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Hi Team,
I am currently reviewing a Nikko scope for an article - as part of it I would like to know what comes to mind when someone mentions using a Nikko Stirling scope?
be honest - I have my thoughts on the brand, however have been very open minded on the review and would just like to gauge perception of the brand.
thanks
Under-rated if you get a good one.
I purchased my first one - a Gold Crown 4x40 about 35 years ago. It has been on a spring powered air rifle ever since and never missed a beat. I've had some other good ones, and some bad ones.
I have a Nikko Stirling Nighteater 3 - 10 x 40 on a. 22 mag and I can't fault it. Very good value for money. I'd definitely buy another.
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Really depends on the model and intened use, I have had a night eater and they are brilliant rimfire scope.
I currently have a diamond 1-4 on my 30 30 and it too is bloody great glass certainly no issues.
Sure they are not top teir euro glass but then you are not paying top teir euro glass prices either, both Nikko stirling scopes I have owned have punched well above their respective price point and I have never felt the need to upgrade them due to performance.
I would happily have another night eater for my 17hmr and should have never sold it to @gadgetman :yaeh am not durnk:
the older goldcrown nikko stirling 3x9x40 had the best field of view of any vari Ive ever seen and its twilight abilities werent too shabby either....Ive bent or fogged 4 of them over the years and now all my rifles wear leupolds for the reliability factor...my last nikko striling was on sold with rifle after 20 years of good honest service.
The Jap 'gold crown' scopes are very good optically but the tubes are soft and seem to ding easily.
I’ve got three, the Gold Crown is excellent and all of them have been reliable and faultless.
A ‘good bang for the buck’ product in my estimation.
I've had a couple of Nighteater models (6x36 and 3-9x42). Good value reliable scopes, no complaints for what they cost.
A bit of distortion around the edges and didn't resolve detail like the next price range up the ladder, but at half the cost you wouldn't expect them to.
Heard very good things about the Diamond series but haven't tried one of those myself.
Must have had 15 or so on various rimfires. Good scopes for the dollar - esp for rimfires. Quite clear, hold zero well, very reliable - can't remember one breaking down.
I agree with comments above - Gold Crown, Nighteater and Airking the best of those I've tried, but I'd be happy to buy any rimfire with a Nikko sitting on it.
I've got 6 or 7 of them on various rifles and never had any problems with them latest is a long range diamond and I'm very happy with it you'll never win bragging competition with one tho waiting for someone to jump in saying they are shit compared to their 4k euro scope
I’ve got a new Octa 2-16x, glass good for price, seems solid and well finished but haven’t tested dialling accuracy. Centre dot a bit big for target shooting but fine for field use. Excellent eye box and field of view, well designed.
Im a big fan -any of them ive owned used have "never missed a beat" ,and whats more theyre easy on the wallet if youre limited.
Old man had a Jap made 4x32 gold crown on his 22Hornet, held zero and actually pretty clear for what it is.
I had a new style 4x42 gold crown on my first rifle, it was rubbish, optically very average and didn't last long at all.
I had to buy yours because I sold mine to @viper, then slapped some sense into myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyb
I've got a couple and have used quite a few. Nothing overly flash but they all work well and are reasonably robust, particularly the Airkings as they are built to cope with springer air rifles. My current air rifle wears one. Extremely good value and they just work. I like their ballistic reticles for pest work where you don't have time to dial.
The brand is a bit of a mixed bag, with low end budget scopes, as well as some nice high end glass - and a lot of middle ground unremarkable models in between. Their FFP, 30mm long range scopes are surprisingly good - especially for the money.
yes I did get @gadgetman beloved Nighteater and it was the best $2000 I have ever spent on a scope :thumbsup:
In all seriousness it is my second Nighteater and both have performed well for the money. At higher magnification I find they get blurry and some are better than others.
I also have a Game king on another .22 and it's a great scope for the money.
Over all they perform well, they seem to last and give a shooter good value and acceptable optics and clarity for the money.
I sold a Night eater and regretted it so now I've got another. Also have a gold crown 3.5 -10 and a 3 -9. Value for money I reckon. I broke a gameking half mil dot 3-9 dropping the rifle on a rock so now I've got a panamax to replace it.
I also have leuopolds, vortexes and weavers all are there because they perform.
good value for $$, but the scope i miss the most was a tasco world class 3-12x50 with 30mm tube. japanese optics.
was so good i swapped a leupold for it.
I've used a few on my .22LR, haven't compared their optical quality against the lower end of the main stream brands, eg. VX1, Fullfield, Prostaff, but have found them to be mechanically very reliable.
