Nikko Platinum 3-9x40 WA PX

[deadeye]

I have been in the market for a parallax adjustable variable mag scope with a budget in the £60 region for a while now.
The plan was to find a fairly light, no frills scope for use on an HW95 mainly for hunting.
Looking through all the usual suspects in the ad's it seemed that with a lot of them in this price range you were paying for mildot or IR and I wanted my money to go on the optics in preference to extra's.

I started air gunning properly in the early 90's and my first "proper" scope was an Apollo 5* 3-9x40 WA PX.
I loved that scope but it went a long time ago when I traded my 2nd 77 in for a Titan Mohawk.(I soon went back to another 77 though but that’s another story)
With a certain sense of nostalgia then, I decided I wanted to return to an "old fashioned" 3-9x40 WA PX scope with decent optics.

Looking at the JSR advert I noticed that Ed had the Nikko Platinum 3-9x40 WA PX scopes on at £59.95.
I remembered these scopes from the mid 90's and dug out an article by Nick Jenkinson in an old copy of AGW which was lurking in the loft.
This confirmed that the Nikko had fully coated lenses and excellent optics. It's also worth noting that in 1995 these scopes retailed at the 96 quid mark.

I wavered for a moment and nearly went for the Bushnell Sportsman 4-12x40 but in the end stuck with my first choice and sent Ed payment for the Nikko.

When it arrived I was immediately struck by just how red the objective lens actually is - it really looks superb in my opinion.
Turrets are the low profile type, easily adjusted by fingers rather than coin slots.
Looking through the scope was a pleasant surprise, the image is crystal clear and very bright all through the range with a nice 30/30 reticule.
The zoom collar is reasonably stiff but smooth which is a good sign, and the same can be said of the parallax adjustment collar on the objective lens which has the distances clearly marked in both yards and meters.

Optically I would say this scope is easily on a par with my old Jap Tasco AG 2-7x32, another scope I wish I had hung onto.

So overall I'm very pleased with my purchase - it suits my requirements well and I think it was a bit of a bargain.

[cookoff013]

seconded.
i`ve got the 4-12 x 50mm version. with the ruby lense.
i`ve changed the gun its on several times. never even thought of replacing the old girl.

[ikarma70]

seconded.
i`ve got the 4-12 x 50mm version. with the ruby lense.
i`ve changed the gun its on several times. never even thought of replacing the old girl.

thirded

i have the 3.5-10x45 non p/x ruby lensed version that came with the fn19 i had over 4 years ago and its never let me down,couldn't think of selling it now

[snipperuk]

hi all ....dont want to steal the thread but a quick question..

i have just aquired a nikko stirling platinum 4-12x40 wa

not knowing a thing about scopes is this a good scope ?

optics are pin sharp and apparently early jap ones .... any info would be great

pic here

[DJP]

The Platinum range are excellent scopes - I had one for some time.

I bought mine from a very well stocked shop and the chap there said it was the best at the price. He even let me try it side-by-side with all the similar priced scopes - and he was right, it was the best.

Not long ago these were well over £100. I suspect that they're only cheap now because everyone wants mil-dot - but if that's not a concern these have got to be the bargain of the age.

[cookoff013]

it seems these little scopes are more popular than i thought. i paid 160 pounds for mine quite a while back i can recall. if i recolect it was from steve pope and the venom boys. i think it was back in 97/96 ?
who would have thought the ole girl is still ticking along..

[stevefields]

I bought one from our sponsor two months ago having read Deadeye's review and am very pleased indeed and agree with the positive comments already posted. It is optically very clear and gives good twilight performance and holds zero. It suits my HW95 balance wise very well and I recommend it to others at the £59.95 mark that is if you want a straight forward scope i.e. standard crosshairs known as 30-30 reticule. I have looked through a couple of other scopes at around the £100 mark and this seemed comparable or better IMHO so a bit of a bargain!