Optic for AR ranch/SHTF rifle

[coldcase1984]

I've been quite satisfied w a Leupold 2.5x20 Ultralight scope with Heavy Duplex on a lightish upper with a 16-in. DD skinny middy/Troy Alpha and CMC trigger in Sabre lower.

Whacking a trotting whitetail couple years back at 20 yards was no problem, saw the most of the deer in this scope. I'd not hesitate to shoot at anything bigger than a groundhog with it inside 250. Groovy for the Green Acres lifestyle.

[00bullitt]

When selecting a magnified optic for my GP rifle (16" Recce Carbine), I decide based on one of two criteria or not; whether or not I will have an auxiliary/complimentary sighting system in conjunction with my variable magnified optic.

If no auxiliary, I will run a true 1x variable and since Nightforce does not yet make a 6x or 8x, I choose to use the 1-4, but if I add an Aimpoint T1, I will run a Nightforce 2.5-10x24 or 32. I luckily have a few of the 24's in my arsenal and prefer them only for their abbreviated length but not for their performance. For performance, I would take the 32 all day long. On a GP carbine, I prefer to stay away from any optic that has parallax adjustment so I do not consider the NF 2.5-10x42 an option.

I like NF as SLG states, they can just take all the abuse you can dish out to them and having the utmost confidence in my equipment to perform when I call on it means more to me than anything. I have had Trijicons, Swarovskis, Leupolds, Meoptas, Vortex, Kahles and Schmidt & Bender and have run them all in 3-Gun and various training classes pretty roughly and they have all had issues at some point that required their return for service. So far the only returns for service that my NF's have seen have been for reticle or adjustment mods.

The 1-4 is plenty capable to hit 4 moa targets out to 600 yards which is the performance envelope that I put on the carbine. It lacks in identification capability and ability to refine your hold on the target where the 10x steps up which allows increased hit ratio over the 4x. While I do like daylight visible dots as a preference in my 1x scopes; if they do not have that feature, I make sure the reticle contrasts well and provides an equivalent engagement time to the illuminated dot which I find the NF FC-3G does well.
I give up about a tenth of a second inside 10 yards not having the red dot. It is also illuminated and provides for low/no light capability.

As for true 1x, I prefer no more than 1.1x. At 1.25x I start to see too much disparity. 1.5x is certainly a no go for me, but I have seen some manage it well. This really becomes very subjective as everyone sees differently. Diopter adjustment will often shift this some on the bottom end and could provide different results to those whom wear corrective lenses as diopter effectively adds and removes a small amount of magnification.

My Recce carbine is 1 moa capable to 600 (69gr loads) off a bipod using a rear bag with the 10x, not as easy to do with the 4x as it shoots 1moa to about 250 but starts to open up substantially to 600 as my ability to refine my hold due to less magnification is compromised. From hasty field positions, I can maintain about 2.5moa with the 10x but only about 4moa with the 4x. It is not because the rifle is not capable as it is, it comes down to being able to effectively refine my hold on target. The 10x extends my capability but at a tradeoff of not as effectively having a good bottom end magnification for up close work hence the reason I prefer to compliment the 10x with a Micro T1 on a Larue LT724.
With that setup, I feel like I give up nothing except difficulty in zeroing the T1 as it take s a little longer being mounted offset and angled.

The realism of all this is terminal capability. While we can often hit targets or threats at that distance with 5.56, it is often not considered terminally effective. While a 600 yard hit on a threat may terminate it, the odds are stacked against us with a 5.56 caliber so this should all be considered for your purpose.

For my purposes, I find the 5.56mm an effective solution but this can be very subjective and different based on the targets you will be engaging and whether or not those targets need to be terminated humanely.

[M2CattleCo]

My ranch rifle is a 16" BCM SS410 with a NXS 1-4 FC3G reticle with zero stop turrets. I have a Surefire P2X on it and does fine on CQB type shooting, but not as quick or naturally as an Aimpoint, but that comes with the territory.

The added capability is 100% worth it and necessary to me. This rifle is a hoot with MK262, I've had it out to 600 yards and it's fine.