Last Month, many rumors began to surface regarding the Nikon withdrawal from the riflescope business. Claims state that once the current inventory of Nikon riflescope stock is gone, they will not manufacture replacement inventory.

According to numerous reports from retailers and vendors in the American firearms industry, Nikon will be withdrawing from the riflescope business. Nikon purportedly will continue to produce other products from its Sport Optics line including rangefinders, binoculars and spotting scopes.

Early Hints of Nikon Withdrawal

The first hints that the company would be withdrawing from the riflescope business came via the website Nikon Rumors. In a post published on November, 20th 2019, the website went on to state the following details regarding Nikon’s departure from the riflescope business:

This rumor is coming from vendors: Nikon is supposedly slashing production of some of their sport optics product lines. Apparently they’re being told that all scopes and red dots are discontinued.

I cannot confirm this rumor. Let’s see if Nikon will release an official press release.

Nikon Withdrawal

I reached out to Nikon’s marketing team to get a statement on exactly why they are exiting the riflescope market completely. I spoke with their brand strategist and he had just a few short statements about the withdrawal.

First, he was clear to point out that although Nikon is no longer producing riflescopes, the company would still honor any and all active warranties for any of their riflescopes. So if your Nikon scope kicks the bucket and is covered by their warranty policy you can still send it in for repair.

Secondly, he also mentioned that the current inventory that exists and has yet to be sold will be sold as sellthrough items, meaning that Nikon has no plans to remove them from dealer’s shelves prematurely – this should give anyone who wants one a chance to pick one up.

Lastly, he stated that the plain and simple reason for Nikon leaving the riflescope business is purely a financial one. Sales data is reflecting a net negative for the company in the riflescope market but very positive indications for their other sport optics such as spotting scopes and binoculars.

Nikon’s optical history

Nikon manufactures and sells high-performance camera lenses. This industry naturally blends well with other industry including firearms and high precision sight magnifiers such as Bomb Sights and Periscopes. The company got its start into this part of the industry during WWII when it manufactured both bombsights and pericopes for the Imperial Japanese Military.

On the one hand, the corporation could be pulling themselves out of an extremely competitive field from which they are fighting a losing battle, or they could be cutting their losses to redouble their efforts in other lucrative fields they already dominate in such as the medical and photography industries.

Nikon Withdrawal from riflescope business

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you own any Nikon riflescopes or optics? If they do indeed disappear from the market will there be a company or companies you’ll look to for replacement optics? Leave your thoughts and comments down below.