Rifle Scopes Vortex Strike eagle Issue

Usmcsomerville · Oct 13, 2020

So I bought a Strike Eagle 5-25x56 last week. Mounted(adm mount), leveled and torqued(Fix it sticks) the scope. Got down behind the rifle and adjusted the eye piece. Then came the issue... when I am at full 25x and I slightly rotate the throw lever, the reticle jumps. Its hard to explain but I can move the throw lever and I can easily see the reticle jump to the side(very little). This only happens around max 25x power.

So obviously I call Vortex and they send me a new one. Just got it today and set it up again. This scope does the same thing. Does anyone have a Strike Eagle that they can test this out and let me know if I just got 2 duds or this is something that I would have to love with? I gotta send this one back anyways as the elevation clicks don't match up around 5-6mrad and then even back out.

Also I know this is a Budget scope and I have many upper tier scopes. Just thought I could use this one for my 22lr trainer as it has a bunch of good reviews. I appreciate if anyone can confirm for me. Thanks

K3RRY · Oct 13, 2020

You got a dud. Mine doesn’t do that

Usmcsomerville · Oct 13, 2020

Double duds just confirmed... so I did some more digging on threads and found that its a somewhat known issue in even higher end optics. People have reported the image/reticle shift on nightforce, s&b, kahles. And everyone reported no poi issues. So I was like "hey its a cheap optic and if it shoots I will just live with it". But the 2nd one they sent me has the elevation lineup issue, where it falls in between hatch marks from 4-6mrad. That i will not accept.

So I pulled the 1st one out and sure enough this one does it too. Its weird because on both scopes its only the elevation that has this issue. The windage always lines up. And since this is going on my 22lr trainer, I don't want a scope I can't rely on.

Oh and to be clear I am not bashing Vortex. I own 2 razor gen2, razor spotter and razor rangefinder. I love their stuff but the strike eagle...not so much. Its disappointing cuz everything else about the scope (glass, reticle, eyebox, etc) is pretty damn good for the price.

K3RRY · Oct 14, 2020

I have two of them one hasn’t been opened yet. Makes me want to open up the sealed one to check but I’m just going to sell both of them

K3RRY · Oct 14, 2020

Good info thanks

Gee Kay · Oct 14, 2020

no issues with my one, but mines in MIL not MOA

Usmcsomerville · Oct 14, 2020

Gee Kay said:
no issues with my one, but mines in MIL not MOA

Yeah both of mine are mil (hence the mrad reference). Gonna call Vortex when they open.

For reference i found a detailed explanation regarding this issue. So I guess as long as i can find a strike eagle that matches up elevation hatch marks, I will be fine.

#18
Re: Reticle jump on FFP scopes?

I spent time today discussing my issue with some scope manufacturers. I learned a few things that made me feel better, so I'll pass them along;

1. FFP erector tubes position the reticle at the far end (furthest from the eye). Between the reticle and your eye are two adjustable lenses that move back and forth when the magnification ring is turned

2. The fit tolerance between these two moving lenses and the erector tube is the root cause. The expensive scope manufacturers go as far as hand-fitting each lens, the other guys allow a bit more assembly tolerance.

3. If one of these two lens is too sloppy in the erector tube, the reticle and target image will bounce or shift as I've described above.

4. In <span style="text-decoration: underline">FFP scopes only</span>, both the reticle and target image shift at the same time and in the same plane. As a result, there will be no shift in POI or POA.

5. Almost all FFP scopes exhibit some level of this bounce or shift.

6. If you have this problem in a SFP scope, it does matter. SFP scopes place the reticle at the other end of the erector tube (closest to the eye). This design difference creates the potential for POA and POI changes.

Gee Kay · Oct 14, 2020

all good, i just put the MIL/MOA reference in as a joke as its been a running joke here for a while, nothing personal

Usmcsomerville · Oct 14, 2020

Gee Kay said:
all good, i just put the MIL/MOA reference in as a joke, nothing personal

Oh none taken at all, lol. My local gun shop only sells moa and we give each other crap all the time. Glad you got a good one. I might give it 1 more try and request them to inspect it before they send it. If not, gonna just drop more money and get something else.