Does anyone know the order of ranking of their models optically?
The models that I know of:
Diamond
Mount Master
Night Eater
Gold Crown
Game King
Panamax
Octa
So many model names it's hard to tell how they rank against each other......
Got an old school gold crown that's been on a heap of rifles since I was a wee pup....has taken a beating and still going strong and I love good optics and spent shed loads more on scopes over the years....the newer ones I saw in the UK were pants as they say over there...
I have a new 3-9x Panamax floating about that came with my Howa 223 package. Funds are limited and i now need a scope for my new Howa Lightweight 308. Was thinking of putting something better on it; maybe I should just chuck the Panamax on in the interim? It has a Redfield 2-7 on it but the dials aren't accurate when sighting in.... Sorry; not trying to hijack a thread!
Go for it you may be surprised
ive had nighteater and a couple of platinums ,rate them great .loved the platinums .pity they are unavailable now
Have had an older jap gold crown - very good. Had a newer one I cant remember model but one day I went to look through it and the reticle was a little pile of sticks in the bottom of the field of view
I can help with a few...Quote:
Originally Posted by Synthetic
Mount master is on par / price pointed to be similar to the older silver crown.
Gold crown and Gold crown AO (Now Air king) is the next step up. (I think panamax fits in here too somewhere with Game king closer to the Silver crown / mount masters)
Night eater is above these and not quite the same level as Diamond but they night eaters were more popular so the the base / common Diamonds got discounted to a gold crown price point for a while making them very good value for money.
Target master falls in this same area but with a more range focused style / features.
Platinum and some of the larger diamonds would be the Nikko Premium lines. (I still have a Nikko Diamond Target master 10-50x60mm scope here with a rrp of $1700. )
Not sure where the Octa fit
A lot of people will rate the night eaters as better than the diamonds. I have both on various rifles and all do the job well. I think the diamond has the edge but only slightly.
Perfect exactly what I was wanting to know :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by timattalon
I had a play with a 3-9 mount master with mildot reticle on a .22 mag. I was quietly impressed, they seem to be great scopes for the money. I was getting hits on steel out to 200m with no great skill on my part. One issue it had though was the rings that came with it, they felt very cheap and kept coming loose.
The Mount master rings do leave something to be improved upon, but the rings that come with the Mount Master AO range are much better. Double the screws.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Sh00ter
They used to put a one piece mount in with the Airking range. When you consider the AO vs non AO was only about $30 the rings were well worth the few extra dollars.
I had a gold crown Ao that came second hand on a 270 it was a good scope held zero the tracking was a bit inconsistent though. also had a panamax that came with a howa(also second hand) which wouldnt hold zero from one shot to the next but as it was second it may have had a hard time.
I think in general they are good value for money.
I currently have three Nikko Diamond FFP 4-14x44's fitted to a .22WMR, .17HMR and a .17 air rifle.
I saw these at the last shoot show in Auckland and this scope was my 'pick of the show' in terms of best value for money of any item seen, and my most 'likely to buy' item at that show.
I later purchased one to upgrade my air rifle scope, but after using it for a bit, it migrated to my .22WMR. Its that good for what I was doing that I ended up buying two more.
This particular model is an excellent, economical FFP illuminated scope for rimfire and air rifle.
The biggest issue with FFP is always the reticle compromise between being too heavy at max magnification and disappearing at min magnification. This scope has it about right. Anything above 7x is spot on for day time rabbit shooting while still giving you a good field of view, and provides plenty of detail in the reticle for hold over shooting which is my preference over dialing. Then, when the sun goes down, wind it down to 4x and switch on the illumination and bingo, you have the perfect spot lighting optic.
Only negatives with them:
They are heavy-ish at 620g (because they a build like brick shit houses)
If only they had a auto off function on the illumination like Leupold's VX-R .....
I paid $500 a piece for them and can't see me ever changing them out.
Their first ones that I recollect were like that. My very first scope was a Nikko Stirling Tiara with the integral rail/clamp. 4x15 or something like that. IIRC it was either a 3/4" or 7/8" tube and the field of view was like looking thru a length of 1/2" water pipe. On my first 22 it accounted for hundreds of rabbits.Quote:
Originally Posted by GDMP
I still have a 4x28 Tiara sitting unloved in a drawer. It too has the integral rail/clamp. Still nice and clear but like the earlier Tiaras a very narrow FOV.
(mountmaster) , just took a 4x40 of a norinco as not quite enough fov or clear enough for rabbitts in long dry grass but drilled many a possum out to 75 mts at night as the light helped to centre scope on target .Quote:
Originally Posted by GDMP