10 Best Nikon Scopes in 2023 – Tested Picks & Guide

Are you searching for the best scope for hunting or shooting? The Nikon rifle scopes are the best choice for you. The Nikon scope has many advanced features and gives a high-level performance and accuracy for hunters. 

Nowadays there are many Nikon rifle scopes available on the market, but it is difficult to find the best rifle scope. This scope is excellent for numerous applications and you can find the target quickly. 

The Nikon scope is made with superior quality material and it gives a crystal clear sight image. You can use Nikon Scopes in all weather conditions to get an amazing picture of the target and it also collects more light and transmits 98% light.

Our Top 3 Recommendations

Best Overall

Nikon Buckmasters II

Best Performance

Nikon ProStaff Rimfire II

Best Value

Nikon P-223 3-9x40

All Nikon scopes come with a multi-coated lens that prevents the glare of the users and gives an accurate view of the target. 

The Nikon scopes come with durable construction; it is also constructed with fog-proof, shockproof, and waterproof. The Nikon scopes come with an affordable price and it includes military specifications. 

This rifle is perfect for average and middle-level hunters or shooters. In this article, we reviewed high-quality Nikon rifle scopes and provided various rifle scope applications and capabilities.

10 Best Nikon Scopes in 2021 – Reviewed

1. Nikon Buckmasters II 4-12x40mm BDC Riflescope

The first Nikon scope in this article is Nikon Buckmasters II 4-12x40mm BDC Riflescope.  This scope has many advanced features such as flexibility, weatherproofing, magnification, capacity, and more. 

The Buckmasters comes with a 40mm objective lens that offers a 4-12x magnification range. The magnification range provides a bright sight image of your target.

Nikon Buckmasters II

4-12x40mm BDC Riflescope

This Nikon scope is movable and flexible so you can improve the speed of shooting or hunting. This scope offers flexible hunting performance in all weather conditions. It also has a nitrogen-filled tube, which offers waterproof, fog proof, and shockproof performance. 

Many hunters require durable scopes for working in a different environment. The Buckmaster scope comes with a strong body and durable structure, which enables you to operate flexibly. 

Whether it is rainy and foggy, this scope provides you high-level accuracy of hunting. This Nikon rifle scope effectively gathers the light that allows you to shoot or hunt in the night.

The Buckmaster rifle scope is made with high-quality material and it comes with an affordable price. This scope transmits 98% of light and also has an unbelievable capacity of light gathering.

It also comes with a multi-coated lens, which can transmit 98% of light on the hunting area.  This lens is used for both low contrast and low lighting conditions. 

It provides 3.7 inches of eye relief that grants a minimum range between the gunpoint and hunter’s eye and it also makes your eyebrows safe. This scope increases the confidence and safety of the hunters.

Most of the hunters need the correct field view and it has a spring-loaded handle combined by the zero-reset turret, the handle helps to adjust your view. 

The Buckmaster has sunshade features that enhance the hunter’s vision. The BDC features enable you to shoot in exceeding the range and also give a ballistic circle view and robust mechanism, which helps you to adjust 300 yards easily. This Nikon scope is compact in size and 14 inches long that allows the hunters or shooters to get a convenient shooting position.

Pros

Cons

2. Nikon ProStaff Rimfire II 3-9X40 BDC 150 Riflescope

If you are at the beginning level of shooting, the Nikon PROSTAFF RIMFIRE II is the best rifle scope for you. It is a high-quality rifle scope, and it comes with an affordable price

This scope has many advanced features like capacity, durability, Optic performance, magnification, spot-on technology, tunnel vision, and accuracy.

The Nikon ProStaff Rimfire has 1.93 inches of the objective lens and the magnification range is 3-9x.

Nikon ProStaff Rimfire II

3-9X40 BDC 150 Riflescope

It comes with a small size and is used for outdoor and indoor hunting adventures. The overall structure of this riflescope is slick and the black finish is applied to the rifle surfaces.

This rifle scope has spot-on technology, which offers excellent hunting effects for your needs. Finding the best rifle scope is very difficult since every hunter needs the best scope, bullet, and rifle and these three provide the best hunting experiences. 

