Something which today may sound rather natural must be attributed in the first place to the hard work and zeal of the two founders who launched their "Project Passion" in 1957. Synonyms for a company supplying high-quality hunting scopes on a global scale. Thus Schmidt & Bender has become one of the leading suppliers of precision scopes in the world. Since that time a great amount of passion, ingenuity and a strong awareness for quality, together with a close and successful cooperation with the shooters have always contributed towards accomplishing that goal. As early as 1957 the family business engaged in the development, production and optimization of riflescopes that always meet the ever increasing requirements in this segment. Both will deliver world class performance in the right hands, and in such a way that is probably negligible in the differences.Schmidt & Bender is a synonym for quality and precision, for tradition and innovation.
Given the markets these scopes are “targeted” to, one could honestly say it doesn’t matter which one you buy. But if we look at the product specs, we can still learn a lot. It is difficult to compare four high-end, top-dollar optics without sitting down with elite shooters and trying them out in the real world. Schmidt and Bender vs Nightforce Conclusion Of course the same can be said for Schmidt & Bender products. But since, of course, a great sniper scope is also a great benchrest scope, many of their products cannot be defined as “tactical” or “sporting”, but simply “holy cow that is an awesome, expensive scope!” Unlike Schmidt & Bender, Nightforce focuses a lot more heavily on the military and tactical market. The brash American newcomer in the high end scope game, Nightforce has been making high-end scopes in Idaho since 1992. From tactical to benchrest and hunting, if you can afford it, they have a scope for whatever you might need. Not forgetting their hunting optics roots, Schmidt & Bender continue to build top quality scopes for hunting as well. Today, they have factories in Germany and Hungary, and count elite military forces and high end precision rifle companies as valued clients.
First founded by two highly skilled craftsmen to provide scopes for German hunting rifle dealers, they eventually started building optics under their own brand. Schmidt and Bender vs Nightforce: A Little Backgroundīuilt out of the ashes of post WWII German recovery, Schmidt & Bender has been building rifle scopes by hand since 1957. Otherwise, you are better off saving money and going with the NXS. With that in mind, if you need that 6mm larger objective lens, and 6x more magnification on the high end, then the PMII will be the scope for you. The stark reality is most people looking at buying one of these scopes are going to be using it for match shooting or maybe hunting. While the PMII has an edge with a bit more magnification and a larger objective lens, most people won’t find much difference there, unless they are seriously pushing the envelope. They both represent the pinnacle of their types, and both will perform pretty much any shooting task you need. The short answer is, unless you are ranking as one of the finest shooters alive, it doesn’t matter which of these scopes are the best. But since it is hunters and match target shooters reading this, you are probably wondering which, if either scope is better than the other. Note, it’s pretty much impossible to find direct 1:1 scope comparisons between the two companies, so these differences in lens and magnification shouldn’t be seen as shortcomings.īoth scopes feature illuminated reticles, precision-adjustable turrets, are constructed by hand, and are built with military customers in mind. It tops out at 20x magnification instead of 26x, and has a 50mm objective lens instead of 56mm objective. The Nightforce NXS is a pretty impressive piece of gear as well, and certainly good enough for military use.