Some time back (within past year) I turned to this site for help in deciding on my first quality riflescope. I was leaning towards the NightForce 12-42x56 NXS and the responses varied between "What do you want such a powerful acope for?" and, "mirage will kill you", to, "If you can't see it, you can't hit it." Thankfully, I went with the latter view. The ole Mark 1 eyeballs are not getting any younger, and at 200 yd, I can't even see the 12" aiming dot without assistance. I ended up with the 8.5-32x56 because I wanted the zero-stop which does not come on the 42x NF.
This year, I started entering local 200yd prone F-T/R competitons. I am shooting a LaRue OBR 5.56 20" barrel with a Magpul PRS stock and Harris bipod. I am using a NightForce 8.5-32x56 NXS ZS scope (Mil-Mil) with a killflash (Our competitions start at 7:30 am almost directly into the sun). My loads are 77 gr SMK, Federal 205M primers, unfired Lake City brass (2011), and 26.3 gr VARGET (weigh each charge with an RCBS Chargemaster.) I used a Hornady OAL gauge to measure my chamber length. We have to shoot single shots anyway, so I am not loading to magazine length. I'm loading about .005 off of the lands, and using a Bob-Sled for my single shots. I have skimmed the necks of the brass to bring it Close to consistent neck thickness, normalized the primer pockets, removed the flash hole burr, reamed the inside neck and chamfered the outside neck. I coat my bullets with Boron Nitride from David Tubb. I am considering Meplat trimming and bullet pointing. I have been shooting a rifle for about 2 years, and reloading for about a year.
At 200yd prone, I shot a 600-36X in my fourth competition. (I didn't get too big of a head though, we had a guy there that shot 600-59X, but he was shooting .308 and off a BR rest) Unfortunately, I have finally gotten good enough to have my scores go the other way. The following month, I thought, I'll sort my brass and bullets and inprove my score. I kept all 60 brass cases within a 0.3 gr spread, and my bullets within 0.1 gr. Everything else was the same (except for a little more gusting). Well, that wind kicked my butt. I ended up with a 593-27X. Now I have finally gotten good enough to have to worry about wind at 200 yd. 0.5" of wind shift can make a big difference when you are attempting to put 60 bullets in a 1.75" circle at 200 yd.
Bottom line, I wouldn't even be discussing this without the 8.5-32x56 NightForce NXS scope. Two thumbs up.
This year, I started entering local 200yd prone F-T/R competitons. I am shooting a LaRue OBR 5.56 20" barrel with a Magpul PRS stock and Harris bipod. I am using a NightForce 8.5-32x56 NXS ZS scope (Mil-Mil) with a killflash (Our competitions start at 7:30 am almost directly into the sun). My loads are 77 gr SMK, Federal 205M primers, unfired Lake City brass (2011), and 26.3 gr VARGET (weigh each charge with an RCBS Chargemaster.) I used a Hornady OAL gauge to measure my chamber length. We have to shoot single shots anyway, so I am not loading to magazine length. I'm loading about .005 off of the lands, and using a Bob-Sled for my single shots. I have skimmed the necks of the brass to bring it Close to consistent neck thickness, normalized the primer pockets, removed the flash hole burr, reamed the inside neck and chamfered the outside neck. I coat my bullets with Boron Nitride from David Tubb. I am considering Meplat trimming and bullet pointing. I have been shooting a rifle for about 2 years, and reloading for about a year.
At 200yd prone, I shot a 600-36X in my fourth competition. (I didn't get too big of a head though, we had a guy there that shot 600-59X, but he was shooting .308 and off a BR rest) Unfortunately, I have finally gotten good enough to have my scores go the other way. The following month, I thought, I'll sort my brass and bullets and inprove my score. I kept all 60 brass cases within a 0.3 gr spread, and my bullets within 0.1 gr. Everything else was the same (except for a little more gusting). Well, that wind kicked my butt. I ended up with a 593-27X. Now I have finally gotten good enough to have to worry about wind at 200 yd. 0.5" of wind shift can make a big difference when you are attempting to put 60 bullets in a 1.75" circle at 200 yd.
Bottom line, I wouldn't even be discussing this without the 8.5-32x56 NightForce NXS scope. Two thumbs up.