You can use the Spot-On Ballistic in your PC that reduces the unnecessary images. When you are in the field, Spot-On Ballistic software is also available on iPhone and Android applications. This software aids to access the features of the riflescope.

Nikon ProStaff Rimfire II riflescope is perfect for deer hunting, various hunting applications, and other shooting. It has auto-zero turret features and a spring-loaded mechanism.

Nikon Prostaff 3 9×40 Rimfire II scopes have high optical performance and it also has a multi-coated optic lens that reduces the sunlight so you can view the target in any weather conditions. 

The optic lens filters the picture to enable you to view the target brighter and clearer. It also gives great light channeling, so you can hunt the prey in the night. 

This scope provides high optical performance compared to other riflescopes and it delivers unique optical performance. 

The tunnel vision is one of the important parts of this scope that gives a clear and bright sight image. This scope has superior light-gathering features, which gathers light from dark and natural light so you can use this scope in the dark outside. This scope gives 3.6 inches of eye relief, which protects your eyes and provides a clear vision.

The important feature of this riflescope is its 100-yard parallax setting, which assures the parallax removal. The Nikon prostaff rimfire II rifle scope comes with shock-resistant, waterproof, and fog proof construction. This rifle scope includes nitrogen-purged, which is perfect for hard weather conditions and it has o-ring sealed.

Pros

Cons

The magnification settings have few minor issues.

3. Nikon P-223 3-9×40 Mate BDC 600 Rifle Scope

Nowadays, most of the hunters need the best indoor and outdoor hunting scopes and hunting equipment. The Nikon P-223 BDC 600 Riflescope is best for all hunters. 

This rifle scope is easily fit for AR rifles, and it has Spot On technology. The Spot technology is also known as an external ballistic calculator that gives accurate target points in the BDC reticle. This technology also does some additional performance.

Nikon P-223 3-9x40

Mate BDC 600 Rifle Scope

This Nikon scope has a BDC 600 reticle that has a unique aiming circle and hashed lines. This has Spot On technology, which provides extra functionality and removing hashed lines match. 

This scope gives high-level accuracy for 30 yards, and it perfectly suits indoor and outdoor hunting. You can easily adjust the elevation and windage of the scope. 

Using the turret, you can adjust 1/4 inch per click so that you can easily move your zero at 100 yards. The tactical types of turrets are simple to turn, and it has less recoil. 

One of the important features of this scope is parallax correction and its 100-yard parallax settings. This rifle scope has rugged use and eliminates heavy recoil.

The Nikon P-223 rifle scope has a lot of unbelievable features and it has a multi-coated lens that gives bright and clear images of the target. It also gives excellent sighting speeds.

All the Nikon scopes come with shockproof, fog proof, and waterproof, so you can use this scope in rainy, foggy, and any other environment. 

Most Nikon scope provides long eye relief; the P-223 offers 3.6 inches eye relief but is not common for all rifle scopes. 

The eye relief is a minimum distance between the hunter’s eye point and the gunpoint. The P-223 lenses are coated with multiple layers, and the anti-reflective coatings enable them to transmit high amounts of light, which gives a crisp and bright image.

Nikon scope comes with a strong structure, which is capable of providing a decent performance in shooting and hunting applications. 

The P-223 rifle scope is constructed with both nitrogen-filled and O-ring sealed. Nikon scope has ballistic match technology that provides a high level of accuracy for long-range hunting and shooting for the user. 

This scope perfectly suits for all environmental conditions, and it has a high-quality ammunition loading and pointing that offers high-level accuracy.

Pros

Cons

This P-223 rifle scope doesn’t have flip caps and also has a large objective lens.

4. Nikon ProStaff 5 3.5-14×50 BDC Riflescope

The Nikon Prostaff 5 3.5-14×50 BDC has many technologies that satisfy most of the hunters. It begins with a unique construction and BDC reticle, which perfectly suits different hunting scenarios. 

This rifle scope has many remarkable features that are hand-turn reticle, quick-focus eyepiece, 4x zoom ratio, and spring-loaded Instant Zero-Reset turrets. 

