Rifle Scopes Swaro vs Nightforce.

[Darayavaus]

For those of you who have been behind either optic, I am trying to decide which scope I want to put on a precision rifle.

a new nightforce nxs 5.5-22x50 or an older swaro habicht 6-24x50.

which would you use, and why?

 

[lennyo3034]

What's the purpose of this rifle?

I can't think of that many occasions where I would want a SFP high magnification scope.

 

[Darayavaus]

general long range precision. Mostly I expect it will shoot groups at 500 meters, which is the maximum range that I have nearby. It's a bit heavy for the kind of hunting I do, but it might get out for long range deer once in a while.

Now, I'm not asking for other alternatives.....I'm looking at both of them sitting in front of me and deciding which one is the better scope, without my usual trial and field test methods, which I'm not going to have time for.

 

[RNWRKNP]

For those of you who have been behind either optic, I am trying to decide which scope I want to put on a precision rifle.

a new nightforce nxs 5.5-22x50 or an older swaro habicht 6-24x50.

which would you use, and why?

I love my Swaro, I use Nightforce on my hunting and precision rifles. At some point your going to want to dial, use the reticle or both and while you can do that with Sworavski to some degree, it does not compare to the function of a Nightforce ‘system’ in my opinion. By system I mean a mil reticle with mil turrets or MOA reticle with MOA turrets with enough adjustment to get me out beyond a 1000 and back accurately.....every time. Jm2c

 

[Darayavaus]

I love my Swaro, I use Nightforce on my hunting and precision rifles. At some point your going to want to dial, use the reticle or both and while you can do that with Sworavski to some degree, it does not compare to the function of a Nightforce ‘system’ in my opinion. By system I mean a mil reticle with mil turrets or MOA reticle with MOA turrets with enough adjustment to get me out beyond a 1000 and back accurately.....every time. Jm2c

this is the kind of input I need; how is the glass on NF? I'm not going to get out in the woods for a few weeks at least to test it. I hear it's only Nikon/Vortex quality of glass, but like you said, the mechanical reliability is excellent. Is that a true assessment?

 

[RNWRKNP]

this is the kind of input I need; how is the glass on NF? I'm not going to get out in the woods for a few weeks at least to test it. I hear it's only Nikon/Vortex quality of glass, but like you said, the mechanical reliability is excellent. Is that a true assessment?

‘The NXS glass is not their top of the line but far superior to Nikon or the PST line or lower Vortex. To be comparable to nightforce, you would have to jump up to a vortex razor......for me personally, I would still take the nightforce for reliability. That said, the vortex razor is no slouch and there are a lot of other damn good scopes out there for sure.

I just happen to prefer Nightforce after all the reading and research I did for my choices. If you can afford a Nightforce ATACR, the glass is comparable to my Sworavski Z5 and I would recommend the move up. If not, the NXS is a solid platform with good glass.

 

[Darayavaus]

‘The NXS glass is not their top of the line but far superior to Nikon or the PST line or lower Vortex. To be comparable to nightforce, you would have to jump up to a vortex razor......for me personally, I would still take the nightforce for reliability. That said, the vortex razor is no slouch and there are a lot of other damn good scopes out there for sure.

I just happen to prefer Nightforce after all the reading and research I did for my choices. If you can afford a Nightforce ATACR, the glass is comparable to my Sworavski Z5 and I would recommend the move up. If not, the NXS is a solid platform with good glass.

I got it cheaply enough that I couldn't pass it up; I think I'll put it on and test it out. I shouldn't expect too much light gathering out of a 50mm in that range, but you talked me into trying it out and not just reselling it. Thanks for the input!

 

[Powdermonkey4]

I just happen to prefer Nightforce after all the reading and research I did for my choices. If you can afford a Nightforce ATACR, the glass is comparable to my Sworavski Z5 and I would recommend the move up. If not, the NXS is a solid platform with good glass.

Personally I wouldn’t put NF glass in same league as swaro. NF has a very flat image and doesn’t have the resolution that the swaro has (Z3, Z5 & Z8).

 

[phlegm]

Personally I wouldn’t put NF glass in same league as swaro. NF has a very flat image and doesn’t have the resolution that the swaro has (Z3, Z5 & Z8).

The Habicht is a nice scope, but it would be unfair to put it on the same footing with the Z series.

 

[Darayavaus]

The Habicht is a nice scope, but it would be unfair to put it on the same footing with the Z series.

thats my concern with the Habicht. It does not come close to the light gathering and resolution of the dialytan and helia C scopes I have. It's dim enough that I've wondered if something is wrong with it - even my older conquests seem brighter.

If the Habicht was even close to the quality of my EL binos, I would not have considered picking up this nightforce to replace it with.....but with no time in the near future to test them side by side under field conditions, I just want to make sure I'm not going to part with the better scope by accident.

 

[Tac Beard]

@RNWRKNP has it right. They’re both fine scopes, but the NXS is on another level of functionality. You’ll find no deficiencies in glass quality.

 

[264win]

IMO, the NF would be better in every way, but probably a little heavier.

 

[Darayavaus]

IMO, the NF would be better in every way, but probably a little heavier.

Yep, I picked it up out of the box and it weighed about the same as a brick.

 

[Tac Beard]

Yep, I picked it up out of the box and it weighed about the same as a brick.

If it weighs the same as a duck, it must be made of wood!

 

[BANG...ping]

If it weighs the same as a duck, it must be made of wood!

LOL !!

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Neither. Sell both and buy a better more appropriate optic.

 

[FCrifles]

The NXS will serve you best for your application, and if needed excellent and prompt CS.