. Now it’s either get rid of a gift the waifu bought or change optics if I want up really put the TC to use.
 
Kahles K624i CCW RSW SKMR4 reticle... I have both of these scopes (my ATACR F1 is MIL-XT reticle), and they would both work good. But I would definitely go with the MIL-XT reticle in the NF over the MIL-C, if that's the direction you go.

The glass on the Kahles is better than the NF (Austrian SCHOTT vs. Japanese LOW), and the Kahles turrets are smoother. Contact @Euro.Connor and he might can get you into the same price range.


The black EuroOptic exclusive Razor Gen3 6-36x is a solid scope, too. I have one of these, as well. With the amazing warranty Vortex has, I wouldn't worry about it, they'll take care of you.
So the reason I bring up durability is I've had high end Leupolds and vortex that either failed to track or lost zero.
I was shooting a match a few weeks ago and a guy in my squad bumped his G3 Razor on an obstacle and the scope went tits up, I'm talking barely bumped the bell and it straight up sent rounds 15 feet off target.
He ditched it and finished the day with a backup rifle
 
I’d save up a few more bucks (or buy used if you don’t have a mil/LE to use) and get the 7-35 MilXT. I started with the 525 MilXT and upgraded to the 735. But I’m running an AXSR w/ an UltraMount so weight isn’t a concern for me. If I had NRL Hunter on my yearly list, I’d go MK5 735 w/ the PR2 and rings to allow for a good weight buffer (depending on your setup).

Note: if you ever want to run a TriggerCam/ocular mounted camera, just go with another brand. I love me some NF and the rotating ocular never bothered me…until the wife got me a TriggerCam. Now it’s either get rid of a gift the waifu bought or change optics if I want up really put the TC to use.
What do you like about the 7-35 over the 5-25?
I get the mil discount so it's an option as well, I'll make nrl weight by about 8 ounces with a 38 oz scope.
 
So the reason I bring up durability is I've had high end Leupolds and vortex that either failed to track or lost zero.
I was shooting a match a few weeks ago and a guy in my squad bumped his G3 Razor on an obstacle and the scope went tits up, I'm talking barely bumped the bell and it straight up sent rounds 15 feet off target.
He ditched it and finished the day with a backup rifle
Give the Kahles a go... They're very stout and durable scopes. Also, once you get used to the parallax being on the elevation turret, you really start to like the design. It really stays out of the way and makes the scope much slimmer in width.
 
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i did most of my shooting on 17.5x, but often turned it up to look at details. i was always glad i had the extra power if needed. i'm basically hunting with it though. when you shoot target, the extra magnification will come in handy.
 
I'm in the market for a dedicated match optic, PRS and NRL Hunter mainly.
The ATACR is at the top of my list, any other optic I should be considering in the $1500- $2200 category?
I can get the 5-25×56 mil C demo for $2200, just a tad more for a G3 Razor but I'm leary of their durability.

Feel free to PM me your number and I can discuss everything with you - Richard
 
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The reason to go with the 735 over the 525 is glass quality. While NF does not have the best glass, its noticeably better in the 735 than the 525.

The G3 razor is still a better optic overall compared to both and you won't have to sue Nightforce and sign an NDA to get your shit fixed if or when it breaks. Everything fails. Tangents, ZCO's, S&B's, Nightforces. How the company deals with it is what matters.

Leupold and Vortex dominate PRS followed by Tangent, NF and ZCO. If they were not durable, people would not run them. Stop looking at anecdotal experiences because you can do that for any product. Its more important to have a backup scope so you dont have down time when something breaks. Like any piece of gear, you want atleast 2 for anything critical.

Kahles glass is shittier than both and unless you buy the $3.8K DLR, have some of the worst CA of any premium optic. Virtually everyone I know who has run Kahles in the last 3-4 years , short of 2 dudes who are Sponsered by them, have moved on to something else. If you dont believe me, go look up Ilya's reviews. He calls out shitty Kahles glass in every review its featured in. That same dude pimpin Kahles was sucking Arken's dick a year ago. Im sure next year it will be something different. Whatever he owns is the best thing ever.
 
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The reason to go with the 735 over the 525 is glass quality. While NF does not have the best glass, its noticeably better in the 735 than the 525.

