The Nikko Stirling Diamond FFP was my first FFP scope as I was under a tight budget and needed something to get my feet wet in the subject.
We are going to discuss the Diamond FFP 6-24×50 with the Skeleton HMD Reticle.
Lets start off with the pros. First thing that always comes to mind is the price I bought it on sale and got the scope for around 400$ which at the time was pretty good as not many scopes fit the price range with all the features you could want. Illuminated reticle, 30mm tube, 6-24 magnification, adjustable parallax and a lifetime warranty. Basically all the things you want from a full featured scope within a budget. Which is perfect for something like PRS or NRL22 which is what it was purchased for. The warranty is top notch and works flawlessly.
Now onto the cons. The first one obviously had dust on the reticle and as all warranty processes do it took time to ship the scope to the distributor and have them ship me a new one after looking at it. This of course happened during spring bear hunting season which is always annoying.
The parallax as with allot of scopes isn’t the best and doesn’t always line up perfectly with the gradations and you have to play with it a little bit to get it to properly balance.
The markings on both turrets doesn’t line up and can get worse if you reset the zero on your elevation turret. Turrets do give an audible click but the feel is rather mushy compared to other scopes and can be a little on the quite side.
Review/Testing of the Optic.
Three things that are most important to me, Clarity, Tracking and Eye relief.
Clarity: So to be fair this is an affordable optic so don’t expect HD or ED glass cause that’s not going to happen. It is clear at least on the second one I got with zero issues at lower magnifications. At full magnification this is definitely a budget option. If you are shooting tiny targets further than 100 yards I wouldn’t recommend it. Just does not have the glass quality to be super clear at further distances for targets of the 1 inch or 2 inch size.
Eye Relief: On the website it says 90mm on high and low power. I don’t think that’s one hundred percent true as its way more finicky at full power then at low power an on heavy magnum rifles feels awfully close to getting scoped if you don’t have the rifle shouldered properly.
Tracking: So far in the couple tests I have done it seems to track fairly well. I personally use mil grid targets and start in the center zeroed at 50 yards then do a 5×5 all the way around.(.5 mil up, .5 mil left, .5 mil down, .5mil down, .5mil right, .5mil right, .5mil up, .5mil up, .5mil left and .5mil down) taking a single shot at each point. Then a 10×10 which is 1.0 mil in the same order. Recording impacts along the way. I do this mostly with a 22lr as ammo is cheaper.
Based on my testing the rifle performed well and returned to is zero spot after all the turret work without issue.
Final Conclusion.
If you’re looking to get into long rang plinking or shooting and are on a budget this is a perfectly good option. I would advise staying around the 20x power but you may have better luck than me.
For around $450.00 Canadian this is an optic that you can work with that will get you into the game no issues or if you just want higher magnification for a 22 plinker then its perfectly at home doing that. The illuminated reticle is great for the early hours and later hours if your after some varmints.
I hope you enjoy your next range trip and remember to always practice safe muzzle control.
Cheers,
B
B & R Photography 
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