scope for 50 bmg

[black label]

I just got a bushmaster ba50, now I need glass. Here is what I'm looking for.
Ffp, 8x32 variable magnification(at least close to that ballpark not over), 3.5-4 inches of eye relief, illuminated reticle, etched reticle, can take abuse, and have an outstanding warranty! So far nightforce comes the closest, but i feel like I'm paying for a name. No leopolds, or super snipers. I'm looking to spend no more than $1500.
Any good sugestions would be appreciated.

 

[42769vette]

with nightforce you are paying for a top quality scope not a name. but your not going to get a ffp nf for 1500 bucks. what night force were you looking at. i didnt think they made a scope near what your looking for

i dont think the scope your looking for exists for under 1500 bucks. the closest you can come is the vortex pst 6-24 ffp. but its not as high a zoom as you want. besides the zoom the pst has everything your looking for and is priced at 950

 

[black label]

with nightforce you are paying for a top quality scope not a name. but your not going to get a ffp nf for 1500 bucks. what night force were you looking at. i didnt think they made a scope near what your looking for

i dont think the scope your looking for exists for under 1500 bucks. the closest you can come is the vortex pst 6-24 ffp. but its not as high a zoom as you want. besides the zoom the pst has everything your looking for and is priced at 950

It was a nightforce nsx 8x32 for 1900 bucks. 1500 was kind of an arbitrary number, I know all the high end scopes was looking for maybe some mid range scopes, or some I might of never heard of. Was thinking of getting a vortex for my LWRC REPR, and get rid of my burris (not very happy with them). I've heard good things about vortex. Leopold I know everyone runs a mk4 on their 50s, but from everything I can find on them they're not as good as they used to be. Does vortex make a scope for a 50, and how much MoA adjustment do they have, looking for at least 65 Moa of elevation.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Check around on Snipers Hide, many of the Nightforce dealers advertising there will give a much better price than list if you talk to them directly, and especially if you are buying rings at the same time. I spent about an hour on the phone talking to folks and comparing around and I got my NSX 5.5-22x56 (review on here if you search) last year plus Badger Ordnance Max50 rings for $300-400 less than I'd seen them listed. They gave me a little off the scope and essentially threw in the rings so the "discount" was for the rings, not the scope.

With NightForce you aren't paying for the name, the scope is well worth the money. It isn't the best of the high end glass, but it is built like a tank and a no BS warranty.

<edited> Apparently I didn't post my side by side Nightforce, Leupold MkIII, Bushnell Elite 4200 FFP on this site at the time, so here are some excerpts from a thread since I don't think this site's management wants me to link to the other site:

Well, I ended up getting both. Along with Badger Ordnance Max50 High rings for the Ferret50.

Euro Optics made me an excellent deal on the Nightforce NXS with HS turrets in 5.5-22x56 and the BO rings. Natchezss sold me the Bushnell for much less than Midway had discounted it for.

First impressions:

The Badger Ordnance Max 50 rings came in a delicate little cheap cardboard box that opened up during shipping. I can't sat I blame it, these things are HEAVY. They are also supposed to be the best for mounting a .50, and the more weight I add to the Ferret50 the better.

The Bushnell scope came the day after a 3200 I'd ordered for the GF arrived. They both had the same generic instruction manual, though both came in nice boxes, inspite of the 4200 being something like 4-5 times as expensive. The scope feels good. Nice and solid with good actions on the turrets. The FFP reticle will take some getting used to. It will be mounted on my LAR Grizzly with Larue LT123 QD rings. I paid $630, down from $850. It was one step up from the Leupold VXIIIs I have on my LAR and my Rem700 .308.

The Nighforce NXS. Wow. Holding the two scopes side by side and it just LOOKS more badass. It comes in a very nice box and the literature that came with it is top notch. Precision movement of the turrets, smooth action on all adjustments. It's going to wear the BO rings on the Ferret50. It's like 3 steps up from the Bushnell. It's also almost 3x as expensive. I ended up paying a hair under $1800 for the scope and rings. I was VERY hesitant to pay that much, but talk with several folks from snipershide and arfcom convinced me that even if I decided it wasn't necessary, the scope would retain its value and could be resold easily. Considering that every one I saw on the equipment exchange went pretty quickly, I wasn't worried there.

The real proof will be in the glass at low light conditions and in the shooting, how well they pass the box test. I'm getting ready to take them out and see how they compare side by side, then again near dusk. It's a solidly overcast day so this should be a good test. I'll post back later.

Unfortunately I am busy this weekend so I won't get an opportunity to get them mounted and shoot with them until next week sometime.

...

First test today was to look at two strips of flagging tape 8" apart on a small tree at 400 yards on my range. Both resolved it clearly, I had no doubts there. The FFP reticle did obscure more of the image at the high magnification as I expected. The NP-R1 reticle on the NF accurately measured the distance between the strips, that was cool.

The NF glass is significantly clearer and sharper than the Bushnell. Some of that is undoubtedly the difference betweem 50mm and 56mm. I'll take them back out around 6:30 tonight to see what very low light differences I get. I can't wait to try this with my cheaper scopes side by side.

...

I took them back out at 6:30 this evening, along with my Leupold VXIII 4-14x40.

