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I’m looking for a reliable lightweight optic for a couple of rifles to be used out west where shots could be longish. I know I could slap Nightforce NX 2.5 - 10s on them and be golden, but I’d like to have a little more magnification if possible.

Given the fact I want to stay light (~20 oz.), I’m ok with the fact I’m most in second focal plane territory. One scope I am considering is the Vortex HD LHT 3-15. It seems you hear very little about this scope, but the few I have asked have had zero problems with them and all have said they have tracked very well.

I’d like to ask the group for feedback, good or bad on this scope. Also, I’d ask any other suggestions you might have for a reliable hunting scope. I’d like to stay with a Mil reticle which knocks the Zeiss V4 off the list.

Thoughts?

No complaints with mine

I've been in a similar situation to you. I'm not anti-Vortex, but I've not had great luck with some of their lines. It makes me hesitant to buy a scope in this series. I also prefer miliradian scopes, which also strikes Zeiss. At this point, I'm running a Mark 6 which I'm not a fan of, but its a FFP 3-18x scope that weights 23 oz.

I was just considering similar scopes. I went NF SHV 3-10. For me, since a SFP reticle is only useful at a specific magnification, 10X seems like a more practical magnification to be fixed at than 15X.

I didn’t realize the Leupold MK 6 3-18 only weighs 23 oz. For some reason I thought it was heavier. Did you weight it, or is that advertised weight. That’s a lot of scope in 23 oz.

23 oz is advertised. I have no reason to doubt it. It is very light. Problem is they aren't reliable.

There have been several threads here on that particular vortex. I’ll see if I can find a couple. The consensus I recall was most really like them.

Here’s one.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/14749770/re-vortex-razor-hd-lht

Lots of them out there now; hopefully some who have had them a while will weigh in with longer term reviews.

No problems with mine on a 300 Win Mag for awhile now.

Thanks for that! Brain dead me should have thought of that first!

This. I've used the LHT 3-15 the last couple years without complaint. But it is a vortex product which makes me uneasy for backcountry hunts. I also have the SHV 3-10 with the MOAR reticle and like it just as well. The SHV reticle is a little thinner, but completely useable for hunting. The LHT will save you a couple of ounces as the SHV is chunky at 22oz.

Bottom line, I have more confidence in the SHV not taking a sheit when I need it most.

Your thoughts are exactly the same as mine and I’m not the kind to fiddle f ukk around. I want to do things once and get it right. And that is the reason for my thread, repetitive as it may be. If someone has had dialing / tracking / repeatability issues, I’d like to know. Same for those who are happy with their scope. I had a Bushnell LRHT sheeet the bed on me. It was mounted on my lightweight 300 Wby. Just locked it up, frozen like a chunk of Yukon River ice. But I’m a sample size of one on that, I don’t think I’ve heard of ANYONE else having issues with those scopes. Their reputation is that they are bulletproof.

There’s a lot of feedback for the bigger, 30 oz. scope crowd via PRS. A hunting scope? We’re reliant on our own experience, the experiences of friends, writer reviews (I believe Koshkin and Form to be an exception here as we get more of a User / extended use perspective), and forums such as this (Thanks Rick). That’s it. I will say Bater has provided a lot or use perspective, both in the forums and per PM.

I’m not the backcountry hunter I used to be, but I just put a deposit down on a WY Red Desert antelope hunt after 14 years of gathering points. I want my scope to work flawlessly.

I’ve got a couple NF 2.5-10 x 32 in the safe that I need to send in to get upgraded turrets installed. That or since I am a vet, I might just order an NX 2.5-10 x 42

Thanks for taking the time to post. I appreciate it.

I have 5 of them. I carried one all over Kodiak the past two years, no issues. I have one on a 7 ½# 340 Wby that has been a proven scope killer. It's going strong.
Tracking is true, glass is clear and i love the reticle. All of mine are Mil- mil

Thanks Dennis, I have no doubt you are a hard user! I’d say you just tipped the scales!

I briefly had a LHT 3-15. Did what it was supposed to, but had very few rounds through it and it was never carried in the field, so not really any substantive data points there other than initial testing.

Moved on from it because I don't care for SFP on which you have to be greater than 10X or so to have the reticle measure how it's designed; for myriad reasons, I like to be at the lowest practical X for a given shot and feel that being constrained to be at too much X can be a liability. Used a friend's 4.5-22 LHT FFP for an afternoon. It did well enough, but I wasn't a fan of the reticle. I also don't have use for anything close to 20+X on a big game rifle.

I liked them well enough that if they offer an FFP in the 3-15 variant with a reticle I like, I'll give one a try.

Otherwise, as has been stated, the NF SHV 3-10 MOAR is a nice set up as far as SFP scopes. I have several, and they've all been really rugged. I've dialed a lot on them, and they haven't skipped a beat. Not my favorite reticle, but being SFP it's very usable. I also like that, given the X range, only the center is lit; makes it very fast aiming on low X.

I have two of the , one on a 300wsm, and one on a 6.5 prc. Made at LOW great glass and so far durable . I think they are a great scope.

Nice thing about high magnification range and FFP, you can dial it up or down. So long as the low end is usable, I don't care if the top is 15 or 25x. It makes no difference. Just because its there doesn't mean you have to use it.

I have three LHTs: 4.5-22x50, 3-15x42 and 3-15x50. No issues so far. I have a lot more rounds and a lot more rough handling with the 4.5-22x50 though.

ILya

Just put a LHT mil version on a 7mm mag and both rifle and scope working well together...

Certainly the best attribute of an FFP.

Unfortunately, not all FFP reticles are optimized at the X's I most frequently like to use them on. I've found that a 3-4 zoom range, lower X FFP, such as the SWFA 3-9, the S&B Klassik 3-12, or the LRHS/LRTS 3-12, yield reticles that are, to my eyes, highly usable throughout the X range and are really great around 6-10X, which is where I usually am on big game. Of course, little extra X doesn't hurt if it's just there and you don't use it, but IME, it can come at the cost of the reticle being unusable without being lit on low X, and/or not the best in the mid X's.