Posting for a friend that wants input. Personally my choice from Vortex must have razor stamped on it. That said what have been your experiences as far as reliability/RTZ and tracking goes?

TIA

The 2 Vipers I've owned were crap in both respects. One wouldn't hold zero so it was returned and replaced , then sold the 2nd one before ever mounting. 2nd was a hst it didn't track at all. Sent it down the road as well.

Mine has been fine nothing special optically but the 22-259 it’s on shoots tiny little groups. Son in law more recent model holding up well on his 300 Weatherby.

JUNK

I had 2 viper samples and both had right reticle travel when dialed for elevation. Not a lot but still there. Probably not enough for most to notice. RTZ isn’t a problem I see. But my testing doesn’t include recoil until it’s mounted and fired. The viper scopes are phillipene made. I prefer Japan built for dialing or US built nightforce

I will pass this on

Fotis,

I don't particularly care to get into the brand bashing but I do not understand the hype around this line.

In the past two years, I've sorted out rifles for two friends-of-friends that had burned through a ridiculous amount of ammo trying to get their rifles sighted in and were fit to be tied.
In both cases, each young hunter was convinced the rifle was to blame and I assured each that likely wasn't the case.

Each had a Vortex Viper on it - both seemingly far too much magnification/size for the rifles they sat above (Browning Micro in 7-08 and Ruger American in 6.5 Creed) - I digress.
I checked that rings/bases weren't the issue and because I had loads worked up for my own rifles in each chambering, I used my own stuff in the rifles.

I couldn't get either to track when trying to get them zeroed - it was downright laughable. In both instances, I mounted a spare 4-12 VXII and proceeded to shoot MOA groups with zero effort.

"But I spent good money on the scope" was the theme for each. IMO, they spent good money on marketing, not a product.

I have friends who won't go near a Vortex anything , and others that have 7 or 8 and love them. Three people I know had issues and had their scopes replaced ASAP.
I have also seen them shoot well out to 1,000.
Personally, I have never shot a Vortex scoped rifle lot, but I have shot them.
Cat

WOW, never heard of this chambering !!!!!!! what kind of rifle ????????

Agreed. When the largest reason someone should buy your stuff is a "replacement warrantee" that everyone seems to NEED - kinda the clue you're looking for.

The BEST warrantee is the one that's never used.

Bought one on closeout really cheap. It did what it was supposed to do dialing it in. Optically it was unimpressive. So much so that I sold it.

But, but, they're Made in Wisconsin ! (This coming from a Wisconsinite . . . . )

Know more than a handful of guys that refer to the as Vortex Wipers.

I believe in buying from the manufacturer.

I've yet to come across someone locally - be it in a store, gun club, party etc., that when I ask about "why Vortex", the answer isn't "hey, if something happens to it, they replace it".

I'm aware they offer some pretty good products on a couple of levels - and folks use (and like) them because of that. But the people that lead with the "replacement benefit" rationale generally know enough about optics and shooting to fit in a 22LR case. The latter makes up the majority in our neck of the woods.

Hammer meet nail.

I have two 6.5-20s glass is worse than a low end Weaver, much worse, I think it is about the worst image of all my scopes including some 50+ years old. I use one for working up loads and the other for Egg Shoots the dot reticle is perfect for laying in the bottom of the egg at 150.

I would never purchase a Vortex - not worth the gamble.

If I was given a Vortex, I'd sell it.

I have 3 Vortex PST's, 1x6 , 2x10 and 4x16.

The 4x16 is ~10 years old, use it on a 7.7 twist 243 win now, most of its life was spent on a 300wm.

It does hold zero and does track well as do the other two.

Not stuck on Vortex at all as I have Leupolds, Sightrons and SWFA.

I have had good performance from the PST's

interesting, I didn't realize Vortex had such mixed reviews.

I have a crossfire on one of my AR's. I don't have any reason to complain and the price was right.

I have one Vortex scope,..their 1X muzzleloader scope that has since been discontinued. I have it on a Kel-Tec SU16. It's very clear, had good eye relief and I like its fast focus feature.

I can't use red dot sights (my eyes don't like them) so I keep low power scopes on some rifles because of their quick target acquisition ability.

