Whats the best of Vortex?

[Duh]

Seems like there's love or hate for Vortex and not much in between. For me, I may have just had some bad luck. I can say that about other top company's stuff too.

I have a love hate with vortex. Love the razor LHT Gen 1 scope I have but absolutely hate the gen 1 PST viper scope, with the shim system.

The 1300 range finder wouldn’t work in snow conditions or heavy rain.

Like most companies, some of their stuff works great and other items suck.

 

[Time2fish]

Alpha comparison I can’t speak on. The Japanese viper 12x50’s I have are great for the money. Good color, nice depth of focus, and lighter weight than most. I reach for my maven b6 10x50’s a bit more due to better low light performance at over 2 times the price. I also have the 3x15 lht and really like it. Took a big spill this last season and the scope held zero just fine.

 

[pacoalcracker]

you get exactly what you pay for...period.

 

[Peakbagger46]

I’m assigned to a rural patrol position out west with a midsized agency. The issued optic for my job is a 1-8 Chinese made Vortex LPVO (had to turn in my Aimpoint that I was issued as an in-town cop).

So far it’s been OK but due to previous Vortex failures I don’t trust it. Illumination isn’t daylight bright and the glass isn’t great either.

Oh, and I was issued a “nice pair” of Vortex binos which I promptly replaced with my personal Swaros. Thankfully I use the binos every shift and the scope almost never (knock on wood).

I’m open to a Vortex rangefinder though, one occasion where warranty may be more important than quality due to electronics being involved. If it breaks during a hunt I’ll just work on getting closer.

 

[grfox92]

I have two friends who work for one of the top custom rifle companies in the country. They do a lot of R&D and testing and they both have separately told me that the Strike Eage line from Vortex is a very good scope and in a class of its own above their other models.

I've never used one, and won't buy one. But for both of them to have said it, and one is an engineer, I would imagine there is some truth to it.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[Beetroot]

Vortex has a lot of models in a lot of price ranges.
Their lower end stuff is kinda garbage, the HST line was not bad when it first came out but is pretty lacking now, Anything above the HST is ok IMO and worth considering.

I really like the PST Gen 2 scopes and some of the PST Gen 1 models, the new Strike Eagle scopes are good value for money (not tried the LVPOs though). The Razor Gen1, Gen2, Gen3 are all reported to be very good, the Gen2 especially has quite a cult following for great value for money, they are just ridiculously heavy.

The LHT scopes have a bad reputation here but get a lot of love on other forums, personally they don’t appeal to me so I’ve never tried one.

 

[scattergun]

Alpha? No, but I will say that they're pretty hard to beat when it comes to value for money on the lower-range stuff. While I don't fully trust their scopes, Diamondback HD binoculars are insanely good bang for buck, and for what I paid for my Viper HD spotter, I really can't complain.

 

[bruceleroy]

It is well known, or so I thought, that insiders within the optics industry have divulged the return rates for most major brands are pretty much the same across the board. All of them.

The question in my mind then becomes who will fix their stuff or replace it the best. That answer seems to be Vortex and Burris with a commanding lead over almost all of them.

I do not feel comfortable with 5 year electronic warranties or any other variation.

I do not currently own a vortex scope. I do own a Razor range finder that has been stellar. I also own a pair of Diamondback HD binos @ 8x for archery hunting that have been amazing as mentioned a few times before. I actually settled on these after returning some other brands that cost 2 to 3 times more. I did not feel that the return was worth the price.

I think the entire scope industry is propelled by people that settle (quietly) for a scope with a sub standard set of features or reticle so they can be seen with it mixed with marketing hype and the last third of awesome optics. You have to admit there are some awesome scopes with great names on their body with absolute shit features or reticles. Some do not dial well, return to zero consistently, have issues with parallax....the list can go on and on. It would be the same list for cheaper scopes.

My ONLY defense of Vortex scopes is that their reticles are pretty good, they have a large offering at various price points, and as long as you dont lose it you can send it in.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I’m assigned to a rural patrol position out west with a midsized agency. The issued optic for my job is a 1-8 Chinese made Vortex LPVO (had to turn in my Aimpoint that I was issued as an in-town cop).

So far it’s been OK but due to previous Vortex failures I don’t trust it. Illumination isn’t daylight bright and the glass isn’t great either.

Oh, and I was issued a “nice pair” of Vortex binos which I promptly replaced with my personal Swaros. Thankfully I use the binos every shift and the scope almost never (knock on wood).

I’m open to a Vortex rangefinder though, one occasion where warranty may be more important than quality due to electronics being involved. If it breaks during a hunt I’ll just work on getting closer.

A lot of agencies would do well to hire @Formidilosus to tell them how a scope actually performs and functions and then buy those a scopes…

 

[nphunter]

I've been running a ton of Vortex off and on for over 10yrs and have nothing at all negative to say out any of their products.

IMO they have great optics, I put a 5-15 HST on my 280AI over 8yrs ago, sighted it in to 1K and have not touched the sight since. That rifle has killed a dozen animals since building it and has been dragged around for hundreds of miles on the back of my pack and has been dropped more than once. Most of the hunting has been done by my wife and kids so it's all be 300yds and closer, decided to stretch it out for the cold bore challenge and was able to ring a 8" plate at 600 yards on day 2, day one I accidentally dialed backward with my windage otherwise it would have also been on target. I really don't know what else you can ask for out of a scope unless you are shooting steel at ELR for a living.

