Optical OpulenceOpening that posh box reveals an array of equally up-market accessories, including a monogrammed cleaning cloth, spare turrets, a sunshade and a set of sturdy lens protectors.
Some products have that bit 'extra' about them. Call it 'class', call it what you like, it certainly exists - and this new Nikon Monarch scope definitely has it. At the request of the UK distributor, Uttings, I've been field testing this new scope for the past few months, since company owner Howard Utting - who knows his stuff where anything lens-based is concerned and, like me, has always been a Nikon fan - said: 'Give that Monarch a make-or-break try-out, Tel.' And that's exactly what I did.
This is not simply an upmarket scope, all the accessories that come with it are equally opulent. The lens protectors - calling them caps is just not enough - are precision engineered and even the cleaning cloth is monogrammed
You only have to glimpse the box this scope is packed in to realise that it's no low-budget special, and never will be. Then the word Nikon snaps into focus, the Monarch's status is confirmed and most readers will now, if they've not already done so, skip to the price shown in the spec panel. Oh yes - we're talking top end, here.
Optical Opulence
Opening that posh box reveals an array of equally up-market accessories, including a monogrammed cleaning cloth, spare turrets, a sunshade and a set of sturdy lens protectors.
Amid this optical opulence sits the neatest 6.5-20x44 scope I've ever seen, in fact it's about the size of a conventional 3-9x scope, if a fraction heavier, and can be fixed to a rifle via 'medium' scope mounts. Beyond this point, though, any resemblance to
conventional optics fades as the class of the Nikon takes over. Its matte-finished, monocoque (onepiece) bodywork has been sealed against everything from monsoon to lightning strike and the first twiddle of a moving feature backs up the Monarch's impression of superiority.
The rubberized ocular (rear) lens twistfocus is fast, smooth and reassuringly solid. It won't shift until you shift it, and needs no locking collar to hold it at your preferred setting. It's also sufficiently thick to help absorb a smack on the eyebrow from a recoiling rifle, although that was one test I declined to carry out myself. Having been nutted by a couple of scopes in my time, I count myself lucky to have escaped without stitches, so the Monarch's chunky/squishy eyepiece buffer scores highly with me. The knurled zoom ring echoes the ocular focus in its positive smoothness, and the rest of the scope with its megaprotection against the elements and contamination from dirt and grit. There's a tension adjuster screw within the raised finger bar that alters the twist-resistance of the zoom ring and compensates for wear. If this is required before this scope's had 20 years of full-time use - I'll eat my underwear.
Moving swiftly along, we encounter the Monarch's turret system. Like the rest of the scope, this is discreet, understated and extremely practical. In accordance with the Nikon's high magnification, the turrets are decidedly target style, as are the spare set which are of a flared, 'easi-grip' design for shooters who prefer to have range dialability without having to remove the turret caps. Only the truly sad would notice that, in addition to the turrets' clearly numbered divisions, the finely etched stadia lines and the stainless central locking bolt, the knurling on the turrets matches that of the caps. Naturally I noticed it immediately and, sadder still, I smiled in appreciation of Nikon's attention to detail. Remember, we're operating on a higher frequency, here, so such things are perfectly valid. Please yourselves.
Specifications
| Manufacturer: | Nikon |
| Distributor: | Uttings Gun Company |
| Model: | Monarch |
| Format: | 6.5-20x44 with focusing objective lens, twistfocus eyepiece |
| Lens spec: | Fully multi-coated |
| Body: | 1in (25.4mm) diameter, monocoque |
| Turrets: | Target-type, click-stop, re-settable. 1/8 clicks (Spare set supplied). |
| Length: | 375mm (14.8in) |
| Weight: | 590gr (1.3lb) |
| Objective lens diameter: | 44mm (1.73in) |
| Objective bell diameter: | 53mm (2.08in) |
| Eyebell diameter: | 41mm (1.61in) |
A Nikon logo adorns the left-hand side of the turret saddle, and I was once told that there's rather more to this than meets the eye. Apparently, the italic text and underscore mean 'an emphasis on quality' and 'quality underlined'. Just a little too subtle for the likes of me but it shows the depth of thinking involved with products at this level. I bet some marketing wallah was paid stonkingly for coming up with it, too.