In 90 years, Nikon has manufactured high-quality optical products like hunting, binoculars, spotting scopes, and rifle scopes for all kinds of outdoor adventures.

Nikon ProStaff 5

3.5-14x50 BDC Riflescope

The Nikon Prostaff 5 comes with your budget price. The Nikon optical systems allow high light transmission, razor-sharp pictures, high resolution, and aberration-free. 

The Nikon Prostaff optical lenses have multi-coatings that increase the light transmission. This Nikon scope introduced the optical riflescope system and 10-lens surface. 

The multi-coated lenses allow 95% light transmission. When you are increasing the light transmission at the same time, it decreases the number of lenses.

This scope provides great eye relief and is constant for full focal range. This scope also has infinity parallax settings, so most of the hunters like this scope.

This Nikon scope has a Nikoplex reticle, which has duplex crosshairs, and this scope has BDC and MOA reticle. The Nikoplex is simple to use and uncalculated. 

The Nikon Prostaff 5 is designed with finger adjustable turrets that are capable of zero-reset. Each turn is a 1/4 MOA adjustment, and the turret has aluminum caps to stop accidental adjustments. 

This Nikon scope provides the Spot-On Custom tower series, and the towers are interchangeable. The fog proofing cleans by nitrogen-purged. 

This scope gives 3.8 to 4 inches of eye relief, so you can shoot or hunt long-range targets. The Nikon ProStaff 5 scope is constructed with a fully multi-coated optics lens, which gives maximum light transmission in a low light environment.

Pros

Cons

The parallax handle is built with plastic and it doesn’t have the flip caps.

5. Nikon P-Tactical .308 4-12X40 Matte BDC800 Rifle Scope

If you have an AR-10 rifle in .308, the new P-308 scope is best for you. Nikon P-Tactical 4-12×40 BDC800 Reticle has built-in features that increase the shooting and hunting experiences. 

This scope is made with aerospace-grade aluminum alloy material, and it provides a 4-12x magnification range and a 40 mm objective lens. This scope is simple to use and also has a rubbered covered zoom ring.

The Nikon P-308 uses Spot On ballistic Match technology that gives an exact view of the targeting points.

Nikon P-Tactical .308

4-12X40 Matte BDC800 Rifle Scope

You can also use this technology on your mobile devices, like Android, iPad, and iPhone platforms. The multi-coated optic system gives clarity and brightness images for all environments and dismal conditions. 

The Nikon P-308 riflescope has parallax adjustment, and also the scope includes spring-loaded and zero-reset turrets.

This Nikon P-Tactical rifle scope provides high performance and it has many functional features. The 3x zoom ratio provides an excellent field of view.

This scope has a multi-coated optical system that has multiple layers of anti-reflective elements on each glass surface to give clear, bright sight images. 

This optics system provides high light transmission from the dusk and dawn environment. This Nikon scope is fully water, fog, and shockproof.

This rifle scope has a flexible 3x zoom ratio, which provides a good field of view, and the P-Tactical rifle scope has rubberized eye guard features. 

The spring-loaded elevation and windage handles are able to reset to zero, and this turret provides quick adjustment.

Pros

Cons

This Nikon P-308 rifle scope has no audible clicks for turrets.

6. Nikon M-Tactical .223 4-16X42SF Matte BDC600 Rifle Scope

Nikon M-Tactical .223 4-16x42SF BDC600 Riflescope is used for long-range, and it is a mixture of innovative material, superior glass quality, and great optical design. 

The Nikon M-Tactical .223 rifle scope introduced in 2013, and this scope has illuminated-reticle. The M-223 has several features for hunters and shooters. This Nikon scope illuminated-reticle is the perfect option for an AR scope.

Nikon M-Tactical .223

4-16X42SF Matte BDC600 Rifle Scope

This P-223 scope has an orange center dot point and BDC 600 reticle. This Nikon scope has a CR2032 lithium battery, which increases the brightness level for the scope. 

This scope is made with aircraft-grade aluminum alloy material, and the eyepiece provides quick-focus. The Nikon scope has a larger tube, which grants the high resolution, excellent low-light performance, and broader windage. The M-223 scope’s lenses are multi-coated that offer bright sight images, and it allows 90% light transmission.

