Rifle Optics

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Cousin bought a new rifle & asked me about Vottex scopes .

I have no direct experience with them . However , I can not remember hearing any thing bad about them .

Advice ?
 
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I'm happy with my Vortex RDS. No experience with their scopes, though. They get good ratings at OpticsPlanet.
 
Their inexpensive scopes can be problematic. Their Razor lineup is generally excellent however. I'd buy a Leupold over a lower-tier Vortex.
 
He sent me a link to it on midway $399 .

I advised him to compare it to a $400 Leupold .

I have 2 Leupolds & 1 Full Field II , purchased back when you could buy , name brand . used scopes on ebay , for a decent price .

The Burris was from when they still built them in the USA .
 
Not sure what his budget is, but the Leupold VX3i LRP is an incredible bargain. I have it on my .308 have have been extremely impressed with it.
 
Votex optics have always gotten good reviews from the fellas in my circle that take long distance, target shooting seriously. I've personally never owned one but hear great things and this comes from guys using $3-4K Nightforce and Schmidt&Bender stuff...
 
I have a "non-USA" Burris on my Mini-14, I think it was only $150 used (new around $300+) and I'm satisfied with it.

I'd also look at getting a Leupold, as well.
 
Originally Posted by racin4ds
Votex optics have always gotten good reviews from the fellas in my circle that take long distance, target shooting seriously. I've personally never owned one but hear great things and this comes from guys using $3-4K Nightforce and Schmidt&Bender stuff...


I have the Vortex Gen II Razor HD, which cost me in Canadian pesos, over 4 grand. ($3700CDN + 13% HST). It's an excellent scope, and is reviewed as being an excellent scope. It is manufactured in Japan, has Japanese glass. It came highly recommended by my rifle manufacturer, CADEX Defence, who uses that scope on their demo rifle.

However

The lower tier Vortex scopes are NOT made in Japan and have been known to suffer spotty quality because of it. Go to any dedicated shooting forum and you'll find that by and large the most problematic scopes in the lower price range are Vortex. Hence my earlier qualifier in the thread. If you are looking at their high-end stuff, they are excellent, however quality seems to suffer on their lower price range products from what I've seen and that would in turn steer me toward a brand like Leupold where you'll find a US-made scope that might be a little lighter on features but will hold up better in service.
 
Also think about the retical and your intended purpose, a dual x or duplex cross hair is not for target work!

The retical can either be FFP or SFP and that effects your use of mil-dot, MOA to do your holdovers to a far off target.

Without some thought on these issues could be unhappy with any buy....
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
Cousin bought a new rifle & asked me about Vottex scopes .

I have no direct experience with them . However , I can not remember hearing any thing bad about them .

Advice ?


Junk everyone I know that bought that scope had issues with it. Cry once and buy a Léupold!
 
I purchased a Sig Sauer Whiskey3 2-7X32mm scope recently to better fit a rifle that was overscoped with a Leupold Vari-X IIC 3-9X50mm that could not be focused (currently being repaired at Leupold's facility). I comparison shopped quite a bit and found the Sig Sauer a better fit for my needs than Vortex. YMMV.

PM me if interested in the Leupold when it comes back.
 
I bought my first AR-15 a while back, and a friend who's pretty big into 3-gun competitive shooting recommended to me the Burris RT-6. Its a 1-6x24 variable-power scope with an illuminated reticle. The 1x setting is great for close-in stuff - almost like a red dot sight. The farthest I've reached out with it is around 300 yards, and it was a cinch to ring steel plates at that distance.

Very clear glass. Made in the Philippines. I paid around $275 from SportOptics.com.

Great all-around, do-it-all rifle scope.
 
I've got the Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8 on my DPMS .308. I like it a lot. It retails for $500, but is commonly available for $400.

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-strike-eagle-1-8x24-riflescope-ar-bdc-reticle

Very clear. I like the quick-acquisition reticle. I've not used it at any longer range than 100 yards, but the BDC* is set up for out to 600 yards.



*The BDC is calibrated for a 5.56, not my .308, but it works if you know the conversion ranges. I would've liked the Leupold that had a .308 ballistics scale, but it was about 3 times the price of the Strike Eagle (which I got for a great price, about $300, new).
 
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Originally Posted by Astro14
I've got the Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8 on my DPMS .308. I like it a lot. It retails for $500, but is commonly available for $400.

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-strike-eagle-1-8x24-riflescope-ar-bdc-reticle

Very clear. I like the quick-acquisition reticle. I've not used it at any longer range than 100 yards, but the BDC* is set up for out to 600 yards.



*The BDC is calibrated for a 5.56, not my .308, but it works if you know the conversion ranges. I would've liked the Leupold that had a .308 ballistics scale, but it was about 3 times the price of the Strike Eagle (which I got for a great price, about $300, new).



Well tell me in 40 years if your Vortex Strike Eagle is still working my 40 year old Léupold still works flawlessly and holds zero. Oh and still has its lifetime warranty.
 
Well - If I am here in 40 years, I'll be 95 and consider that a great gift.

Doubt I'll care how the optics are on that rifle...

But if your point is that a Leupold is better than the Strike Eagle, I agree. I had my eye on a couple of Leupold scopes, with an illuminated reticle.

Every single one of them was over $1,000. Out of my budget for that rifle. I was OK with iron sights. I got the Strike Eagle for $300.
 
Vortex offers a lifetime warranty with their optics.

http://vortexoptics.com/content/vip_warranty

So does Sig Sauer.

https://www.sigsauer.com/support/warranty/

So does another company whose scopes I own, Konus, if purchased in North America or South America.

http://www.konus.com/us/Catalogue/Hunting-and-shooting/Riflescopes/Hunting/KONUSPRO-PLUS-3-12x50/

I'd put any one of these recently manufactured scopes up against the optical quality of a Leupold constructed 45 years sgo with the advances in optical coatings over the years. Heck, even 30 years ago, and maybe 20 years ago.

If my heirs decide to continue to own my firearms after I pass away instead of liquidating them, I suspect further advances in optical technology will have the same effect: anything still functioning I currently own including my two Leupold scopes will only fetch a good price on some collector / vintage optics market due to no doubt continuing technology advances, much like an original Bakelite cased rotary dial SWB telephone today. Electronic HUD's may be de riguer at that point, who knows?

My understanding is Leupold does use some imported components in their scopes these days FWIW, but they're still manufactured in USA in accordance with COO rules.
 
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Originally Posted by Nyogtha
Vortex offers a lifetime warranty with their optics.


Yes and I know a guy at my Gun Club that's on his fifth replacement for his one and only Vortex.

They seem to have a great warranty and honor it their scope just isn't worth Shinola!
 
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Nikon has a lifetime warranty limited to the original purchaser which to me has little value compared to much of their competition IMO. I bought a .25-06 with an original Nikon Buckmaster 3-9X 50 mounted (not Buckmaster II). A nice scope but when the time comes that something fails on it, I'm positive repair cost will exceed equivalent replacement cost, especially since Nikon requires $20 be included in the package when you send them a scope for return shipping to the owner regardless of warranty status.
 
Leupold was always the "go to" scope for most all applications. Today that is not the case. There is some very good glass coming from Bushnell, Vortex, Burris, and many other outfits today. Many at a fraction of the cost, with similar or better guarantees than Leupold offers. Leupold makes a fine scope, no question about it. But they're not the only one's on the block who do any longer.
 
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