New to me,hunters blasting Vortex scopes

I had a Vortex Viper FFP, 4 x 25 x 50 (I think?) HSLR that was excellent. Extremely clear, bright optic with a good tree reticle. It's only downfall, for me, was that the numbers on the power setting were very small and tough to read in low light. It was actually too much scope for an air rifle so I sold it to a PB guy. He's using it on his 22.250 and loves it. The scope was selling for just under $1K when I purchased it in 2019, it has gone up since then.

mike

For the same money as the Vortex Viper PST yes I think there are scopes just as good if not better such as Athlon Midas Tac HD and the Athlon Ares ETR. As for as the price range of a Razor Gen II I’d say no. It’s pretty easy to get a new Razor for sub $1800 and in that price range it’s pretty tough to beat. It’s got good glass, tracks and is built like a tank. 

The RAZR is a very good scope For the money, as long as you are not paying MSRP. For the other models, there is more competition at similar quality and price. The PST is a good scope too. The Razr isn’t a great scope for us as airgunners due to the longer focus, but it is great for powder burners. It is also a brick!

At $1600, the RAZR has been a great buy. If you wanted a Vortex, you better see your dealer before 1/6, as the 2022 price increase takes effect. My dealer said his price goes up $500 on that Razr. The Golden Eagle is a popular air rifle scope, and increases $250.

I usually prefer the Athlons more at the lower prices. 

There is no arguing the Vortex warranty. And that counts for something. But if I had $1600 or more to spend on a scope, there are other European brands with good warranties that I would take a look at besides a Vortex.

For a year or two the Razor 4.5-27 was the #1 most used scope in PRS and for good reasons. It's still very popular.

As you go down the line in price of Vortex products so does QC but so it is with any brand. I did see a fair amount of failures on forums of the older PST line in the past. My friend has one that he sent back but it still has the same problem. Saw some complaints on newer ones but probably not more than failures in other brands. Also sometimes a bad lot# slips through with defective parts or is out of spec which can cause a major stir in the scope world for a while.

Dont forget either that if you are military they have a program that will get you a decent amount off the retail price

I love my vortex optics. Have a few of the PST2 scopes on my powder rifles as well a one on my .25 Rapid. The warranty for me is a HUGE thing, and I have had to use it before. They are great and will stand behind their products no matter what.

What I understand is that Vortex shot themselves in the foot with their warranty replacement policy. Theirs a video by Cyclops outlining Vortex's downfall.

There was a big convo here about a year ago on this topic.

Give this video a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPP-DYhEk_c

To add - IMO - buy a March-F 3-24x42 and you will never look back. 

What I understand is that Vortex shot themselves in the foot with their warranty replacement policy. Theirs a video by Cyclops outlining Vortex's downfall.

There was a big convo here about a year ago on this topic.

Give this video a watch: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPP-DYhEk_c

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I hadn't seen that video. Thanks!

Hard to beat a March as far as quality and reliability!

They have some unavoidable compromises due to super compact designs and high magnification ratios on some of their products but the positives often make those slight negatives worth it anyway. Those positive attributes are what sets March aside from most of the rest of the optics Co's. That 1-10 I got from you is the best scope for a short AR-15 I think there is!!! Perfect no but as close to it as can be. The side focus on it IS much appreciated !!!

Steve - I am aware there are compromises to be had on the more compact scopes, but for the price (I've been able to get them from ~2100 with discounts and stuff) the March-F 3-24x42 is very hard to beat for its size. Simple but excellent reticle, clear as heck picture. At a touch over 12", weighing 22 oz and focusing down to about 10 feet I don't there's a scope out there that can touch it.

Granted you may loose some FOV and DOF. For me having a wide field of view is not a concern. Also, having a narrow depth of field, I believe, helps us airgunners to lock down range better - especially for FT - which is why I traded you the 1-10x for your 5-40x - which, btw, is also an amazing scope.