This scope comes with an affordable price and it provides amazing features. The M-223 scope is constructed with fog-proof, shockproof, and waterproof.

This scope has many turret adjustment features like zero-resets, spring-loaded that provide quick field adjustments. It has 0.25-inch click adjustments for BDC 600 reticles, and the clicks are audible and tactile.

This M-223 scope has an O-ring sealed and nitrogen-purged tube. The BDC 600 also has five open circles and an illuminated center dot, which measures the target distances. 

You can get the values of the BDC reticle circles with the help of Spot-On Ballistics technology. This Nikon rifle scope has 4x zoom features and increases the versatility of the scope range. 

Nikon M-Tactical rifle scope has side-focus parallax adjustments that offer various adjustment externally changing firing positions.

This scope prevents moisture and it provides more reliability against the thermal shock. The scope is constructed with shockproof that reduces rugged and hard recoil.

Pros

Cons

Some time the parallax adjustment doesn’t work that is one of the main issues

7. Nikon Black FX1000 Rifle Scope

The Nikon Fx 1000 is one of the best scopes for hunting. The Nikon Black FX1000 provides great accuracy, and it comes at a reasonable price. 

This scope is an improved version of X 1000, and it is also the first focal plane rifle scope. The Fx-1000 rifle scope has many advanced features, and this scope is used for long-range applications. Nikon FX1000  is very functional, 100% effective, and unique.

Nikon Black

FX1000 Rifle Scope

The Nikon FX 1000 is the upgrade model; the inclusion of ‘F’ means front focal plane. Many hunters used the first and second focal plane rifle scope. 

This scope provides sharp pictures at any magnification range, and it also shows a sharp focus on the main target. This scope increases the hunter’s and shooters’ confidence and also reduces the parallax error. 

The Side Focus Parallax Adjustment enables you to arrange the reticle in the first plane and focus on your target objective. It also provides excellent sight images and complete accuracy.

This scope is perfect for all weather conditions and provides high-resolution images. This Nikon scope is completely water and fog proof.

When you are moving your eyes, the reticle also changes, so you require to overlap the target and set the parallax. The elevation and windage turrets give 25 MOA adjustments per turn, and all features are quickly returned to zero. 

Some of the hunting rifles do not have this feature, so this is the extra feature of the scope, and the windage is used for side adjustment. 

You can easily measure the magnification level with the help of MOA, and it gives a more clear image for all environmental conditions like both low light and low contrast. 

It has an illuminated reticle, which aids in easy and quick brightness adjustment. This Nikon scope has an O-ring sealed that prevents moisture, and the nitrogen purged protects the rifle scope from thermal shock.

Pros

Cons

This scope has high-level magnification but the short eye relief.

8. Nikon Monarch 7 SF Matte Advanced BDC Rifle Scopes

The Nikon Monarch 7 SF Matte Advanced BDC Rifle Scope is built to give a high-level performance with a wide variety of calibers, rifles, and bullets. 

This scope has many advanced features like wider magnification ranges, enhances turret designs, lens coatings, illuminated reticles, and enhanced optical systems. 

This Nikon Monarch rifle is used for all-purpose, and it provides 2.5-10x magnification, which is helpful for long-range hunting and gives absolute accuracy.

Nikon Monarch 7

SF Matte Advanced BDC Rifle Scopes

The field of view means you can view the minimum distance of the rifle from right to left; it increases the shooting performance. This scope offers you to easily view the moving prey or target. The field of view depends upon the magnification range.

One of the important features of this scope is picture quality, the Nikon scopes provide high-quality images in low contrast colors. 

This scope has a 50mm objective lens diameter that receives the light reflected from the target. The quality and optical coating are improving the picture quality. This scope gives more light to the high-contrast images, and it also transmits 95% light.

This scope has extra-low dispersion optics that provides a great optical performance; it also has eyepiece and objective covers. The Nikon monarch scope has 4-inch sunshade that prevents the glare.

The eye relief is an important feature for any rifle and scopes; the Nikon Monarch scope gives 3.8 inches of eye relief and provides an excellent field of view. 

