If you’re looking at higher-end scopes, it can be hard to find one that truly justifies its price point, so when one crops up on the market, you want you to know as much about it as possible. How heavy is it, are the lenses tinted well, am I going to hate the reticle? The most important thing about a good scope, at the end of the day, is how you feel about the money you’ve spent. We’re going to help take some of the ambiguity out of the picture. If you’ve been looking at the Nikon Black Fx1000, and you’re not sure how you’re going to feel about it, we’re going to pick it apart and give you a much clearer picture.
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A good scope can be the difference between a successful day out hunting, and a long exhausting disaster, but there’s so much to look for in a good scope, making it maddening to figure out which scope is best for your rifle. It’s tempting to say that one single scope will stand tall over all other ones because when it comes down to it, some scopes are better than others when it comes down to locking out moisture and lens quality, but it’s impossible to say that what works best for you will be what works best for every other hunter.
You’ll have to look at several different parts of a scope before deciding what’s best for you like the build of the scope, the parallax and magnification, how durable the scope is, and all of the features the scope comes equipped with like the turrets you use to magnify and fine-tune the image or the crosshairs and how precise they are when you’re aiming further out in the distance when you have to account for bullet drop.
In the body of the scope, you want to make sure you’re getting something that can hold up to the routine abuse that comes with regularly using a scope. Is it shock resistant or shockproof? If it can’t take a ding or two, you’re going to be stuck with an expensive pair of mismatched lenses in a wet tube. Keep an eye out for O-ring seals. These will keep moisture out of your scope and cushion the scope against any roughhousing. Try to find something made out of a single piece. These tend to be sealed better, and fewer pieces mean fewer points of failure. Getting something that’s been purged with nitrogen or argon will ensure the scope body doesn’t have any water molecules floating around inside of itself waiting to fog up your lenses when temperatures dip or humidity climbs.
Beyond that, most of what you’ll find is dependent on your own preferences. Reticles can become a sticking point for a lot of folks. There are so many different reticles out there in Scopeland. It feels like every brand has their own take on the reticles they have on their scopes. It’s important to remember that you should look for what’s best for you.
Some reticles will try to predict bullet drop for you over a certain distance. For the most part, these are useful enough. That’s a difficult sort of calculation to do in your head without some kind of guide helping you out. What scope manufacturers won’t tell you upfront is how they arrived at those distances and guidelines. If you call up a customer service line and spend a while digging around you might find the specs of their test rifles and discover that they’re way off from your firearms, which can be frustrating if you were wanting to ride the coattails of your reticle. For that reason, a lot of experienced marksmen will try to take the guesswork out and opt for a reticle that measures distance and lengths instead.
These reticles can be seen as more reliable than bullet drop reticles, especially with a few years of marksmanship under your belt. If you know your rifle well, and you can accurately and reliably clock the distance you’re firing from, you can make mental adjustments on your own and land that shot every single time after some practice with your new scope. All of this is, of course after considering the thickness of your reticle and the crosshairs, maybe you want an illuminated reticle. There are just so many to choose from, and many brands offer several different options. You’ll learn what you like with time.
Once you’ve found a scope that’s sturdy and reliable, you want to start poking around at the accessories that you’ll find attached, and eventually, you’ll settle on something that works best for you. Today we’re going to poke around at the Nikon Black Fx1000, and we think you’re going to see something you like.
The Nikon Black FX1000 Scope is packed with some pretty incredible features.
The Nikon Fx1000, right out of the box, looks and feels like an excellent piece of equipment. It weighs in at a healthy 23 ounces. The body of the scope is nice. The finish on the scope is accented with the “Black x1000” on the side near the scope for a clean look and feel. It’s got a great heft to it without feeling like an overly weighty hunk of glass, and it’s relatively scratch resistant. The 1-piece, 30mm tube, 4mm eyepiece, and 50mm objective lens work in concert with each other for a nice taper and easy to hold and install a piece of equipment.
This scope is competition-ready straight from the box, the Black FX1000 utilizes Nikon’s world-famous optics into its first focal plane optical system for tack-sharp images and dialing functionality at any magnification. This scope is waterproof, fog-proof, and shockproof, of course, and it’s going to last you a long time. The scope is O-ring sealed to prevent moisture from entering the body of the scope and nitrogen purged for total reliability against thermal shock. The shockproof design of this scope easily shrugs off recoil and rugged use no matter what your shooting conditions are. It’s great for a trip into the woods and trips to sterile-feeling shooting ranges.
The 3 inches of eye relief on this scope make target acquisition easy and won’t put too much strain on your eyes after extended sessions of use. The scope has a powerful 4x power range, the first-focal-plane reticle is reliable and incredibly useful. The turrets on the scope are large and easily accessible, and the notches give you nice feedback making them easy to use no matter what the situation is.
The Nikon glass is fully multi-coated, and the scope includes a sunshade for lining up shots during the day and reducing the glare you’re going to encounter at any distance.
The glass on this scope is probably the weakest link, but that doesn’t mean they’re shoddy lenses. These lenses are excellent for what they need to do. Up to the highest magnification setting, you’re going to experience minimal chromatic aberration, but more than lenses of a higher tier scope. Keep in mind this scope is going to cost you hundreds of dollars less than its nearest competitors. The splits in color are really only noticeable against a board specifically designed to test the magnification power of high-end scopes at an incredible distance.
For the price and all of the other features you’re going to be packing in with the scope, the glass clarity is leaps and bounds above lower-end scopes, and during a side-by-side comparison, you’re not even really going to notice when it really matters. The shortcomings of the glass on the Nikon Fx1000 are minimal, and only really noticeable when tested under extreme scrutiny. As long are you’re not shooting at the upper echelon of the highest competitive levels with all of the highest-end gear on targets that are moving, minuscule, and hard to see, these lenses are going to get the job done for you well.
