Rifle Scopes LVPO with the best eye box?

[Langford]

I’m working on a new AR build, and would like to top it with a quality LVPO, something that’s extremely quick and easy to get behind. LVPO’s are something I’m fairly inexperienced with, and I trust the opinions of the hide more so than most other places.

I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Kahles k16i, but my experience with the 624i was a little underwhelming, and has me hesitant to try Kahles again. (But I’m not opposed to it if it’s clearly “the best”)

I’d like something in the 1-6 or 1-8 mag range, eye box is a big priority, along with all around optical quality (this site has turned me into a glass snob).

It’ll be going on a 13.7” “do it all” AR chambered in 556 that’ll be used for training, possibly some competition down the road, and a shtf scenario. I want this to be my rugged & trustworthy build that I can grab in any situation. Obviously it won’t be a long range rifle, but I want a LVPO over a traditional red dot so I can push it out to 3-400 yards occasionally.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Birddog6424]

I would say one of the nicest eyeboxes on an LPVO is the G2 Razor.

But having said that, it's not a key feature. I have one and like it, but it's not the best reason for liking it. The majority of LPVOs have a very good, useable eyebox. It would be easier to ask which ones are tighter, as that list is significantly shorter.

 

[LMT/556]

It's hard to beat the razors for eye box, having said that I've bought and sold two.

 

[CSTactical]

It's hard to beat the Vortex Razor Gen II 1-6 in that area...

 

[Rob01]

As mentioned the Vortex Gen II 1-6 is great for eye box. 1x on the scope is better than some red dots. It's an all around good scope with good reticles and a lot of adjustment.

 

[Wyzrd]

Vortex Razor 1-6, Khales 1-6, Swarovski 1-6/1-8...?

 

[Eggman]

trijicon accupower 1-8 is right there with the G2 razor.

havent use a khales or swaro, but it certainly smokes a leopold

 

[mkollman74]

Kahles...

 

[MosesTheTank]

Kahles

 

[Moose]

Kahles and Razor 1x6 both have a very generous eye-box.

 

[TMR137]

Not sure what your budget is, but I would strongly consider the NX8 and ATACR 1-8. I have the NX8, which I love, but my buddy ponied up for the ATACR and I am a little jealous of him. The eye box on the ATACR is noticeably better than the NX8 but I have never had an issue getting behind my NX8, and for the extra $800+ it might not be worth it to everyone.

 

[Moose]

The ATACR 1-8 seems like a good scope but I am still saving for another ZC 4X20.

 

[verdugo60]

The Razor Gen 2 is probably the best value at $1200 LE pricing. I run it on my duty carbine. My splits and overall times are pretty much the same speed as with an AimPoint PRO, just takes a bit of trigger time.

Have heard good things about the Kahles. The Nightforce ones are nice.

 

[Moose]

I just purchased the Gen2-E Razor and love the scope.The red dot in it is perfect and it is as close to 1x as I have ever worked with.Money well spent.

 

[Burdy]

Kahles eyebox is better than Razor, but you are talking about the Razor being 95-98% there for 1/2 the price.

 

[koshkin]

For the money: Razor Gen2.

Light weight: Kahles K16i

FFP: Blazer 1-7x28

 

[TonyTheTiger]

For the money: Razor Gen2.

Light weight: Kahles K16i

FFP: Blazer 1-7x28

Maybe I'm missing something, but how is FFP a useful thing in a scope that only has a duplex reticle?

 

[freedom71]

kahles

 

[Burdy]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how is FFP a useful thing in a scope that only has a duplex reticle?

It just means it would have been an even better SFP scope.

 

[Langford]

Thanks for the information guys. The Razor was at the top of my list to begin with because the color matches the brown in the m81 camo scheme that I’m having done on the rifle, so these positive reviews are definitely pushing me further towards that.

there is one semi-local shop that carries many of these, so I’ll have to make a trip to fondle a few.

 

[koshkin]

It just means it would have been an even better SFP scope.

