Nikon Prostaff Scope
But, Can It Be Any Good?
It seems that more and more goods are made offshore these days, and it's a trend that will likely continue as long as the price is right. One company that has moved production to the Philippines is Nikon, who expanded their riflescope line to include medium priced riflescopes that can run alongside some of the big boys. The Nikon Prostaff line is intended to compete with the Weaver Classic series and the Leupold Rifleman line. Like most scopes today, the Prostaff is dry nitrogen filled and O-ring sealed to make sure it is waterproof and fog proof in all conditions.
Looks Pretty - Can It Do the Job?
The fixed four-power rimfire scope is very tasteful in appearance, finished in black matte with Nikon's name in small gold letters on the side of the adjustment turret. It's very classy. It's also available in silver or camo finishes making it complementary to any rifle. As an aside, it is packaged very nicely, too. The attractive Nikon Prostaff box contains the scope, lens caps, a set of tip-off scope mounting rings, and the usual paperwork you find with a scope.
So Far, So Good
The internal lens elements are fully coated and the external lens surfaces are multi-coated both front and back. The scope is focused to eliminate parallax at 50 yards. The company claims light transmission through this optical setup is 90%. Nikon took the Duplex reticle and incorporated a wider central gate then renamed it Nikoplex. The FOV is 11.1 feet at 50 yards and the eye relief is very generous at 4.1 inches. The adjustment range for windage and elevation is 80 MOA, which is very generous as well, and the coin-slot adjustment screws click in ¼ MOA increments. To focus this scope you have to turn the ocular bell several times. A wide, knurled locking ring retains the setting and a rubber ring around the end of the ocular bell acts as an eye guard. This scope is 11.2 inches long and weighs 12 ounces.
It's Beyond Good
The biggest bragging point on this scope is the optics. They are nothing short of brilliant. It is sharp, there's lots of contrast, great color rendition and it is well-corrected for aberrations from center to edge - a feat that is far easier to achieve in a fixed four-power scope than in a variable power. It's easy to look through and the view of the target is excellent. Clicks that are easy to count made the windage and elevation adjustments accurate and repeatable.
The fixed four-power scope is ideal for small game hunting with .22 rimfire rifles. It's more compact and is usually a better match for .22LR hunting rifles in terms of weight. Superior optics, lightweight, good adjustability - and the price is excellent. It looks like Nikon scored with this one.