Trijicon VCOG 1-8 or NF ATACR 1-8?
- Thread starter Cold_Bore_88
- Start date
We need more information about your intended use.
If your goal is durability, to me the VCOG appears to be the toughest LVPO out there. ( Not that I've torture tested every LPVO, or any LPVO, for that matter).
If your goal is durability, to me the VCOG appears to be the toughest LVPO out there. ( Not that I've torture tested every LPVO, or any LPVO, for that matter).
I have some experience with the 1-6 VCOG but no hands on time with the ATACR. Intended use is 600 and in on my 16” .308 AR. Hogs, deers, etc. anything further I’ll just step up to a bolt action.
Just say no to VCOG. Unless you like overpriced toilet paper tubes.
I'd like to know what the ATACr does that makes it $800-$1000 more than the NX8 and in a two inch longer package , also. Is it just "glass quality"?
I have both the Nightforce NX8 and ATACR, both in 1-8x.
To me, the ATACR is worth the increased price. The eye box, clarity, and construction are much better than my NX8. Getting behind each scope really shows how & why one is better than the other.
But you should try to look through each of these, mounted if possible. That way you can decide for yourself.
Unless you anticipate being really rough on the scope, the ATACR is better. The VCOG 1-8 is probably a pretty good choice for the USMC, but the ATACR is probably better for your use.
Pretty amazing the 90% day ATACR.
I wrote this on another website:
I was a little hesitant to write this since my time behind my new atacr is very limited but considering it's not THAT much different than my old nx8 I feel pretty confident that that I can accurately compare them. It's common knowledge that the atacr is the better device and the goal of this isn't to reaffirm that. Instead it's to try and paint the picture of how much of a performance difference there is so you can decide if the atacr is worth it over the nx8.
My nx8 was the old mil reticle with the capped turrets. I had over 5000 rounds through it and probably close to 2000 hours total between live fire and dry training. Furthest distance was 600 yards simply because I couldn't locate a place to push it further. It was mounted on a 12.5 in a 1.93 badger mount, without any passive aiming device. I like to take advantage of the FFP reticle and used 1x for dynamic shooting, 4x for acog type work, and 6-8x for DM type work. As a side note, 6x isn't super tight but 8x does live up to its reputation of being tight and this will be important later. I originally had it in a nightforce 1.54 mount and this is where the tight eyebox first showed up. I had no issues getting behind it in any magnification but tracking it under recoil during dynamic shooting was proving to have limitations. When I switched to the 1.93 the optic would naturally recoil into my line of sight, completely eliminating that issue. I have zero issues getting behind a 1.93 in the prone and the higher mount really allowed the nx8 to shine during dynamic shooting such as contact drills or v-tac barricades.
As I begin to get more in to NVG stuff I started to explore mounted RDS for passive use. I'm not a fan of offset for that (i've never been smooth with them) and tried a top mounted dot but found it to be slightly too high with the 1.93 combination. Originally, I considered the atacr to be too heavy but after researching it, it turns out the ATACR in a 1.7 is only 2oz heavier than the NX8 in a 1.93 outfitted with the same accessories. That was basically the push to try out the ATACR.
The atacr in the 1.7 tracks identically to the nx8 in the 1.93 which I attribute to the better eyebox. 5x on the NX8 feels identical to 8x on the atacr. 4x on the nx8 has a very ta31 feel to eyebox where as the atacr feels closer to a ta33 *THIS DOES NOT MEAN FOV!!!* The .1mil adjustments are a welcome change over the NX8.
Reticle-I know people are critical of the original nx8 reticle but I had zero issues and liked it a lot. Honestly, i'm not convinced that the center dot 'upgrade' on the FC-DMX is actually an upgrade over the original reticle but the wind holds are certainly nice. People like to complain that the original center dot/circle is too thick for dialing but I honestly have no idea why in the world anybody would be dialing with it-my 12.5 has over 800 yards worth of holds with mk262/clones.
Glass-I should start with this-the nx8 has well above average glass for the class that it's in. Not class leading but certainly very good. The ATACR's glass shines. Unless using some type of splatter target I was never able to call my individual shots at 100y. That changed with the ATACR-being able to pick up individual shots at 100y is super nice.
Top mounted things-1.7 feels good with a top mounted RMR. 1.93 is too high for me, but certainly not unusable. Understand this is personal preference.
So where does the atacr shine?
1) Needing a lower mounted optic to run with a top mounted RDS
2) Spending more time under magnification. The better optical characteristics really shine past 4x without sacrificing useability at 1x.
If I try to quantify them in numerical values for their class
nx8
1x 9/10
4x 7/10
8x 5/10
price (professionals program) 9/10
atacr
1x 9/10
4x 9/10
8x 9/10
price (professionals program) 7/10
*UPDATE*
To begin I have 20/15 uncorrected vision. I was having tons of issues with the diopter setting on the atacr, something that I didn't have an issue with on my nx8. I used a white wall, and adjusted the diopter under max magnification. The result was 8x being like 4k definition and everything else looking like shit. I messed with it tons but couldn't get it right. I called nightforce and the tech actually had me adjust it on 4x, then tweak it at 8x while checking 1x clarity. It took me about 3 hours of small adjustments but it finally seems dialed in. I larped around the apartment and it felt much better on my eyes than before. That diopter is insanely picky.
Great write up. I appreciate the insight. Looks like I need an ATACR now. I was looking at the EOTech Vudu 1-10 but it seems like the ATACR has the edge in clarity and ruggedness. I just like the reticle, exposed turrets and the extra 2X.
I had a hard time trying to figure out what the nearly $1k more for the ATACR gets you. VCOG gets my vote. 
I appreciate the side by side of each reticle. I really like the ATACR reticle.
It’s nice for sure
I have both the ATACR 1-8 and vortex 1-10. My major complaint on the vortex is the center dot at 10x gets rather big and the eye box fairly tight. If you plan to dial the atacr is better for more precise hits IMO.
I have no time behind a Vortex Razor Gen 3 1-10, but enough people have had bad things to say about the eye box, chromatic aberration at 8-10x, and absolutely useless 1x reticle that I certainly won’t spend my money to find out for myself.
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