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Posted: 2/28/2009 9:26:07 AM EDT
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I am looking at either 8x32x56 or 5.5x22x56 NXS just not sure which would best fit my needs for a BA50 which I plan to shoot out to 1000 yds but would also shoot as close as 100 yds.
Not sure which recticle between NPR1,NPR2, or mil-dot. Is there anywhere that sells Nightforce for less than retail price? |
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I haven't bought mine yet, but I'm planning on purchasing the NF 8-32x56mm with the NPR1, The best prices I've found so far have been from MidwayUSA. From what I've read and been told (here and the FCSA forum) the 8-32 is "better" scope for long range work, the 5.5-22 will do just fine at 100yds but the 8-32 has that extra magnification and makes it a little easier to read the mirrage at long range.
There is also a good discussion on scopes here NF Scope Discussion Hope this helps |
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I shoot matches and I use a 5.5-22x56 NF NXS, NP-R2 reticle, which has 100 MOA of elevation adjustment (50 MOA up, 50 MOA down with windage centered). As others have said, there's a tradeoff between magnification and elevation adjustment. If I remember, the BA-50 has a flat scope rail, meaning no MOA built in. If you want to shoot from 100 yards to 1000 yards with standard rings, and my assumption on the flat scope mount is right, you are going to need a 5.5-22x56. An 8-32 won't get you there with a flat rail because if you have ANY windage dialed in, you won't be able to use the full 65 MOA of elevation (32.5 MOA up, 32.5 MOA down, with windage centered).
On the other hand, if you can find a mount with 20-25 MOA in it or rings with 20-25 MOA it should work fine with the 8-32. A 30 MOA mount will be too much to get you back to 100 yards. Probably barely ok at 200...but likely not at 100. Of course all of this depends upon bullet weight, velocity, and precise alignment of the rail with the barrel. If there is a bit of tolerance going the wrong way in the alignment of barrel vs rail, you'll end up running out of adjustment. So, the long and short of it is...stick with the 5.5-22x56 if you want to use the flat rail and shoot from 100 to 1000+ yards due to the 100 MOA built into the scope. If you want to use the 8-32x56, which will give marginally better ability to read mirage (although i've shot fine with my 5.5-22, as do many others), you'll need a 20 MOA mount or 20 MOA in the rings. The 30 MOA Larue mount will be too much to get reliably back to 100 yards if you have any windage at all dialed in. And FYI, there really aren't any bargain places for Nightforce. They have a strict pricing policy and will revoke dealerships to folks that sell them cheap. They only way I know of where folks get a bit of a bargain is when they buy one with the gun. That way, if there is any discount, the dealer can simply say it was on the gun...or the rings...or whatever. And I prefer the NP-R1 reticle. MOA-based, 1 MOA increments at 22x, twice as precise as NP-R2 but a bit busier. I'd have one had it been available when I bought my scope. They'll change it for a bit over $100 but I'd lose my zero and am too cheap to do that. Furthermore, at 1000 yards on 22x, absent wicked mirage, I can divide the 3"x3" white square in the middle of the FCSA target into QUARTERS with the NP-R2 reticle. NF reticles are simply that fine and the scopes have that much resolution. -David Edgewood, NM |
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Thanx for the info, I thought of a couple more questions.
I had planned on using nightforce uni mount with 20 moa but if I can get away with regular nightforce ring I might do that. This is a pretty big investment so I want to make sure I get it right the first time. Would there be an advantage to going with the 5.5x22 with the unimount? And what do you think of the zero stop? And yes the rail is flat on the BA 50. |
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The extra MOA will come in handy when you want to do those 1000 yard plus shots, if you don't have anywhere to shoot further then that then you really don't need it.
Personally I can't see any reason for the average Joe to need the zero stop and if it's extra money I would skip it. |
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Not sure who is and isn't an average joe, but put me in that category.
