Nightforce has a new ATACR 4-20x50
There is naturally a lively thread on the Hide. Noone has seen the scope yet and opinions are already very... passionate, but I like threads like this. It gives me an idea of how people look at these.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/nightforce-atacr-4-20-x50.7051679/
Still, I would not make too many early conclusions. Nightforce has a reputation for testing their design very thoroughly before introducing them and I expect that they spent a lot of time ironing out the kinks in the design. I generally like ATACR scopes and while I may not always agree with the design choices they make with these products, it is a matter of personal preference to a significant degree. These are very good scopes and I expect the new 4-20x50 to be very competent as well.
https://www.nightforceoptics.com/riflescopes/atacr/atacr-4-20x50-f1
The new 4-20x50 is interesting in that at $3k, there aren't all that many high end scope of similar configurations that compete directly against it money-wise. The only one I can think offhand is March 3-24x52 which is more of a crossover design with significantly broader range of FOVs and much lower weight. I have one of these and like it quite a bit. It probably has shallower depth of field than the new Nightforce, but that remains to be seen. Both focus very close and both have a lot of adjustment range.
March 3-24x52 is within $50 of the new Nightforce. Kahles K318i is about $300 more. ZCO is about $600 more. New March 4.5-28x52 (which will be a VERY strong competitor) is also about $600 more.
US Optics FDN 17x 3.2-17x50 is about $300 less. I know US Optics has a spotty history with all the ownership changes, but I kinda like this new scope and it has not given any problem in quite a few months that I've had it (full review coming shortly). Almost comparable adjustment range to the NF, but not nearly as close of a focus though. USO is longer, but lighter. Elevation turret is very good.
I have both the 3-24x52 March and the 3.2-17x50 USO. USO tunnels on low power, but the new Nightforce probably does as well. March does not, so the FOV range is notably wider. March is 10 ounces lighter than NF and USO splits the difference between them.
Everything else with a 50mm or thereabouts is either a significantly more expensive (Schmidt, Tangent, ZCO and the new 4.5-28x52 March) or a lot less expensive. In this case, I am viewing price difference of ~20% as significant.
There are really three fundamental "high level" so to speak questions to answer:
1) Why would you buy the new Nightforce over the direct competitions (March, Kahles, USO)??
2) Why would you buy the significantly more expensive scopes over the Nightforce? ZCO, S&B, Tangent, 4.5-28x52 March?
3) Why would the new Nightforce over the increasingly competent $1500-$2000 options like the Nexus Element 5-20x50, Bushnell DMR II Pro 3.5-21x50, EOTech Vudu 5-25x50, Vortex Razor Gen 2 3-18x50 (it is an often underlooked scope because of the weight, but it is a very competent design). Burris XTR III 3.3-18x50, Nightforces own NX8 4-32x50, etc
Dedicated Nightforce fanboys (every brand has a few of these and Nightforce has many) will buy the scope sight unseen and will never question themselves.
The majority of potential customers will, however, consider all of these questions in some detail.
In the last year or so, I find that new designs in the $1500 - $2000 range are getting so competent, that once we get into the $3k+ range, I essentially want perfection, so we will see how the new ATACR does.