Gee Kay · Oct 14, 2020

with chinese made stuff i found its luck of the draw, but saying that, really expensive euro/us/canadian scopes aren't immune to gremlins either.

and in the scope cap thread, cant remember how long ago, i had 3 dud vortex (whatever their top end model it) objective caps.
when i got the 3rd cap i inspected it before cutting open the packaging to make sure it was good even though i asked the importer to check for me before sending it. everything looked great, until i cut it out of the packaging and flipped the cap open. pop goes the spring. i clicked it hard to say the least.

i was going to throw it in the bin and rubbish their caps before i decided to take matters into my own hands and push the pin out and try to realign the spring to where it should go. luck the spring was captured in the car or i might of had trouble reinstalling it again. aligned the spring, pressed the cap into the housing opening and reinserted the pin. wolla it works.

i suspect thousands of 56mm objective caps all had an issue with the spring not being inserted properly from manufacture. only vortex knows the numbers. i shouldn't of had to fix a manufacturing fault, but at least i was nice enough to call the importer and let them know they will have many an issue with that batch of 56mm objective caps. i told them i would of paid the $150AUD for tenebraex caps instead of the vortex caps if tenebraex made them for the strike eagle. i guess its still early and tenebraex might eventually make some.

Usmcsomerville · Oct 14, 2020

So I spoke with Vortex and they are going to hand inspect (1) and get it out to me by Friday. So hopefully I will be good after that. This is the main reason I really like dealing with them. I have always had stellar customer service and they take care of their customers.

As long as the hatch marks line up I will be very happy with it. Like many have said, the glass and eye box is definitely impressive for the cost of the scope.

Mk12 · Oct 14, 2020

Please keep us posted. Would like to know how they handle this

Usmcsomerville · Oct 14, 2020

Will do. I am sure Vortex will somehow find a good one, lol. There are numerous guys on here that have one, so I dont think it is a flaw in the scope. The guy did admit though that they have seen this issue with some of the strike eagles.

K3RRY · Oct 15, 2020

Not the same issue but I just opened up one of my Strike Eagle’s that has been sitting in its box and the turret marking are terrible on this one that I have. Worse I’ve ever seen. Other issues present in this one too. Got a label from Vortex and sending back.

K3RRY · Oct 15, 2020

Usmcsomerville · Oct 15, 2020

Yep both of mine were just like that with the markings not lining up. What other issues did the scope have?

Usmcsomerville · Oct 15, 2020

Yep......

Southern Custom · Oct 15, 2020

I noticed this issue on a couple of the new Arken scopes. It took a bit of thought before I realized it’s really just an annoyance as the reticle is not actually shifting away from the target. Everything is moving (or appears to be moving in the ocular) together. One of those things that at first glance appears to be a nightmare but in reality is that it just looks bad. I got no POI shift. In Arken’s case, the diopter is has a touch of play when it’s screwed out to fit my vision. Once it’s set it’s not an issue. Just looks freaky if you grab it and give it a bit of sideways torque.

Usmcsomerville · Oct 15, 2020

Southern Custom said:
I noticed this issue on a couple of the new Arken scopes. It took a bit of thought before I realized it’s really just an annoyance as the reticle is not actually shifting away from the target. Everything is moving (or appears to be moving in the ocular) together. One of those things that at first glance appears to be a nightmare but in reality is that it just looks bad. I got no POI shift. In Arken’s case, the diopter is has a touch of play when it’s screwed out to fit my vision. Once it’s set it’s not an issue. Just looks freaky if you grab it and give it a bit of sideways torque.

Yeah I had never seen that in any of my optics before, so I was concerned. But after doing some more research it doesn't bother me that much since the entire image(with reticle) is what is shifting slightly.

Now the marks not lining up is a no go though. I will update tomorrow as my "hand inspected" one will be here.