If you are or plan on shooting long range and engaging at various distances, you will find the zero stop cheap money. I find that during a shooting session of firing possibly multiple guns/distances and with possibly multiple shooters etc.. Remembering/knowing what moa/mil was last shot on what gun for my old brain challenging 
Having the confidence of knowing for sure where bottom is very comforting 
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The extra MOA will come in handy when you want to do those 1000 yard plus shots, if you don't have anywhere to shoot further then that then you really don't need it. Personally I can't see any reason for the average Joe to need the zero stop and if it's extra money I would skip it. I plan on shooting in the NCSA 50 shoot at Ft.McCoy this May and I want to have the right equipment the first time, over buying something and wanting something diffrent later and having to spend the money twice. So you would recommend 20 moa base with the 5.5X22X56.I think as of now thats what I want to go with. |
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I don't have a zero stop on my NXS. Sure i'd like to have one but it's really not important unless you want to be able to return to zero without looking. You can turn your knobs back to zero anyway by looking at them. But hey, if you've got the money...just get it. It'll probably improve the resale of the scope. Again, that's another thing that wasn't available when I got my NXS (all production was going to Iraq/Afghanistan).
Most folks I know with 50's prefer a 15 to 30 MOA rail for most applications. Just keeps the scope nearer the center for most ranges and extends your range as well. AR-50's usually have a 15 MOA. Most of the rest are either 20 or 30 MOA. If you are unsure which to get, just go with the 5.5-22x56 NPR1. It's the most versatile long-range scope Nightforce makes, given the power range and elevation available. And no, I don't think the unimount offers any particular advantage over the standard rings and actually, it has the disadvantage of ring location limits. In short, I like to spread my rings out as far as possible along the scope tube. A unimount limits this. -David Edgewood, NM |
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I have been using Night Force scopes for 1000 yard and more shooting for about 10 years and started with a 12-42 bench rest before the NXS line came out. When they were available I bought a 5.5-22 NXS and loved it but missed the magnification of the 12-42 so when the 8-32 NXS came out I bought one of those and liked it so much more than the 5.5-22 that I bought a second 8-32 for another .50 cal. A 20 MOA tapered base will let you shoot from 100 yards out past 1000 yards.
I almost always use more than the 22 power settting on the 8-32, even with bad mirage like we get at Alliance matchs. If you get a chance to go to a 1000 yard match and look through both a 5.5-22 and a 8-32 power scope you will see what I mean. I have used my 8-32 out to 1 1/4 miles and in the morning before the ground heats up and the mirage gets bad that extra 10 power makes all the difference in the world shooting at a relatively small target past 1 mile. I used a 50 MOA base when shooting out to 1 mile or more. I had 3 rifles set up that day with a 5.5-22 and a 8-32 and a 12-42 power N/F scope and used the 8-32 most of the time. I took all three rifles set up this way to the Cheyanne Wells shoot with 1800 rounds of mixed ammo and let a couple hundred spectators shoot what ever they wanted for $1.00 a round and went through all the ammo in three days and the majority of the people liked the 8-32 the best. Some of the less experianced shooters would have to turn the power down a little to get a good sight picture but most did not need to do this. If I was going to buy another Night Force scope for long range shooting I would buy another 8-32 power NXS. I have 4 Night Force and 1 Leupold and 6 .50's so some day I will need to buy another scope and unless I find some thing better for the money it will probably be another 8-32 NXS with the NP=R2 reticle. All my scopes have the same reticle except the Leupold it has the Mill Dot. I like the NP-R2 better and chose to keep them all the same reticle to keep the confusion down when switching from one to the other. Ed |
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FYI, Ed (Competitor) on here may only have a couple posts but they guy is a bit of a legend in the FCSA community. Until recently, he held the World Record group for Hunter Class 1000-yard FCSA competition. 5 shots in just over 4 inches.