I like the scope just fine for the purpose intended. I especially like the fact that I paid $50 for it new when Vortex decided to discontinue them,....probably because there wasn't enough demand for scopes on muzzleloaders. Some states have goofy laws that won't allow magnified scopes to be used on muzzleloaders while deer hunting, so Vortex made a non magnified scope to accommodate that requirement. It didn't sell, so they blew them out the door at giveaway prices.

Very decent $50 rifle scope.

EVERYONES eyes are different, not sure why the Vortex hate just because they are NOT for you.

Glass quality/clarity is rarely the gist (or angst) of any discussion concerning that brand.

Because many of us have owned them and realized they are a POS. Sub-par glass AND Mechanics

I put a Vortex viper on my Sako 260. Thought I would give one a try. It was ok at best, I was a little disappointed in the glass. The illuminated reticle brightness would fluctuate, It would just get a little brighter and then get dimmer on its own with out touching the adjustment knob. There are better options out there. I replaced it with Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44. No comparison. I could have just as easily replaced it with one of my Trijicons or Burris's. Either would have been better than the Vortex imo.

They would not fix or replace the 2 vipers i had go bad, screw them

No one complains about how they look. They complain about how they work and that's not subjective but objective regardless of user. Either it tracks and RTZ or it doesn't.

#1 reason cited for using a Vortex is because of warranty and the fact that someone had a bad one and Vortex replaced it.

Vortex doesn't "warrantee" a scope because your eyes are different. They warrantee scopes that are broken. Objectively. And they do it A LOT.

I will buy the Vortex Viper 2x7 like that model prefer the BDC sadly its been dropped. Have 3 or 4 with no issues.

Had a vortex crossfire that came on a rifle scope combo deal. It was easily one of the worst scopes I have ever look at. To me it had a pink hue to the glass when you looked through it. Took it off and put a leupold on the rifle. I traded it to my gunsmith for a trigger job on the rifle.

I hate them for a myriad of reasons. Chief among them is the name. This is a Vortex. Who names their scope brand after a toilet flush? On second thought, it's a very appropriate name.

I’ve bought one Vortex product. It is long gone. Seems like overpriced junk.

I own 1 piece of vortex gear, a mount for an AR. Certified piece of crap.

The 9 is too close to the zero on my phone apparently for thumbs this fat. The “22-250” is a very accurate REM 700 heavy barrel that keeps blowing up 16 Oz water bottles at 200 yards for new shooters.

I came to this forum for a random classified, and I think I will stay for the NO BS attitude it seems everyone has here. This is the first place I have seen people publicly posting on exactly what I experienced with Vortex products. At this point in my life, I dont want to bother with sending something in for a free replacement, how about they just make the damn thing right the first time.

Don't be surprised if folks don't want to deal with an unknown, low post count noob on a firearms transaction.

The only Viper I've ever purchased had a canted reticle and got sent back to Midway. No second chances.

I've owned a couple of Viper Binos and Viper 3-9x40 scopes (also had a Diamondback scope). No issues with any, all worked as advertised. The Viper 10x42 binos provided an excellent view, very sharp and crisp. I was comparing them directly with my Swarovski 10x42 SLC's. I did not have them long enough to know about durability but they seemed solid, I'd use one no problem. The scopes were mostly lowish power bdc reticle scopes and sighted in easily and held zero. BDC kind of eliminated the need for twisting turrets so they were twisted minimally. FWIW turrets had much more positive clicks on viper than diamondback. Not VX5 quality as someone compared earlier but for a <$300 scope - totally serviceable.

I’ve heard mixed reviews on their scopes but good reviews on their binoculars, have you guys heard of many problems with binoculars? I bought my son Vortex 10x50 Diamondbacks and they are very clear and seem nice to us, 2 years old no problems yet

Vortex seems to be the dominant optics brand, on YouTube anyway. I was given a Diamondback bino for Christmas some years back, and it’s been fine, but in general I’m suspicious about any brand with a wide range of offerings running from cheap to pretty spendy. They do have good customer service if my experience with a Sparc2 is typical. Better not to need it though….

