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.