The G3 razor is still a better optic overall compared to both and you won't have to sue Nightforce and sign an NDA to get your shit fixed if or when it breaks. Everything fails. Tangents, ZCO's, S&B's, Nightforces. How the company deals with it is what matters.

Leupold and Vortex dominate PRS followed by Tangent, NF and ZCO. If they were not durable, people would not run them. Stop looking at anecdotal experiences because you can do that for any product. Its more important to have a backup scope so you dont have down time when something breaks. Like any piece of gear, you want atleast 2 for anything critical.

Kahles glass is shittier than both and unless you buy the $3.8K DLR, have some of the worst CA of any premium optic. Virtually everyone I know who has run Kahles in the last 3-4 years , short of 2 dudes who are Sponsered by them, have moved on to something else. If you dont believe me, go look up Ilya's reviews. He calls out shitty Kahles glass in every review its featured in. That same dude pimpin Kahles was sucking Arken's dick a year ago. Im sure next year it will be something different. Whatever he owns is the best thing ever.
Thanks for the input
I'm not digging into anecdotes though I'm sharing personal and first hand experience with leupold and vortex issues.

I had two AMGs that had parallax failures, unfortunately I'm seeing G3s go down at a rate that ain't acceptable either.

Recently I was shooting with a buddy and his Mk5 was tracking way off at 1100-1300 yards, mirrors my tracking problems with a vx6 and vx5.

I like good glass but if the optic has tracking or zero retention issues then it's useless.
Don't try to tell me all scopes fail at the same rate cuz that's 100% untrue.
 
I ran the 7-35x, loved it until I lost a few points on stages where the target was in deep shadow, just couldn't resolve the grayed-out target. I switched to the Leupold M5 7-35x for a bit but never fell in love with the windage marking and shallow depth of parallax, moved over to the G3 razor mid 2022 and haven't looked back.
 
Thanks for the input
I'm not digging into anecdotes though I'm sharing personal and first hand experience with leupold and vortex issues.

I had two AMGs that had parallax failures, unfortunately I'm seeing G3s go down at a rate that ain't acceptable either.

Recently I was shooting with a buddy and his Mk5 was tracking way off at 1100-1300 yards, mirrors my tracking problems with a vx6 and vx5.

I like good glass but if the optic has tracking or zero retention issues then it's useless.
Don't try to tell me all scopes fail at the same rate cuz that's 100% untrue.
I hear WHAT you are saying, but I don't think that is the right premise.

The MK5 is the winningest optic in the PRS the last couple years. Does that mean its the best scope out there? NO. It means Leopold sponsors a large number of the best shooters. If it wasnt a solid scope that tracked, no one would run it. Most competitors would not run a piece of gear they don't trust, even if its free. Hard to win with a scope that doesn't track. It was also selected for the MK22 and is on virtually all non SOCOM sniper rifles.

The G3 is also very popular and is proven. There are a large number of them out there, like the MK5, so you will hear of more issues with them due to the numbers out there.

My buddies NF 735 parallax was fucked up at the Texas 2 day last month. It was stuck and would not move. He shot the match with a fixed parralax. Shit happens.

If you shoot enough you will see everything break or fail. Some things more than others but its actually pretty random. You will also see alot of people who THINK they have a bad scope, but its due to their incompetence. Things like not torquing action or screws, loose rails/lugs, poor reloading, poor shooting skills, bad ballistic data/input, ect.... I have seen where the scope is blamed and then a competent shooter looks at it and realizes its something else. I would bet about half or more of the scopes sent back for issues are actually not defective, and its user ignorance/error.

What you or I or most people see are like .001% of the optics in the wild. Our little sliver is not representative of overall durability and tracking of the optics market.

Your or me or anyone on this site does not know what rate scopes fail. We may think we have an idea, but the only ones who know are the manufactures and none of them are sharing that information. And even if they did, it would be bullshit.

So where does that leave us?

Pick an optic with the features you like AND one with a great warranty department/CS so WHEN something breaks or fails, it minimizes your down time. Anyone serious about competing or doing this for a living is going to have a backup gun/ backup scopes anyway, which is why they exist. There are companies out there that will take Months if not half a year to fix a broken scope. Then there are ones that will have a new scope at your door in less than a week.
 
Also keep in mind most MRAD leupold's track just a hair short of true MRAD. It's like .98% or very close. So that may have played a role in what you were seeing with your friends scope. But they are very consistent.
 