K3RRY · Oct 15, 2020

Usmcsomerville said:
Yeah I had never seen that in any of my optics before, so I was concerned. But after doing some more research it doesn't bother me that much since the entire image(with reticle) is what is shifting slightly.

Now the marks not lining up is a no go though. I will update tomorrow as my "hand inspected" one will be here.

how many days turnaround? I just dropped mine off to ups today

K3RRY · Oct 15, 2020

Usmcsomerville said:
Yep both of mine were just like that with the markings not lining up. What other issues did the scope have?

parallax knob marking was off by about 15yards and really finicky.

hows the CA on yours?

Usmcsomerville · Oct 15, 2020

K3RRY said:
how many days turnaround? I just dropped mine off to ups today

So both times they have sent me one out and a return label and I send mine back when I get the scope. It has taken 2 days. I was pretty firm with them on the phone as I never even got to use either yet.

Usmcsomerville · Oct 15, 2020

K3RRY said:
parallax knob marking was off by about 15yards and really finicky.

hows the CA on yours?

I don't really look at my parallax margins on any of my optics (left handed shooter) CA wasn't too bad. Both I expected to be iffy since the price of the optic is low. This is on my 22lr trainer so I won't really go past 300yds. Like I said, if my markings/clicks line up I will be happy.

Rob01 · Oct 16, 2020

K3RRY said:
parallax knob marking was off by about 15yards and really finicky.

hows the CA on yours?

Parallax numbers are for a rough estimate. Not set in stone. That is why some companies just put dots. Rarely are they close in any scope. If that is the only reason you are sending it back then I wouldn't.

dragman · Oct 16, 2020

I have seen one bad one with a side focus issue. couldn't focus on anything past 100 yards basically. I have one now that is very good, but they defiantly seem hit or miss.

fdkay · Oct 16, 2020

I found the parallax to be finicky for me.
My confidence in the robustness of the chinese made scopes is lacking.
That is why I ultimately decided to buy a blemished XTR II 4-20 from Natchez.
Yes, the glass isn't as nice, though it is certainly adequate, the reticle on the Vortex is far superior to the SCR.
But I could remove my scope, use it as a club and put it back on the rifle with no worries.
The XTR II also doesn't suffer the loss of available elevation when using the zero stop.

Afkirby · Oct 16, 2020

I had a Nightforce 4-16 ATACR that did the same thing, at max mag you could see the reticle shift. I called and they told me it was a non-issue and should result in no POI shift. I'm assuming that the picture must also shift with the reticle, but I could not perceive that.

K3RRY · Oct 16, 2020

Rob01 said:
Parallax numbers are for a rough estimate. Not set in stone. That is why some companies just put dots. Rarely are they close in any scope. If that is the only reason you are sending it back then I wouldn't.

gotcha, thanks I understand. I have multiple strike eagles in the same exact model and this copy is really off compared to the others but the main reason for sending back is the windage and elevation turret markings are far off

gritz55 · Oct 16, 2020

Yep, I had the same issue with the elevation markings not lining up bewtween 3 and 6 mils. They sent me a new turret knob, did not change anything, so they took it in and got it back to me within a week and half. CS was great, I'll give em that, but I wish i didnt have to use it. But it seems like this issue is widespread with the strike eagle. It's a chinese mass produced optic, so I'm not surprised, and they take care of it, sooo. Not too mad. I compared mine next to the PST gen II and honestly I could not tell any difference in glass. I'm still glad I picked this up. Just send it back until you get a solid one. lol

Usmcsomerville · Oct 17, 2020

I got my 2nd replacement from Vortex yesterday. Took it out and both turrets match up perfectly. Parallax on all 3 of these are extremely stiff, but totally usable and will probably loosen up over time. I am gonna zero it this weekend, but seems I finally have a good one.

So the Strike Eagle seems to be a really good scope for the money, IF you get a good quality one. I am still glad I picked up this optic.

K3RRY · Oct 17, 2020

Usmcsomerville said:
I got my 2nd replacement from Vortex yesterday. Took it out and both turrets match up perfectly. Parallax on all 3 of these are extremely stiff, but totally usable and will probably loosen up over time. I am gonna zero it this weekend, but seems I finally have a good one.

