Review: Nikko Stirling Octa 1-8x24 LPVO

With an eight-fold range of magnification, Nikko Stirling’s Octa 1-8×24 is a compact scope that’s brilliant at short to medium ranges, and provides great value for shooters looking for a low-power variable optic (LPVO).

The Octa range is fairly new, its main bragging right being its eight-fold zoom range, just about the largest magnification ratio you can get in any rifle scope.

Nikko Stirling Octa 1-8x24 review — The Octa is a nice, compact scope. Mounted in good QR rings like this Nikko Steel Lock set, it can be remounted with the same zero

And because this is a Nikko Stirling, it doesn’t demand the large prices of other brands’ eight-fold scopes. The Octa brings you huge adjustment for a smaller outlay.

This doesn’t come at the cost of quality, either. Nikko Stirling has long proven it can make very good optics at a modest price.

The real advantage of an 8x zoom ratio is that you get both the widest possible field of view and the most up-close magnification in the one optic. It gives a scope greater versatility for shooting at short and long ranges as well as scanning a broad area before zooming in to see the details.

In the case of this scope, the 1-8×24, you can’t go wrong with it when hunting dense bush where animals could be as close as a few paces and yet it will magnify far enough to help you place accurate shots at 100, 200, 300 metres or more depending on the size of the target and your shooting skill.

However, the Octa 2-16×50 is probably the more rational choice for most of us. It’ll be almost as good at very short ranges yet far, far better for longer shots, and it’s what I’d fit to a typical bolt-action hunting rifle. There’s also a 3-24×56 option, which is a bit bigger and heavier but it would be great at even longer ranges.

When I had the Southern Cross Taipan X to review I figured it’d be the perfect match for the Octa 1-8x. The Taipan is as a rifle that’s meant to be used primarily for close, fast shooting when quick target acquisition is vital; by winding up the magnification, longer follow-up shots are then still possible as the remaining animals run further away.

Target acquisition doesn’t come any quicker than with a scope set on 1x magnification.

The Octa 1-8×24 is a compact, light scope, just 273mm long with no bell for the small objective lens. The rear bell is full-size at about 100mm long and 45mm diameter, but its size ensures a pretty wide field of view.

The 30mm main tube diameter is generous, facilitating 50 MOA adjustment for both elevation and windage.

The adjustments are in ½ MOA increments (15mm at 100m or ½” at 100yd). While we’re used to ¼ MOA adjustments, these seem coarse at first glance but, when you think about it, it’s perfectly adequate for accuracy at the ranges you’d use a 1-8x scope over. Unless, perhaps, you’re shooting mice. But that’s not what this scope’s for, of course, and besides, its parallax is set at about 100m.

The turrets are capped for protection, and they’re numbered so you can easily keep track of changes and come back to zero when it’s time. They can be reset to zero after you’ve sighted in your rifle.

The etched-glass reticle is a good one. Two wide horizontal bars come in from each side, and one from below, to draw your eye generally to the middle of the sight picture. For the central 31 MOA of view, the bars give way to narrow crosshairs; the upper vertical line is narrow all the way. These hairs don’t come to the centre, leaving a central 1 MOA dot floating there as your aiming mark. That dot can be lit up red or green on a rheostat.

It’s an uncomplicated design that naturally assists you in aiming well without having to concentrate hard, so when everything is happening quickly and your targets are on the move you can go rapidly from shot to shot. The 1 MOA dot is a good size.

Nikko Stirling 4 Dot reticle — The reticle is simple and intuitive, a perfect setup for this kind of scope and the shooting it is intended for

The gap between the ends of the crosshairs is 3.6 MOA, so even if you’re using a worn-out .30-30 lever-gun you’ll have a very good idea of the radius your shots will land in.

The Nikko’s optics are very clear, all the way to the edges where there is (and I’m trying to find fault here) a tiny hint of colour fringing; there’s certainly no edge-blur. Contrast and colour rendition well and truly pass the test. Diopter adjustment isn’t quantified but there’s plenty for my crappy eye, which tends to run out of adjustment on lesser scopes.

At 8x magnification, focus is lost on the close foreground but dialling the Octa back to the low end of the scale puts everything into sharp focus.

In low light, the small 24mm objective lens restricts light transmission on the higher magnifications, mainly because the exit pupil shrinks to 3mm at full magnification. At those times I just dialled the magnification back. At 4x the pupil is a generous 6mm and at 3x it’s larger than your own fully dilated pupil can take advantage of. Low-light performance at wide angles and close ranges is excellent.

I had the Octa mounted in Nikko Stirling’s Steel Lock quick-release rings, which attach to a Picatinny rail with levers rather than needing tools. You can whip off the scope in moments and, if you’ve got it set up well, re-fit it without losing zero. The correct setup requires you to have the mounts hard up against the back edges of the rail’s teeth, and then you must ensure you refasten them just as you had them originally.

I could remount the Octa to the Taipan without detecting any measurable change in the point of impact. I’d always check it before going out hunting again, though.

My Sauer 9.3×62 has always had a 1-4x Zeiss on top, a scope I love for all the right reasons but it does sometimes frustrate me by limiting the effective range of the rifle. This Nikko Stirling comes at less than half the price with twice the magnification range and makes me seriously question my choice. Its optical quality is so close that I’d be quibbling over the differences.

There’s not much else to say, really. The Octa 1-8×24 is a fine scope with enormous practical magnification at close to medium ranges that will make the most of just about any big game or fast-shooting rifle.

Its 8x range of magnification is about as good as you’ll get and its value is outstanding.