Night Force 50mm or 56mm

[Yoshi]

For long range shooting (tactical & elr) with a .260 and the eventual move to something heavier, would a 56mm be a better choice. The reason I ask, almost everyone is out of 50mm but have lots of 56mm.

When I called NightForce, they indicated that the 56mm was more popular... I just don't now.

 

[obsolete]

You won't notice the difference. Tactical shooters will opt for smaller glass because they are on the move. With two wars on and a ton of tacticool yuppies, the 50mm units get snapped up. I've owned both. If the final product is NF, then matching knobs to reticles is the greater concern. Your best bet is to check out sniper's hide looking for a safe queen and an owner that's having a kid or in for the next big USO or SB group buy.

 

[sailskidrive]

This may seem silly, but I've had issues finding a lens cover that fits the 56mm properly.

 

[davsco]

i have and love 5.5-22x56. upside is it lets in more light, nice early and late in the day, downside is scope will be higher above your barrel so may need higher comb on stock, prob a little heavier also. prob more expensive with more glass and might need taller (more expensive) rings.

 

[E.Shell]

In normal light conditions, such as during *legal* hunting hours, the average person will not notice whether they have a 50mm or a 56mm objective lens, since the exit pupil size exceeds our ability to use all of the available light during normal conditions. This is especially true of lower magnification scopes like the 3.5-15x.

During very low light conditions, the 56mm has a marginal and mainly theoretical advantage. Otherwise, it's a non-factor unless you happen to want your rifle to fit properly. Yeah, crazy, I know...

The problem is that going to a 56mm makes already bad matters worse when it comes to jacking up the rifle comb to put your eye where it belongs (directly on the scope axis). Modern non-adjustable stocks pretend that we are still using iron sights and/or low-mounted scopes and typically need 3/4" or more additional comb height to get the eye behind the Picatinny mounted scope and the added height of the 56mm lens drives us even higher.