Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Am I the only one that hasn't warmed up to Vortex optics? Convince me

Means neither the person administering the test nor the person taking the test know which is which.

Gotta say this post makes a lot of sense.

hey I just wanted opinions of other shooting enthusiasts as at the time I was considering ordering that tactical scope I linked in my first post.

I ended up going another direction but it seems that there are many people who felt compelled to offer opinions which is not a bad thing as others may be considering this optic.


and for what its worth I am convinced, I won't be buying them at all as along with the many negative opinions on this thread I have gotten a review from someone I know personally and I also looked at a few models at a local gun shop this week and I saw exactly what I saw before. A scope pretending to be high quality with marginal glass, eye relief that did not work for me and fantastic packaging (A+ to the marketing and product manager). Not anywhere near VX3 or zeiss glass. My opinion.

I am sorry if your panties are getting in a wad over the thread continuing.

What do you want me to do? Delete the thread? geez...

Once again I put my stock in my own eyes with a dose of JB added for support.

Maybe my eye is not discerning enough because I see the glass in the Conquests, Minox ZA5, Elite (4200), VX-3, Big Sky, and the HS LR as being very comparable.

I did have the entire ocular lens fall out of the 2x20 Crossfire pistol scope but these are the bottom of the line Vortex and Vortex fixed them for free.

Not sure what this JB is you speak of but again, You've made your opinion well known and I respect it. Everyone can like and buy what they want.

To each their own.

John Barsness. Mule Deer here at the 'Fire.

You know, well known gun scribe and valuable contributor to this forum.

He posted earlier in this thread.

ahh yes. Read his book and am a self diagnosed rifle looney.

I'm not sure what test JB did but I'm assuming a brightness test. I haven't seen the test but I gather he says it's comparable to a VX3 in that regard. It may very well be but I can tell you it's quite obvious shooting the two scopes back to back that the HS LR isn't a good optically as a VX3. Others who I shoot with have commented on the difference as well. Don't get me wrong I like the HS LR in general but the optics are what you'd expect for a scope with all those features for so little $$$. The optics aren't bad IMO, just not quite as crisp as a VX3.

Back to subjectivity and optics, but I find the opposite to be true. Everyone has their own opinion on optics, but the general consensus among those in my circle who own Viper HS and PST, and VX3 and Mk4, the Vortex glass is every bit as good as, and sometimes better, than the offerings from Leupold.

The problem with Vortex, however, is that some of their other scopes are near rubbish, and each one must be evaluated on its own merits.

No, don't think anyone wants ya to delete the thread. I think everyone with an ounce of common sense. Has figured out that you had made up your mind before you posted the topic!! So why the hell did ya ask any of us morons? After all you have recieved a much more savy review than anyone on here gave you. And both you and your advisor are 100% right. It makes perfect sense to all of us. To spend two to three times more for something. That will last the same 25 to 50 years. And will do the same thing. With very hard to notice differance. I know what I call that. But will let the rest use their imagination.



Take care, Willie

"Once again I put my stock in my own eyes with a dose of JB added for support."

^this!

A good while back I replaced a brand new 1.75-6x32 VXIII that just didn't work for me with a Vortex Viper 2-7x33. The guy I sold the VXIII to,at a good price I might add,was well satisfied with the scope. I was happy enough with the way the Viper worked for me that I bought another one before they were gone.

I'll add that wasn't the first Leupold I've had. Soon after I bought that Viper I bought a NIB M8 2.5x20 w/hvy plex here on the classifieds. LUVIN" it! In the mid 80's a used(2yrs old)Leupold 3.5-10x40AO Vari-X III was the first high quality scope I'd bought. Served yeoman's duty problem free for 20+yrs. I did send it to Leupold when the AO ring got tight whereupon they fixed it and gave the scope a good going over. Swore I'd never sell it but a youngster here needed it more than I did so...........

somehow my math doesn't add us to yours. I paid $699 for my scope and the vortex I was considering was $500. And I was honestly considering it. My god it's just a thread where I solicited advice and my mind was not made up. And if I thought this site offered nothing but advice from morons I wouldn't be on it. You seem like the type of guy that gets aggravated if anyone doesn't share your opinion. Let go of the anger man, it's not necassary. I just wanted some advice and thank you all for giving it to me.