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What do you like about the 7-35 over the 5-25?
I get the mil discount so it's an option as well, I'll make nrl weight by about 8 ounces with a 38 oz scope.
I like the extra magnification being available when I want to look at something a bit closer. I shoot matches on 20x but it is nice on those small ass KYL targets to get in tight on it if I’m not moving positions.
 
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I'm just picked up a G3 Razor off the PX & started running it for PRS after running a 735 ATACR, but will continue to run the 735 ATACR for NRL Hunter

For PRS, the G3 Razor is an easy choice for me
1) EBR-7D is superior to the busier Mil-XT for field matches, although I still like the Mil-XT
2) NF has capped windage (NF beauty ring is dumb)
3) resetting G3R zero is so fast, NF ZeroStop outdated & too slow (esp. if you have to dial down)
4) G3R has better DOF
5) G3R parallax actually tracks yardage markings and NF is way off, so G3R can be set fairly accurately before getting on glass (NF requires you be familiar w/ markings if you want to do this)
6) no daytime bright illumination on NF, if you care
7) NF's rotating diopter, if you care

735 ATACR does have slightly better glass, but you really have to dial to max elevation, take it out to 1 mile to notice, or run them @ high magnification (G3R really sucks above 30x). None of that matters for PRS or NRL Hunter. Also, image quality is so close @ 20x it took me about 20mins to come to the conclusion that the ATACR edged out the G3R, but many commenters in the G3R thread circa 2022 that agree here. FOV @ 20x is comparable ~20.5mrad for ATACR, ~21.25mrad for G3R. Haven't had the G3R in heavy mirage or poor lighting conditions yet.

Take into account sample variance & I'm new to using the G3R on my gun
 
The reason to go with the 735 over the 525 is glass quality. While NF does not have the best glass, its noticeably better in the 735 than the 525.

The G3 razor is still a better optic overall compared to both and you won't have to sue Nightforce and sign an NDA to get your shit fixed if or when it breaks. Everything fails. Tangents, ZCO's, S&B's, Nightforces. How the company deals with it is what matters.

Leupold and Vortex dominate PRS followed by Tangent, NF and ZCO. If they were not durable, people would not run them. Stop looking at anecdotal experiences because you can do that for any product. Its more important to have a backup scope so you dont have down time when something breaks. Like any piece of gear, you want atleast 2 for anything critical.

Kahles glass is shittier than both and unless you buy the $3.8K DLR, have some of the worst CA of any premium optic. Virtually everyone I know who has run Kahles in the last 3-4 years , short of 2 dudes who are Sponsered by them, have moved on to something else. If you dont believe me, go look up Ilya's reviews. He calls out shitty Kahles glass in every review its featured in. That same dude pimpin Kahles was sucking Arken's dick a year ago. Im sure next year it will be something different. Whatever he owns is the best thing ever.
Says the bottom of the pack shooter who said for years that nothing was better than ZCO & TT until a couple months ago when he got a Razor G3, and now recommends Vortex in every scope thread… And no, I’m not going to accept your pedantic invitation to a shooting match, not because I’m afraid of losing, but because we’re all grown men, and the ego stroking is just sad at some point. Kevin B. still hasn’t learned this, which is why everyone except nut-swingers hate that douche. Same with Cortina. 🤣😂🤣
 
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Says the bottom of the pack shooter who said for years that nothing was better than ZCO & TT until a couple months ago when he got a Razor G3, and now recommends Vortex in every scope thread… And no, I’m not going to accept your pedantic invitation to a shooting match, not because I’m afraid of losing, but because we’re all grown men, and the ego stroking is just sad at some point. Kevin B. still hasn’t learned this, which is why everyone except nut-swingers hate that douche. Same with Cortina. 🤣😂🤣
Bottom of the pack? You need reading glasses homey. Easy to talk shit when you don't have the balls to compete. "You suck but im too much a pussy because you will kick the shit out of me and I will go home with my 2 inch banger between my legs". Show up or shut up.

Nothing is better than a ZCO or TT. Nothing has changed. G3 is just a much better value than both. Try and keep up.
 
Bottom of the pack? You need reading glasses homey. Easy to talk shit when you don't have the balls to compete. "You suck but im too much a pussy because you will kick the shit out of me and I will go home with my 2 inch banger between my legs". Show up or shut up.