I could not see the flagging naked eye. With the Leupold I could see the flagging but no real detail. I don't think it would have been usable at 22x magnification. If it'd been a deer I would not have been able to be sure it was a deer and not some other animal of similar colorings. With the Bushnell I could see detail, including some of the bark on the tree and branches nearby. To be comparable with the NF I had it at 22x not 24x. I'd have had no problem identifying a deer, including whether it was antlered or not. With the NightForce the detail was definitely clearer and I could make out more branches and twigs and the like. When I turned the Bushnell and the Nightforce down to 14x the difference between them and the Leupold was dramatic. The NF still held the distinct advantage. By then it was dark enough that with the Leupold the flagging was just a blur. With the other two I could still see the two of them distinctly, and with the NF I could make out branches and other detail.

...

 

[Mosinguy]

NcStar makes great stuff I hear.

 

[shibumiseeker]

NcStar makes great stuff I hear.

Even with purple, you should be flogged for even bringing that into this thread.

 

[42769vette]

the 8-32 nsx is sfp not ffp. i ran a nsx for a long time and had absolutly no complaints. i was defintally not paying for a name, nightforce probably makes the absoulte best sfp scope on the market. the thing that threw me on your first post was 8-32 with ffp.

the only nf option in ffp is the f1. ive never used one so i can say one way or the other about it.

about 1 year ago i switched my nsx 5.5-22x56 for a vortex razor and have never once regretted it. i had absolutly nothing bad to say about the nsx but i was switching all my scopes over to ffp and the nsx could not do that.

65moa of travel will not be hard to find. the pst 6-24 has 65 moa of travel, the 4-16 has 75moa

the razor has 125 moa of travel.

any of the vortex scopes in the viper/razor line will be fine on recoil with the 50bmg.

 

[black label]

the 8-32 nsx is sfp not ffp. i ran a nsx for a long time and had absolutly no complaints. i was defintally not paying for a name, nightforce probably makes the absoulte best sfp scope on the market. the thing that threw me on your first post was 8-32 with ffp.

the only nf option in ffp is the f1. ive never used one so i can say one way or the other about it.

about 1 year ago i switched my nsx 5.5-22x56 for a vortex razor and have never once regretted it. i had absolutly nothing bad to say about the nsx but i was switching all my scopes over to ffp and the nsx could not do that.

65moa of travel will not be hard to find. the pst 6-24 has 65 moa of travel, the 4-16 has 75moa

the razor has 125 moa of travel.

any of the vortex scopes in the viper/razor line will be fine on recoil with the 50bmg.

What is the difference between the razor and pst? I think I'm going to give vortex a try. Then change it for a nightforce later on.

 

[42769vette]

What is the difference between the razor and pst? I think I'm going to give vortex a try. Then change it for a nightforce later on.

mainly its the tube size and hd glass. the razor has a 35mm tube wich is why it has so much more travel. it also has hd glass, it also has a exact zero stop vs the shim zero stop on the pst. the razor has bigger turrets that are easier to grab espicially with a gloved hand.

i think if you get usto ffp you will change your mind about the nightforce. as i said earlier i upgraded my nightforce to a razor and it was a great move. the only way i think you will end up getting the nf later is if you go with the sfp pst. nf makes the best sfp scopes on the market imo

 

[shibumiseeker]

nf makes the best sfp scopes on the market imo

For the money. I think there are better scopes on the market but you pay double for 10% gain.

 

[42769vette]

For the money. I think there are better scopes on the market but you pay double for 10% gain.

dollar for dollar there are defintally better sfp scopes on the market than nightforce. cost asside i think they are the best.

you are absolutly correct, there is a huge diffrence between a 10 and 500 dollar scope. alot of diffrence between a 500 and 1000 dollar scope, a little diffrence between a 1000 and 1500.

just like in rifles, a moa rifle may cost you 500 bucks, but each 1/10th of a moa in accuracy improvement after that is pretty salty

 

[black label]

dollar for dollar there are defintally better sfp scopes on the market than nightforce. cost asside i think they are the best.

you are absolutly correct, there is a huge diffrence between a 10 and 500 dollar scope. alot of diffrence between a 500 and 1000 dollar scope, a little diffrence between a 1000 and 1500.

just like in rifles, a moa rifle may cost you 500 bucks, but each 1/10th of a moa in accuracy improvement after that is pretty salty

Alright so I'm going with the 8x26 pst ffp. You've been a huge help and would really like to do business with you and keep my money in IN. Shoot me a pm and let me know

 

[gunman41mag]

On my 50 BMG, I have these scope on them 2 NIGHTFORCE NXS 5.5-22x56, BUSHNELL ELITE 6500 4.5-30x50, & BURRIS BLACK DIAMOND 8-32x50

 

[42769vette]

Alright so I'm going with the 8x26 pst ffp. You've been a huge help and would really like to do business with you and keep my money in IN. Shoot me a pm and let me know

done

 

[Mike_Indy]

I have a Nightforce 5.5-22x50 on my POF-308 and the 5.5-22x56 on my Rem 700 Mil spec. They are excellent scopes! Well worth the money.

If you are interested, I'm about to sell the POF-308 and the scope. (I can't afford to feed it and I need the $$) The scope is not Illum, but is excellent. I paid $1600+ about 18 months ago. It's in excellent shape. If you are interested, shoot me an IM. I'll be listing the combined unit on InGo in about 2 -3 weeks.