hey guys looking at a leupold mark 5 5-25 and a nightforce atacr 5-25. just wanted hear some thoughts on why to pick one over the other
Rifle Scopes NF ATACR vs Leupold mark 5
- Thread starter Jgrovem110
- Start date
I only have Leupold and S&B so I have no experience with NF. Why is it so much better
Well I’d like to stay around 1500 , I get the mil/LE price on both
Leupold has a great discount not sure what nightforce offers for a discount
I never used a MK5 but I own two ATACR F1s (5x25 & 4-16) and one NXS F1. ...so I might be biased but Nightforce gets my money because they are rock solid, track, great glass (ATACR), customer service team is amazing, and I can use it to beat someone to death if I’m out of ammo. The Mil-XT is awesome in my 5-25 and I’m glad I went with it. If you don’t like grid reticles, go with the Mil-C. NF gets my money.
If you want illumination on a MK5, that’sgoing to come with an insane markup, whereas it’s standard on the ATACR. Leupold reticle selection is eh (to me) and another factor.
A lot of reputable people speak highly of the MK5 but they do the same for NF. Both are used on mil contracts.
If you’re struggling on a budget, then go snag one used from the PX. If you’re Mil/LE, hit up NF and Leupold to get in on their special pricing if you want new.
If you want illumination on a MK5, that’sgoing to come with an insane markup, whereas it’s standard on the ATACR. Leupold reticle selection is eh (to me) and another factor.
A lot of reputable people speak highly of the MK5 but they do the same for NF. Both are used on mil contracts.
If you’re struggling on a budget, then go snag one used from the PX. If you’re Mil/LE, hit up NF and Leupold to get in on their special pricing if you want new.
You aren’t getting a 5-25 ATACR for 1500, so if that’s your budget, go MK5. The only ATACR F1 you’d get for around that is a used 4-16...which is an awesome scope too.
If I only had 1500, the only scope I would consider is gen 2 razor....punches way above that price point but I digress...
Pick your reticle first then go from there.
Pick your reticle first then go from there.
I emailed NF so I’m going to see what their discounted price is before I make my decision
If thats your budget, NF is not an option
Mk5 it is
I concur with everyone. MIL/LE will be out of your budget for NF. I think you'll enjoy the Mark5hd. Razor isn't a bad option either.
Hopefully you get a good one and it tracks lol
If it doesn’t it’s going back to Leupold haha
Anyone know what I would be spending on a atacr with the mil/LE discount
If you’re getting the T3, I guess it doesn’t matter if it tracks, right? You pay that insane licensing markup just so you don’t have to worry about dialing.
[Before everyone gets all pissy, I was joking around. Reticles are as subjective as women.
] That’s confidential and anyone who’s in the program has been directed to not share the pricing. Their MIL/LE program team is super responsive, just shoot em an email, provide your creds, and they’ll send you the price sheet. Orders can range from a week to 90 days. I think mine took a month or something. It also includes everything they sell, not just scopes.
I would not considering NF to be on a different planet than Leopold, Personally speaking, I would grade the Atacr slightly higher based on the glass possibly being a little better to my eye, better overall QC, as well as a better selection of recticles. With that being said, I think the the Mk5 is has a better eye box, is noticeably lighter, and is available without illumination making it significantly lower in price. Both are good optics and their fan base have adopted a ford vs chevy mentality for the most part
DLO gives a pretty good account of how the Mk5 holds it own against Alpha level optics such as TT and ZVO. Considering the Mil Price point of the Mk5, its a damn good optic
Very cool thanks for the info
You ain't getting a Mk5 on .mil discount for that either.
That’s confidential and anyone who’s in the program has been directed to not share the pricing. Their MIL/LE program team is super responsive, just shoot em an email, provide your creds, and they’ll send you the price sheet. Orders can range from a week to 90 days. I think mine took a month or something. It also includes everything they sell, not just scopes.
Yep, "this is the way," no loose lips. They really don't even want us talking about it on here.
I'm in the same boat and looking at others too. Leupold needs the big discount because of the big MSRP IMO, especially on the Mk8. I'd like to glass an MRAD and a Mk20 first, army went with Mk5HD 5-25x on the MRAD and army/navy a few NF/Mk6 variants on the Mk20. But I think I'd be better off with an ATACR in both cases, one of the bigger ones for the MRAD and one of the smaller ones for the Mk20. But I haven't ruled out Leupold entirely.