The reticle on this scope is etched onto the first focal plane, and it adjusts dynamically with your zoom level. The location of this reticle and the durability of the lenses make for an excellent match. You’re never going to have a reticle jittering around in the body of the scope after a few years of shock absorption unless you somehow manage to sheer the lens in two, which we doubt you’re going to manage.
The lenses are more than serviceable. For low-end scopes, they’re incredibly clear, and they’re excellent at most distances over 500 yards, the etched-in reticle skyrocket the value of the lenses much higher than any lens you’ll find on an entry scope. For a high-end lens, they fall just a little bit shy of the high standards of a more expensive scope. They’re prone to small amounts of chromatic aberration, but for the tier the scope resides in, they’re an excellent value for the price.
The body of this scope is sturdy and rugged without becoming a burden on your rifle or tucked away in your bag. The black finish is nice and scratch resistant for the most part, but it’s not impervious. If you’re not careful with this scope you run the risk of scratching up the body, which isn’t the end of the world. This isn’t going to be affecting the performance of your scope, but it can be annoying if you don’t want to see the aluminum underneath the finish. This is a shockproof little scope. If you’re okay with the scratches, you’re going to be holding onto this scope for a long time even if you’re rough with it
The inside of the scope is purged with nitrogen, and sealed with an O-ring. This process makes the lenses fog proof and shockproof.
The turrets on this thing are excellent. They have a great grip, making adjustments easy no matter what the weather’s like or if you happened to accidentally jam your hand in something slick right before needing to adjust your scope. They’re also a great size, without being overwhelming. This is a pretty sizable scope, meaning that substantial turrets aren’t going to add unnecessary weight or bulk to the scope.
They’re a set of high-speed turrets, adjustments are quick and easy, and they’re marked clearly every ten minutes, so even an absolute newbie can line this scope up quickly and easily, and you won’t find yourself spinning them around with wild abandon. The windage and elevation turrets provide a consistent 25 MOA per revolution. They’ve got a nice click to them, and you’re going to have an easy time clicking right to the angle you’re looking for. The built-in return-to-zero stops in the turrets are a simple addition to keep you from over correcting when you set out to reset your scope.
The Smooth-turn aluminum ring and rubber eye guard allows crisp reticle focus and quick target acquisition. The side parallax knob allows adjustment without changing your shooting position.
Constant, generous eye relief keeps your brow safe and provides a good sight picture for various shooting positions.
The reticle here is the crown jewel, we think. The reticle alone isn’t the reason to pick up this scope, but it places a beautiful bow on a nice package. The clarity of the lenses, the long-lasting durability of the scope, and the ease of magnification this scope will provide you all converge on the reticle here.
The reticle is etched onto the glass of the first focal plane. You’re never ever going to knock this reticle out of place over time. Etching the reticle on the glass lends you some incredible peace of mind. This reticle being etched into the first focal plane means you’re never going to have to worry about thinking it’s been bumped out of alignment or improperly applied during production. It’s a solid addition to the scope, and you’ll be able to rely on it for years.
The reticle here is Nikon’s proprietary FX-MOA reticle. They’ve engineered it specifically for installation on the first focal plane. The reticles are designed to optimize their picture on the sight, and they’re marked to give you an accurate ranging experience. They’re also packed with the tools to correct for windage, holdover, and ranging. You can even use them to estimate the size of your target pretty accurately. They’re etched into the lens to maximize durability and detailing, and they’re carefully engineered to provide full contrast in as many lighting conditions as possible.
All of this would mean nothing if it were attached to a lackluster scope, but Nikon has pulled out the stops with this one, and you’re going to draw every single iota of utility out of this reticle.
The Nikon Black FX1000 Scope can be mounted on most long-range rifles.
The Nikon Black FX1000 is an incredibly versatile mid-level scope. The choice is ultimately yours, but we believe this scope has a decent chance of meeting your needs.
Pricewise, this scope sits right in the middle of a lot of other scopes out on the market, but physically it tends to project itself a little bit higher. The glass quality of this scope is probably the weakest link. If you’re a high-glass quality glass snob, then you’re probably going to look down your nose at this scope, but don’t count it out. Remember that, for the price, and in comparison to lenses that are one more step up the quality ladder, you’re making out with an incredible deal. What the lens lacks at the highest end of magnification it makes up for with the etched in reticle. The first focal plane reticle adjusts dynamically with the magnification of the scope, and it’s incredibly clear at any magnification. This proprietary Nikon scope is easy to read, and the contrast is always amazing.
It’s a shockproof and fog-proof scope. If you’re rough on scopes, and you tend to find yourself out in humid conditions, this Nikon scope is up for the challenge. It’s clear that Nikon has been in the business of manufacturing lenses and magnification devices for an incredibly long time, and that experience has bled fully into this scope. It’s robust and cost-effective. It’s versatile and reliable, and if you’re looking for something to lean on for years, then look no further than this scope.
Nikon can trace its history back over a hundred years, and it’s added the experience and knowledge of thousands of engineers into their massive stores of information. That experience making lenses and mastering magnification has led them down the path of perfection in a surprisingly broad range of areas, and rifle scopes are one of those arenas they’ve successfully mastered.
They’ve accounted for so many of the pitfalls that other scope manufacturers have fallen short on. The windage adjustments, ranging, and holdover on this scope are phenomenal. Their scopes are always pushing the envelope and giving shooters all of the tools they need to line up the perfect shot, and the Nikon Black Fx1000 is no exception. If you’re planning on picking up this scope, then know your money will be well spent, and you’ll be hanging onto this scope for a long time.
Bonus tip: If you want to see how this scope holds up after a year, check out this protracted review!
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