Nothing is better than a ZCO or TT. Nothing has changed. G3 is just a much better value than both. Try and keep up.
Your childhood trauma and personal projection is showing…Might want to go talk to a therapist, before you decide to go all Chris Benoit someday. Although it is hilarious to watch you habitually chest-beat how “amazing” of a competitor you are, yet nobody outside of this internet forum even knows your name. I’m just giving recommendations, and it causes tards like you to go ballistic because it’s not what you like, or because some random fucktard on the interwebz said it was trash. The difference is, I’m not desperate or trying to be a somebody…You are, but still aren’t, and never will be if you haven’t made it by this age. 🤣👍🏼
 
Your childhood trauma and personal projection is showing…Might want to go talk to a therapist, before you decide to go all Chris Benoit someday. Although it is hilarious to watch you habitually chest-beat how “amazing” of a competitor you are, yet nobody outside of this internet forum even knows your name. I’m just giving recommendations, and it causes tards like you to go ballistic because it’s not what you like, or because some random fucktard on the interwebz said it was trash. The difference is, I’m not desperate or trying to be a somebody…You are, but still aren’t, and never will be if you haven’t made it by this age. 🤣👍🏼
The only one projecting is you. You sound real insecure. No where did I ever say I was an amazing shooter so if you want to make shit up, try much harder. Maybe compared to you, which is why you wont even come out and play.

Its the shitbags like you that talk shit but never back it up. Want to talk shit? Fine. Then go compete and back it up. Otherwise you look like a scared little bitch behind a keyboard. Throw your fucking nuts on the table or put them back in.

Everything I said in this thread about these optics is factual. Kahles is the worst of the "premium" optics, and has been proven in almost every test that measures optical qualities. They are not popular in PRS anymore because people who actually shoot a bunch of shit, like most people who compete, know they do not stack up. The fact you cannot refute this, just try and attack me personally shows you know I am right and you are just petty. I never said in this thread Kahles is trash. I said optically it is not very good compared to what it costs/premium optics. Thats like 3 things you just made up /lied about in one post.

This is why you can have intelligent debate on internet. People like you just scream like a child, do not address the actual subject matter / challenge a statement and then just make shit up / lie because you can't make an argument for shit. Its hard to debate with people who have an IQ below 100. Pathetic.
 
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The only one projecting is you. You sound real insecure. No where did I ever say I was an amazing shooter so if you want to make shit up, try much harder. Maybe compared to you, which is why you wont even come out and play.

Its the shitbags like you that talk shit but never back it up. Want to talk shit? Fine. Then go compete and back it up. Otherwise you look like a scared little bitch behind a keyboard. Throw your fucking nuts on the table or put them back in.

Everything I said in this thread about these optics is factual. Kahles is the worst of the "premium" optics, and has been proven in almost every test that measures optical qualities. They are not popular in PRS anymore because people who actually shoot a bunch of shit, like most people who compete, know they do not stack up. The fact you cannot refute this, just try and attack me personally shows you know I am right and you are just petty. I never said in this thread Kahles is trash. I said optically it is not very good compared to what it costs/premium optics. Thats like 3 things you just made up /lied about in one post.

This is why you can have intelligent debate on internet. People like you just scream like a child, do not address the actual subject matter / challenge a statement and then just make shit up / lie because you can't make an argument for shit. Its hard to debate with people who have an IQ below 100. Pathetic.
Don’t start playing the victim now that you’ve chosen to mock people, call them full of shit, tell other forum members they don’t know what they’re talking about, and then act like you are always right. You can’t be both a victim and the aggressor… I never even mentioned you, yet, you feel it necessary to discredit me and my opinion in every thread you see me post in. So, tell me again, who’s the sad little bitch that loves being snarky and lets people live rent-free in their head? Yeah, that would be you…And several other little whiney cunts on here that have grossly overinflated egos and exponentially assumed their importance both here, and in real life. Have a great day Dissertations of Diarrhea. I was agreeing with you a lot lately, but then you decided to randomly be a cunt today. 😂

Sorry for the sidetrack OP. Maybe it’s not too late for your thread to get back on track. When the word Kahles gets mentioned, the crybabies always get butthurt and emotional and start ranting about how they’re “garbage”… 🙄
 
I’ve owned many NF. NXS, Comp and every model ATACR except the 5-25. The 5-25 I’ve looked through and those who have run them have determined they’re the worst glass in the atacr family. Of the 4-16, 4-20 and 7-35 I’ve owned the 7-35 was the best. The 5-25 I looked through was on par with an older Sightron SIII I have sitting next to it. Which was good back in the day but lacks a bit now.

