Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Weaver Grand Slam or Vortex Diamondback binos?

Assuming that they are the same price, which one and why? I've heard a lot of good things about Vortex, on the other hand I've been using a Weaver Grand Slam riflescope for a few years now and have been VERY impressed with it...anyone here that has used both? How do they compare?

I hope you have better luck with vortex binos than I have... I have tried two pairs in the last couple of years and they both had problems. The first pair "Vultures" the hinge was loose and eye cups fell off. Had to send back on my dime... for there lack of Quality control!!! The second pair, "Furys" I have now, have been used one time and the rubber armor is coming off,and they feel like they have metal shavings in the focus wheel. I think I would go with the Weaver Grand Slam. Japan made VS china. Go with Japan made.

Leaning towards a 8.5x45 Grand Slam...still think I want to look over a Vortex though...

I've got a set of Diamondbacks that I bought as blems from Doug a while back. Love those things. I have beat the schitt out of them and for the money they are hard to beat. Optically superior to my Monarchs though the the Vipers do smoke them.

i have a pair of diamondbacks, and really like them for the price.

The Weaver Grand Slam for $199 is what I would get. Have had Grand Slam 3-10x40mm that was very good glass. Right now I have a Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44mm and to me the Weaver was a ton better!!!

I was thinking the same thing, got a Grand Slam on my 270, and I really like the glass in it too, I have a Super Slam on a shelf waiting patiently for my 300 Win mag, haven't used it yet, but far as I can tell the glass is incredible, so...I went ahead and ordered a set of 8.5x45 Grand Slams today, $199 and a free Blacktimber pack, sounded like a pretty good deal to me...

Let me know what you think of you new GS's as I'm thinking about ordering me a pair too....

As far as scopes go, the Grand Slam leaves the Diamondback at the starting line, as I've used both. I'm betting the binos will also favor the Weaver, but I can't say since I've never evaluated a Diamondback binocular. But, I own two Grand Slam binos, a 10.5x45 and an 8.5x45, and I find them to be only slightly below the quality of European alphas.

Test them both and decide for yourself, but I would place big money that you'll like the GS over the Diamondback.

dawaba,

In what way did the 10.5x45 fall short of the European alphas? Ergonomics? Resolution? Brightness? I have been curious to give one a try because I have been extremely impressed with my Grandslam rifle scopes.

CowboyTim,

Please let me know what you think of your binoculars or post your impressions. Where did you find the best price?

I'll let you know what I think of them when they get here, Natchez had the best price that I could find, seem to be real nice, I've bought optics from them before.

My Leicas and my neighbor's Swaro ELs just seem to have that extra bit of "pop", or brilliance, that only a few of us can truly appreciate.

Last spring, I started to write a story for DSC that I decided to abandon, as I thought it might be too techincal for the average Texan. My means was pretty crude, but this is how I tested 22 binos belonging to me, my neighbor, his son, and my brother. The evaluators were my neighbor's 28-yr-old son and myself. The binos ranged from 15x60 Docters down to Minolta 8x20s. I took a full-page ad from the local newspaper and taped it to a door at the end of a 43' long hallway in my house. The ad was from a electronics store and featured color pictures and print of various sizes and fonts. The son and I sat in a chair and tried out the binos under bright and dimmed light conditions. Naturally, our opinions varied, and we found that ergonomics played a significant role.

Of course, it isn't fair to compare a 15x binocular straight up to a 7x, but we did our best. We simply (and subjectively) tried to discern the smallest bits of writing and picture details from the advert. The ability to dim the hall lights to zero made the test more valid IMO. Now, I will agree that an indoor test doesn't quite measure up to outdoor, real-world hunting conditions, but we did the best we could.

The Docters were incredible, especially in low light, but their size and weight make them a specialized unit unsuitable for everyday use. We rated 4 binos as a tie: Leica 10x42, Swaro 10x42 EL, Nikon EDG, and B&L Discoverer 10x28. In fact, in bright light the B&L was the slight winner, so it would make a great sheep glass, or similar, where low-light performance wasn't a premium consideration.

We stuck the Zeiss Victory 10x25TP and Penatx 8x32 DCF SP just a notch below the top shelf units. Also here was my B&L Elite 7x36, which I thought belonged with the winners, but the son (with his younger eyes) thought them unworthy of alpha status.

Next, was a large herd of binos that had various plusses and minuses that that put them just a level below the top. Here we placed the Weaver Grand Slam 10.5x45 (and 8.5x45, my wife's unit), the Leitz Trinovid 10x25, Bushnell Custom Compact 7x26, Pentax 10x50 DCF WP, and a couple binos that we rated Best Buys for their value: Zen-Ray 8x43 ED2 and Olympus Magellan 10x42.

And of course, a varied bunch of binoculars, all more or less serviceable, brought up the rear. I should note that I was surprisingly disappointed in my older Zeiss 8x30B Dialyt. It lacked both resolution and brilliance; perhaps this is due to its age or maybe it just needs a good cleaning. I put the Nikon Monarchs up in the second level too (but not the son), as well a a giant older porro Nikon 10x50 (way too bulky). Without doubt, however, we both agreed that newer is better. Modern glass trumps old stuff, all things being equal.

Since the topic of this post concerns the Weaver GS, I will tell you that the son and I disagreed a bit. I love the ergonomics, especially the thumb notches on the barrels and the large focus knob; the son prefers the feel of his dad's Swaro ELs. The Weaver was able to discern the smallest print, hanging right there with the alphas (but falling just short of the Docters and Discoverers). The fringe of the FOV fell just below the performance of my Leicas, for instance, but how many of us fail to center the game animal when glassing? Perhaps on a brown bear hunt, where the hunter is glassing "grids" on the faraway hills, the fringe performance would play a role. Again subjectively (and maybe with a teaspoon of Euro bias), we felt the Weavers lacked just a smidge of the "pop" I mentioned earlier. But unless a practiced user compared them side-by-side (or in our case, top to bottom), we are certain only veteran bird-watchers would tell the difference.

One thing is for sure: a binocular is every bit as personal a choice as a wife or a vacation getaway. Try out the binocular before you buy it. Make your own choice, and above all, take your buddy's opinion with a large heaping of salt!

dawaba,

Thanks for the review. It is great to have so many binoculars to compare. Did you by any chance have the Zeiss Victory 10x42 in the line-up?

No, not the Victory 10x42, only the 10x25. But while on a muskox hunt with a buddy from Dallas, I got to try out his Victory 10x42, which was brand new at the time. I had my Leica 10x42 with me, and on comparison, we thought them equal in performance. We both learned to our mutual chagrin that it was important to hold your breath when mounting the binos to your eyes, cuz our breath froze on the eyepieces of both units almost instantly at minus 30 degrees!

dawaba, thanks.

Just a quick update, got the Grand Slams. I'll be the first to tell you that I don't know a whole lot about binos, but they seem to be really nice, sturdy, not too heavy, nice and bright in low light, very sharp, and I really like the feel of them in hand if that makes sense.

CowboyTim,

Thanks for the update.

I got the Diamondbacks for my mother awhile back to watch the animals/birds on the golf course. She loves them.

Everyone I know that has got a Vortex product has had to return it at least once.