I've owned several Vortex optics and still do and only had an issue with one which was a pair of Crossfire bino's that i bought for my daughter. Vortex replaced them and sent a new upgraded pair so i can't complain about that. I currently have a pair of 10x42 Vipers that replaced a pair of 10x42 Diamondbacks that i gave to my brother and both have been very good but the Viper is a little better to me but not by much. I have a Diamondback 2x7x35 on a 22mag that has been flawless and an older model 2.5x10x44 Viper on a .308 that has also been trouble free. I had a Diamondback 3x9x40 on a 243 and i sold it with the rifle and the young man is still using it with no complaints.
I own several Leupold VX5's and the Vortex is in no way a Leupold but for the money i personally think they are good optics and i wouldn't hesitate to buy another one or recommend one to someone. All this of course is just my opinion based on my experience with Vortex products.

I was given a Vortex Viper scope that ended up on a 7STW that's eaten two Burris scopes. I was able to sight it in quickly with predictable tracking. We'll see.

Vortex is the largest sports optics company in the World and they did that by serving the entire range of customers. Comparing all levels of products including the bottom rung stuff with other top line models is hardly a fair comparison.

I have had 4 of their scopes - viper, pst, diamondback, and razor hd lh. I have not had any issues with any of them. Mechanically seem good and cs is has allot of good reviews. The glass itself is unimpressive. I hope I am not foolish enough to buy another.

When it comes to brands that market their no questions asked, lifetime warranty, particularly one with a reputation for not only replacing products, but regularly replacing said products with upgraded products, I recommend asking some questions.

The first question would be this, why would they replace it vs repairing it? It could be that they just want to make a customer happy. Or, it could be that it is just as cost effective to replace it as it is to repair it. $$$ is most always the deciding factor in business, particularly in a situation where a company has multiple options to choose from (repair vs replace) that can/will fulfill their commitment. IF for some reason the answer to the above question is that it is lower cost to replace, the next logical question to me is how can that be? How could it be, for example, lower cost to replace a complete scope vs repairing a canted reticle, or replacing an erector system that doesn’t work properly? I’ve been around manufacturing and manufactured goods my entire career. I can’t see that there would be more than one hour of assembly labor in most rifle scopes. How cheaply made (cost of scope to company) does a product have to be that it doesn’t justify spending even hour of labor, plus the cost of the defective component, to repair it vs just giving away a new one.

After coming to terms with the above, consider what type of cost vs price structure, or margins need to be in place for the above business model to be profitable. Keeping in mind that they have to cover overhead and what must be the largest marketing budget in sporting optics. Now, if a Vortex Viper 2.5-10x44 sells for $500 at Midway, and that $500 covers both Midway’s and Vortex’s profit demands, plus Vortex’s marketing, plus some margin to cover their warranty costs (to replace whatever % of them fail), etc… how much of that $500 is left to pay for the actual cost to produce the scope. $200? $100? $50? At anyone of those, it has to be made from CHEAP components.

I’ll take my chances, and my money, elsewhere.

Carry on……LOL

I'm in total agreement^^^. I have experience with 3 different Vipers. The first one my buddy bought on a really good sale. It was a first gen PST. It was supposed to be $800 and I think he bought it for half off. Total fn garbage. Would not track or hold zero and the glass was terrible. Second one was on my bosses dad's rifle. He asked me to look through it for him and it was very hard to get behind and the image was horrible. I could see the inside of the tube, which seemed strange. Again, another PST. The last one was very recently and it was one of my new buddies. He's in the local SWAT and wanted me to check out a rifle he was thinking about buying. Surprisingly that scope worked great on a big 338 Lapua magnum. That rifle shot 3/4 moa and when we took it over to the 400 yard range, it tracked fairly close. Come up was supposed to be 6 3/4 moa, but ended up being an actual of 6 moa. 3/4 MOA is 3 inches at that distance, so it was off by a little bit.. Not enough that I was going to complain. Surprised it actually held zero and the glass wasn't too bad.. Don't know what generation it was, but it looked like a first gen to me..

I helped a guy out this weekend mounted 2 Burris FF2 4.5-14x42’s on his 300 WM & daughters 30-06 that had an old Diamondback on it. She shot quite a bit better than she had the year before sighting in. Both the Vortex & his ancient Leupold were very cloudy & didn’t adjust properly.