Still waiting to hear back from Steiner, not holding my breath on S&B and I haven't contacted a couple others I'm interested in yet. Heavily leaning ATACR though, I think it's a good option quality/price-wise for a new optic. I should mention USO does this too but my cup runneth over with USO's, one more and I'll be beyond fanboy status (look, $1500 ER25's with all bells and whistles are hard to pass up when you need to scope a .50BMG HTI rifle).
PX is a killer option too, I've bought a few on here actually and a few on Ebay too. Only ever had to send one back to mfg. to be unfucked. As long as they have a 100% lifetime warranty and it hasn't had the shit beat out of it you really can't go wrong.
OR you could quit being cheap and stop doing poor shit and just go get a few 3-27x compact Hensoldts and call it a day (I wish, right?).
yeah, Leupold and Vortex have the best programs available at the moment, and while i can totally acknowledge there are better optics out there, its really hard to justify and extra, 1000 to 3000 dollars to see that difference.
That’s how I feel too ^^ I’ve always had good luck with all my Leupold scopes
The only thing to watch out for in the Mark 5's is the tracking. During production they've had a couple bad batches go out and they seem hit or miss as far as tracking accuracy goes. At least a couple horror stories of guys on here who had theirs sent back in. Some came back fixed, others sent back with a note saying it's within spec.
Well if I’m not mistaken Leupold has pretty good warranty and should make it right if an issue were to occur
How do you guys go from the conversation saying that the mil pricing should not be disclosed, and that loose lips sinks ships... To 30 minutes later posting how close the prices are....
Stop putting prices on the internet about mil discounts before you fuck it up and manufacturers close the discounts.
They help you with the price as a thank you for service... Just do what they ask and keep the price to your self. How hard is it guys? It sucks to watch good discounts go away because they got tired off a few people running off at the mouth
If nothing else at least go to the mil / leo section on this site so that everybody can't read it unless they have done some verification they have a mil / leo background as well.
Rant over
Hope y'all edit your posts to remove the insinuation of pricing
Stop putting prices on the internet about mil discounts before you fuck it up and manufacturers close the discounts.
They help you with the price as a thank you for service... Just do what they ask and keep the price to your self. How hard is it guys? It sucks to watch good discounts go away because they got tired off a few people running off at the mouth
If nothing else at least go to the mil / leo section on this site so that everybody can't read it unless they have done some verification they have a mil / leo background as well.
Rant over
Hope y'all edit your posts to remove the insinuation of pricing
I understand what you saying about not saying anything if that’s the ethics of discount.
But not bring Mil or le I have no animosity to guys who get these deals or the companies that give them.
If these guys get great deals good for them.
But not bring Mil or le I have no animosity to guys who get these deals or the companies that give them.
If these guys get great deals good for them.
Having experience with both, NF would get my vote hands down if you can swing it. Personally, the NX8 would even get the nod over the mk5 IMO.
Ultimately - regardless of what you choose, the options you’ve selected to pick from create a nice scenario of you can’t go wrong.
Ultimately - regardless of what you choose, the options you’ve selected to pick from create a nice scenario of you can’t go wrong.
It's more to the effect of guys end up being a blue falcon without even intending to be
When manufacturers end up getting calls and complaints because some folks want the discount they didn't serve to get.. then they end up changing the veteran discounts to something more reselbling MAP pricing to avoid putting up with calls because a few folks can't keep their mouths shut
I don’t know anything about how Leupold does their discounts, as I don’t buy their optics (anymore). That said, the PX here has MK5’s go all the time at $1500. Used NF 4-16’s have gone as low as 1600 in the PX but most sit around the 1800-2000 price point. It’s worth the extra 100-500 in my opinion.
You should look at the Mil pricing of the Mark 5 PR2 Mil reticle. They had an unbelievable price on it Thanksgiving day. I was also looking at the same scopes but with the price of the MK 5 I jumped on it.
I own both and though I like the mk5 not even close in any aspect as nice as my atacr
Can you expand upon that? Between my experience with both optics as well DLO's observations, as well as lowlights scope comparison i feel that past a certain point your really splitting hairs.
If both optics were free I would take the NF, but at mil price vs mil price, I would take the mk5 all day.
I like the NF as well but can you expand on why you feel the nf is worth the premium?
please elaborate on that.
I will agree with you on the price point, but in my experience I feel the turrets are much better on the nightforce I have always loved the way the atacr turrets are designed, also the eye box is a touch better, the parallax, I would also give the edge to nightforce as well seems like I’m always messing with my luepold, the glass though is where my experience has been much better with a nightforce, the clarity and light conditions are much better with NF, I also feel the NF tracks a little better as well I have had a few occasions where I’ve dialed up and been hitting on a much different mark with my MK5 where as I am usually pretty close with my nightforce, now I will not claim to be the worlds best shooter by no means so some of that could have been human error, but it feel some is the scope as well as I have never had the issue running any of my nightforce scopes.
