Elcan Specter DR 1/4 vs Vortex Razor HD GEN 2 1-6

DanTrey

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Hey CGN community,

So, of all the things in my life, the biggest dilemma currently is what is the best variable optic to mount on my ADM UIC MOD 2 AR15

So, those of you with experience, could you educate me and perhaps sway me towards the better choice. The only experience with optics are red dots and ACOGs which I love but I have started to notice a limitation.

The factors that I value are:

Durability
Glass Quality
Reticle and Dot
Easy of Use
Speed
Picture at 1x or Field Of View
Eye Relief

I'm sure there are others I'm looking for but I can't find the words for them, but like mentioned, please educate me so I can learn to choose between the two.

I wouldn't expect to shoot more than 300 Meters (Limit of my range). Most of my shooting is speed accuracy or close moving. Most drills are at 0-100 M but I'd like to be able to use it for medium distance shooting.

Thanks,

Dan
 
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Most drills are at 10-25 M

Sounds to me like you want an aimpoint!

But if we're talking Elcan vs Razor, here's my rough opinions down your list...


Durability:
I'll give the nod to the elcan here. They're built tough with tons of armor over everything. The razor is a conventional scope setup. Still well made, but you've got a bell, turrets, rings, etc. If you hit both scopes with a sledgehammer, I'd bet on the elcan taking it better.
Glass Quality Sharp. Both are really sharp. Glass quality is one of those things that's better seen than described. Better still if you can take 15 minutes looking through each at dusk/dawn to let your eyes pick out the details between each set of glass.
Reticle and Dot If you're shooting .308, then Elcan's got you covered. If you're shooting 5.56 they both have good graduated reticles. I like the simplicity of the JBM-1 reticle in the razor, but thats personal choice.
Easy of Use I fricken love the turrets and illumination options with the razor. They're low, they're easy, everything can be adjusted from shooting position. The only thing here's is to make sure you get a throw lever for your magnification ring. The elcan's flick from 1 to 4 is pretty straightforward too.
Speed I don't know what you mean by this. Speed of zoom? If so the elcan wins because it's a binary 1 or 4, rather than a zooming 1 to 6
Picture at 1x or Field Of View At 1x you want to feel the edges of the scope disappear, so that all your eye sees is the red dot in the center. Both of these will do this, but depending on your setup you might find one better than the other. For example, if you put an ARD on the Elcan, or a rear flip-cap on the razor, you would find your 1x view affected.
Eye Relief This is the big hitter for me. The razor has way more eyerelief than the elcan. 100 mm in the razor, vs 70mm in the Elcan

Some other things you didn't ask about, but make a difference

  • 6x power! The extra magnification in the razor makes a difference. Remember that elcan makes a 6x specter too, but its more money and more weight.
  • Weight! They're both heavy scopes, 25oz for the Razor, and 22oz for the Elcan. If you jump up to the 6x elcan its 25oz same as the Razor, but the Razor will also add rings/mounts to your total weight.
  • Mounting! Because the Razor is a conventional scope, you get to pick rings and ring heights. This makes it more flexible, but can also make it more fragile. Don't buy $15 chinese rings for it. Get a good mount thats the right height for your eye. The elcan uses ARMS mounts, which some people like, others hate. They used to lose zero. I believe that's been fixed now.
 
Thanks for the response guys.
Speed I guess really depends on how I pick up the reticle. So that was sort of a pointless question.

But yes, considering most of my shooting is close. I really should just stick with aimpoint. I use to have a T1 which was nice, but wasn't as fast at the eotech, but like mentioned before, there are limitations to them that I'd like to find a solution to. (I hate flip to side magnifiers lol)

I think I'm swaying towards the vortex be cause of the simple reticle, but my concern is a .5moa dot. TV-Press Pass what is your thoughts on that, how do you find the dot?

Regarding durability, if it can take a 4 feet drop on to the ground and not shift zero too much or break the glass, it's good enough for me.
 
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Quick note.

I use to run an acog and docter red dot. Both adapted to environment lighting, which I hated, moving in and out of buildings and in and out of shade, the optics never adjusted fast enough. I ended up going offset irons which I relied on for majority of indoor or cloudy day work.
 
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