Re: Premier Heritage, really comparable to USO and S&B
I recently got a Premier 3.5-15 mildot single turn turrets. I also have several NF and USO. I compared all of them side by side a week or so ago including a other scopes Leupold, Nikon, Zeis. I was at a friends range shooting and we just started comparing scopes we had on hand. We did not have a SB on hand at the time though. The PRemier was very clear durring the day time. It was tied with one of my USO scopes no one could tell the difference. I had 3 USO scopes and the other 2 were not quite as clear. To be fair the zeis was a smaller scope I do not remember the model or exact size. It was as clear as the other 2 USO possibly a little clearer but was hard to tell a difference. The NF and Leupold were a little behind but not far. I had 2 NF benchrest which were clearer than the NXS and were the best of all the scopes we tried in low light. The Premier fell way short in low light I feel as did the other people there. It did have a lot of nice features but it was also huge and heavy. I would have to say it was heavier than the sn-3 scopes I had on hand but they were mounted on rifles. The Premier was not mounted.
My personal preference is the US Optics for tactical scopes and NF benchrest for my target scopes. There are several things I do not like about the NXS series.
To clear it all up
Best for low light was the NF bechrest followed by USO then Premier then Zeiss then NXS and Leupold MK4.
In daylight the Premier and one of my USO's were tied, the other USO's did not seem quite as clear but were close second. The NF Benchrest was next with Zeiss really close the NXS and Leupold MK4.
as far as controls I hate the NXS ill controls, The older USO leaves something to be desired also but is managable. The newer ill control is much better. The ill control on the NF benchrest, Leupold are ok. The Premier ill control and the new USO control seem the best. I really like the USO EREK adj for elevation. The Premier is also very nice. I am still not sure how I like the heavy click at each mil. it caused me to miss a click following right after one of the heavy clicks. This may just be something that takes getting used to. I really like the premier lens covers though. as well as the Leupold Aluma covers. I do not like a lot of things about the NXS scopes (magnification adj, ill control, zero stop seems like it is delicate. I also really like the lever idea for the adjustments on the Premier.
If someone could build the perfect scope I would have a scope the size of the Leupold, turret adj from Premier, USO clicks and turrets (but not requiring tools to adj), Flip up covers like Premier, side Paralax, zoom adjustment from Premier or USO, new USO illumination controls fianlly reticle is a personal preference for targetwork I like the NF and the others I prefer the MPR USO reticle. For optics the low light performance of the Benchrest scopes and clarity of the USO and Premier.
Best overall I have to go with USO. For my target scopes I will stick with NF Benchrest.
I would like to try a Hensolt/Zeiss tactical but havent had the chance. The SB I saw I really liked alot and would love to try it out more. The Premier was an ok scope but not my favorite and most of the people I was shooting with chose the NF Benchrest as their favorite all around and the USO second, Leupold MK4 3rd and NXS 4th.