This thread just goes on and on. I suspect that many who don't like Vortex scopes don't have them mounted and have shot 400 plus rounds when mounted. Frankly, I am happy as HeII many don't like them as that keeps the costs down for those of us who do like them.

The 6 Vipers my friends and I use are have are just over 2 years old, so the quality of early models could come into question as many have said. In the comparison of the Viper to the VariX 3, there was no deficiency seen in the glass of the Viper vs Leupold.

I think we need to attempt to keep up with the changes made in scopes to give fair evaluations. Pay your money and take your choice.

I've got a couple, but I've yet to mount any of them and use them. One of these years...

JB said in one of my threads about scopes that he was sent one for evaluation and in the course of that evaluation he decided he liked the HS LR so much that he asked to purchase it for his own stable.
I believe that means he liked the entire package enough to put his own money out to keep it.
I was leaning to the HS LR (after the scope was pointed out to me) but JB's comments pushed me over the edge to make the purchase.

Glad you like the HS LR nsaqam. They're good scopes. I'm happy with mine too.

I'm running 3 of the midway special 5-15 mil/mil HS scopes. I like the features for the price and the size and weight. One is on my 7 pound 300 wsm and is holding up well and shooting well under 1/2 moa with heavy 208 amax loads.

I think they're decent scopes but I did notice my nitrex tr2 and even an old weaver grand slam I've had for over 10 years seem to have clearer glass. I also wish the eye box on the vortex was a bit more forgiving when on the highest power. The clicks have ran true though and they've held up so I'm pretty happy with them for the $400 they ran me.

I did notice something a little weird. I moved a couple of them forward in the rings and my groups went to crap. I moved them back to the original rings centered on the scope body sections and groups shrunk again. Thought it might of been my change in cheek weld but I think I may have been clamping down the rings on a part of the scope body that was putting pressure on the erector. I've been known to clamp things tight. Just seemed like the erector wasn't always settling back to the exact same place when the rings were clamped in the wrong spot. Kind of like when your scopes at the edge of its horizontal adjustment and your dialing some vertical and things start settling wierd.

Bb

Compared to the Vortex Viper HS 4-16 X 44 lr The Vortex has 30mm tube, twice the adjustment range for $150 less. The Vortex gets me out to 1300yds, the Zeiss wouldn't make it to 1000yds without a moa base, which would add to the price of the Zeiss for me. If you want to spend more for less features to get maybe better glass, I don't know which one has the better glass, I would hope the Zeiss does. That's OK But for those that are looking for the best bang for the buck, it's why Vortex is selling alot of them.

I have a friend with one of those 4.5-14 Zeiss, next time he's in town we'll have to compare.

Thanks so much for your input. I am well aware of the range of MOA adjustment on the Zeiss. I put this on a Savage Precision Carbine 223 that I don't plan on going long with as I have several other rifles that are set up specifically for long range shooting. I was planning on a Ken Farrell base and rings no matter what and since there is no price delta between the 0MOA and the 20MOA I went ahead and with with the 20 just in case I ever decide to shoot it way out there which I doubt. I buy the Farrell stuff as I appreciate the level of precision on the machining of their product as I have their stuff on several of my long range and bench rest rifles.

I think this horse is thoroughly been beaten to a pulp and again thank you for all your feedback and as I said before when I made my decision, to each their own. There seems to be a great following for this manufacturer and equal amount of people out there that don't feel that they are all they are built up to be.

In any case here is the finished product that prompted me starting this thread. I hope to shoot it today. You wanna talk bang for your buck? Let's talk Savage Rifles. I actually posted 4 of my Savages over in the Savage collector forum yesterday as I had them out so I took some pictures. Go check them out as they have some really nice optics on them that I would love to get some feedback on.....LOL Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend.

I picked up a Viper HD 8x42 bino yesterday. I spent quite a bit of time comparing it to everything else of similar size in the case at Cabelas. To my eyes nothing was better than the Viper HD and most wont even close. Build quality and workmanship was much better than the other binos tested. Diopter and focus smooth as silk and very precise. Optically superb.