Vortex optics experience

[ColPenguin]

I had a Viper 4-15x40 HST. Used it for three years, at the range and in the field heavily, and never had a problem with it. Had a Strike Eagle and cantilever mount bundle from a PSA sale. I barely used it and decided to switch to iron sights on my AR.

I think those value tier options like the Viper scopes are excellent options for novice and youth shooters. They both have an easy to use ballistic drop compensation reticle. I have very little time behind a hunting buddy's Diamondback rifle scope, and wouldn't buy one for myself or even a youth hunter. There is just zero reason for me personally to trust the Diamondback as a precision rifle optic for any serious pursuit that I might undertake. I think there is room at the low end of the optics market for Diamondback (budget) spotters and binoculars. I wouldn't buy a Razor spotter if 99% of my use would be at a public gun range.

I sold both my Viper and Strike Eagle scopes on eBay, because I wanted something different. Had no problems moving them for a decent used price. Chances are there is someone out there that will buy your used Vortex scope if you have one to sell.

I have a Ranger 1800. It has seen hard use and held up. I pulled apart the rubber eye piece on a cold day in the tree stand trying to wipe off the lense. Emailed them and they mailed a new rubber eye piece to replace it. There was no hassle. I didn't have to send it in for inspection. Outside of higher end laser range finding binoculars that may have more advanced software, there is not any competitive performance advantage between a $500 Sig, Leupold, or Vortex laser range finder. Not a single LRF is marketed honestly about how far it can range, it's usually about half the marketed distance.

I have no problem doing business with Vortex for certain products.

 

[chindits]

I got the early 11-33 spotter and I liked it until it failed. I didn’t like the replacement 11-33 and was going to replace it with a little kowa. However, it got moisture on the inside of the scope last year and they gave me a 13-39. I don’t think I’ll get the kowa unless I luck onto a sheep tag.

The good thing is Vortex warranty is fast and painless. I wish I could say that about Revic, 3 months later I went full refund and I’ll never go back.

 

[cottonant]

My brother in law has 3 Razor HD Gen 2's and a Gen 3 - and swears by them. He bought one of the Gen 2's used with blurry glass, sent it back to Vortex, Vortex repaired it and it's good to go.

A buddy that was a former top 25 PRS shooter swears by the Razors Gen 2's for tracking and holding up when banged around.

I recently bought my bro in law's newest Razor Gen 2 since he was buying a Gen 3. Haven't used it yet so no personal experience. We usually have 20 to 25 shooters at our club matches - probably half are Vortex Razors and some of these guys are regular PRS shooters.

 

[J.B.]

Interesting thread. Ive had 2 razor products, an 11-33 spotter and 10x42 binos. Both went in for warranty multiple times, sold the spotter. Binos are now the truck pair, just bought Zeiss sfl as main hunting pair last fall. Will see how they do.
Bro in law has a viper scope on a 7rm, never had an issue.
I really like the colour spectrum on the 10x42, more so than most binos from the big 3. Vortex roulette is real, you may get a winner, or may get a dud. No hate, but no more vortex for this guy.

 

[Predator_SD]

I’ve been using Vortex for over a decade over multiple platforms, rangefinders, and binos. Not a single problem from anything of theirs i own. Great company with great optics for any price range. Never had to warranty a single thing but it’s there if i ever need it, doubtful though.

The reason they get hate here is everyone wants “alpha” glass on this forum so they can be a cool kid if they pass another rokslider on the mountain. The ones who can’t afford $5000 binos will even buy em on a credit card with 25% interest! They don’t get any hate in the real world with guys just out huntin and not worrying what the rest of the world is doing.

I’ve been hunting all over this great country for the last 4 decades and never even heard the term “alpha” glass until i joined this here forum. Buy Vortex, use em, and tip your hat to the guy you pass on the mountain still paying his alpha binos and spotters off one monthly minimum payment at a time.

Cheers

 

[Predator_SD]

I would agree that Vortex did possibly force other companies to improve their warranties.

But you have to think, how can Vortex stay in business and stand by a “no fault” warranty policy? Pure speculation on my part but their margins have to be astronomical enough to replace items that say burned up in a fire for example. Maybe the combination of high margin, high volume sales helps?

I don’t buy on warranty alone, but there are many that do as evidenced by multiple threads on multiple forums. It almost as if they expect the product they are buying to fail.

