Description
Rifle Scope Product Details
NightStar 2x50mm Gen-1 Tactical Night Vision Riflescope, Black, NS43250
NightStar 2x50mm Gen-1 Tactical Night Vision Riflescope, Black, NS43250
Rifle Scope Product Features
About the NightStar Company
NightStar is a premium producer for firearm scopes, optics, mounting solutions, and other add-ons used for firearms like rifles and long guns. They style and build their mounts, scopes, and related products working with elements which are resilient and long lasting. This includes the NightStar 2x50mm Gen-1 Tactical Night Vision Riflescope, Black, NS43250 by NightStar. For additional shooting items, visit their website.
What You Need to Know About Scopes
Rifle scopes allow you to specifically align a rifle at different targets by aligning your eye with the target at range. They do this through zoom by employing a series of lenses within the scope. The scope’s alignment can be adapted to take into account various natural things like wind and elevation increases to account for bullet drop.
The scope’s purpose is to help shooters understand precisely where the bullet will land based on the sight picture you are viewing using the optic as you line up the scope’s crosshair or reticle with the intended target. A lot of modern rifle scopes have about 11 parts which are found inside and outside of the scope. These parts include the rifle scope’s body, lenses, modification dials or turrets, focus rings, and other elements. See all eleven parts of a rifle optical system.
Rifle Scope Varieties
Rifle scopes can be either “first focal plane” or “second focal plane” type of optics. Selecting the best type of rifle scope depends on what type of shooting you plan on doing.
First Focal Plane Glass Details
Focal plane scopes (FFP) feature the reticle in front of the magnification lens. These types of scopes are useful for:
- Quick acquisition, far away types of shooting
- Shooting situations where calculations are very little
- Experienced shooters who know their aim point “hold over” as well as “lead” ratios for their long gun
- Shooters who don’t mind the reticle is bigger and takes up more visual eyesight area than a SFP reticle
About Second Focal Plane Optics
Second focal plane scopes (SFP) include the reticle behind the zoom lens. In the FFP example with the SFP scope, the 5x “zoom” 100 yard tick reticle measurement would be 1/5th of the non “zoom” tick.
- Far away forms of shooting where shooters have increased time to make ballistic estimations
- Shooting where most of the shots happen within shorter proximities and ranges
- Shooters who would like a clearer optic sight picture with less area used up by the bigger FFP reticle
Optic Zoom
The amount of zoom a scope supplies is identified by the size, density, and curvatures of the lenses inside of the rifle scope. The magnification of the scope is the “power” of the scope.
Fixed Single Power Lens Optic Details
A single power rifle scope or optic uses a magnification number designator like 4×32. This indicates the magnification power of the scope is 4x power while the objective lens is 32mm. The magnification of this type of optic can not change given that it is fixed.
Adjustable Power Lens Glass
Variable power rifle scopes use variable power levels. The power change is achieved by making use of the power ring part of the scope near the back of the scope by the eye bell.
The Power and Range of Optics
Here are some advised scope power levels and the distances where they could be effectively used. Remember that high magnification scopes and optics will not be as efficient as lower magnification level scopes due to the fact that excessive zoom can be a bad thing. The same goes for longer ranges where the shooter needs sufficient power to see where to properly aim the rifle.
About Scope Lens Coatings
All present day rifle glass lenses are covered. Lens finish is an important element of a rifle system when buying high end rifle optics and scope systems.
ED Versus HD Rifle Scopes
Some rifle glass suppliers will also use “HD” or high-definition glass coatings that employ various processes, chemicals, aspects, and polarizations to draw out different colors and viewable definition through the lens. This high-def finishing is frequently used with more costly high density glass which decreases light’s potential to refract by means of the lens glass. Some scope vendors use “HD” to refer to “ED” signifying extra-low dispersion glass. ED deals with how colors are represented on the chromatic spectrum and the chromatic aberration or difference which is similarly called color distortion or fringing. Chromatic aberration can be obvious over objects with defined shapes as light hits the item from particular angles.
Single Coating Versus Multi-Coating for Rifle Glass
Different optic lenses can likewise have various coatings used to them. All lenses typically have at least some type of treatment or finish applied to them prior to being used in a rifle scope or optic.
Single layered lenses have a treatment applied to them which is typically a protective and enhancing multi-purpose treatment. This lens treatment can preserve the lens from scratches while lowering glare and other less helpful things experienced in the shooting environment while sighting in with the scope. The quality of a single covered lens depends on the scope company and just how much you spent paying for it. Both are indicators of the lens quality.
Some scope makers also make it a point to define if their optic lenses are layered or “multi” covered. This implies the lens has had several treatments applied to the surfaces of the glass. If a lens receives several treatments, it can prove that a producer is taking several actions to fight various environmental aspects like an anti-glare coating, a scratch resistant anti-abrasion finish, followed by a hydrophilic covering. This also doesn’t always suggest the multi-coated lens is much better than a single coated lens. Being “better” hinges on the maker’s lens treatment solutions and the quality of materials used in creating the rifle optic.
Glass Lens Anti-water Finish
Water on a lens does not assist with keeping a clear sight picture through a scope at all. Numerous top of the line and military grade scope makers will coat their lenses with a hydrophobic or hydrophilic finishing.
Rifle Glass Mounting Alternatives
Installing solutions for scopes come in a few options. There are the standard scope rings which are separately installed to the scope and one-piece mounts which cradle the scope. These different types of mounts also normally are made in quick release variations which use throw levers which enable rifle shooters to rapidly install and remove the optics.
Rifle Glass Mounting Solutions with Hex Key Rings
Standard, clamp design mounting scope rings use hex head screws to mount to the flattop design Picatinny scope installation rails on rifles. These types of scope mounts use a couple of different rings to support the optic, and are made from 7075 T6 billet aluminum which are designed for long range precision shooting. This type of scope install is great for rifles which need a long lasting, sound mount which will not move no matter how much the scope is moved or abuse the rifle takes.
Optic Mounting Solutions with Quick-Release Cantilever Rings
These kinds of quick-release rifle scope mounts can be used to quickly connect and detach a scope from a rifle. If they all use a similar design mount, a number of scopes can often be switched out in the field. The quick detach design is CNC crafted from anodized 6061 T6 aluminum and the mounting levers attach securely to a flat top style Picatinny rail. This allows the scope to be sighted in while on the rifle, taken off of the rifle, and remounted back on the rifle while maintaining the original sighting settings. These kinds of mounts come in convenient for rifles which are moved around a lot, to take off the scope from the rifle for protection, or for optics which are used between several rifles. An example of this mount type is the 30mm mount from Vortex Optics. It generally costs around $250 USD
Rifle Optic Tube Sealing and Gas Purging
Wetness inside your rifle scope can mess up a day of shooting and your expensive optic by bringing about fogging and developing residue inside of the scope tube. Most scopes prevent wetness from getting in the scope tube with a system of sealing O-rings which are waterproof.
Details on Rifle Optic Tube Gas Purging
Another element of avoiding the buildup of wetness within the rifle optic’s tube is filling the tube with a gas like nitrogen. Because this area is already occupied by the gas, the optic is less altered by temp alterations and pressure differences from the external environment which could possibly enable water vapor to seep in around the seals to fill the vacuum which would otherwise be there. These are good qualities of a good rifle scope to seek out.