If you go NF the 7-35 can be picked up in the px for $2800. I personally love the mil XT reticle.

Personally I shy away from vortex due to the failure rate I experienced and a few others I’ve seen go down. That be PST, Razor and Golden Eagle models.

All scopes brands can and will experience issues but the failure rate of vortex I’ve had and seen are much higher than others like NF. I’ve been around a ton more NF optics than vortex and have seen less failures with NF. Only NF atacr I recall having issues was illumination. Which was handled without issue

I’ve been thinking of trying a Zeiss in the future and that may be worth looking into. But I haven’t even looked through one. The LRP S3 was one I was considering
 
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Don’t start playing the victim now that you’ve chosen to mock people, call them full of shit, tell other forum members they don’t know what they’re talking about, and then act like you are always right. You can’t be both a victim and the aggressor… I never even mentioned you, yet, you feel it necessary to discredit me and my opinion in every thread you see me post in. So, tell me again, who’s the sad little bitch that loves being snarky and lets people live rent-free in their head? Yeah, that would be you…And several other little whiney cunts on here that have grossly overinflated egos and exponentially assumed their importance both here, and in real life. Have a great day Dissertations of Diarrhea. I was agreeing with you a lot lately, but then you decided to randomly be a cunt today. 😂

Sorry for the sidetrack OP. Maybe it’s not too late for your thread to get back on track. When the word Kahles gets mentioned, the crybabies always get butthurt and emotional and start ranting about how they’re “garbage”… 🙄
1708638269618.jpeg
 
I hear WHAT you are saying, but I don't think that is the right premise.

The MK5 is the winningest optic in the PRS the last couple years. Does that mean its the best scope out there? NO. It means Leopold sponsors a large number of the best shooters. If it wasnt a solid scope that tracked, no one would run it. Most competitors would not run a piece of gear they don't trust, even if its free. Hard to win with a scope that doesn't track. It was also selected for the MK22 and is on virtually all non SOCOM sniper rifles.

The G3 is also very popular and is proven. There are a large number of them out there, like the MK5, so you will hear of more issues with them due to the numbers out there.

My buddies NF 735 parallax was fucked up at the Texas 2 day last month. It was stuck and would not move. He shot the match with a fixed parralax. Shit happens.

If you shoot enough you will see everything break or fail. Some things more than others but its actually pretty random. You will also see alot of people who THINK they have a bad scope, but its due to their incompetence. Things like not torquing action or screws, loose rails/lugs, poor reloading, poor shooting skills, bad ballistic data/input, ect.... I have seen where the scope is blamed and then a competent shooter looks at it and realizes its something else. I would bet about half or more of the scopes sent back for issues are actually not defective, and its user ignorance/error.

What you or I or most people see are like .001% of the optics in the wild. Our little sliver is not representative of overall durability and tracking of the optics market.

Your or me or anyone on this site does not know what rate scopes fail. We may think we have an idea, but the only ones who know are the manufactures and none of them are sharing that information. And even if they did, it would be bullshit.

So where does that leave us?

Pick an optic with the features you like AND one with a great warranty department/CS so WHEN something breaks or fails, it minimizes your down time. Anyone serious about competing or doing this for a living is going to have a backup gun/ backup scopes anyway, which is why they exist. There are companies out there that will take Months if not half a year to fix a broken scope. Then there are ones that will have a new scope at your door in less than a week.
I'll agree with you 100% that Vortex is an awesome company to deal with.
It's the reason I just bought a pair of Fury 5000 AB binos
 
I'll agree with you 100% that Vortex is an awesome company to deal with.
It's the reason I just bought a pair of Fury 5000 AB binos
I’ve actually been considering getting a set eventually. They 100% have the best warranty in the business if needed
 
As to the atacr NF 5-25 being a dudd, are you referring to the f1 or the f2. The f2 is a different design and a few inches shorter than the f1 in 5-25.
 
