Description
Rifle Scope Product Details
Nightforce Optics 3" Sun Shade for the NXS Series Rifle Scopes, Fits 56mm
Nightforce NXS, ATACR, BEAST, SHV 3″ 56mm Sunshade V310
Rifle Scope Product Features
About the NightForce Manufacturer
NightForce is a premium producer for rifle scopes, optics, mounting solutions, and other components used for firearms like rifles and long guns. They innovate and manufacture their products by using materials which are long lasting and resilient. This includes the Nightforce Optics 3" Sun Shade for the NXS Series Rifle Scopes, Fits 56mm by NightForce. For more shooting items, visit their website.
Rifle Optic Information
Rifle scopes enable you to exactly align a rifle at various targets by aligning your eye with the target over a range. They accomplish this through magnifying the target using a series of lenses inside the scope. The scope’s alignment can be adjusted for consideration of separate environmental factors like wind speed and elevation decreases to account for bullet drop.
The scope’s purpose is to help the shooter understand precisely where the bullet will hit based upon the sight picture you are viewing through the optic as you line up the scope’s crosshair or reticle with the intended target. Many modern-day rifle optics have about eleven parts which are found inside and externally on the scope body. These optic pieces include the rifle scope’s body, lenses, adjustment turrets, focus rings, and other parts. See all eleven parts of scopes.
Rifle Optic Styles
Rifle scopes can be either “first focal plane” or “second focal plane” type of scopes. Finding the optimal type of rifle glass is based on what type of shooting you plan on doing.
First Focal Plane Glass
Focal plane scopes (FFP) include the reticle in front of the zoom lens. These kinds of scopes are useful for:
- Quick acquisition, far away types of shooting
- Shooting scenarios where estimations are very little
- Experienced shooters who have an idea for their target “hold over” as well as “lead” ratios for their long guns
- Shooters who do not mind the reticle is enlarged and uses up more visual sight room than a SFP reticle
Second Focal Plane Scope Details
Second focal plane optics (SFP) include the reticle to the rear of the magnification lens. In the FFP example with the SFP scope, the 5x “zoom” one hundred yard tick reticle measurement would be 1/5th of the non “zoom” tick reticle measurement.
- Far away kinds of shooting where shooters have extra time to make ballistic calculations
- Shooting where most shots occur within shorter ranges and distances
- Shooters who choose a clearer optic picture without space used up by the enlarged FFP reticle
Zoom for Glass
The level of scope zoom you need on your glass depends upon the style of shooting you want to do. Practically every kind of rifle glass gives some level of zoom. The amount of magnification a scope provides is established by the diameter, thickness, and curvatures of the lenses inside of the rifle scope. The magnification of the scope is the “power” of the opic. This indicates what the shooter is aiming at through the scope is amplified times the power aspect of what can generally be seen by human eyes.
Single Power Lens Rifle Glass
A single power rifle optic comes with a zoom number designator like 4×32. This indicates the magnification power of the scope is 4x power and the objective lens is 32mm. The magnification of this type of optic can not adjust because it is fixed.
Info on Adjustable Power Lens Rifle Scopes
Variable power rifle scopes can be tweaked between magnified settings. The power modification is handled by the power ring part of the scope near the back of the scope by the eye bell.
Power and Range Correlations
Here are some advised scope power levels and the distances where they can be effectively used. Always remember that high power scopes and optics will not be as practical as lower powered optics and scopes since excessive magnification can be a bad thing. The same concept relates to extended distances where the shooter needs to have adequate power to see where to properly aim the rifle at the target.
About Lens Finish
All contemporary rifle scope lenses are layered. There are different types and qualities of lens finishes. When shopping for luxury rifle optical systems, Lens coating can be a critical aspect of defining the rifle’s capability. The glass lenses are one of the most significant components of the glass due to the fact that they are what your eye sees through while sighting a rifle in on the target. The finishing on the lenses offers protection to the lens surface as well as assists with anti glare capabilities from refracted sunlight and color exposure.
