Sightron vs Vortex pst

Vortex PST or Sightron

  • Vortex PST

    Votes: 49 37.7%

  • Sightron

    Votes: 81 62.3%
  • Total voters
    130
Vortex sells a warranty.

I upgraded from a PST to a SIII, I just upgraded from a Siii to a Nightforce... it never ends... lol...

One thing's for sure, after 3 different RMA's on vortex products. Im never buying one again... lol...
 
scott_r said:
Ok so add 8 more and they have no or next to no stock. For such a great product why no stock? They certainly arent a high end product like S&B which is limited, they are in direct competition with Vortex PST's which are in every store, why not try and get your product out? Just doesn't make sense.
Not saying they arent good just puzzles me why nobody wants to carry them.

Cheers!!
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Sightron isn't competing against Vortex. Sightron, as a corporation has little interest in being on every store shelf and in every big box. They never have.

They are a niche player that makes an exceptional value product in the target shooting world. With their SIII family, they simply hit it out of the park with a very fussy audience and have just kept on going....

Can't dispute the changes it has put on the industry as a whole.

And why they don't tool up for alot of the features now demanded by substantial groups of shooters. Some, I feel are oops.. but alot is just because it doesn't suit their market direction... at least not yet

Their SV line up is a prime example. They have a new focus system unique in the industry. It works... Wonderful!!!.... but the rest of the scope is not really focused on any substantial market I can put a finger on.

They wanted to build something that would be interesting and special. The market for this scope will form all on its own.

As a dealer it can be very frustrating when some obvious consumer features should be addressed but Sightron does their thing and sells out their scopes. Their runs are "small" and they try very hard to maintain their QC or improve. I simply haven't seen much in the way of returns and as a percentage of scopes sold... near zero.

So I just don't go out of my way to discuss Sightron's lifetime warranty. It's there, you will likely not need it.. all good.

The reviews and feedback continue to be very positive from end users around the world.... the optics and tracking work. That is what a scope does and what the return buyers want.

Maybe someday Sightron will want to be mainstream and focus on huge consumer volume, bells and whistles. For now, they make what they make and return customers gobble them up.

They don't need any convincing....

Jerry
 
I think something else should be added to my earlier comments: The Vortex scopes are usually packed with features that a lot of shooters feel they need ( they don't really need them but that is another story ) and they tack on a superlative warranty. Generally it has been my view that the Vortex line-up is overrated - my gosh, at one time a man would be flayed alive by the Fanboys for saying such - but the Viper PST is a decent 'value buy'. Now with respect to Sightron I have to say that, especially with the 8-32x56, we have a seriously good scope. Jerry and I used to banter back and forth re Sihtron/Nightforce and I ended up eating crow and admitting that at least to my eyes the glass in the Siii is as good as the glass in the NXS. Of course NF are more durable etc but that comes at a price and is likely a level of durability that most of us don't need anyway.

Of course the question always arises about how much is Brand A better than Brand B ? This is a super tough question but you have to start somewhere so I earlier put a rough figure of 30% on this for Vortex PST / Sightron. What this means is if the new Sightron is $1550 then I personally wouldn't be paying more than $1K for the Vortex. A caveat I'd add is that IMO this calculus only applies to the best value in the Vortex line up - the 6-24x50 Viper PST SFP ; with the other Viper branded scopes Vortex makes I'd only be interested at a price point 50% of what the comparable Sightron Siii was priced at. My opinions of the Razor scopes are best left for another day.
 
Got Juice? said:
The longest I have waited for a Sightron is 12 days. PRetty hard to stock something that is VERY popular :)

Here is a good test. Go on EE and look at used SIGHTRON scopes... you might find 20 listings. Do the same for Vortex and you will find triple+ the listings. Why is that? Are people unhappy with the product, or are upgrading?