As to the atacr NF 5-25 being a dudd, are you referring to the f1 or the f2. The f2 is a different design and a few inches shorter than the f1 in 5-25.
F1, glass is halfass, I'd say equal to todays 1500-2000 glass. Not near the $3500 they ask for them.
 
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As to the atacr NF 5-25 being a dudd, are you referring to the f1 or the f2. The f2 is a different design and a few inches shorter than the f1 in 5-25.
The ATACR F1 isn’t really a dud, IMO… The glass is still very clear, it’s just extremely neutral and not very bright. IQ is pretty decent actually. And I don’t notice any discernible CA. Internal FOV (tunneling effect) could be improved drastically, and that stupid rotating the entire ocular piece design needs to go the way of the dodo bird. But other than those couple of gripes, I’d say it’s a nice scope, just not $3,100 nice. I’d say $2,500 tops.
 
Has anyone been running an LRP S3 6-36?
Glass is good! Very bright, good contrast and detail, mine had no CA but my eyes usually aren't drawn to it even if it is present. I just found the reticle a bit too bulky, and moved it down the road. I do still have a 4-25 S3 on my rimX for all those mils!
 
Looks like a shit show, so I'll throw my 2cents in. I don't run much alpha glass, haven't been able to justify it. I've bought some good scopes just struggled with keeping them when it's way into diminishing returns. My eyes couldn't pick out that much difference between my S&B pm2 and 5-25 ATACR. So sold the S&B.

I run a couple Gen3 6-36 and a couple ATACR 's. The rifle I shoot the most wears a 5-25 ATACR. For me the ATACR is easier to get behind then the Gen3 6-36, but after reading through some responses it should be the other way around. I don't shill much. I buy things to try out and sell the stuff I don't like. Not much loyalty
 
Has anyone been running an LRP S3 6-36?
Yes, for about a a year now.
Glass is good! Very bright, good contrast and detail, mine had no CA but my eyes usually aren't drawn to it even if it is present. I just found the reticle a bit too bulky.
I agree with this assessment. Very good glass, very bright. No discernible CA in mine, either. And if the reticle was a little bit slimmer, it would be better, IMO.
 
Can I hijack this and ask a question, building a hunting rig/ and range use as well.
I have an ATACR 525 that I love , and for the hunting rig was considering the NX8 4x32-50 …. Wondering if I would be better off wi the an ATACR 4x20 … Less magnification obviously but better glass than the NX8.
This 7PRC will certainly spend some time at the 1000 yd range, and some hunting occasionally. Wanting to make sure rhe 20x is enough zoom for the 1k range
Let me help you hijack my thread...
F no on the NX8 4-32X50, I hated that scope.
 
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Can I hijack this and ask a question, building a hunting rig/ and range use as well.
I have an ATACR 525 that I love , and for the hunting rig was considering the NX8 4x32-50 …. Wondering if I would be better off wi the an ATACR 4x20 … Less magnification obviously but better glass than the NX8.
This 7PRC will certainly spend some time at the 1000 yd range, and some hunting occasionally. Wanting to make sure rhe 20x is enough zoom for the 1k range
A buddy of mine has the NX8 4-32x50 MIL-XT and it's a pretty nice scope for the price. I didn't find any flaws in it. Glass was pretty decent, too.

Obviously the ATACR F1 420 glass will be better, so if you can afford that route, I'd probably pick it over the NX8. And even more-so the ZCO 420. You can find a pretty good deal on a used ZCO 420 in the PX for about what the new ATACR F1 420 would be.
 
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Can I hijack this and ask a question, building a hunting rig/ and range use as well.
I have an ATACR 525 that I love , and for the hunting rig was considering the NX8 4x32-50 …. Wondering if I would be better off wi the an ATACR 4x20 … Less magnification obviously but better glass than the NX8.
This 7PRC will certainly spend some time at the 1000 yd range, and some hunting occasionally. Wanting to make sure rhe 20x is enough zoom for the 1k range
I used my 4-20 atacr exclusively for hunting. Crop damage mainly. Whitetail deer mostly 100-600 yards. Only doe so ID was important to me. Here’s what I learned with my venture from 4-16 atacr to 4-20 to 7-35

The 4-20 is a decent optic and depends what you want to do for long range hunting. There’s a big difference in optics when you run them during the daytime or approach “last light” shooting scenarios

When you have to play at an optics high end of magnification limits the image really starts to suffer. Depending on the glass will depend on how much. So assume you’ll give up some of that zoom in low light. So a 4-20 optic on 20 won’t look as good as say a 7-35 atacr on 20 power in the same setting.

