Im just providing information here. I heard back from Vortex about some of my questions regarding the LHT and its durability. Overall, I was impressed at the quick response time, and the detail put into the response. His answers were on point. I would say that he did not answer all of my questions as completely as would have liked, but I got a more complete answer than I was expecting. I wish I could have the confidence in this scope that I would like, and I have yet to decide whether I will do my own durability testing as suggested, or just send it back while it is still "new". I would also like to see a company like Vortex or Leupold include some real world testing (scopes on rifles getting bumped around) into their durability testing. I get the feeling from this email that they honestly believe that the testing done in the lab with a collimator is sufficient... as I am not an optics engineer, who am I to argue with their process. I just am having a hard time reconciling what I see in Form's drop testing (where other scopes pass using similar rings and rifle setups) and what im being told from Vortex about the rigors they put their scopes through in their own durability testing. Kudos to Vortex for their willingness to stand by their product and their intent to see that their customer (me) is satisfied, even if that requires giving me a refund. I wish all companies were this responsive with their customer service.
"Thank you for reaching out! Our Razor HD LHT's (and all of our other scopes) are durability tested and impact tested and have to survive those tests for us to be able to sell them to the public. I've personally ran an LHT on my coyote hunting rifle for the past 2 years and have not lost zero once with it.
Now the test I believe you saw online (Rokslide or SnipersHide) was with an LHT being mounted on a rifle and then dropped on the ground. This "holding zero test/durability" test is invalid and highly inaccurate as you are testing an entire rifle system. Not the scope. We pulled that exact scope in here and put it through an extensive multi-directional impact test and couldn't get it to shift even a quarter of an MOA on a collimator. So all other variables excluded, the scope performed flawlessly, tracking and holding zero as it should.
When I say variables, I am talking about rings, bases, action screws, torque values on rings, any moving or mechanical part on the firearm, and even the shooter themselves. If I were to drop a rifle and it lost zero, the first thing I would do is check all of those variables and re-sight the scope in. It is very easy to blame the scope for not holding zero as it is what the shooter looks through and usually takes the blame for that issue, when many times it is one of those other variables causing the problem. We are always willing to pull a scope in that you are suspecting of not holding zero and put it through our riflescope inspection checklist, which includes tracking tests, impact tests, optical tests, etc. and see if there is anything wrong with that optic."
In a follow up email this was the response I received after I pressed for more detail on a few points.
"If a scope comes in here for not holding zero or any issue for that matter it goes to our riflescope repair team and goes through our full warranty inspection checklist. That includes image quality testing, parallax correction, multi-direction axis impact testing, turret travel & accuracy, mechanical component function, and an environmental purge & seal check. The way we test and check the tracking and holding zero ability is on a collimator. Which is an extremely precise piece of equipment (designed specifically for testing scopes) that we can see the slightest of shifts during impact testing and make sure it is tracking properly as it has either a built in MOA or MRAD scale. I can learn more and see more about how a scope functions on a collimator than I can by mounting it on a rifle and simply shooting it. There are too many variables by just mounting it on a firearm, dropping it, then shooting it. By checking the scope on a collimator we can eliminate those variables and look simply just at the optic itself. And if we can't get a zero shift out of the optic, even as small as a quarter MOA, that would tell me that something else in the myriad of variables caused the loss of zero. If there was something wrong with the scope, we would have addressed it! We aren't going to send a scope back to a customer that doesn't hold zero because we are just going to leave them frustrated and not happy with our product and be back in the same situation in a couple weeks most likely.
We'd always be happy to get you set up to send your scope in and do a multi-directional axis impact testing and if you even wanted it live fired at our range we would be more than happy to do that for you. Even if you still didn't think you'd want the scope we can always get you set up for a refund as well!
The Razor HD LHT has had resounding success in the long range and hunting communities for many years now, and in many states and countries across the world. "
.