So the Strike Eagle seems to be a really good scope for the money, IF you get a good quality one. I am still glad I picked up this optic.

agreed! I hope my 1st replacement is good. .....China QC

Barelstroker · Dec 22, 2020

Glad I found this thread. Bought my Struck Eagle about 4 months ago. I've got the same issue with the reticle lurching to the right when the power dial is moved from low X to High X. After spending hours with the scope, I found that the entire image moves as has been stated previously.
The other issue I have is with the adjustable eyepiece moving left side in &, right side out or, top out & bottom in. The thing wiggles if I move it. I think this is the same kind of thing as the power dial whereby, the entire image appears to move which, hopefully means no POA shift. Has anyone else noticed this as well?
Everything else is spot on. The numbers on the dials line up perfectly, the parallax is very good. It's finicky if I want or, I just bang it up near infinity & everything beyond about 150 m, 180 m seems good.
The glass is as good as I need & better than I expected. The eyebox for me is a biggie &, at 8-12X, the eyebox is at my expectation as well as the brightness in low light conditions. I do like the illumination. When spotlighting on moonless night, the illumination is better than my Athlon Talos BTR. The illumination on that scope is too bright on the lowest setting &, in the right circumstances, saturates the image with red to the point I can't distinguish the target.
All up, I'm happy with the Struck Eagle as long as the issues don't affect POA, I can live with that.
One of the main reasons I decided on the Stuck Eagle is the warranty. Two years back, I busted 3 scopes in 6 months &, swore I'd never buy anything but heavily built military style scopes &, with a warranty like Vortex. I dropped $1400 down those tin can hunting scopes. Never again as long as my arse points to the ground.

vortexyz · Dec 23, 2020

Just pulled mine out of the box and dialed to 5 mrad...same issue with the turret not lining up. Thanks for this thread, saved me mounting it first and wasting a bunch of time.

Usmcsomerville · Dec 23, 2020

vortexyz said:
Just pulled mine out of the box and dialed to 5 mrad...same issue with the turret not lining up. Thanks for this thread, saved me mounting it first and wasting a bunch of time.

No problem. Hopefully Vortex addresses it and fixes this known issue. Even though it's a budget scope, this shouldn't be acceptable. And I had Vortex confirm they know about this issue.

fdkay · Dec 23, 2020

Usmcsomerville said:
No problem. Hopefully Vortex addresses it and fixes this known issue. Even though it's a budget scope, this shouldn't be acceptable. And I had Vortex confirm they know about this issue.

It's a budget optic that retails for around 700 bucks.
That's an awful lot of coin for Chinesium.
I do own a Chinese scope or two, but nothing in that price bracket, makes me think my decision to go with the XTR II was a good one.

Usmcsomerville · Dec 23, 2020

fdkay said:
It's a budget optic that retails for around 700 bucks.
That's an awful lot of coin for Chinesium.
I do own a Chinese scope or two, but nothing in that price bracket, makes me think my decision to go with the XTR II was a good one.

I agree the retail price is alot for a "budget" optic. But other than my issue that has finally been resolved, I love the scope. Now granted its on my 22 trainer and I run nightforce, vudu and a razor on my other rigs. But for what I paid for the strike eagle I am pretty impressed. Also keep in mind my choice to purchase it was based on mil/leo pricing and vortex's warranty. I knew that if it had problems or just didn't perform, they would make it right. I probably wouldn't have chose the strike eagle if I was gonna use it over 300 yds and I had to pay retail price. Just my 2 cents.

Rob01 · Dec 23, 2020

Usmcsomerville said:
I agree the retail price is alot for a "budget" optic. But other than my issue that has finally been resolved, I love the scope. Now granted its on my 22 trainer and I run nightforce, vudu and a razor on my other rigs. But for what I paid for the strike eagle I am pretty impressed. Also keep in mind my choice to purchase it was based on mil/leo pricing and vortex's warranty. I knew that if it had problems or just didn't perform, they would make it right. I probably wouldn't have chose the strike eagle if I was gonna use it over 300 yds and I had to pay retail price. Just my 2 cents.