He shot much better is probably good to 400 yards or more on elk vitals so it made a tangible difference. Goofy scopes waste a lot of time & money,

What makes you think Vortex is the only mfg. that does this?

I have two Vortex Crossfire Rimfire 2-7 power scopes and haven't had any problems with them so far. The hold zero all thru the power range .

Junk

I have an older viper (maybe 2012-2013 vintage) that has been reliable on many different rifles. Then a newer one that wouldn't hold zero on a 22. Then a few Razors that were perfect but very heavy so they went down the road.

No experience with the Viper, but I did have a Diamondback Tactical 6-24x50. Glass was acceptable considering price point. It was very dark above 16x or so and had a tight eye box. It tracked and held zero. I have no need for a zero stop and usually don’t twist more than 10 mils of elevation. Again no complaints given the price. With that, there are better choices out there. I not a fan of their reticles either, especially for hunting.

Stick around. There’s a lot of GREAT knowledge on here, if you can deal with some of the personalities behind it.

Damn! If Vortex optics were as bad as most of these posts suggest they would have gone out of business years ago. I have owned several (including 4 Vortex rifle scopes) and believe it or not I have not even sent one Vortex scope back for any issues, they dont track great but neither do my Leupold VX3's and the Viper glass to my eyes is also on par with the Vx3's....But I have seen many Leupold bashing threads on this site too and I have owned several dozen of those over the years and only had to send one back in for repair and I got excellent CS from Leupold 👍....Hb

Several years ago Vortex became the largest Sports Optics company in the World and have since opened lots of space behind them... lots of sour grapes, poseurs, and haters since. And Vortex just continues to grow itself. Everybody either wants to be Vortex or hates because they cannot.

I don’t think Vortex is the only one. Perhaps they are the most prominent one though.

Vortex is larger (Annual Revenue) than the rest combined... and then some.

The Razor HD lines of Vortex are good quality, but very heavy for what they are. The Crossfire, Diamondback, Viper HST, PST, and the others don't seem to be anything I'd hang my hat on.

The best warranty is the one you never have to use.

Link?

Vortex sells a lot of low end crap to people who don’t know better.

Some of their stuff is pretty good for the price. I have two of their Razor spotters.

But a spotter doesn’t have to hold zero or track.

Keep in mind a good portion of the hunting population (>50%?) couldn’t accurately tell you the size of groups their rifle shoots and where the POI is in relation to the POA.

I hunted with a viper for 5 years. It was returned to the factory for warranty issues 6 months in. Twice the eyepiece came loose and fell out.

As far as image goes, It was functional for picking out animals but was poor for viewing detail. It was hard to count tines on mule deer at over 400 yards against a snow background. Anything over 30 power was grainy.

Ive since upgraded. I recommend you avoid my mistake and buy better in the first instance. Talk to Doug or another dealer as there are several scopes in the same price range that are of higher quality.

From a business standpoint, good for them. They squeezed in a crowded market and took over. However, market share doesn't have a direct correlation to ruggedness, dependability, quality, or any other metric by which you would judge an optic. You don't generally go to Walmart because you want the very best of something in a category.

They've made (marketed) some good models and they've offered some duds. I had 2 Razors. Both worked fine for the short times I had them; I ultimately moved on because I didn't care for the reticles. I'd try a Razor again if they offer a configuration that I like. Just the same, I personally know quite a few folks that don't shoot or hunt that often that had to send back lower tiered Vortex products due to failure. There's a reason they are so widely known for their great warrantee, and it's not just because they have a lot of market share.

Vortex found the sweet spot. Their price point is lower on top of the line & above average performers that appeal to the audience here. Their budget line is above crap level & if it breaks you get a new one.

They aren’t the snobby big 3 from Europe but they aren’t $29 blister pack Tasco junk either. They have hunters who know their cousin the former sniper uses a Vortex to shoot PRS matches. They trust their Diamondback is a quality product because it has a lifetime warranty. For a box a year sit in the deer stand hunter they are right - if it sights in it’s going to work trouble free for years.

Good post. Succinctly and accurately frames the situation.