The Nikon scope also prevents heavy recoil. Nikon scope has elevation and windage adjustments knobs, which enables you to easily adjust the rifle scope based on the wind conditions. 

This scope has a side parallax adjustment knob that reduces the parallax error and parallax infinity, so you can easily measure the long-range shots. 

The parallax knob is known as adjustable turrets and adjustable rings. The Monarch scope is fog-proof, water-resistant, and shockproof construction, so you can use it in rainy and foggy climates.

The multiple layers of anti-reflective elements in each glass surface offer clear and bright sight images. Nikon Monarch 7 SF rifle scope has Eye box technology that delivers bright and high-resolution images.

Pros

Cons

The windage and elevation turrets come with a rugged design and are stiff.

Nikon brand

The Nikon brands provide high-quality optics like cameras and other firearms. The Nikon company manufactures the riflescope for more than a hundred years. The Nikon brands give high performance and are built with high-quality material.

The Nikon company was developed by two Japan’s optics companies. The Reflecting Mirror Department of Iwaki Glass and Optical Instruments Department of Tokyo Keiki Seisakusho Manufacturing, founded in 1917. 

The Nikon company’s head office is located in Japan, and the Nikon company manufactures scopes, rifles, and optics and supplies products all over the world. Most of the Nikon products come from Japan, and they produce cost-effective optics.

It also manufactures some medical equipment such as high-powered microscopes. The Nikon made rifle scopes and other scopes for various firearms. 

The Nikon brand has a wide range of magnification and various applications. The Nikon rifle scopes are made with comfortable designs and performance gadgets.

Factors to Consider Before Buying the Nikon Riflescope

Choosing a rifle scope is based on your needs to get better performance on the field. If you are a shooter or hunter, there are various types of scope available in the market, so it is difficult to choose the best scope. Here some of the characteristics of the Nikon rifle scope.

Lens size 

When you are using the long-range scope, the lenses are the essential features, which provides a clear target image for the hunter in high or low magnification. 

The rifle scope at the other end gives a sharp and clear picture. The bigger lens transmits more light into the scope, and the rifle scope optics glass is wavy. The Nikon brands offer a high-quality lens that performs quickly for any range. 

Lens coating

The Nikon rifle scope has anti-reflective film, and this film is essential because it enhances the light transmission capabilities of the objective lens. 

The anti-reflective film prevents the targets or prey from identifying your location. Most of the hunters used multi-coated rifle scopes. This scope has a focal lens and objective lens, which are covered by multiple layers and anti-reflective film.

Objective Lens

Generally, the rifle scopes come with an objective lens that gives an exact view of the targets. The objective lens is located in front of the scope that gathers the ambient light from the dusk and dawn environment. 

If you select the rifle scope, consider the following things such as glass quality, weight, a mounting position, magnification, and exit pupil.

Glass Quality – The glass quality is essential for a rifle scope that provides high-quality and brighter images. It comes with multiple coatings to promote light transmission and provides crystal clear pictures.

Weight – The objective lens adds more weight to the rifle scope. If you are worried about weight, go for 50 mm or below. Most of the costly rifle scopes begin with 40 to 30 mm tubes.

Magnification Range

The magnification value begins with two numbers, like “4-16x”. The magnification range depends upon the rifle types. For example, when you are installing a low-powered rifle that gives a maximum effective range of 150 yards, you don’t use the rifle for long-range targets. 

Eye relief

The eye relief is an essential factor for all rifle scopes. Eye relief means the maximum distances between your eyes and the focal lens, and it provides a clear sight picture for you. If you are using the high-powered rifles, that should come with at least 2-inch eye relief.

Reticle

The reticle selection is essential for all rifle scope for hunting and shooting at long distances. The reticle has a single dot, and it spreads horizontally and vertically. 

This reticle has hash marks and dots, which are easy to use. But the BDC reticle is not perfect for long-range hunting, and it doesn’t have windage holdovers. 

