Element Nexus Gen II

Hanging around the Outdoorsmans headquarters for the last seven years, I’ve had my fair share of time behind some truly exceptional glass. Over those years, it’s quite obvious that there are 4-5 major players when it comes to top-tier glass, so anytime we catch wind of someone creeping their way into the majors, all ears perk up.

Element Optics’ rifle scopes have my attention. Their design team is composed of a handful of top competition shooters, hunters, and Swedish military veterans, providing Element Optics with decades of in-field experience in a number of different shooting disciplines. Their singular purpose in coming together was to create a better option for consumers based on their needs.

Recently, I put over 250 rounds out within a span of two days at varying distances, from 150 yards to roughly 800 yards, at a recent NRL Hunter match in Clovis, NM. It was the perfect chance to get familiar with the Nexus Gen II 4-25x50 and gather up some first impressions.

Packaging & First Impressions

I’m not one to hold too much stock in how the product is delivered–my opinion has grown to it being a waste of money and resources to deliver an unboxing "experience." That being said, the Nexus Gen II comes in a suitable box with custom-cut foam holding it in place. The rifle scope includes a throw lever, a neoprene cover, a sunshade, an aperture ring, a lens cloth, and a thread protector. That’s a pretty sweet deal compared to some brands that toss an optic in a cardboard box and call it a day.

The scope itself feels really solid in hand. It’s a 30 mm tube with a 50 mm objective and a hard-anodized finish. It has a clean profile, easy-to-read indicators, and highly textured adjustment rings that feel impossible to slip up on.

Design Features

Zero-Stop Turret

One of my favorite design features of this rifle scope is the turret. It’s responsive, it’s "clicky," it's accurate, the adjustment lines actually line up to the indicator (one of my biggest frustrations with many rifle scopes), and it's almost too easy to zero. I say almost too easy because, while it did have me stumped for a solid 10 minutes (failed to read the user’s manual and I thought I’d seen it all), once I figured it out (read a book), it was done in roughly 2.3 seconds and felt like I was missing something. But I wasn’t. It was zeroed–no tiny screws, no tools, no Rubik’s cubes–just dial, pick up the cap, and place it back down on the zero. Done. 

Once zeroed, the turret continues to shine. Like I mentioned earlier, the physical, audible, and visual feedback from adjustments is excellent. The turret features a zero-stop that goes 5 "clicks" past zero. Some shooters prefer this flexibility–for me, it was something to get used to. Something I found extremely useful was the revolution indicator. A humble little lever that flips between a ‘1’ and ‘2’ depending on whether you’ve made a full revolution or not is a massive help when making numerous adjustments between shots.

Illumination

The Nexus Gen II comes stock with a 10-step illuminated reticle easily controlled with a soft-touch rubber button located on the windage turret–useful for those early mornings or dawn shots. One thing to note: on some occasions, the required CR2032 battery will not work due to the bitter coating. You can remove the coating by licking it off, and if that doesn’t work, use rubbing alcohol. Or, be a smarter man than me and buy the non-coated version.

Eye Relief and Eye Box

Two minutes to take four shots in different positions and targets quickly makes you realize how important it is to have comfortable eye relief and a large eye box. During the match, I didn’t struggle to get right into the perfect eye position between shots, even while wearing bulky ear and eye protection. Admittedly, I don’t wear either during hunts, which I can only imagine will make getting into the sweet spot that much more of a breeze. When looking for a rifle scope, the eye box is important to me, and this rifle scope passes with flying colors.

Glass and Magnification

I found that the 4-25x range is the goldilocks zone between mid-range and long-range shooting. Never did I feel a target was out of reach, and even more importantly, I never felt completely “boxed in” at the nearer ~150 yard targets. The roughly 6x variability made for incredibly quick target acquisition after taking a shot during the match. The ability to throw the magnification down to 4x, find the target, and just right back into a comfortable 12x using the throw lever was invaluable during the match. I don’t think I need to spell out why that’s valuable for hunting scenarios.

My early impressions of the glass itself suggest that it’s clean, it’s bright, and it’s accurate. At higher magnification levels, I didn’t lose too much brightness, nor did I notice any color fringing or excessive blurriness. The glass is very solid for the price.

Conclusion

All in all, the Element Optics Nexus Gen II feels like a well-designed rifle scope; whether you’re looking for an NRL hunter-style competition, strictly hunting, or long-distance rifle scope, or you’re like me and need one rifle scope to be capable of all things, I wouldn’t hesitate to call the Nexus Gen II a smart purchase.

It’s waterproof, fogproof, shockproof, and comes with a “Platinum Lifetime Warranty”  that covers any rifle scopes damaged through normal use and requires no registration, proof of purchase, or transfer. Basically, if you have a problem, Element will fix it. I haven’t tested the warrant, but it’s worth noting. The accessories included in the box are also a point to the good–it’s the small things that add up to a good experience, and the Nexus has them covered.