If you’re taking long range shots in hunting scenarios then things like positive ID, positive ID of you’re target animal among others as they move and ability to spot hits/misses and follow up shots are more important. In low light an optic like a 7-35 atacr will be more useful on 20 then a 4-20 on 20 in low light.

I currently use or have used rifles for this hunting equipped with Burris E1 4.5-14, Burris XTRII 5-25/4-20/3-15, Sightron SIII 6-24/8-32, NF NXS, NF ATACR 4-16/4-20/7-35, ZCO 527. I now use the 7-35 atacr and ZCO 527.

This of course would depend what you’re hunting and what your rifle specs are. But I prefer scopes with more magnification than needed for ID and light gathering compared to their lower powered counterparts for what I do.

Creeping up on 40 kills between coyotes and deer from 600-1200 yards for reference. This is what I’m basing my experience above on

I didn’t think my 4-20 was much of an upgrade over my 4-16. The glass wasn’t next generation or anything like that. If I was going for a compact platform for a hunting rifle I would just get the 4-16X42 atacr or step to the 4-20 ZCO. I didn’t think the 4-20 atacr size was worth the optic quality upgrade.
 
Been playing with a atacr 5-25 the last few days, dof, resolution, and fov are all where it should be minus the bad tunneling on 5-6x. I also have a few NX8’s on hand and noticed the color difference is vastly different on the samples I have. The Atacr has a much warmer view while the NX8’s have a more vivid and overall brighter view.

The atacr is a bit bland, or flat, by comparison, it’s super sharp with great resolution, has a great dof but it has more of a flat low contrast image compared to the nx8’s. Less pop is the initial impression.

Had a few atacr’s last year and remember them being a bit of a warm view as well, I don’t know if this is just with certain samples or it’s the norm. I also don’t know if the nx8’s generally have the brighter more vivid view. Note, I’m only speaking to color and contrast part, not resolution, dof, ca,or fov.
 
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Been playing with a atacr 5-25 the last few days, dof, resolution, and fov are all where it should be minus the bad tunneling on 5-6x. I also have a few NX8’s on hand and noticed the color difference is vastly different on the samples I have. The Atacr has a much warmer view while the NX8’s have a more vivid and overall brighter view.

The atacr is a bit bland, or flat, by comparison, it’s super sharp with great resolution, has a great dof but it has more of a flat low contrast image compared to the nx8’s. Less pop is the initial impression.

Had a few atacr’s last year and remember them being a bit of a warm view as well, I don’t know if this is just with certain samples or it’s the norm. I also don’t know if the nx8’s generally have the brighter more vivid view. Note, I’m only speaking to color and contrast part, not resolution, dof, ca,or fov.
I’m curious; if you would, try both at the same time but during challenging conditions. Strong backlight, bad mirage, at different distances.

And re: tunneling. I haphazardly noticed tonight that my S&B 5-25 focuses closer when zooming out during its tunneling phase. Not sure why I never noticed it before. I know most (all?) scopes focus closer the further zoomed out one is, but during tunneling the zoom isn’t changing.

But on the 5-25, the focus changes nonetheless.

Maybe that’s one reason why scope manufacturers design scopes with tunneling…to get closer focus.
 
The 5-25 I’m currently playing with has great glass, its on par resolution wise with my V8 or even a 3.5-26 hensoldt I’ve been running, the fov and dof is also there, it’s mainly the color. It’s a warmer view, a lot warmer, with more of a flat image while also having less contrast the the lesser nx8.

It’s funny because the nx8 has the exact opposite as color goes. It has the the color palette that resembles more of a tt or v8. If the 5-25 had the color/contrast of the nx8 it’d be perfect. Again, I don’t know if this is indicative of the atacr line or just this particular sample. I’m 2 for 2 though, the last being a 4-16 atacr.

A few dog $h!t phones pics but enough to get the idea. Atacr on top, nx8 bottom.
 

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I finally got a chance to get outside and compare ab ATACR 5-25, a 7-35, and a G3 Razor.
It was a sunny cold day so it was perfect for observing how they did with mirage and

The Gen 3 and 7-35 ATACR were extremely close I couldn't detect any CA. After going back and forth for 15 minutes at various ranges to a mile on signs, vegetation, cars etc. I felt the atacr was slightly better and had a really nice eye box.