The reticle is classified into eight types as Original reticle, dot reticle, german reticle, BDC reticle, duplex reticle, MOA reticle, Mil-dot reticle, illuminated and non-illuminated reticle, and tree shape reticle. It is a standard reticle design that provides all required information like height and windage.

Original Reticle

The original reticle is a combination of single vertical and horizontal crosshairs, and it is used for several years. 

Tree Shape Reticle

It looks like a Christmas tree. The hash marks are marked at the bottom crosshair from the bottom to the top. This reticle is to recompense for wind drift or direction as your bullet speed and strike are plenty stricken at long-range distances.

German # Reticle

Most of the hunters used german #1 and #4 reticle, and it has simple reticle options. This german reticle is illuminated, and it also has thick bottom, left, and right crosshairs.

Dot Reticle

The dot reticle means an enclosed circle with a dot in the middle. This reticle is easy to use.

Duplex Reticle

Duplex reticle is mostly used for all scopes, and it has thick crosshairs like right, left, up, and down. These four crosshairs provide a clear center for the viewer. The thick brush helps for a big hunt.

BDC Reticle

In the crosshair, a group of horizontal lines is located at the lower half that helps to adjust the distance. This BDC reticle aids to shoot accurately in the various targets without changing height settings.

Mil-Dot Reticle

The Mil-dot reticle is also known as a ballistic reticle, and it is calculated in milliradians. The single dot of this reticle is 1 Mrad, and it equals 3.6 inches at 100 yards. Mil-dot and MOA are different. The Mil-dot reticle is mainly constructed for many purposes and is mostly used for military applications. This reticle is mostly used for long distances hunting and shooting.

Illuminated and Non-illuminated Reticles

The illuminated reticles are all-time illuminated, and the center-illuminated reticles are more popular. The non-illuminated reticles are black and are constructed without illumination qualities. 

MOA Reticle 

The MOA means minute of angle reticle, it is one of the angle measurements that utilized in turrets. 1 MOA is 1 inch at 100 yards, and 1 minute equals 1/60 degrees at an angle. This reticle calculates every minute for shooters and hunters.

Body

An excellent quality rifle scope begins with a sturdy design, and it doesn’t affect the optics accuracy. The great scopes have single-piece parts in the high-end ones, which are more durable. If the rifle body is waterproof, it is one of the big advantages. 

Parallax Adjustment

The parallax adjustment is a premium feature that reduces or increases the purchase cost. Find the low price AO (Adjustable Objective) scope that operates in the yard. Parallax means an apparent movement when we change the eyes and head in a different direction.

Difference Between Nikon scopes vs Leupold scopes

Nikon scopes

Nikon is one of the best Japanese companies that manufacture more products in the united states and other countries in the world. The Nikon company was founded in 2017 that produced spotting scopes, rifle scopes, and more. 

Nikon is the second company to produce scopes, cameras in the world. The Nikon rifle scope has a BDC reticle, which gives a “dead-on” range for hunters’ ability. This rifle has eye relief that prevents eye recoil, and it provides a bright sight picture. 

This rifle scope gives high-resolution pictures for uncomfortable weather conditions for hunting. It is a 98% light transmission and also has diopter adjustment, tactile magnification, and finger adjustable knobs. The Nikon scopes are coated with multiple layers of anti-reflective elements, and it is also fog and waterproof.

Leupold scopes

The Leopold company is located in Oregon or Northwest, and it is one of the American companies. The Leopold company was founded in 1907 by Fred Leopold. 

This company manufactures more rifle scope, optics for the military, target shooters, and spotting scopes. Leopold rifle scope has reticles, and it also includes LRV duplex, LR duplex, SA.B.R reticles, etc. 

This is essential for reliable and variable long-range shooting. It also has eye relief capability, waterproof, and fog proof. This rifle scope provides contrast, clarity, and superior brightness. Leopold rifle scope gives long-range shooting accuracy and reliability.

Conclusion

Confidently, the information you get in this article can assist you in shopping for the best Nikon rifle scope. Already Nikon is selling various kinds of scopes now. The Nikon products are constructed with high-quality material. We offer the helpful Nikon scopes reviews so you can easily find the perfect one for you and also consider the characteristics of Nikon rifle scopes before purchasing.

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