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Rifle Scopes Nikon M-223 2-8X32 Range Report

RanchhandTCR

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 3, 2013
447
121
Williams, AZ
Hello fellow hide members, I want to write this review/ range report of the Nikon M-223 2-8X32 Riflescope with the 600 yard Bullet Drop Compensation Scope. I know this is not a night force, leupold, or even a Vortex. But I am very well pleased with the scope, as with any scope, none are perfect, I wish their was a perfect scope and their probably is but not in the budget range of most of us shooters. To begin this scope is mounted on a DPMS Oracle AR-15 it may not be the best but it is definatley not the worst in the ar-15 class. I bought the rifle with the intentions for many things, I wanted a CQB rifle and a predator rifle and even a long range rifle out of a single rifle. I know it's impossible but since I already have a LR gun I decided to make it a predator and CQB gun. I wanted a scope that was able to give a good picture at 500 yards and a 50 yards and this scope accomplishes that task well. It was hard to get over seeing a scope with such a small objective, but I got over that quickly. The image of the reticle is nice a clear, and easy on the eyes to use. Its a non critical eye relief scope so you don't need to be perfect with the scope to keep the picture clear. The reticle its self I thought was just perfect for the rifle and cartridge, unlike some of the bigger BDC reticle nikon offers the reticle on the M-223 is fine, with open circles and small has marks for the 50 yards and circles for 100 yards. I had a dislike for the BDC reticle on my friends hunting rifle but I actually quite like it on this scope. I sighted the scope in at 100 yards and after sighting it in, I went to see how well I could group on the 8 power and to my surprise it did quite well with the PMC ammo I was shooting. The DPMS trigger is nothing like the Timney 510 on my Remington, but I was able to accomplish around a 1 inch group. Even with doing that I was able to shoot 500 yards on a 5x5'' target with four shots ( I blame the trigger). At 50 yards it would be easy to pick up a running coyote or a man size target, any closer than that I will resort to instinctive fire. The turrets on the scope are (Rapid Turrets) they are quite big which will be nice for the cold -30* days here in Colorado, but they are exposed and have no locking system or way to tell what revolution you are on. They have a reset to zero which is done by pulling the cap up until it clicks and then rotating it back to zero. This is for both elevation and windage turrets, and they are marked for every .25 moa and their is a letter every 2 moa. After zero I checked to see how much elevation I had, and I have 47 moa of UP adjustment, I did never count how much i have down. The mounts I used where the p-series scope mounts. Now the biggest dislike I have is the Anti Reflective device, It does not match the color of the scope, and I ended cutting it out of my scope because I could not get it off! but the ARD was made of decent plastic and the honeycomb cardboard was easy to cut thru with a hack saw blade... I dont know why it was so difficult to remove but I decided a 10 dollar device was not gonna stay on my 300 dollar rifle scope.. For the price I think its a great scope for an AR rifle and for a shooter who wants enough magnification to see out to 600 yards, I think I may be able to pull off a shot on my 1000 yard target that is 24 inches in diameter. That will be for another day. I hope this is some help to the shooter looking for a medium range rifle scope but can be used for close range also, For the money I dont think it can be beat, I did look at similar scopes with the same magnification such as weavers, and Vortex even though they are on the cheaper side the waver scope did not have the same clarity to the nikon and the vortex just did not have the features I would have liked to have, plus both scopes were up to 7 power and the Nikon is an 8 power. If I had a thousand dollars to spend I would have tried for the Leupold but I dipped into my tire savings to buy the gun and scope. Now for the pictures!!!!





 
I had a m223 3-12 when i first started and they are awesome scopes for the money. Very clear glass. Nice write up, shooting, and rifle! Good work.
 
Ranch, Nice write up of your experiece with the DPMS Oracle and Nikon M-223 2-8 BDC 600 Scope. I have used both extensively, one day putting 1000 rounds downrange with the Oracle and it never shot less then 1 in. at 100 yards even when steaming hot and dirty. I have used the M-223 2-8 BDC and Rapid Action Turrets on a couple of different rifles. The last time I used the 2-8 was on a .300 Blackout while waiting on a P-300 BLK. Using Nikon's Spot On Ballistic Program will give you a lot fo flexibility in case you opt for lighter or heavier .223 bullets. Thanks for the review! Great job ad gresat pics!