The funny part is you will be dialing more with it on the .22 than you would with a centerfire. 300 yards is about 13 mils With the .22 and 1000 with a centerfire is 8-10 mils. I specifically put it on my .22 to test it’s tracking for that very reason and it has been dialed a lot and still tracks. Glass is also good enough to see targets to 1200 yards which is the farthest I have looked through it at the range.

Usmcsomerville · Dec 23, 2020

Rob01 said:
The funny part is you will be dialing more with it on the .22 than you would with a centerfire. 300 yards is about 13 mils With the .22 and 1000 with a centerfire is 8-10 mils. I specifically put it on my .22 to test it’s tracking for that very reason and it has been dialed a lot and still tracks. Glass is also good enough to see targets to 1200 yards which is the farthest I have looked through it at the range.

I was referring to the glass quality past 300yds. Also I meant this was my thought process before I got the scope, as I get nervous with budget optic glass quality farther out. The Strike eagle surprised me and I have recommended it to a few buddies who are just getting into precision rifles. The thread was started really to bring light to a known issue and help other people catch it early when they get the scope.

Rob01 · Dec 23, 2020

Even glass quality is fine for longer ranges than 300. Have shot my .22 to over 500 with it and as mentioned looked at the farther targets. Is it the same as a Razor or the like? Nope but it will work for someone looking to save some money.

And it’s good that the thread could help some if they have the issue.

Smittiac · Dec 23, 2020

Hell the glass is just fine, I can read a Dr Pepper can at 800 yards and see the circles on a target sticker too. Now if the wind would chill out around here I can shoot things that resemble a group that far too....

Tritiumdials · Dec 24, 2020

Happy to report my copy, purchased 12/2020 from a restock notification at Euro Optic, does not have the jumping reticle issue when zooming in/out. However, the hash marks on the elevation turret do not line up going beyond .8 mils.

Usmcsomerville · Dec 24, 2020

Tritiumdials said:
Happy to report my copy, purchased 12/2020 from a restock notification at Euro Optic, does not have the jumping reticle issue when zooming in/out. However, the hash marks on the elevation turret do not line up going beyond .8 mils.

When you call Vortex, request them to visually confirm the marks line up on the one they are sending you. If not you could get another dud like I did the 2nd time around.

vortexyz · Jan 2, 2021

Just wanted to pass along that Vortex took care of my issue with the turret markings. They sent me new elevation and windage knobs and they line up throughout now. Very happy with how fast they got the parts to me (5 days with a holiday in the middle) and the service rep was awesome. Can’t wait to get it mounted up.

Usmcsomerville · Jan 2, 2021

vortexyz said:
Just wanted to pass along that Vortex took care of my issue with the turret markings. They sent me new elevation and windage knobs and they line up throughout now. Very happy with how fast they got the parts to me (5 days with a holiday in the middle) and the service rep was awesome. Can’t wait to get it mounted up.

Glad to hear it. Vortex has always impressed me with their customer service.

giuseppe rubino · May 15, 2024

Usmcsomerville said:
Double duds just confirmed... so I did some more digging on threads and found that its a somewhat known issue in even higher end optics. People have reported the image/reticle shift on nightforce, s&b, kahles. And everyone reported no poi issues. So I was like "hey its a cheap optic and if it shoots I will just live with it". But the 2nd one they sent me has the elevation lineup issue, where it falls in between hatch marks from 4-6mrad. That i will not accept.

So I pulled the 1st one out and sure enough this one does it too. Its weird because on both scopes its only the elevation that has this issue. The windage always lines up. And since this is going on my 22lr trainer, I don't want a scope I can't rely on.

Oh and to be clear I am not bashing Vortex. I own 2 razor gen2, razor spotter and razor rangefinder. I love their stuff but the strike eagle...not so much. Its disappointing cuz everything else about the scope (glass, reticle, eyebox, etc) is pretty damn good for the price.

