Rifle Scopes Santa Needs a Long-Range Hunting Scope

[Santa]

Santa's story and aspirations:
Hey guys, first post here. I don't have a lot of experience in long-range shooting but recently moved and want to get into it. I've never owned a rifle and want to buy my first one as a long-range, medium-large game hunting rifle (for deer, elk, and bear in the midwest and Montana.) I want to have some fun with it at ranges too, seeing if I can get any sort of consistency at 1000 yards or more. I have some family in Montana I may be able to set up a 1-mile shot with some day. I've been doing days worth of research over the last month and have a basic level of understanding for most long-range shooting terms/concepts. A lot of the most helpful nuggets of information I've gathered have come from these forums, so thank you all in advance.

Constraints:
Hard $2k or less budget
As close to 2 lbs or less as possible (Looking at Browning Hells Canyon Long Range in .300 win mag which is 7.5 lbs naked, want to keep my whole rig around 10 lbs)
FFP only
Reticle with tick marks
70 MOA+ elevation adjustment
Durability is crucial, I want to be able to use this rig for at least a decade (or two?)

Question 1 is:
I've narrowed it down to two options that I like, which is the best of these in your experience? I'd love to hear about any kind of experience you have to offer.

Nightforce NX8™ 2.5-20X50 F1
Leupold Mark 5HD 3.6-18x44 MOA

Question 2 is:
Are there any other brands or specific models you have used that aren't listed above that I should consider? I don't want to miss anything.

Ho ho ho!
Santa

 

[Big Ern]

Nightforce atacr 4-16 F1. Great glass and compact scope. For a ffp hunting scope it is one of the better options that can be had sub $2k used here on SH. And, plenty of magnification to shoot beyond 1k yds.

 

[Santa]

Glad to hear that, thank you Big Ern! I don't know what kind of experience you have with it, but do I need to be worried about the eye box on either of those options? My only worry and complaint I've seen are that it can be difficult to find the sweet spot for tactical hunting shots. I'm guessing that might be a trade-off of having a compact scope with 20x magnification though, I don't know.

 

[Big Ern]

I hunted the last 3 season with the NF Atacr 4-16. Great scope and very durable. I found the scope very easy to get behind; easier than my SB 5-25.

If you are gonna hunt with the scope, the 4-16 is hard to beat unless you want to step up to a TT315. The atacr, is a little heavier than some other options, but is a heck of a scope. Pretty damn good at everything. Plus, for hunting and banging steel it will do the trick. Also, it should be noted that the ATACR glass is better than the NX8 glass noted in your other post.

 

[SB545]

i'd highly suggest spending some time with a friends rig before you jump into the deep end. you'll probably find you have preferences that differ from what you think you want now.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

How about:
Nightforce Optics NX8 2.5-20x50mm F1 - ZeroStop - .250 MOA - DigIllum - PTL - MOAR only $1,699.99

 

[huntingthem]

...I've never owned a rifle and want to buy my first one as a long-range...

Scary shit.........

 

[SB545]

Scary shit.........

hopefully Santa is just going reindeer hunting.

 

[Santa]

i'd highly suggest spending some time with a friends rig before you jump into the deep end. you'll probably find you have preferences that differ from what you think you want now.

That's a smart idea. I've shot my father-in-law's Browning A-Bolt 30-06 a few times and really enjoyed it but I should try to get behind some more rifles to get a better sense of what I like and don't like in practice. As helpful as people like huntingthem are, I can only learn so much on the internet.

 

[Santa]

hopefully Santa is just going reindeer hunting.

I am open to hunting North American Caribou, could be fun and ironic considering my name as you pointed out!

 

[Santa]

How about:
Nightforce Optics NX8 2.5-20x50mm F1 - ZeroStop - .250 MOA - DigIllum - PTL - MOAR only $1,699.99

I appreciate the offer! It seems like a good deal. I'm not ready to buy anything quite yet though. Mostly I'm building a "Christmas List" while I'm quarantined and I plan on doing some more shooting in the summer/fall/whenever COVID stops before I buy something.