Steve - I am aware there are compromises to be had on the more compact scopes, but for the price (I've been able to get them from ~2100 with discounts and stuff) the March-F 3-24x42 is very hard to beat for its size. Simple but excellent reticle, clear as heck picture. At a touch over 12", weighing 22 oz and focusing down to about 10 feet I don't there's a scope out there that can touch it.

Granted you may loose some FOV and DOF. For me having a wide field of view is not a concern. Also, having a narrow depth of field, I believe, helps us airgunners to lock down range better - especially for FT - which is why I traded you the 1-10x for your 5-40x - which, btw, is also an amazing scope.

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I understand, I mentioned that for people not realizing this aspect of super compact scopes. 

I found a March 3-24 nearly a decade ago which I got for $1750 and it was a lot of scope for a compact package, very lightweight and versatile scope. It worked the best with the 11mm mount on my Anschutz biathlon rifle which was super thin aluminum only meant for irons. 

If the need ever arises again for a super lightweight and compact scope for a small higher quality rifle I'd like to get the March 3-24x52 with FML-T1!!!

I have several Vortex scopes mounted on centerfires and air rifles. I have their lower tier CrossFire II's on some air rifles and two of their Vipers mounted on centerfires. I have zero complaints with their optics. I have Leupold and Burris as well. I think that Vortex makes very good quality optics. They do have "tiers".......lower and upper. But that is a good thing because they cater to different budgets that shooters may be confined to. Even their lowest tier is good quality for the $$$. In my opinion that is.

I've had quite a few Vortex scopes over the years and still have several.

I've had nothing but great luck with all the Razor series scopes I've had over the years-- 2x Gen 1 5-20s, 3x Gen 2 4.5-27s, 1x 6-24 AMG, 2x 1-6s, and an 85mm spotter. All of those have worked as expected with zero issues and have been very good scopes.

Also have a couple Venom red dots, one on a .22LR pistol and 1 on a IZH-46 .177 pistol-- they have both worked great for several years now. Also have a set of Fury 5000AB binoculars that work great and return good ranges from smaller targets than the specs would suggest. I also have an older Razor HD 85mm spotting scope (the earlier made in Japan model, not the current model that's made in China) that is excellent and resolves better fine details at a distance than a friend's swarovski spotting scope when we set them up side by side for a test.

Now for the opposite end of those positive experiences with the Razors... I've also tried 3 PST's right after they were initially released, 1x 4-16 and 2x 6-24. The 4-16 had extremely mediocre / fuzzy image quality and I ended up sending it back to Vortex. The replacement had the same poor image quality issue and by that point other people confirmed that their 4-16s also had very poor image quality compared to the 6-24s, so I returned it for a refund. Both 6-24's had much better image quality than the 4-16, but unfortunately they both ended up breaking in the first 10 shots (started with little flakes of debris appearing in the image, then rotating/moving reticles; death by recoil.) Granted, both of those scopes were mounted on relatively lightweight magnum caliber hunting rifles so it was a pretty harsh ride for them in terms of recoil, but I wasn't happy 2 out of 2 failed right out of the box while I was trying to zero them. Had the 2x 6-24 PSTs repaired and then sold them off as I didn't have any faith they would keep working during a hunting trip. A friend bought one of the repaired 6-24 PSTs from me and put it on a heavy barrel .22-250 ground squirrel rifle and it's still working great today.

While I still like Vortex overall my experience with the 3x PSTs has made me a little wary of their cheaper, non-razor product lines. I know they've updated/improved the PST line since I had my 3 duds from the very first PST production run, and I know Vortex will take care of you if there's ever a problem... but it really sucks having a scope go down when you need it.

I will say Vortex's customer service and warranty policy is excellent-- but the best warranty is one you never have to use.

This thread reminds me, I need to pick up a Razor Gen 3 1-10 for one rifle and also really want to try one of the brand new Razor Gen 3 6-36s-- those look very tempting.