You’d really hate to see the margins on Swaros!

 

[ddowning]

This is an interesting topic. The high end stuff is not lacking in any category except durability and zero retention. This is the same category as nearly every other manufacturers' stuff falls short in. I have had nearly every high end tactical scope vortex has made that was aimed at the prs market. To be honest, most people would not be able to tell they were losing zero. Until they failed spectacularly, the shift was .1-.3 mils. The glass was just below top tier, they tracked perfectly. Unless you know to zero off a 10-30 round group or have a legitimate 1/2 moa gun (not once in a while or most of the time, but 99% of 5 shot groups are 1/2 or under) you will not see the shift. It is there and it will make you miss. For shooting long range, especially when you pay travel, entry fees, application fees, trespass fees, time off work, they do not make sense. If you are a casual shooter they are fine.

If you want to buy a scope based on durability and zero retention there are a few manufacturers that do it. There is a whole section of this forum dedicated to that. I tried to talk some sense into the vortex engineers when I was shooting their stuff. They are the only people in the company that I talked to that didn't want to listen.

For binos, rangefinder, spotters, etc they are not top tier, but they are close with their top end line. That stuff is serviceable to good and if you break it they will replace it.

 

[Mackadoodle]

I’m not a fan. I’ve had a viper scope reticle rotate on me just after 40 rounds thru it . And not even a magnum round . I sent it back and they fought me a little on how it was being used ? Well I didn’t use it as a boat oar that’s for sure . I ended up just returning it and buying something else .
Then I had a range finder take a crap on me . Sent it back . They sent a new version of a better model. Awesome ! Got it outta the box - put the battery in- nothing couldn’t get it to work . Ended up driving to batteries plus and spending $17 on new batteries . Put them in before I even left store I was so excited . Still didn’t work . Ended up throwing it out . I’ll never buy vortex again. So much better out there

 

[Robobiss]

I have a pair of binoculars that are decent for what they are, and a rangefinder that I trust at least a little bit.

The scopes you couldn’t pay me to use. I had one that would shift 0 by .2 MILS or so every weekend from the trip from the safe to my truck and then 10 miles down the road to my parents house to shoot. Dialed like crap too, very spongy. No issues with the same rifle/mount with a SWFA.

 

[douglasfir]

I have some Viper binoculars. No issues. I really like them. I can let my kids use them with zero anxiety. If I work enough overtime this summer I'm gonna pick up some Razor UHD's.

I have no experience with their scopes.

 

[ganngus]

Own vortex fury Bino, ranger rangefinder, viper pst gen 2 (on 338LM, and two razor hd lht (on 6.5prc and 7mm prc). Never had an issue with any of them. Pleasantly happy since I have a way of being rough on both my gear and my body backcountry. Additionally, no optics company treats LE/military better in my book when it comes to discounts (if anyone is aware of a company providing better discounts, let me know…).

 

[Sawbonehunter]

I have several items from vortex as well as some other big name brands. I do not feel limited by the vortex optics in any way. I do tend to stick to their higher end products but I also worry less about carrying their stuff because their warranty is incredible and will take anything back


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[CMP70306]

Myself and my family have owned quite a few Vortex’s over the years and I can think of only a handful I’ve had to send back for Warranty.

Gen 1 PST 4-16x, lived on an M1A and my brother unscrewed the turret from the body so it needed to be returned for nitrogen purging. Sent back and repaired with no further issues

LHT 3-15, parallax didn’t work right out of the box but came in a smashed up box from Cabela’s and may have been a return. Sent back and repaired with no further issues.

Gen 2 4.5-27 - After several years living on a .300 WM it ended up with a black fleck on one of the internal lenses. It was small, unobtrusive and didn’t bother anything so when I got time I sent it in to have it cleaned, quick turn around and no issues.

I also sent back my Gen 3 1-10 though it turns out the only thing wrong with it was my eyeballs. Even still they had a quick turn around and did offer the option of tweaking the lenses in the scope to better fit what I was looking for out of the image.

The other dozen or so scopes, binoculars and spotting scopes we have haven’t had any issues.

I did have a Nightforce NX8 that got a bent turret after taking the brunt of a 12 pound smokeless muzzleloader hitting the ground. It was fixed promptly and they didn’t charge me so my experience with Nightforce CS has been positive.