I have had problems with almost all of the Vortex scopes I have owned. A brief history:
First Vortex was a 6.5-20 Viper with BDC reticle. It was returned because turning the windage turret made 0 changes to the POI.
Second scope was a Vortex Diamondback 4-12. Scope performed just fine, no issues.
Third was a 6-24 Crossfire. This scope's elevation turret had something wrong with it. Long story short, the last 7-10 (can't remember) minutes of "up" elevation would not move the POI whatever those last several minutes remaining were.
Fourth was a 4-16 PST. Unfortunately, I sold that rifle and optic not long after I mounted the optic, so can't give a true recounting of it's performance other than stating that for the short time I owned it, there were no issues, it was good to go.
Then, I bought two of the the Gen 1 Razors at the same time:
I got the first one mounted up and noticed there was some internal reticle cant. It was explained to me that this cant was insignificant and well within the specs of these scopes. I had no idea, I just knew it was not plumb. The second had been used for about 4-6 months. I was at a match, showing off my Razor to one of the shooters when the MD walked up (a person I am not too terrible fond of anyhow) and said, "Vortex huh? You know why they have an unlimited lifetime warranty? Because you're going to need it." It was not longer than four hours later that I was in the later stages of that match when the elevation turret started slipping; something came loose in the elevation turret and I could no longer dial my elevation (Vortex was able to help me fix this over the phone but the match was long over by then). With the MD's comments having come to fruition just hours after he made the comment, I was absolutely infuriated (you guys can imagine what he was saying when he learned of the issue).
After those issues, I went on an "anti Vortex" bender for a while. Then the Gen 2 Razors came out. I swallowed some humble pie and bought another pair of those. On one of them, the set screws in the elevation turret backed themselves out (assuming to have been due to recoil). The interesting issue regarding this, is that I have a good friend who had the exact same issue occur with his. He called Vortex and said that Vortex's response was one that indicated they were well-aware of the issue, and in fact, had a "fix" for it. After learning of this, I did just a tiny bit of research and found this from BigJimFish's review of the Gen 2 Razor, found here: opticsthoughts.com/?p=1456
In that review (about half way down the page), he stated, "Also of note is that the elevation set screws loosened up once during testing..." I then heard about this same issue from two other shooters with these same scopes.
The warning with regards to this elevation set screw deal was to make sure you put enough torque on them so they didn't slip. After I recognized this as a relatively common concern, I became somewhat obsessed with making sure these damn set screws weren't backing out. For 2k+, I did not feel like I should have to check these screws before, during and after matches.
These are just my personal experiences with the brand. There are quite a few friends I have that have had experiences with Vortex's optics as well, including the Razor line.
I recognize that some of these issues may not be significant, but they could definitely fuck up a hunt or comp, and we all know how much money can go into those. Furthermore, having owned multiple optics in the similar price range (SWFA SSHD line, Bushnell Tac line), and having had zero issues, it is extremely difficult to have confidence in the Vortex brand.
I don't want this to come across as a "let's bash the shit out of Vortex" post, but experiences need to be shared. If Nightforce, Kahles, S&B, et al...are having issues, I would hope that we would share those as well. I also want to recognize the contribution that Vortex makes to the shooting sports. Vortex has been excellent for all of the shooting sports and has been one of the most supportive companies with regards to LE and mil folks, which simultaneously makes it difficult to criticize them.
First Vortex was a 6.5-20 Viper with BDC reticle. It was returned because turning the windage turret made 0 changes to the POI.
Second scope was a Vortex Diamondback 4-12. Scope performed just fine, no issues.
Third was a 6-24 Crossfire. This scope's elevation turret had something wrong with it. Long story short, the last 7-10 (can't remember) minutes of "up" elevation would not move the POI whatever those last several minutes remaining were.
Fourth was a 4-16 PST. Unfortunately, I sold that rifle and optic not long after I mounted the optic, so can't give a true recounting of it's performance other than stating that for the short time I owned it, there were no issues, it was good to go.
Then, I bought two of the the Gen 1 Razors at the same time:
I got the first one mounted up and noticed there was some internal reticle cant. It was explained to me that this cant was insignificant and well within the specs of these scopes. I had no idea, I just knew it was not plumb. The second had been used for about 4-6 months. I was at a match, showing off my Razor to one of the shooters when the MD walked up (a person I am not too terrible fond of anyhow) and said, "Vortex huh? You know why they have an unlimited lifetime warranty? Because you're going to need it." It was not longer than four hours later that I was in the later stages of that match when the elevation turret started slipping; something came loose in the elevation turret and I could no longer dial my elevation (Vortex was able to help me fix this over the phone but the match was long over by then). With the MD's comments having come to fruition just hours after he made the comment, I was absolutely infuriated (you guys can imagine what he was saying when he learned of the issue).
After those issues, I went on an "anti Vortex" bender for a while. Then the Gen 2 Razors came out. I swallowed some humble pie and bought another pair of those. On one of them, the set screws in the elevation turret backed themselves out (assuming to have been due to recoil). The interesting issue regarding this, is that I have a good friend who had the exact same issue occur with his. He called Vortex and said that Vortex's response was one that indicated they were well-aware of the issue, and in fact, had a "fix" for it. After learning of this, I did just a tiny bit of research and found this from BigJimFish's review of the Gen 2 Razor, found here: opticsthoughts.com/?p=1456
In that review (about half way down the page), he stated, "Also of note is that the elevation set screws loosened up once during testing..." I then heard about this same issue from two other shooters with these same scopes.
The warning with regards to this elevation set screw deal was to make sure you put enough torque on them so they didn't slip. After I recognized this as a relatively common concern, I became somewhat obsessed with making sure these damn set screws weren't backing out. For 2k+, I did not feel like I should have to check these screws before, during and after matches.
These are just my personal experiences with the brand. There are quite a few friends I have that have had experiences with Vortex's optics as well, including the Razor line.
I recognize that some of these issues may not be significant, but they could definitely fuck up a hunt or comp, and we all know how much money can go into those. Furthermore, having owned multiple optics in the similar price range (SWFA SSHD line, Bushnell Tac line), and having had zero issues, it is extremely difficult to have confidence in the Vortex brand.
I don't want this to come across as a "let's bash the shit out of Vortex" post, but experiences need to be shared. If Nightforce, Kahles, S&B, et al...are having issues, I would hope that we would share those as well. I also want to recognize the contribution that Vortex makes to the shooting sports. Vortex has been excellent for all of the shooting sports and has been one of the most supportive companies with regards to LE and mil folks, which simultaneously makes it difficult to criticize them.
