It was the month of December in 2019 when the Japanese Optic giant Nikon announced its plan to get away from the riflescope market. This news really created a wave throughout the scope manufacturing world and major players in this industry were really affected by it.
Since the announcement, there has been a huge number of theories floating around as to why Nikon has decided to exit the business. We might never really even know the exact logic behind this move.
Nikon has now officially exited the riflescope industry. Their scopes were popular and well made but they are now gone for good. Only a few pieces remain here and there.
The M-308 was probably their very best scope and consumers have that question whether this legendary scope has been discontinued or not. We are going to be answering this today. But before that let us take a look at the M-308 scope itself.
Is Nikon M-308 a good quality scope?
Yes, The Nikon M-308 is a rifle scope designed from the ground up to handle all kinds of heavy-caliber rifles and providing long-range accuracy. It is fully multi-coated and it uses Nikon Sport Optics’ Clear Coat technology.
In addition, the overall light transmission in the scope is around 95% which is solid and it has high magnification during low light. The Nikon Scope also provides you with ample eye relief and it can also be used with rifles that are quite heavy. Even with the heavy scopes, the performance is not compromised.
This scope uses the tactical style turrets that can reset to zero in a moment. More on that later. Anyway, the whole scope is built properly with water and fog resistant material. It is also shockproof and it allows you to use it in a really confident manner.
Features of Nikon M-308
BDC 800 Reticle
The Nikon M-308 has a bullet drop Compensation BDC reticle. This reticle can be used with .308 ammo and it is quite great. The BDC 800 reticle is designed to get the trajectory of a .308 ammunition.
This BDC reticle is designed for the bullet drop of specific ammunition so that the shooter can get a better shot at the target.
Instant Zero-Reset Turrets
The Nikon M-308 also has a spring loaded zero-reset turrets. What these do is that they lift the spring loaded adjustment knob, you are able to rotate the new zero before reengaging the adjustment knob at zero,
This allows for really good zero reference points and it also shortens the amount of time required to make the adjustments. This system really makes everything a breeze and the spring load in this scope is impressive to use.
The turrets have also been marked here with the .308 bullet. As it is at the forefront of the design. The MOA here is great and the tactical turrets are all equipped with zero reset tech.
Quality
Japenese products have high standards and so does Nikon’s M-308. It is incredibly durable. The scope comes with nitrogen purging o-ring seals. It is made from aircraft-grade aluminum and this scope can help you out in a lot of places as well.
Comparison of Nikon M-308 and P-308 scopes
We know that the P308 is quite similar to the M-308. But they also have a lot of differences. Some of the differences that we noticed are:
- The M-308 scopes have a 30 mm tube (most of the recent model ones) as compared to the one-inch tube that you can see in the P-308.
- Most M-308 models generally have superior optical quality than the P-308 ones. The clear light transmission in the M series is just slightly better if you compare it with the P series.
- The P-308 has a magnification range that starts at 4 and goes all the way up to 16x. The M series, on the other hand, has a high range of 4-16x.
- The M Series scope has a side focus adjustment knob that can adjust focus all the way down to 50 yards while the P Series has a parallax fixed at 100 yards. There is no side focus knob in the P Series.
What this analysis shows us is that the M series is the slightly better version of the P series.
Has Nikon discontinued their Nikon M 308 scopes?
Well, the answer to that question is a definite yes. Nikon has definitely left the scope business and they have stopped the production of all their riflescope and that includes the M-308 models. But yeah, there are still some models left on the market as stock. You can definitely check them out and even buy them if you find one!