If I had one shot at 1k yards on a trophy bull elk and I had to pick between the two to give me the best chance of making the kill it would be the atacr every damn day haha that’s the simplest way I can put it.
speaking of leupolds what if i were to upgrade to a mark 8 is it really that much better than the mark 5? (assuming i decided to save up and spend more money)
Last edited:
I have the same questions what are you getting from the Mark 8 over the Mark5 HD?
yeah i cant really find and conclusive evidence as to why the mark 8 is such a "step up"
Never owned one but for that price you definitely need to be looking at an atacr ZCO S&B TT Minox or Steiner
I agree with some of your observations, such as the glass looking a little nicer and the a better parallax set up, but turrets are turrets, they are round, and you turn them, and they probably lock. Personally i think the mk5 is a little easier to get behind but in no way does the atacr feel like the NXS.
In regards to tracking, admittingly, leupold does not have the best QA/QC process, and one is more likely to find a potential issue in a Leupold, but that in the event an issue arises they have a good reputation of taking care of their customers. While NF does have a better QAQC process, NF optics do have issues from time to time, and will get taken care of as well. While I think they should obviously do a better job making sure there stuff is good to go before it ships, we have to remember shit happens and its really not uncommon for a 60 thousand dollar car to have multiple recalls in the first couple years of ownership
well said thanks
I agree with you the NXS is no ATACR, and I would even say that the NXS is probably not quite as good as the Mk5 but I have never had tracking issues to speak of from SHV to atacr others may have but I have not. As for Turrets this is a big deal for a lot of people atacr turrets are much cleaner clicks more precise IMHO.
I have to drive 14 miles of washboard hard-pack clay road to get out to our gun club, I average 60mph on clear days. That said, I have a NF NXS that’s been parked on a 110BA .338 LM for close to 10 years. I’ve put the rifle back together twice from all the screws and bolts backing out from hundreds of range road trips. The NXS has yet to fail.
I built a .300 PRC in an AICS chassis and was REALLY looking for something at a different point. Before taking out a second mortgage for another NF, I took my father in law’s Mark 5 for a run. Great glass, head to head with the $2.5K scope class, was super impressed. Went in to my local FFL and he snagged a .375 Cheytac complete with ATACR 5.5-25 and I was forced to compare.
Reasons I went with the NF again - Big chunky exposed turrets with crisp audible/tactile clicks, easy enough to feel through thick gloves - something the Leupold was missing. Digilum is standard on most offerings and the ZeroStop really is unbeatable once it’s set.
A Mark 5 with illumination moves you into another tax bracket and I was disappointed there I sn’t a dummy-proof return to zero option on a top-end scope.
I’m also a Marine combat vet, The Leupold has a refined finish, but I’m hard on gear and the ATACR is a monster. I never found anything except a box store discount for Leupold, but I pulled this right off NF’s website:
For Military, Government or Law Enforcement Sales
Nightforce Optics is proud to offer a direct sales program to Military, Government, and Law enforcement as well as an Individual discount program. The Individual discount program is restricted to the USA and for active military, veteran, retired, active LE, LE Retired , FFDO, and government first responders to include firefighters and EMS.
Got a little wordy, but I know my ATACR has a dozen years of washboard in it before I need to worry.
I agree with you from a bad ass not have to worry about it falling apart scope Nightforce in my opinion surpasses all scope brands they are dirty tough sons of a bitches. Is there better scopes out there sure, is there tougher scopes out there I doubt it haha!
For the price and circumstance I’d get the MK5. I’ve owned both. Resolution wise they’re pretty close. Contrast and especially CA are in the ATACR’s favor. The ATACR does have better turrets to me but that’s subjective. Fov and parallax are also in the ATACRs favor. Though fov for neither is special. Parallax for the ATACR is more set it and forget where as the leupold does require adjustment. For lowlight I’d lean MK5. Personally the mark 5 has been one of my absolute favorite low light optics I’ve ever used. Which is why the new PR2 reticle I’ll be reacquiring MK5s. I also hate the rotating eyepiece of the entire ATACR lineup. Both eye boxes leave a lot to be desired IMHO.
I have time behind both the NF and Mark 5. If it comes down to a budget, then go with the Mark 5. It won’t disappoint you or your needs in any way. If you want to spend more, then the NF, IMHO, then look at the ZCO, S&B, Kahles, Tangent Theta....
Last edited:
Similar threads