He makes good points. And I agree with him. For dedicated match use the 8-32 NXS with an NPR1 or NPR2 reticle is top notch but you need a 20 MOA rail or rings to use it from 100 to 1000. The 5.5-22 is more versatile (for field use, as well as match use...kinda a jack of all trades) because of the increased elevation (100 MOA vs 65 MOA) and the fact that the reticle is calibrated at 5.5x, 11x, and 22x. I may be wrong but if memory serves, the 8-32 reticle is calibrated at 22x and 11x but not at the highest or lowest powers. Check with NF to be sure but i'm pretty sure that's the way it is. Thus with an NPR1 at 22x, you have 1 MOA stadia on the vertical crosshair. At 11x, you have 2 MOA stadia on the vertical crosshair. At 5.5x, you have a 4 MOA. The MOA value of the stadia are double that on an NPR2, 2 MOA at 22x, 4 MOA at 11x, 8 MOA at 5.5x. So an NPR1 is twice as accurate and measuring stuff a long way off, although the tradeoff is a bit busier reticle. -David Edgewood, NM |
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Thanx again for all the info guys. I thought of one more Question, who makes 30mm rings with elavation built in and what ring height would I need for a 56mm scope? Mounting Solutions Plus makes a pair of rings with picatinny spacing setup for 25 MOA built in. Nightforce's Unimount is another solution, I think discussed above. Ivey offers another solution, although very expensive. And Barrett has adjustable rings as well. I'd go with the simplest solution, the MSP rings or the NF Unimount, both of which have fixed spacing (they have to, to maintain a given slope). That's why earlier in this thread I suggested a sloped base, although I don't know who makes one. Maybe someone with a Barrett M82 and a NXS 56mm would be able to tell you since the M82 has a long picatinny rail that the scope has to clear and a straight line stock, just like the Bushy. I'd expect Extra high, but you can measure the scope to figure it out. If need be, I can measure my NXS 56mm Obj when I get home and give you the starting number. 1. Measure the outside diameter of the scope's Objective. 2. Subtract 30mm (1.18") from above. 3. Divide by two 4. This is the height, if mounted level, that the ring dimension, from the top of the picatinny rail to the bottom of the inside of the ring would have to be for stuff to touch. 5. Order the ring with the next higher clearance the number you come up with. 6. 20 or 25 MOA won't make much difference in the height you need. Afterall, it's only 1/3 of 1 degree if you have a 20 MOA ring set. 1/2 of one degree if you have 30 MOA. -David Edgewood, NM |
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I ordered my scope today 5.5-22X56 NXS NP-R1 recticle, along with nightforce uni-mount with 20 MOA built in. Ordered from Midway, not the cheapest but they are reputable and had it in stock and ready to ship. Glad to hear it. I'm sure you'll be pleased. I would suggest you also order some Scope Grip from Mounting Solutions Plus. It's powdered tree rosin that you put between the scope and rings so that the scope won't slip within the rings. I use it for mounting all my scopes. Only costs a few bucks per container (about the size of 3 stacked half/dollars)...get 3 containers for a near lifetime supply. Scope Grip @ MSP Congratulations! -David Edgewood, NM |
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I ordered my scope today 5.5-22X56 NXS NP-R1 recticle, along with nightforce uni-mount with 20 MOA built in. Ordered from Midway, not the cheapest but they are reputable and had it in stock and ready to ship. Glad to hear it. I'm sure you'll be pleased. I would suggest you also order some Scope Grip from Mounting Solutions Plus. It's powdered tree rosin that you put between the scope and rings so that the scope won't slip within the rings. I use it for mounting all my scopes. Only costs a few bucks per container (about the size of 3 stacked half/dollars)...get 3 containers for a near lifetime supply. Scope Grip @ MSP Congratulations! -David Edgewood, NM is there anywhere else to get this 3 containers are 8 dollars but shipping is 13 dollars more. 
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I ordered my scope today 5.5-22X56 NXS NP-R1 recticle, along with nightforce uni-mount with 20 MOA built in. Ordered from Midway, not the cheapest but they are reputable and had it in stock and ready to ship. Glad to hear it. I'm sure you'll be pleased. I would suggest you also order some Scope Grip from Mounting Solutions Plus. It's powdered tree rosin that you put between the scope and rings so that the scope won't slip within the rings. I use it for mounting all my scopes. Only costs a few bucks per container (about the size of 3 stacked half/dollars)...get 3 containers for a near lifetime supply. Scope Grip @ MSP Congratulations! -David Edgewood, NM is there anywhere else to get this 3 containers are 8 dollars but shipping is 13 dollars more.
They used to give it away if you would email them. I guess that is over with. I don't know anywhere else that has it. Maybe you can figure out something else you need from them. Or buy a shitload and sell it to your buddies. Hell, you'll piss away $13 on about 3-4 rounds of ammo and you can't rezero a scope in that many rounds. Although the minimum shipping is a little rough, it still makes sense from a cost benefit standpoint. -David Edgewood, NM |
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