Once you have really good glass, you never part with it. Buy Once, Cry Once.
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Reason you see 3x the amount is because there is more then likely 50x the amount of Vortex product in the market. 95% of gun stores carry a full line of Vortex while probably 3% carry Sightron. For the amount of dealers and sales, the number of Sightrons on the EE seems higher in percentages then Vortex...???

I was not trying to compare Sightron with S&B I only was saying I understand when a Product like S&B..US optics, March ect...have only 8 dealers in a country...they are a niche market...a $1000 Sightron optic isn't, but for some reason it is treated like one??

I've had great glass and have parted with it many times, always something better. Buy once cry once thing doesnt apply to this gunnut...Im always buying and selling lol :)

From a business standpoint it sounds ridiculous to say "yeah we sell out all our scopes but really don't want too many dealers or customers, we like a small market".....Im no CEO but thats backwards.

This being said I would like to buy a Sightron some day if I could find one in stock.

Cheers!!
 
Some very helpful posts on here, so thanks guys! It certainly seems Sightron has one hell of a following. Is there a specific model you would recommend from them as being superior?
 
skeeterC said:
I was going to buy a Vortex, but I was swayed after I looked through a Sightron.

I would like the mildot reticle (haven't seen one), but I've heard that the dots are too big. Can anyone confirm or deny? I mainly shoot 100 to 300 yds., either off a bench or prone, but I'd like to reach out some day. I do want SFP, and I'd probably be just as happy with the LRMOA. I agree with above posts that its crappy that we can't go to a store to look through these things. It's taken me a long time to save for a decent scope and I don't want to make a mistake.

Anyway, between Vortex and Sightron... Sightron all the way for me... C.
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On the 8-32x56 the dots can get a little large when focusing on really small targets. For example, when shooting gophers at 650M with my .204, on 32X The dot covers the gopher... it is a minor annoyance, and a gopher is a really small target. And at that range, my heartbeat is more of a concern than the dot size... for each beat of my heart, the crosshair jumps 6-8" above the gopher.

Now, the 6-24X50 FFP MOA-2 scope.

I can't say enough. equal in detail resolution to the 8-32x56 but with mil ranging at all mag levels.


Through my eyes, Sightron scopes show the most detail, they RESOLVE the finest of details (individual whiskers on gophers). I have looked through Zeiss, Swaro, NF... all 3 of these lines had ''truer'' color correction with NO white or red colour blooming.

Sightron is not quite as good in terms of colour correction... very slight colour shift and blooming in the blue/white areas... Reds are not too bad, and green/yellow is excellent.


I am a Varminter. I shoot 250-800 rounds per day. I need the CLEAREST glass I can get, because 8 hours behind any scope will give you a 'scope eye' and literally can't drive :) for an hour after.

Sightron does not give me 'Scope Eye'. In terms of depth of field, and detail resolution, I need this to find the varmints. Sightron delivers this like no other scope I have tried. (of course I have not used US Optics, March or tried the NF BEAST yet)

I am a real fan of Sightron. It could be made better in some areas like more reticle selection, maybe a FFP in their 8-32 scope, but on the other hand, to get this level of performance, spot on tracking and detail resolution in a sub 2000.00 package is amazing.

After spending 9 hours in the field today with both Sightron's, and no eye strain, and a lot of gophers put down... that is priceless.
 
I'll add another vote for Sightron. When I bought my S111 10-50 I was between it and a NXS 8-32. Sightron was the winner. The thing that makes me hesitant about vortex is how everyone is so fast to say how amazing the warranty is. When I spend my hard earned money on good quality gear my expectation is that it will work as intended.

I think when most people hear a brand name they almost instantly have an option on that item. I think that most people would say that:

Schmidt and Bender = the best there is...Period.
Nightforce = excellent glass...extremely durable
Sightron = excellent glass....excellent tracking
Vortex = awesome warranty
 
Mr. Juice, thank you for that. I'm actually going to need two scopes. I have inferior scopes on my .308 and .223 that I'll move to my .17HMR and .22LR. I think I'll start with the SIII 6-24 for my .223 because I tend to shoot it more. I will go with LRMOA and buy with confidence. If I like it I will decide which one should go on my .308.