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd363/bman940/M-223 2-8/bryce.jpg
 
Thanks guys! I like the gun so far Id like to get a better hand guard and trigger but thats to come another day!
 
Nice write up.

I used to own that same scope and for the money, I felt it was an exceptional scope. The glass was phenomenal for the money.
 
I think Nikon did well starting the M-223 line. I have handled quite a few including the other magnifications. I must say, I was more impressed with Nikon with Leupold's Mark AR offering. I wish they would have taken it a bit further with reticle choices and finally break in with some matching turrets.

Glad to hear your pleased with the purchase. 2x-(7-8)x32's are really underrated in my opinion; they're compact, lightweight and usually less money than magnification ranges above and below them ie. 1-4 and 3-9. I think it's a great medium. Having a low end that you can use 'both eyes open' is really useful.

Have fun-
 
I would love to have a Nikon scope in this price point with mil-dots instead of the bdc. IMO the BDC is great for hunting, but I want something with mils so I can figure holdovers for any distance and wind combination...
 
I would love to have a Nikon scope in this price point with mil-dots instead of the bdc. IMO the BDC is great for hunting, but I want something with mils so I can figure holdovers for any distance and wind combination...

Mildots are useful, The way the BDC on these M-223 scopes are set up makes it incredibally nice for the .223 on elevation, as for wind their is nothing but the turrets are easy to adjust and use if you have your dope for wind your golden, if not you gonna use kentucky windage anyways...
 
That optic sure looks good on that rig sir--fits it perfectly. I also really like the Nikon systems. I'm not crazy about the BDC reticle, but it gets the job done. Love the 2X and 2.5-8X handgun scopes and for the money they are the best systems on the market these days, IMO. Just talked a buddy into buying one for his Mk III and he loves it. In combination with the Spot-On program it's a great package for most shooters.
 
I have one on my AR 223 Wylde which I got for $315 from Optics Planet on sale. I use that AR to show beginners what an AR is and how scopes work. Perfect for that task. Clear glass - forgiving eye relief and easy to understand positive adjustment exposed turrets.
 
I too had a less than positive experience with the 12x model. I really liked the size, fit and finish of the scope and the turrets were nice. I really wanted to love the scope but I could not get the reticle to focus, I easily spent more time trying to get the sight picture right than all my other scopes combined. I have always felt like I just got a bum model and still feel that way, I have heard more good than bad about the scopes and would like to try another one sometime.
 
The scope I have is just the 2-8 power i did look thru the 3-9 at my local gun store and it seemed like a nice scope but not the magnification I wanted..
 
I picked one of these up last night used, with the same rings for $175 plus a couple boxes of 9mm in trade. The previous owner even gave me the original receipt to keep the warranty. Looks good, and glass is clear. Thanks for the review, I cant wait to go put some rounds down range with this bad bay.

My only question is the BDC reticle is set for 55gr. I use nothing but 62gr. Will this affect accuracy at long distances? I mainly shoot 100-200 yards at paper. Well until the zombies come.
 

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I picked one of these up last night used, with the same rings for $175 plus a couple boxes of 9mm in trade. The previous owner even gave me the original receipt to keep the warranty. Looks good, and glass is clear. Thanks for the review, I cant wait to go put some rounds down range with this bad bay.

My only question is the BDC reticle is set for 55gr. I use nothing but 62gr. Will this affect accuracy at long distances? I mainly shoot 100-200 yards at paper. Well until the zombies come.

I have two of these scopes (2-8 and 4-16) and also shoot different grain bullets. You will not be able to use the pre-determined yardage markings on your elevation knob accurately, but you can still adjust for elevation as you would on a normal scope (1 click = 1/4 MOA).
 
I picked one of these up last night used, with the same rings for $175 plus a couple boxes of 9mm in trade. The previous owner even gave me the original receipt to keep the warranty. Looks good, and glass is clear. Thanks for the review, I cant wait to go put some rounds down range with this bad bay.

My only question is the BDC reticle is set for 55gr. I use nothing but 62gr. Will this affect accuracy at long distances? I mainly shoot 100-200 yards at paper. Well until the zombies come.



Download the Nikon Spot On App. To your smart phone. Select the load your are using and let the app spit out new subtensions for the BDC and click values. Print out the info and use as a range card. I works fairly well.