Australian dentist, Ray Dennis, started Lightforce to supplement his passion for nighttime hunting in the Australian Outback. Today, we know his US-based company NIGHTFORCE for ‘rugged, reliable, repeatable’ riflescopes. But what really makes NIGHTFORCE optics so great anyways?
To start, NF currently sports 4 main product lines, at varying levels of glass quality and overall quality assurance (QA). At the time of publishing, NIGHTFORCE is a company with only about 200 employees, and assembles all of their riflescopes by hand in their factory in Idaho. Most modern variable-powered scopes have over 100 components that make up the optic. That puts into perspective just how much effort a manufacturer can pour into their product. Needless to say, NF puts that quality into each and every component that goes into these optics.
The many internal components of the turrets are manufactured to extremely precise specifications out of extremely high-quality materials. Their Japanese glass is bedded by hand into the scope tube with a special agent that minimizes glass-to-metal contact. This helps to keep the glass in perfect condition under extreme temperatures. Speaking of the scope tube itself, it is made with a solid piece of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy that is two to three times thicker than competing riflescopes.
Going back to the quality assurance aspect, NF tasks their senior craftsmen with testing the optics to ensure they are ready for use by the ‘Top 1%’ shooter that could be depending on this product to win a competition, make a shot on the hunt of a lifetime, or often, in a life or death scenario. All parts of these scopes are put to the test, to include the glass, reticle, turrets, scope tube, etc.
Nearly all optics manufacturers will ‘impact test’ their products. That sounds great, but they usually will only test the front and rear of the optic. NIGHTFORCE will actually test their optics with impacts to the side of the scope body. Additionally, most riflescopes on the market struggle to maintain good ‘tracking’ when exposed to long-term dialing with the turrets. NIGHTFORCE solves this issue with super high-quality parts that resist wear as well as binding and slippage.
To sum it up, most modern variable powered optics have over 100 components, and NIGHTFORCE ensures top quality in all of them. An optic made for the ‘Top 1%’ of shooters should be Top 1% in quality: ‘Rugged, Reliable. Repeatable.’
Browse the entire line-up of NF products here!
For more information on the construction of these optics, I recommend checking out the Beyond the Glass page on the NIGHTFORCE website. Most people believe that glass quality defines the value of a scope, and while that is not completely wrong, this writeup does a good job at going a little more in depth on what optics products have to offer besides just clear glass.
