Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Why the hate for Vortex?

The Razor HD LH 3-15x42. By no means an I Vortex fan boy, but I haven’t found better for less.

Cowboy, I have read the same things mentioned in all the above post about most all brands on numerous threads throughout the interweb. And I agree the old VariX Leupolds and Bushnell Elites bring as much as I paid for them 20 years ago. Inflation I guess.

lordy be, forget about the freaking glass. its the mechanicals you should be worried most about. The scopes job is to maintain POI and hold zero. If this is a gun you're not that concerned about, fine put a cheap scope on it. but if you spend lots of time and effort on your hobby and having a scope problem could cost you the animal of a lifetime why would you subject yourself to a blister pack class scope? call doug and ask what meoptas he has, save a couple hundred more and get a nightforce SHV. or even a SWFA ss. its your money spend it how you want.

Can't totally agree with cumminscowboy's statement "lordy be, forget about the freaking glass. its the mechanicals you should be worried most about. The scopes job is to maintain POI and hold zero." If that were the case we should all be using open sights.

Lots of scope brands work fine for the average set it and forget it hunter but the clarity, contrast and resolution in many of those brands sucks. Now a days it seems everyone thinks they're a sniper and believes twisting turrets and moving the POI 30 MILs is the only thing important in a scope. The older I get the more I've learned to appreciate European made scopes and alpha glass.

I had the Razor HD LH 2-10x42 w/ M4 reticle. That particular scope had parallax issues. I did not want to go 15X w/ side focus because that is a lot of magnification for me to use in the field and the reticle correlates to the hash marks at max zoom. The glass was excellent although the eyebox or range that it was really clear was rather short. Parallax was nearly 2 moa when really exaggerating head movement (checked at 100,200 & 300 yards). My rifle groups went from "What the heck" to "oh that's more like it" when I changed back to an older VX2 CDS. I believe if the 2-10 version had a side focus I would have been fine with it, but like other Vortex optics I have owned they have always had something that just did not work well for me. I would take a Leupold VX3i 3.5-10 CDS in the under $500 range myself.

All Vortex binoculars, most rifle scopes and spotters are now made in communist China.

They went the cheap labor market and many intelligent buyers don't like that.
I do see the young types are flipped over Vortex, I have never considered the brand, as there
are many other better choices. They offer the dips at large sporting goods stores a commission
for selling their brands, and pay stores for showcase placement.

What really cheeses me, is when I see Vortex in the same glass case as Swarovski or Zeiss.

Razor, all now made in China.

Well that sucks. Mine was made in Japan. If it goes belly up I’ll up the $ and put a Z5 on it.

are you saying the razor tactical models are made there too? that is news to me. YES glass is overrated. I use high end binos and spotters, I don't spend much time looking at my target through the riflescope. give me elite 3200 glass or burris FF2 glass and reliable mechanicals. and I am plenty happy

UPS delivered a new Razor LH yesterday which was made in Japan. I'd like to know where one can get more (set and forget) scope for $400. A Meopro would be the only thing I can think of that comes close. This is my second 1.5-8 Razor LH.

My only other Vortex is a 1-4 PST. That scope has pretty decent glass and has held zero without fail. I did resolution and low light comparisons and it performed right with VX3's and Elite 4200's. I haven't really dialed it much. I just use the reticle.

A couple forums I am on and a facebook group has this discussion regularly. Every single time someone asks the question "what scope should I use?", the Vortex fan boys always outnumber everyone with their answers of "Vortex is Great" and "their Customer service is first class".... and then they go on to explain how well they were treated when they had to send their scope, binos, spotter in for repair and how fast they got it back. Man, these guys owning Vortex are having a lot of issues judging by the number who profess to having used the "great customer service". Sounds like it is a good thing they have great customer service- they need it!

I'll stick with scopes I've had good luck with for a very long time- Leupold, Bausch & Lomb Elites and Balvars, and thinking of finally trading up a bit to Zeiss, or laterally to Doug's Meopro units to see what the fuss is about....

Bob

I don’t hate on Vortex but I do think some of their lower end stuff is overpriced junk. Unless I had some definitive data points, I would pick up the phone and talk to Doug at Camera Land and get the straight skinny on any optics. I’ve been more than happy with my purchases from CL both in terms of price and quality. Happy Trails

All the LRHS fans here are lining up to bash Bushnell for the Banner line right?

Color me shocked that $500-$1000 scopes outperform $100 scopes.

My experience with Vortex soured me. I had a 4-12 Diamond back that never held zero. I sent it in for repairs from AK. A week to the date I had a new one with a letter stating the issue with the scope was my fault. They claimed I over torqued the scope. I did not own a torque wrench, but I ordered one after that. They said I bent the housing which is a lie, as I did not even leave a ring mark on it. I went and checked all my scopes when I got the torque wrench, and I was about 2-3 inch lbs under manufacturers recommendations on alll my scopes. Maybe it being too lose did it, I don’t know. I just thought the letter was quite comical, and was Vortex’s way of not admitting a problem. I do have a 3-9 Vortex Viper still, and I don’t care for the scope. When Vortex offers 40% plus discounts on different subscription websites, that tells me their stuff is over priced.

I’ve got a friend, if you can call him that anymore, that is a Vortex fanboy. He sold all of his Nikon products about 5 years ago,and all his glass is now Vortex. He keeps telling me my Leupolds are trash, and I just laugh back at him. For someone that says he is so pro American and retired Army, most of his hunting and shooting stuff is made in China and some in Japan. Not saying some of mine isn’t either, but I don’t go around blasting others like he does either. My wife can’t stand the guy, and I’m quickly seeing her side as to why.

I think your story is common. Vortex has never made an optic at all. They are just a seller, and have companies
make them for resell. They put out the specs. and it goes to the lowest bidder, they did use some Japanese companies, but
now go to China, where the motto is "Just good enough". They don't repair anything, as they don't know how,
they just replace with another piece of cheap China junk.

You mentioned Nikon, and they have been around for over 100 years now, they do sell optics made in Japan and also
China, but they do know how to do things, and their customer service is very good.

Back in 2011 I bought a Vortex Diamondback 4-12x40 for my Yugo Mauser sporterised rifle in 8x57. It was amazingly good at low light time. However eye relief sucked big weiners. I kept hunting with it for several years and finally sent it in to see what the problem was. They sent me a new scope after 6 years. The eye relief was much improved. And it was as clear as the first one. I don't know what changed but this scope gets my approval. Yeah it's not as bright as my Leupolds but it's still a great deal for the money.

You’re spot on. If guys want $100 performance and that’s good enough for their purposes, then more power to them. The Wally scopes up to about $400 price point aren’t much different in terms of quality and value. Me, I’m not fugging up a limited hunt with questionable optics of any kind. Those are things in my control. Often there is 5 seconds of opportunity on a good elk or mule deer and that’s the difference between back straps and tag soup. Often that 5 seconds comes at first or last legal light in the Rockies. No intention of using subpar gear of any kind.
If in doubt, call Doug....

Sounds about like what I've been hearing from Leupold fanboys over the last 20 years, as well!

Amen brother, amen

This is false. They do repair some items. And they make the AMG completely in-house.