Nikon Monarch Reticule Scope

Mention the name Nikon and you instantly think of the iconic brand of cameras or even binoculars but their range of rifle scopes are equally as good. There is a diverse range to choose from but the Monarch E range is designed to compete with many a European brand and being a bit of a scope enthusiast for anything from close range rats to 1500 yard sniping with odd wildcat calibres I took a look at the Monarch brand.

The Nikon Monarch E 2.5-10x 50SF Illuminated reticule scope as you would expect is beautifully made and has everything you need from a premium hunting scope.

Side parallax really helps in sharpening up images at any range and the illumination is a great option for vermin and fox shooting. Add to this the lens quality with multi-coated lens and you have a great scope at a sensible price of £850.

Build

It’s not light at 660 grammes but you have a very well built scope to take the rigours of any sporting exploit. The overall finish is an even satin black anodised surface which despite many differing scope mounting options did not mark , so that’s good. The 30mm tube body gives you plenty of inner adjustments for elevation and windage and has 60mm forward and 45mm rear scope mounting length.

This model has probably one of the most useful magnification ranges – the 2.5-10x mag gives you enough field of view at 2.5x in fact 12.9 metres for woodland stalking or taking on dashing boar! Whilst the high end 10x mag is ideal for longer shots across a field at a small sized deer such as a muntjac for precise shot placement yet still gives 3.5m field of view. Eye relief only alters from 104 -102mm between low and high magnification.

This model has probably one of the most useful magnification ranges – the 2.5-10x mag gives you enough field of view at 2.5x in fact 12.9 metres for woodland stalking or taking on dashing boar! Whilst the high end 10x mag is ideal for longer shots across a field at a small sized deer such as a muntjac for precise shot placement yet still gives 3.5m field of view. Eye relief only alters from 104 -102mm between low and high magnification.

Nikon, as one would expect, use precise ground and optically matched lens in a nitrogen sealed environment to guarantee waterproof and fog free use. More importantly the lenses have a multi coating or “Ultra Clear Coat”  to them which looks to be a green bias and this is probably why the images in daylight are so vivid and strong. Low light performance is good too, giving good detail to the image.

Illuminating

To further enhance hunting in less than perfect light, an illumination system is mounted to the rear eye piece. It’s a bit ugly perched on top but very handy while being easily and quickly viewable. It takes a CR 2032 battery and has a positive click adjustment with direction in both right and left To the right you get a green illuminated reticule, to the left and it turns red. You have five incremental settings for brightness with 1 and 2 being barely visible, perfect so as not to destroy your own natural night vision against a very dark background and 5 or 6 setting for a bright clear illumination for better, lighter, conditions.

Only a central dot is illuminated as an aiming point which I really like as the thick outer portions of the Number 4 reticule lead your eye into the centre. They are a bit thick in daylight use but work well when the light goes.

Adjustments

There are standard turret adjustments with metal cap covers and each click of adjustment relates to ¼ inch movement at 100 yards. You have 11 divisions each with four clicks within and total of 80 MOA adjustment. I got 7.5 turns and 82.5 MOA so a good adjustment range.

There is also a really nice side mounted parallax adjustment turret. This mounted to the left of the other turrets so easily accessible and has a lock down facility so you do not knock it. Pull out the top and this allows you to adjust parallax from 25 yards to infinity and then lock at that setting by pushing in the turret.

The eyepiece is a fast focus type to accommodate differing eyesight which I appreciate as the year’s roll on and is rubber edged just in case you “Sniper Eye” yourself on heavy recoil.

Conclusion

I was genuinely impressed with the Nikon Monarch scope. Sure it’s a bit heavy, but that’s actually reassuring as I took it out on many a shoot and it took the knocks and weather very well, never losing zero.

Images are very crisp and low light abilities are good also, not up to Zeiss standards but then again the price reflects this. But these are premium Japanese optics, not like some of the cheaper glass that you see from the far east - and you can really see the difference.  The side mounted parallax is smooth and there are generous MOA adjustments for longer range shooters.

Illuminated reticule with choice of colour will suit most shooters but I would definitely like more choice in reticules i.e., extra stadia, less thick posts and a Mil Dot possibly.

For those of you that want near European quality but cannot afford the prices, then these Nikon Monarch scopes will not disappoint you. GM