Nightforce NXS defect?

[dmoua]

I've done a few searches on Google and have read a few threads that seem to be similar to the problem that I am having with my NF NXS.

Here's a link to one:

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/defective-nightforce-nxs.100758/

This scope is on my Remington 700 SPS Tactical in .308. This rifle had a Vortex Viper HST on it before the upgrade and I swear for the life of me it has shot worse ever since. I've ran multiple Satterlee test with different bullets and have tested within a few good nodes and have yet to find anything that will even group an inch at best with this scope.

This rifle has shot sub MOA groups with factory Hornady ammo and Sub 1/2 moa with reloads (ABM brass/168gr Berger classics) with my old Viper HST. The only thing that has changed on this rifle is the scope. Shooting roughly 2680 FPS out of the 20" barrel, round count is somewhere in the 1k-1.5K range at most which makes it hard to believe the barrel is even close to being shot out.

Components of my reloads now consist of Lapua brass, fed 210M primer, and Varget. I have tested Berger 168gr Hunter Classics, 165gr Sierra Gamechangers, and 168gr Nosler ABLR within the last few months. Everything is seated to Saami spec or magazine length which is just a tad longer than Saami.

I thought it was me and my reloading technique, however I am consistently shooting .3" and .4" groups with my brothers 6.5CM and my wife's .243 win with my reloads.

I have doubled and tripled checked the base, rings, and action screws. I even swapped it onto my wife's .243 and got pretty much the same sporadic $hit results like my 308. It'll shoot one decent group and then open on the next with my wife's rifle and proven load.

I did not want to think that my NF was the culprit but after multiple multiple trips to the range and going through a crap load of bullets and powder with it; I can't seem to convince myself anymore that it is not the issue.

I have contacted NF customer service and the scope will be going in to get inspected. The rep said that it's a 1% chance that their scope is faulty. I hope he's right. But if he is then looks like my .308 is just dead weight and I just suck at shooting.

Anyone else ever had defects with their NF scopes?

Sorry for the rant, just frustrating at this point.

[h20hunter]

Not once but I'm limited to one nf on one gun background of experience.  I'll be interested in the results.

[Bill W]

if a new scope gives bad results I usually put the old scope on to see if it's the gun or the scope.

[dmoua]

if a new scope gives bad results I usually put the old scope on to see if it's the gun or the scope.

I've had this scope for almost 3 years and the issue has become more apparent in the last few months of shooting. I tested my wife's VX5 HD on my rifle with a load I used last year and it actually grouped 1" at 100 yards. The NF with this load in the last few months of testing have shot anywhere from 2-3" groups at 100 yards.

[CaNINE]

Have you tried shooting the factory ammo with the NF and verified how it shoots?  If it used to shoot good with this ammo and now it doesn’t well?  Also when is the last time you cleaned your barrel?  Rifles can foul out and everything goes to heck in a hurry especially with a Remington factory barrel. You’ve introduced a lot of variables into the equation with all of your reloading components so could be anything. The last thing I’d expect is the NF. But it is a mechanical device so there is a 1% chance.

[dmoua]

Have you tried shooting the factory ammo with the NF and verified how it shoots?  If it used to shoot good with this ammo and now it doesn’t well?  Also when is the last time you cleaned your barrel?  Rifles can foul out and everything goes to heck in a hurry especially with a Remington factory barrel. You’ve introduced a lot of variables into the equation with all of your reloading components so could be anything. The last thing I’d expect is the NF. But it is a mechanical device so there is a 1% chance.

Last time I cleaned the barrel was a few months ago. Roughly 200 rounds since. It shot factory Hornady 168gr Amax pretty good when I first bought the rifle.

That was actually the next step I was going to do before sending it back to NF. I will go buy a box of factory ammo, clean the barrel and see how it shoots.

[CaNINE]

Worth a try. Another wild card. Have you changed the torque on your action screws?  Some rifles are very sensitive to variation and by over or under torque Wild shoot wildly different groups.

[Magnum_Willys]

Could be the rings, are they one bolt on a side?

Had issue with Vortex - one ring caps wouldnt secure it. 

Borescope rifle,   Clean it.   Shoot 5 factory rounds with different scope.  Shoot 5 rounds with this scope.  Send targets and scope back to NF.