ED Versus HD Rifle Scopes
Some optic producers even use “HD” or high-definition lens finishes which employ different procedures, components, polarizations, and chemicals to draw out various colors and viewable target visibility through lenses. This high-definition covering is frequently used with higher density lens glass which lowers light’s potential to refract through the lens glass. Some scope suppliers use “HD” to refer to “ED” meaning extra-low dispersion glass. ED handles how certain colors are represented on the chroma spectrum and the chromatic aberration which is also called color distortion or fringing. Chromatic aberration can be noticeable around items with well defined shapes as light hits the object from specific angles.
Single Covering Versus Multi-Coating for Rifle Scopes
Different scope lenses can also have various coatings applied to them. All lenses generally have at least some kind of treatment or covering applied to them prior to being used in a rifle scope or optic assembly. This is because the lens isn’t just a raw piece of glass. It is part of the carefully tuned optic. It requires a coating to be applied to it so that it will be efficiently usable in many types of environments, degrees of sunlight (full VS shaded), and other shooting conditions.
This lens treatment can offer protection to the lens from scratches while decreasing glare and other less advantageous things experienced in the shooting environment while sighting in with the scope. The quality of a single coated lens depends on the scope maker and how much you paid for it.
Some scope producers also make it a point to specify if their optic lenses are layered or “multi” covered. Being “better” depends on the producer’s lens treatment technology and the quality of products used in building the rifle scope.
Anti-water Lens Finish
Water on an optical lens does not improve retaining a clear sight picture through a scope in any way. Lots of top of the line or high-end scope makers will coat their lenses with a hydrophilic or hydrophobic coating. The Steiner Optics Nano-Protection is a fine example of this kind of treatment. It provides protection for the exterior of the Steiner optic lens so the water molecules can not bind to it or develop surface tension. The outcome is that the water beads roll off of the scope to preserve a clear, water free sight picture.
Rifle Glass Installing Options
Installing approaches for scopes can be found in a few options. There are the basic scope rings which are separately installed to the optic and one-piece mounts which cradle the scope. These different kinds of mounts also normally are made in quick release versions which use throw levers which allow rifle shooters to quickly install and dismount the scopes.
Rifle Glass Mounts with Hex Key Rings
Standard, clamp design mounting scope rings use hex head screws to mount to the flattop design Picatinny scope mount 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 is designed for long range accuracy shooting. This type of scope mount is excellent for rifles which require a resilient, sound mounting solution which will not move no matter how much the scope is moved or abuse the rifle takes.
Scope Mounting Solutions with Quick-Release Cantilever Rings
These types of quick-release rifle scope mounts can be used to quickly attach and detach a scope from a rifle. If they all use a comparable design mount, several scopes can often be swapped out in the field. The quick detach mount style is CNC machined from anodized 6061 T6 aluminum and the mounting levers fasten firmly to a flat top type Picatinny rail. This lets the scope to be sighted in while on the rifle, taken off of the rifle, and remounted while keeping accuracy. These types of mounts come in beneficial for rifles which are moved a lot, to remove the scope from the rifle for protection, or for aiming systems which are used in between several rifles. An example of this mount type is the 30mm mount designed by the Vortex Optics brand. It typically costs around $250 USD
Sealing and Gas Purging for Rifle Glass Tubes
Wetness inside your rifle optic can mess up a day of shooting and your expensive optic by resulting in fogging and generating residue within the scope’s tube. Most scopes protect against wetness from entering the scope tube with a series of sealing O-rings which are water resistant. Normally, these scopes can be submerged beneath 20 or 30 feet of water before the water pressure can push moisture past the O-rings. This should be more than enough wetness avoidance for basic use rifles, unless you plan on taking your rifle sailing and are worried about the optic still working if it falls overboard and you can still rescue the gun.
What to Know About Rifle Optic Tube Gas Purging
Another component of preventing the accumulation of moisture inside of the rifle scope tube is filling the tube with a gas like nitrogen. Given that this space is currently taken up by the gas, the glass is less impacted by condition shifts and pressure differences from the external environment which could potentially permit water vapor to leak 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.