The 5-25 though was shockingly bad compared to the others.
It had a smaller FOV, shitty image quality all around with noticeable CA, and the eye box was pretty tight.
All scopes were compared at 15-20×
 
I finally got a chance to get outside and compare ab ATACR 5-25, a 7-35, and a G3 Razor.
It was a sunny cold day so it was perfect for observing how they did with mirage and

The Gen 3 and 7-35 ATACR were extremely close I couldn't detect any CA. After going back and forth for 15 minutes at various ranges to a mile on signs, vegetation, cars etc. I felt the atacr was slightly better and had a really nice eye box.

The 5-25 though was shockingly bad compared to the others.
It had a smaller FOV, shitty image quality all around with noticeable CA, and the eye box was pretty tight.
All scopes were compared at 15-20×
That's been my consensus as well. Atacr 7-35 is near alpha grade glass, gen3 is very good, especially for the money. Sample variance prob is a wash between them. I found the atacr 4-20 to have the same level of optical performance in color, clarity and resolution as the 7-35. However my 5-25 definitely lags behind. My 5-25 is 6 years old, and the two other NF models compared are recent production. I don't know if a new 5-25 has a better optics package in them or not?
 
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Finally got a chance to get outside and compare ab ATACR 5-25, a 7-35, and a G3 Razor.
It was a sunny cold day so it was perfect for observing how they did with mirage and
You left off a word or two there haha. But thanks for the comparo man!

So, assuming you mean later on in your write up that the 7-35 was better cutting through mirage, any sorts specifics?
 
The 5-25 I’m currently playing with has great glass, its on par resolution wise with my V8 or even a 3.5-26 hensoldt I’ve been running, the fov and dof is also there, it’s mainly the color. It’s a warmer view, a lot warmer, with more of a flat image while also having less contrast the the lesser nx8.

It’s funny because the nx8 has the exact opposite as color goes. It has the the color palette that resembles more of a tt or v8. If the 5-25 had the color/contrast of the nx8 it’d be perfect. Again, I don’t know if this is indicative of the atacr line or just this particular sample. I’m 2 for 2 though, the last being a 4-16 atacr.

A few dog $h!t phones pics but enough to get the idea. Atacr on top, nx8 bottom.
Wow, that’s pretty yellow. I would consider sending that in. Not sure what the visual symptoms of a scope losing argon/nitrogen, but that is weird looking. Almost like some vintage IG filter.

My NX8 4-32 is sharp, the sharpest scope I own. Haven’t hunted pdogs with it yet, so I don’t know how it handles summer mirage. Also don’t know if I’ll like its shallower DOF. My current scope, the Vortex 4.5-27, has pretty deep DOF.
 
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Yeah man it does look almost like some kind of filter, unfortunately that’s pretty close to exactly what it looks like. I will say this, it’s sharp as hell, it literally has extreme resolution on par with anything I have and that’s pretty extensive, it also has a great dof and the eyebox is pretty forgiving.

My only issue is the color and contrast, it just kind of kills the rest of the good attributes. Again, it’s the bland/flat yellowish view that’s more reminiscent of looking through a car window with a fine film of pollen or dust.

The nx8 by comparison torches it on color and contrast and is a noticeably and immediately brighter scope.
 
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You left off a word or two there haha. But thanks for the comparo man!

So, assuming you mean later on in your write up that the 7-35 was better cutting through mirage, any sorts specifics?
Haha oops
I've been out of town all week and wifey was dragging me away from my phone while I was posting...
The 7-35 did better in mirage than the Gen 3 on multiple objects to my eye.
All new scopes, I was shocked how much the 5-25 sucked to be totally honest.
My $800 trijicon Tenmile has better glass
 
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Seriously tempted to trade my 5-25 ATACR for a 7-35 after seeing this. Mostly out of curiosity to see how much better it is. Could probably upgrade for 5-700 ish. My ATACR is about 5 years old
 
Seriously tempted to trade my 5-25 ATACR for a 7-35 after seeing this. Mostly out of curiosity to see how much better it is. Could probably upgrade for 5-700 ish. My ATACR is about 5 years old
I'd try to compare a 7-35 to your scope to see if maybe the one I used was a fluke