Glides serenely
At the front end, the adjustable objective lens glides serenely about its business in the Nikon way. While 20-times magnification isn't deemed sufficient for true optical rangefinding these days, it
does allow you to track individual pellet strikes on paper targets out to 50 yards, and beyond - even if those pellets are .177 calibre. In fact, the optics of this Nikon are so good that, with the sun hitting the 35-yard target card, I could clearly see the torn paper fibres around each pellet hole. You want pin-sharp? That's chemically sharpened pin-sharp. Inside the Monarch, a set of fully multicoated lenses are held in doublestrengthened carriers and shrouded by an 'any colour as long as it's matte-black' colour scheme to prevent reflection degrading the Nikon's image. The lens coatings exist to promote light conduction through the glass, rather than allowing it to reflect off the surface and be lost to the scope's optical system. These coating are extremely expensive - which is why the scope industry grades its products into various categories. Scopes with 'coated lenses' usually have a single coating on the outside of the objective lens. 'Fully coated' indicates that all of the lenses in the scope have been coated and 'fully multi-coated' is awarded to scopes with multiple coatings applied to all lenses. The latter category usually covers the most expensive scopes, among which is the Nikon Monarch. When you consider that the finest lens coatings can push 97% of the available light through the lenses, it's obvious why optical companies attach such importance to them. Surely, if more shooters appreciated the effect these lens coatings have on scope performance, we'd have less 'cleaning' of lenses with gritty hankies and pocket linings that could have been designed to wreck those vital lens coatings. You have been warned. I like the Nikon's duplex reticle design, although I suspect that many would prefer the mil-dot format. Mil-dots may yet be an option with this scope as the Nikon deal is finalised by Uttings, so if you're interested look out for developments. For now, let's see what happened when I clamped the Monarch to a rough old spring gun.
Integrity Department
Truth to tell, nothing much - apart from me wincing like a tart every time the old springer 'boinged' out a shot. Howard Utting had ordered a full-on test for the Nikon, and a couple of hundred shots' worth of close encounter with a dog of a spring gun should have shown up anything iffy in the integrity department. Nothing showed, snapped, went cloudy or exploded - at least as far as the scope was concerned, but i couldn't say I enjoyed this part of the test at all. Perhaps I'm spoiled these days, or, more likely, I hated to see a superior piece of hardware being bullied by a neglected, two-bob clunker.
Precision testing came next and I gratefully switched the Nikon to a more civilised rifle. 'Walking' the adjusters - clicking left, up, right, then down, to return the zero to its starting point - passed faultlessly, as did another turrent-jaunt up and down the ranges. My low-light testing showed the quality of the Monarch's dawn-to-dusk sight and one of the most versatile optics on the market today.
Passed with flying colours!
I knew that the Nikon into a mass of carp boilies and dead fish in my bait freezer was pointless, but i did it for two hours anyway, plus I jet washed it until I became bored.
Then I left it soaking in a bucket of fairly warm water overnight before leaving it to be dribbled on in our poncy water feature for the next 24 hours. All tests passed with flying colours, as far as practical testing and the pictures above can reveal, at least.
I pondered the possibilities of barbecueing it for a minute or two, but deemed that abuse for the sake of it and, like the Nikon, I'm far too classy for such things. So, I baked it with the hair drier until it was decidedly warm to the touch. It passed every test I devised and I'm sure would have come back for more, but the point had been proven - this scope can take anything a sporting life can throw at it an t still perform like a thoroughbred.
Quite simply, the Nikon Monarch 6.5-20x44 is a glorious telescopic sight. Its expensive, but quality like this can never be cheap. If you can afford to invest in one, all I can say is - you'll be incredibly glad you did.
- Article by Terry Doe, courtesy of Airgun World magazine