Another one bites the dust.....

The Vortex 4-12x showed up this afternoon and got mounted on the new RWS 34. It appears to be of high quality although it had a made in China sticker on it. Optical clarity was excellent as expected. Came with a 4" sunshade, too. Not sure how the center fire calibrated BDC reticle will work out on an airgun but better than a duplex one. Was too windy for any outside shooting today. The 34 with this scope weighs in at 9 pounds even, same as one of my off hand match (silhouette) rifles with 30x Leupold. Time will tell if I have to use that no BS VIP Vortex warranty. The replacement Nikon 3-9x EFR due in tomorrow will stay in the box for now. 

Thanks for asking. The Vortex rep emailed me with the same question yesterday! Now that is putting the customer first.

I have been giving it real workout since getting it. Now at 1250 or so shots with no issues. I have left the elevation knob alone set at 25yd. zero. The BDC reticle is still useful for airguns but a mildot like the UTG one would have been better. Reaching my 100 yd. saw blade target is easy using the point of the lower duplex post at 4X. If a prairie dog farts nearby the pellets drift off easy. There are four grain silos nearby down the road from my place. I made the mother of all lucky shots from my driveway Tuesday and hit a feral pigeon sitting on the top. I have been hassling them all summer long bouncing pellets off the tops of them scaring them off. I have to aim well over, maybe 5-6 feet or more to come close to them. A Crosman .22 found the mark and it rolled off to the ground. Hit was in back of the head. Actual distance was 162 yards. I really like it so far. Too cold for me to play with it today, 20 F with 10 mph breezes. Unless I spy another bird up there. Three PD's near the saw blade.

Good question, r1lover. It took about a single turn up in elevation and even less in windage movement to align (zero) at 25 yds. I have moved the scope in the ring set to the other 34 a couple of times now. No gross knob turning needed to get back to desired zero distance. Same adjusting history with all of the other failed scopes. I will have to rule out too close to maxed out adjustments. I am optimistic about this Vortex making the cut. Especially knowing the no BS warranty is there. The way I have been shooting it so much I had better get another two Vortek main springs on order! As mentioned I shoot HP silhouette and this RWS 34 is as close to shooting my center fire rifles in size and weight as possible. I get plenty of trigger time practice at home and it does pay off at the HP range.

..........just moments ago. 65 feet standing off hand no rest, that is my preferred stance. Single Crosman 14.3 gr. to the back of head. He should have stayed in the nest on such a cold snowy day. Yeah, I really like that Vortex so far. Of course the shot was above the bricks and went through the fence again. Hunt4Dinner, your recent video has me in the mood for squirrel dinner. It has been an honest 50 years since eating this meat last. My wife says she will try it if I prepare it. Done deal. 

1700 SHOT UPDATE:....(make that 1900 now.) (2200).. The Vortex is still holding zero perfectly. Got another 100 shots down at the 100 yd. saw blade today. Rang it about every shot off hand. Needed to reverse it for a fresh surface. Half way through a consistent size can of Crosman 14.3's, any loose ones won't even come close to hitting blade. The 25 yd. plate gets hit with these. Had dead still air, 44 F and the sun felt good on my back. I still have my Beeman leather pouch from the early 80's. Still have the older barrel on the new gun action. Nice to know this scope or a replacement like it (hope not) will always be around thanks to that Vortex warranty. Oh yeah...there was a cotton tail hiding behind that blade that I did not see. First shot hit the blade and he flew running full bore for 50 yards before stopping. That was funny.

2500 SHOT UPDATE: (2600)... Love this scope so far. Wish it had UTG style dots, though. The neighbors tossed an old 8 inch dia. SS pot in the trash. Finders, keepers......... Walked off 120 yards, set and painted it to hide the bright shiny object. Fired a bunch of 14.6 gr. HN's at it standing off hand. Clanks nice when hit. Later, some breezes caused many to drift off and miss. Gotta watch wasting good pellets on long shots in any wind.

2800 SHOT UPDATE: So far so good. I got this big boy off my neighbors roof today. About a 30 foot shot up at a 45 degree angle off hand. Hit was center chest with an HN 21 gr. Baracuda. He went back out of sight and was stopped opposite side of house DRT in the rain gutter. Had to get the ladder out for retrieval. Maybe I will just report the shot count if and when the Vortex ever fails. 

2999 and 1 SHOT UPDATE: Moments ago.....80 feet off hand off the top of my fence. Took my best available shot through the shoulder, lungs and felt pellet opposite side. Went 10 feet before expiring. HN 14.6 gr. FTT. Used a stick under it instead of a Stanley to show projectile path. The Vortex has been left at 4X and 25 yd. zero since installed. This is a great airgun scope so far. An average female fox squirrel.....no more.

Oh yes, it is still holding up perfectly with no problems so far. I am still switching it back and forth between my two 34's. 4700 shots on it so far. It is a nice day here today, I will get another 100 HN's down range to the saw blade target before the sun sets. I am very happy with it....enough to buy another one to avoid the weekly scope switching routine.



...........I went 200 more shots, it was that nice here today. 4900 shots to date. I shot a wallet group today offhand at 30 yards. Seven shots HN FTT 14.6 gr. 5.54 head size. Shot into a 1"x6" piece of hard yellow pine at 6X magnification. That Vortex really compliments the accuracy of the D34's.