I just got the stile eagle and my elevation turret won’t move at all . Not up or down … very disappointed..I guess I have to send it back .. I should of stuck with Leupold.. I have 5 leupold and no issues ever .. this vortex is my 3rd one and the only one that hasn’t any issues is the Gen 2 razor 4.5 -27x56
I also have the viper and had to send that one back as well because that one had a similar problem, only with the windage turret..I don’t trust Vortex anymore..I never had to send back any of my Leupold scopes

FuhQ · May 15, 2024

giuseppe rubino said:
I just got the stile eagle and my elevation turret won’t move at all . Not up or down … very disappointed..I guess I have to send it back .. I should of stuck with Leupold.. I have 5 leupold and no issues ever .. this vortex is my 3rd one and the only one that hasn’t any issues is the Gen 2 razor 4.5 -27x56
I also have the viper and had to send that one back as well because that one had a similar problem, only with the windage turret..I don’t trust Vortex anymore..I never had to send back any of my Leupold scopes

Hate to break it to you, but I wouldn't expect much more out of Leupold... Maybe upgrade to a scope that's not made in China.

Also, Vortex just released their new Viper HD line of scopes in a 5-25x50 FFP with the VMR-4 reticle. Philippines build, Japanese glass. And street price is about what a Strike Eagle is these days. Maybe Vortex can upgrade you to one for a small fee when you send in your Strike Eagle? they let me do that with an old Viper HS that was no longer made.

https://vortexoptics.com/riflescopes-viper-hd-5-25x50+reticle-VMR-4~MRAD

blue_ridge · May 16, 2024

I just mounted a new Strike Eagle 5-25 mrad. Mounted on my 22, same as the OP. I don’t see any image shift at 25x going up or down in magnification. Tried small adjustments back and forth, 22-25x, 25x-22x but I don’t see any problems.
Also ran the turrets pretty hard in each direction and looked for places they don’t line up. Several times I had a turret halfway between hash marks. But then I noticed if I wiggled the turret a little it would settle back on the right spot. These are not crisp turrets. Kind of squishy. So theres wiggle room on mine where I can push a turret to either side of the hash mark and it will stay there if I don’t move it back. I’ll have to do a box test to see if this affects anything that matters when shooting.

I will say, I often hear people say, “there’s no way to avoid buying Chinese products”. This is true of course. But what you can do is make a special effort to buy USA/not buy Chinese in shooting Sports because you want to support the companies that support what we do. Vortex is one of those companies that provides American jobs, pays American taxes, supports American troops and supports American shooting clubs and events. So if you’re going to buy Chinese, buy it from Vortex or companies like them. They’ll take care of you too.

MikeMiller · May 16, 2024

I have had a bunch of students show up with Strike Eagles. I keep waiting for one to break but so far so good but for a few more dollars you can get the Viper HD 5-25z50. It has better glass and I have had lots of the Philippine assembled scope that work great.

blue_ridge · May 16, 2024

MikeMiller said:
I have had a bunch of students show up with Strike Eagles. I keep waiting for one to break but so far so good but for a few more dollars you can get the Viper HD 5-25z50. It has better glass and I have had lots of the Philippine assembled scope that work great.

I chose the Strike Eagle because it is better suited to a 22 than many other scopes under $1000, including the Viper HD, PST or Venom. It has more elevation adjustment, 31 mils vs 20 mils. It also has parallax adj down to 15 yds as compared to 20 and 25 yds for the others.

badgerfan · May 16, 2024

giuseppe rubino said:
I just got the stile eagle and my elevation turret won’t move at all . Not up or down … very disappointed..I guess I have to send it back .. I should of stuck with Leupold.. I have 5 leupold and no issues ever .. this vortex is my 3rd one and the only one that hasn’t any issues is the Gen 2 razor 4.5 -27x56
I also have the viper and had to send that one back as well because that one had a similar problem, only with the windage turret..I don’t trust Vortex anymore..I never had to send back any of my Leupold scopes

Are you saying your turret won't dial up or down? Have you unlocked the turret by pulling up on it?

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