What's up with Vortex scopes?

fox_111

fox_111

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Here is the deal. I'm shopping for a scope to mount of a 700 5r wich I hope to be able to shoot at 1km. I also want to hunt with it.

For the budget I got, Vortex seam to offer a lot of features I want. But I see a metric ####-ton of them for sale all over the place used. Is it because people move away from them because of a lack of quality? I read a lot of comments about their life time warranty and how poeple had good experiance with it. Is it a scope that will start to fail 1 year down the range? Should I just go broken and buy a more expensive brand?

I want a first focal plane scope with variable power ranging from 5 to 20x. I want target turrets. I got about 1000-1500$ budget.
 
Lots of fan boys, lots of detractors. .. I have more than a few vortex scopes, as well as leopolds, bushnells and a solitary redfield.
I found when I am picking out a new scope, the vortex are just as clear and feature packed as the leopolds. Plus I personally like vortex reticles (totally personal preference).
I have a viper HS LR 4-16x50 thats been on my remmy 700 .308 for over 4 years and at least 5k rnds with no hickups at all. Take it for what its worth...
Check out the bushnell 4500 elite line for your budget. Very nice glass, and i've heard they've stepped up their warranty to compete with "brand V".
I've looked through the higher end scopes such as NF, lecia ,swartz... very nice, but for what you get, coyld never afford.
 
I’ve only had one,PST gen11 5-25 FFP and it was a very nice scope.
Very clear glass,great turrets, great tracking.

The only reason I sold it was because I found the reticle to busy,for me.

I like a plain Jane crosshairs.
 
If your budget is $1000-1500 the Vortex Viper offers tons of features in that price range that most others do not. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Vortex again. All the ones I've had work perfectly.

The cheaper lines (Diamondback and Crossfire) are for sale more often because theres so many of them out there. With anything that is "cheaper" you're not going to have the quality of high end products.
 
No issues with my gen 1 4-16x PST it gets the job done. Although not the glass quality of my buddies Nightforce NXS but there's also a big difference in price, huge difference if you want FFP in your magnification range. Do some research on the Sighttrons, burris, and NF SHV scopes in your price range.
 
PST Gen 2 is better than SHV and Sightron 111.

The PST has some nice features,Zero stop being one.
The SHV 5-20 was very good,as well.
My biggest dislike of the S111 ,was lack of a Zero stop.
 
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Thanks for your reply. It's a shame no local shop have them in stock. I'd like to compare by looking in them. At my range, rifle owners are mostly Fudds using el-crapo hunting scopes. I'll have to make a leap of faith I guess.
 
I have a couple of Vortex scopes, never had an issue with them, great value for the money with an ironclad warranty. But then so are Bushnells, I'd say that an Elite series Bushnell would be my choice over a comparable Vortex if they were close in features to what I was looking for.
 
For $1500 ,with FFP , PST Gen 11 5-25, is the best option.

If you want to go SFP,SHV is a good option.

I just got a Leupold VXi 6.5-20 ,for $800
It has excellent glass, but the turrets are a bit soft( you really have to pay attention).
Ive ordered a set of Target turrets, hopefully that’ll fix that issue.
It’s the only glass I’ve got for $800, that’s been clear,for me.
 
fox_111 said:
Why would you chose Bushnell over Vortex?
Click to expand...

Ive had good luck with most of them, and the couple that I have had a problem with Bushnell exchanged them right on the spot for me. Plus the Bushnell warranty center is ten minutes from where I work, so its very convenient to be able to take it there and get immediate service.
 
Ive owned 3 Vortex Scopes, I did 3 RMAs for electronic failures. 2 PST and 1 Sparc

The only Vortex I would own is the Razor series as they seem to have the least reported problems.
 
That's a great budget, I would steer clear of Vortex, I've owned a few and would not risk my hard earned cash.

I've owned them all, and would also recommend the equipment exchange. A nightforce SHV 5-20 sold for $1500 recently. You may even find an older NXS. A nightforce will hold a lot of its value compared to Vortex. The sightron SIII 8-32 is also a fantastic scope, except for lack of zero stop.
 
I have had 3 Viper PST scopes. One of them didn’t hold zero and none of them tracked correctly.

Either I have terrible luck or Vortex has substandard product quality.
 
For 2018, Sightron will offer zero stops as a custom shop change to all SIII scopes.

Yeah, I know... why not just make it standard going forward? That I don't know but the option in now there to retrofit. I am guessing that if there is a lot of response, zero stop can be added to future models.

Athlon provides alot of features that are currently desireable in a great format and price.

Jerry
 
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