As far as other optics, I have 5 pairs of Viper HD binos in my crews work trucks, I have one in mine also 10yrs old, I have a set of Razor 10x42's, have a Viper HD 80mm scope and had a Razor 65mm scope, my son also has a pair of diamondbacks he won at an archery shoot. I have a Razor 4K range finder and a skyline and SS tripod as well. Out of all of these products, the only thing I've had to reach out to Vortex for is a neoprene case for the Razor and the adapter plates for the pan head on the tripod. Since the Skyline is no longer in production I couldn't find baseplates any longer, vortex sent me a handful for free.

I've had 3 range finders have electrical issues in the past 10yrs and none were vortex, I was offered a 40% discount from the other companies on an upgraded set. I decided I didn't want to keep replacing them so I opted to buy the Razor 4K, it has been the best range finder I've used and has great glass, functions perfectly and quickly and has a lifetime warranty on the electronics.

As far as quality compared to Alpha glass IMO anything under 10X they do just fine for hunting, my hunting partner has NL's and while they are obviously better they really offer no advantage in the field while hunting, the picture is much better but the Razor is good as well. The high end glass has great clarity all the way to the edge while the Razor is lacking on the last 10% or so on the outside of the view. This is comparing them to the best bino on the market, even when sharing the NL's I didn't feel and still don't feel like the Razors are leaving me wanting for more.

Now when it comes to spotters I think Alpha glass really stands out, the Razor is a great spotter for most people and served me great for a long time, during good glassing conditions it is awesome but during less than optimal conditions it falls off quickly.

I will say for the cost of a used Razor bino or Spotter they are very hard to beat. Optically they do a really good job for most hunting situations. IMO the Razor binos are a great size/quality bino, a lot of the higher-end glass comes at a pretty heavy weight penalty as well. The only bino's that can optically beat the Vortex Razor in build quality and glass quality in the same (market) price range ($6-$700) is the Meostars, but the Meostars are significantly heavier and for me were not worth the weight for the small gain in edge to edge clarity.

I think a bunch of the vortex hate is unwarranted and there is a ton of people speaking poorly without actually experiencing the glass for themselves.


The current optics that I use while hunting/scouting are:

Razor HD 10x42's
Meostar S2 Spotter
Meostar 15x16 Binos
(Swaro ATC in route)
Razor 4K Range Finder

Tripod's
Vortex Skyline (Best all-around tripod I've used)
Sirui T024KS-VA-5 (Awesome lightweight setup)
Sirui VA-5 custom window mount

Scopes are mostly Leopold with a couple of Vortex,

 

[brandon.lee]

Do they make anything that is actually good and reliable and can compete with the Alpha companies?

Average enough to get by on a budget. People buy cheaper stuff that’s not really worth anything in use.

 

[JGRaider]

Vortex is the only optic I'll consider if I need electronics of any kind. The Fury HD AB's ballistic interface and performance, including the RF, runs circles around the 3 Leica's I attempted to use (Leica's CS still sucks). Yes, leica optics are superior, but the Fury AB will get you to, and beyond legal shooting, and you don't have to pay extra for getting a ballistic readout past 800 yds.......another Leica characteristic that is an absolute joke considering what they cost.

 

[Gone4Days]

Vortex is the only optic I'll consider if I need electronics of any kind. The Fury HD AB's ballistic interface and performance, including the RF, runs circles around the 3 Leica's I attempted to use (Leica's CS still sucks). Yes, leica optics are superior, but the Fury AB will get you to, and beyond legal shooting, and you don't have to pay extra for getting a ballistic readout past 800 yds.......another Leica characteristic that is an absolute joke considering what they cost.

I’ve had the exact opposite experience between Vortex and Leica rangefinding capabilities.

 

[CobraChicken]

Only experience long term I have is a diamondback tactical 4 x 16 x 44. Sits on top a weatherby 300. Had it on the rifle since 2015/16 ish. Hunted every year with it. My leupold on my 6.5 prc is def more clear but I've never had to warranty the vortex and its never let me down unless I don't watch turret movement in my gunbearer sling rubbing my pack belt due to no locking turrets.

Only other binos I had from them were diamondback 10x42. Liked the Alpines from leupold better so I run those

 

[prairieboy]

I’ve had the exact opposite experience between Vortex and Leica rangefinding capabilities.

comparing what model to what? the vortex 4000 is nobodys fool. and i dont even own one.

i have a nikon black 4k and it goes neck to neck with a leica 2700 ranging wise, not glass wise. the vortex 4000 will out do both ranging wise. the nikon does what i need and then some so I will use it till it croaks. Then i will replace it with a high end vortex model just cause of the warrenty.

 

[chutinlead]

I've got rid of all my vortex rifles scopes, but all my other glass is Vortex. I had a few issues with the scopes not holding zero, but you can't go wrong with their razor line of rangefinder, binos, and spotters especially at 50% off of MSRP.

I hesitated for awhile on their fury RF binos, but after just one trip out shooting prairie dogs with the AB model, I'm sold. I'll take the slight step down in glass to have a shooting solution that quick in one device.

 

[domino.mzr]

The Razor 1-6x is probably their best product with regard to reliability and being competitive in the market.

I second this. The gen 2-E 1-6 has been worth its weight in gold.

 

[JCamp805]

Do they make anything that is actually good and reliable and can compete with the Alpha companies?

I’ve tested a few of their products. I ended up sticking with a pair of 10x50 binos but returned one of their “lower end” spotting scopes.

 

[Reed104R]

You get what you pay for in this business, which includes Vortex. Their current Razor line is outstanding.

 

[mckbcat2000]

I have 2 scopes, Razor HD Gen 2 4.5-27x56 models, that have been of excellent service on my 2 smokeless muzzleloaders. Those guns are both sending 325 grain bullets in the neighborhood of 3,000 FPS so the recoil isn't routine whatsoever. No complaints so far. I also have a PST Gen 2 on my AR 15 that is fantastic so far.