I picked up a new Vortx Impact RA 25-75 x 70 spotting scope and took it out to the farm for some testing. The unit is a reflector unit, so chromic aberration is non-existent. The unit is very light and compact, and reasonably well made. A table top tripod was included that looked a bit on the cheapo side, but it was surprisingly stable and had a worm gear adjuster for vertical travel. I brought along my heavier tripod, but the one that came with the scope worked reasonably well, so I didn't bother changing over.
The field of view is a bit small, and getting it lined up on the targets took a bit of getting used to, but I got the hang of it in short order. I set it up first at 100 yards and started shooting with the 30-06. I was using a white target with blue lines and orange crosses (trade name escapes me) On 25X, colors looked clear and bright. Target appeared crisp and in focus, and I was easily able to read the fine print on the target. After firing off some test rounds, everything was hunky dory, holes were crisp and clear, no problems. 50 and 75X were unneeded (as you may expect).
I moved the target out to 200 yds. and fired some more shots. I dropped one into the orange and moved up to 50X to see it. Image quality began to blur slightly, but .30 cal holes were readily visible. Focus was not as fine as I would have liked, and it took a few seconds to get everything sorted out. All in all, at 200 yards, it was quite serviceable.
Next was 300 yds. The day was getting hot and there were a lot of mirages coming off of the field, so things were getting tougher to see in general. I fired some more test shots, and cranked it up to 75X to see what I could see. Miraging was heavy, the scope was less than clear and crisp, lost a lot of brightness and the focus was very, very touchy. If I waited for the miraging to clear, I could resolve the 30.cal in the white parts of the target, but the holes were lost in the orange. I backed down from 75X to 50 and things cleared up a bit. I found a happy medium spot at around 60X that seemed to work OK, but I was getting to the bitter edge of what the scope could do.
Based on the testing, If you want a scope that will resolve .30 cal holes out to +/- 250 yards on a paper target, this one will do it, but conditions have to be good. I think if I used one of those those Dirty Bird or splatter type targets, I might have been able to push to +/- 350 yards.
All in all, I'd say it's OK for short to medium range shooting. Comparing it to my friends 12-40 Leupy, I couldn't resolve .30 cal at 300 yds with his under cooler conditions, so this one was pretty good. You might as well forget about the 75X though,the focus is way too touchy and frustrating for that power.
Hi points- size and weight, quite small and compact. Also good resolution at 25 - 50X.
Lo points - loses fine resolution quickly past 60X. focus sucked past 60X also.
Best high point - for $210, it's a keeper.
The field of view is a bit small, and getting it lined up on the targets took a bit of getting used to, but I got the hang of it in short order. I set it up first at 100 yards and started shooting with the 30-06. I was using a white target with blue lines and orange crosses (trade name escapes me) On 25X, colors looked clear and bright. Target appeared crisp and in focus, and I was easily able to read the fine print on the target. After firing off some test rounds, everything was hunky dory, holes were crisp and clear, no problems. 50 and 75X were unneeded (as you may expect).
I moved the target out to 200 yds. and fired some more shots. I dropped one into the orange and moved up to 50X to see it. Image quality began to blur slightly, but .30 cal holes were readily visible. Focus was not as fine as I would have liked, and it took a few seconds to get everything sorted out. All in all, at 200 yards, it was quite serviceable.
Next was 300 yds. The day was getting hot and there were a lot of mirages coming off of the field, so things were getting tougher to see in general. I fired some more test shots, and cranked it up to 75X to see what I could see. Miraging was heavy, the scope was less than clear and crisp, lost a lot of brightness and the focus was very, very touchy. If I waited for the miraging to clear, I could resolve the 30.cal in the white parts of the target, but the holes were lost in the orange. I backed down from 75X to 50 and things cleared up a bit. I found a happy medium spot at around 60X that seemed to work OK, but I was getting to the bitter edge of what the scope could do.
Based on the testing, If you want a scope that will resolve .30 cal holes out to +/- 250 yards on a paper target, this one will do it, but conditions have to be good. I think if I used one of those those Dirty Bird or splatter type targets, I might have been able to push to +/- 350 yards.
All in all, I'd say it's OK for short to medium range shooting. Comparing it to my friends 12-40 Leupy, I couldn't resolve .30 cal at 300 yds with his under cooler conditions, so this one was pretty good. You might as well forget about the 75X though,the focus is way too touchy and frustrating for that power.
Hi points- size and weight, quite small and compact. Also good resolution at 25 - 50X.
Lo points - loses fine resolution quickly past 60X. focus sucked past 60X also.
Best high point - for $210, it's a keeper.
