Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

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Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby AIM_2014 on Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:58 am

I am going to give some feedback on the scope Vortex sent us for testing and evaluation.

Here is the scope we tested: http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vor ... oa-reticle



The Good:

Glass quality- the clarity is good, and you can see mirage at distance for windage readings.

Turrets- the turrets have good feeling and notable clicks. The parallax adjustment was pretty accurate in the range markings in coordination with distance.

Magnification- the magnification range is perfect for an AR style rifle or mid range precision rifle. The adjustment ring is easy to adjust while looking through the optic. Would be nice to see how it rotates in colder climates. The pin is a nice addition to the magnification ring for low light conditions.

Reticle- The XLR reticle is a great system! Makes elevation and windage holds very easy instead of holding out in space as with more traditional mil dot reticle systems.

Eye Relief- wasn't hard to establish proper eye relief even in faster sight in shots at close ranges.

Focus- the focus worked great. As it should, it stayed properly focused at all magnifications once properly set.

Weight- I felt the weight of the optic with the mount included was very balanced and felt light. It didn't create any dominant weight added forward or rear on the weapon.


The Bad:

Reticle- on lower magnification of 5x and under the reticle is very hard to see. Not that you would need to use the grid at the bottom at lower magnification. However, even just seeing your center crosshair isn't easy with target acquisition. If I put a string of hair on the glass and said that's your reticle, it wouldn't be too far off.


Overall I think it's a great optic! My only complaint is the reticle size at lower magnifications. I didn't get a chance to test it in rainy conditions. I doubt it would have any issues with that.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby UnaStamus on Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:24 pm

Did you happen to think the eyebox got a bit finicky and tight at higher magnification? I had the Viper PST 2.5-10x for a while and once it was at about 8x and higher, eye placement was supremely critical for me.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby AIM_2014 on Thu Sep 04, 2014 5:53 am

UnaStamus wrote:Did you happen to think the eyebox got a bit finicky and tight at higher magnification? I had the Viper PST 2.5-10x for a while and once it was at about 8x and higher, eye placement was supremely critical for me.



Yes, it does as magnification increases. Once I found my cheek weld reference point, it wasn't issue.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby Ghost on Thu Sep 04, 2014 6:36 am

I recently received the Razor HD gen II 4.5-27x56 scope with the Mil EBR-2C reticle and it's an amazing scope, haven't been able to get any trigger time behind it yet but I would agree the reticle is hard to see at lower magnification until I turn on the illumination and then it's good to go. Is there an option to get an illuminated reticle in that model?
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby AIM_2014 on Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:36 am

Ghost wrote:I recently received the Razor HD gen II 4.5-27x56 scope with the Mil EBR-2C reticle and it's an amazing scope, haven't been able to get any trigger time behind it yet but I would agree the reticle is hard to see at lower magnification until I turn on the illumination and then it's good to go. Is there an option to get an illuminated reticle in that model?



There isn't an option for an illuminated reticle. When I spoke with Vortex about it, I suggested an illuminated dot in the center with variable brightness settings. In this particular scope, you wouldn't be making any windage holds at the lower magnifications so I wasn't overly concerned with reticle thickness. However, it still makes target acquisition tricky. My suggestion to product development about the single red dot in the center would basically turn it into a magnified red dot at lower magnification.

Since you don't need windage holds at lower powers (generally speaking) I thought a fully illuminated reticle would just be pointless and a single red dot would be much faster for aiming.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby UnaStamus on Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:23 pm

Given that it's a PST with just different options, it is a bit strange that they don't offer illumination.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby AIM_2014 on Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:19 pm

I am thinking it doesn't because it's their "hunter series" scope so an illuminated reticle may not be worth the production cost vs how many hunters would want that option? Same reason with the PST has 1/4 MOA elevation turrets and the HS series has 1/2 MOA elevation turrets for faster adjustments vs more precise adjustments.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby UnaStamus on Sun Sep 21, 2014 3:18 pm

Most likely. I would believe that if they offered illumination, it'd be the exact same cost as the PST, since it'd be almost the exact same scope.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby FJ540 on Fri Oct 10, 2014 7:56 pm

Just got a Spitfire 3x and the reticle is very hard to see on a busy background when not illuminated. I'm guessing these are close in line width, and I can certainly understand the issue. Lit up, it's a nice optic.
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Re: Vortex HS LR FFP Scope

Postby AIM_2014 on Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:43 am

Here is a more detailed review I posted on our blog:

http://www.aimprecision.com/#!Vortex-Vi ... 5713634420
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