[jrebel]

I run three NF scopes and have never had a problem.  Sounds like the Rep is gonna take care of you though so send it in and have it checked.     I might add....I beat the living crap out of one of my rifles and it always holds zero.  It has been on two Canada moose hunts with Countless hours in an ARGO and they still hold zero....LOL  I'm not sure you can hurt them.     Good luck and make sure you update us.   

[dmoua]

Worth a try. Another wild card. Have you changed the torque on your action screws?  Some rifles are very sensitive to variation and by over or under torque Wild shoot wildly different groups.

No I have always torqued my action screws to the same spec.

Could be the rings, are they one bolt on a side?

Had issue with Vortex - one ring caps wouldnt secure it. 

Borescope rifle,   Clean it.   Shoot 5 factory rounds with different scope.  Shoot 5 rounds with this scope.  Send targets and scope back to NF.

Don’t know why the rings would go bad all of a sudden. Have had them since 2015 and had no issues with my old Vortex scope.

I run three NF scopes and have never had a problem.  Sounds like the Rep is gonna take care of you though so send it in and have it checked.     I might add....I beat the living crap out of one of my rifles and it always holds zero.  It has been on two Canada moose hunts with Countless hours in an ARGO and they still hold zero....LOL  I'm not sure you can hurt them.     Good luck and make sure you update us.   

I have nothing bad to say about the rep so far. Very good customer service. I will be doing a few more test before I ship it off. Hoping I don’t have to at the end of the day.

[b23]

I wouldn't think this would be much of a problem on a 308 since they don't really have a great deal of recoil, but are you certain the scope isn't moving on you, even just a slight bit?

NF scopes are heavy and can, sometimes, be a chore to keep anchored in place.  I used to have a Wby Accumark in 338-378, obviously a much heavier recoiling gun, that I had a he11 of a time keeping the NF NXS it wore in place.  I finally ended up going to a NEAR Mfg three ring alphamount to hold it in place and that solved my problem.  My 300AX (30-338 Lap Imp) isn't a particularly heavy build and I'm running double NF rings on it to anchor the scope from ever moving around.  Light or even light-ish rifles and heavy scopes can sometimes be a real PITA to keep anchored in place so they don't move.

It's certainly possible your NF NXS has developed a problem, stranger things have happened, but for the most part, they're most generally pretty bulletproof.

[dmoua]

I wouldn't think this would be much of a problem on a 308 since they don't really have a great deal of recoil, but are you certain the scope isn't moving on you, even just a slight bit?

NF scopes are heavy and can, sometimes, be a chore to keep anchored in place.  I used to have a Wby Accumark in 338-378, obviously a much heavier recoiling gun, that I had a he11 of a time keeping the NF NXS it wore in place.  I finally ended up going to a NEAR Mfg three ring alphamount to hold it in place and that solved my problem.  My 300AX (30-338 Lap Imp) isn't a particularly heavy build and I'm running double NF rings on it to anchor the scope from ever moving around.  Light or even light-ish rifles and heavy scopes can sometimes be a real PITA to keep anchored in place so they don't move.

It's certainly possible your NF NXS has developed a problem, stranger things have happened, but for the most part, they're most generally pretty bulletproof.

I haven’t been able to find any marks or anything on my scope to see that it’s moving under recoil. I’ve tried to see if the scope would move in the rings by just pushing on it but it seems rather solid.

This is my first NF scope and one this heavy so maybe rings could be an issue. However I can’t seem to justify spending $100+ on NF rings until I’ve exhausted all my cheaper options in trouble shooting the issue.

[dmoua]

Well just wanted to update this post that the culprit was not the NF.

I did a few things so can’t really say what it really was. I decided to not send it back to NF until I did some more testing on it. Here’s a list of what I did to the setup.

-cleaned the barrel
-check torque specs on base
-torqued the scope to 25” lbs “recommended by NF customer service rep”

I then loaded up some ammo that I have been shooting since last year and was able to get a decent group. Decided to play with seating depth and was able to produce good consistent groups on two different range trips. Also ran about 10 rounds through the chrono and got some decent SD and ES.

At this point it could have been a dirty barrel, bad load, or simply not torquing the rings to NF specs. However I just know it was my own doing and not a defective NF scope.
Just glad to have it shooting good and ready for fall bear opener this welkend.

[h20hunter]

Get sum.

[CaNINE]

Thanks for the update and glad to see you’re back in tune.