You know they gotta be spending piles of cash on marketing merch; you see it everywhere.

for me the jury is out on a Vortex yet ? i had one Vortex come in on trade in i sold the Vortex and kept the rifle. i have sighted in a couple of rifles for customer`s rifles , these Vortex scopes seem ok ? i like Nightforce scopes much better myself so that`s what`s on my hunting rifles and my bench rifles they always work right and hold zero. maybe some of us spend to much money on hunting equipment , but i don`t want my scope to fail me ever so i pay more for quality on guns ,scopes and my reloading equipment its a better investment for my family and myself`s fun times.

I have had a Viper PST II 5-25x50 FFP EBR 2c Mil reticle on a 300PRC Christensen MPR with a 45 MOA rail shooting 230 grain Atip match bullets in ADC brass out to 2000 yds for the last 2 years (208 rounds fired). The only flaw I have found is the parallax adjustment beyond about 1700 yards is not correct. It always returns to the same zero and the windage also returns to zero with no problems. Both the gun and scope are a first attempt at long range target shooting and I'd say we (my son and I) have been very happy and learned enough from both of them to consider moving up to a real 375 Cheytac rifle and Nightforce scope. If only money grew on trees....

We also have a Vortex Fury HD range finding binocular that has been excellent and durable the last 2 years.

Do you, by chance, like Viking food?

I have a 4-16x50 viper on a old 30-06, about the same quality of glass as a VXII. Mine tracks fine, I'm not disappointed for a cheap scope. But that's a sample size of one.

I only have one Vortex scope, a 1-6x24 Razor HD Gen 2E that is on an AR-15 I shoot in competition. It's a very good scope and has held up well for several years in competition. I know that this model is the most popular scope for 3 gun shooters. In 3 gun, scopes get beat up some because the shooters are moving fast and often throw their rifles into dump boxes during a stage. This is probably a tougher environment than the use by most hunters. These scopes have to be pretty durable to function well under those conditions. But they are expensive scopes at almost $2000 currently.

I think I can say that this model has been well tested and found to perform well. However, Vortex makes many other models at many price points and each of these scopes would have to be evaluated separately. I think the answer to the question how good Vortex scopes are is probably: "it depends."

Like the 4 or 5 I have... 4 x 16 and 6 x 24. Would buy another....

Yes Paul, I do like Viking food as I am of Scandinavian ancestry.

I have a 6-24 Viper PST on a 6.5 Creedmoor that I’ve dialed quite a bit. Tracking has been spot on and the adjustments are positive. Glass is unimpressive and I wouldn’t put it on a hunting rifle, but it’s working well for targets.

I think replacing the scope is to make the customer happy. It doesn't just make them happy because they are getting a brand new scope, possibly even an upgrade but also keeps the customer from having to wait on the repairs. There are plenty of nightmares out on the internet about poor CS from scope manufacturers. From the very get go, vortex has been about customer support. When they first started appearing on the market, everyone was talking about their great customer support and how it was the best CS in the industry. It has helped them a great deal with sales. I know I bought their scopes because of all of the hype. I mentioned before that I am not all that impressed with the glass but they seem to be solid scopes. I have had 4, none of which ever had to be sent back. As for their cost, I think if the scope is repairable, they repair it and sell it as refurbished. There is a website aaoptics that sells refurbished vortex scopes. Also, how many scopes get sent back? If its low percentage compared to sales then replacing a defective scope with a new one is no big deal.

I am with you as far as taking my money elsewhere simply because in my opinion the quality of the glass itself does not compete with other scopes in the same price range.

Spot on! Vortex is singing the praises of their warranty, rather than focusing on build quality.

I'm currently in S.Africa and Vortex is huge down here, especially at the retail stores. They push Vortex...hard. When I had the conversation about being from the U.S. and that we view Vortex as a mid-low shelf brand because they frequently need replacing through warranty, the sales manager gave me a puzzled look and asked "what's wrong with that - you're getting another scope free". Yeah, except the scope probably failed during my hunt and ruined said hunt. "Oh, yes, I see."

I'll buy from optics companies with bulletproof warranties who don't have quality issues. Vortex is NOT on that list.