I live on the wet coast and my range only goes to 300, but I'd love to stretch her out on the prairies for gophers. (hint, hint:)). It's a long way to go to shoot a gopher, but I can't imagine anything being more fun.

I appreciate your input... you've given me the push I needed. (You sound REALLY happy!:))... C.
 
Got Juice? said:
Are you a long range F Class Shooter? Are you a Hunter? Are you a Varminter?

I would send Jerry an email to discuss. He is extremely helpful.
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This scope is for a rifle I have put together strictly for target shooting. I'm not competing F class only competing with myself to do better and shoot farther. I may do the odd team competition with my shooting partner.
 
scott_r said:
...
From a business standpoint it sounds ridiculous to say "yeah we sell out all our scopes but really don't want too many dealers or customers, we like a small market".....Im no CEO but thats backwards.

This being said I would like to buy a Sightron some day if I could find one in stock.

Cheers!!
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If you look around all the various things we buy, you will see this style of sales quite often. In cars, think Acura, Lexus and Infinity... or BMW M or Mercedes AMG or Porsche.

how about the Corvette vs the Camaro... both sold in very different ways to very different markets... same corporation.

How about Krieger or McMillan or MARCH or PGW?

Many companies have found that the Walmart or Apple or McDonalds business model is not a viable plan. There is a cost and compromise to be everywhere and for everyone.

Some companies can do it very well (Disney is one such company) .... others are simply brands we used to hear about.... like say TARGET Canada....

So companies are now looking at their customer base, their culture, their bottom line and managing that sweet spot that keeps things in balance.

Jerry
 
My only problem with Sightron is that is looks like a cheap scope on the outside, But the glass is really good.

The reason I say this is I have an Old BSA varmint scope sitting behind me & the body looks just like a Sightron scope & I think BSA was around first before Sightron.
I wish Sightron would do something more to the outer scope body as I just can't get past that BSA look. Just reminds me of a cheap looking scope.

Many target / Long range shooters swear by Sightron & guys wouldn't use them in a match if they didn't hold true.
 
Don't ALL target scopes look similar?

You should see the new Leupold Mk6 F class scope.... definitely not going to sell on rugged looks especially the turrets.

The new Sightron SV is a brute of a scope.

Jerry
 
skeeterC said:
Mr. Juice, thank you for that. I'm actually going to need two scopes. I have inferior scopes on my .308 and .223 that I'll move to my .17HMR and .22LR. I think I'll start with the SIII 6-24 for my .223 because I tend to shoot it more. I will go with LRMOA and buy with confidence. If I like it I will decide which one should go on my .308.

I live on the wet coast and my range only goes to 300, but I'd love to stretch her out on the prairies for gophers. (hint, hint:)). It's a long way to go to shoot a gopher, but I can't imagine anything being more fun.

I appreciate your input... you've given me the push I needed. (You sound REALLY happy!:))... C.
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I am EXTREMELY happy. If you were closer to the East Kootenays, I would gladly take you out to my gopher preserves, and let you shoot both rifles with the 2 different scopes.
 
I have looked and shot rifles with all scope mentioned here, yes the March is a great scope at 80x if mirage is not crazy you can see bullet holes at 600 m in black of target pretty amazing scope but very expensive & warranty is not my cup of tea.
I have shot off bench at 300 y quite often with Sightron 111 10 to 50x they are good but for me the nightforce benchrest 8 to 42 is a much better scope in all aspects. If you could pick-up a Nightforce on EE boards for 1200 to 1400 would be the way to go.
friend bought a new 2014 Competition nightforce max 55x this scope is by far the best scope I have looked through to bad they are so expensive.

manitou
 
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