Not necessarily. They have an arrangement where below 4x or so the illuminated dot gets bigger. The reticle is in FFP, so that on low power it becomes quite thin and virtually invisible when you go fast. However, the illuminated dot is big and very bright.

The field of view is very wide and as close to perfectly corrected as I have seen.

This is about as close to a "reflex sight" experience as I have ever seen in a LPVO.

Blaser Infinity 1-7×28 Riflescope » OpticsThoughts

ILya

 

[LMT/556]

Thanks for the information guys. The Razor was at the top of my list to begin with because the color matches the brown in the m81 camo scheme that I’m having done on the rifle, so these positive reviews are definitely pushing me further towards that.

there is one semi-local shop that carries many of these, so I’ll have to make a trip to fondle a few.

My current LPVO is a NF ATACR and I'm happy with it mostly. All these are a culmination of compromises so none will be perfect and at $2250 they are spendy, but the eye box and glass are similar to the Vortex Razor, the reticle, power throw lever and .1 mil adjustments are improvements over the Vortex. Mechanically I have a higher degree of confidence in NF.

 

[Ponyboy96]

I’m in the same boat looking for a better LPVO. I did get to handle several the other day and compare them. I’m far from an expert, but here are my thoughts. I tried the nx8, Trijicon, razr 2-e were the 3 that stood out. I didn’t try an atacr 1-8 (they were out of stock) or a Kahles. Out of those, the razr had the best glass, eye box and field of view. I’d really like to compare it to a kahles atacr, and the S&B 1-8 pm2. I was more disappointed with the nx8 in comparison.

I will be using mine in competition and it will get beat up pretty good, drug through the mud, and even submerged. So durability is a must. Warranty is nice, but I definitely don’t want it crapping out after training, traveling, taking time off of work, and spending money to go to a match.

 

[LMT/556]

I’m in the same boat looking for a better LPVO. I did get to handle several the other day and compare them. I’m far from an expert, but here are my thoughts. I tried the nx8, Trijicon, razr 2-e were the 3 that stood out. I didn’t try an atacr 1-8 (they were out of stock) or a Kahles. Out of those, the razr had the best glass, eye box and field of view. I’d really like to compare it to a kahles atacr, and the S&B 1-8 pm2. I was more disappointed with the nx8 in comparison.

I will be using mine in competition and it will get beat up pretty good, drug through the mud, and even submerged. So durability is a must. Warranty is nice, but I definitely don’t want it crapping out after training, traveling, taking time off of work, and spending money to go to a match.

I had the NX8 super picky tight eyebox and ocular adjustment. If you go NF take a hard look at the ATACR it's worth the price and extra weight.

 

[Scarface26]

Bushnell has a 1-8.5 on their website that is listed out of stock. Why no love for Bushnell? i've not handled one of these, but own two LRSTi's and am happy with them, especially for the money.

gotta admit that the Razor 1-6 is awesome, though.

Paging @koshkin and @Hollywood6mm

Merry Christmas and God bless America

 

[gnochi]

The Bushnell 1-8.5 is like 26oz and you can’t see the reticle at 1x without illumination (and even then it’s difficult).

 

[scale]

Leica Magnus 1-6.3 has one of the best eye boxes

 

[BytorJr]

I'll admit I didn't study much before I bought one of these since the price was so good from camerlandny. However, the biggest two negatives are as folks have said: the weight and the reticle visibility at 1x. That said, this doesn't bother me as I'd never planned on not running with illumination on at low magnification (< 3 or 4). Actually I would NOT say you can see the reticle at all at 1x, just the illuminated dot which is good enough for my proposed usage. For any ranging data one really has to be about 4-5x to get enough detail on the reticle to use it like one normally use a FFP reticle. A quick throw ring would be very useful on this optic.

The other issue is the gradient of the windage. It's not windage per se as it's not exactly given in mils. That said, the favorite k16i has no horizontal stadia in the SM1 reticle. At first when i saw the "lack of" windage this bothered me, but looking at the k16i i'm not as worried about it as before.

I think as long as you're willing to run the scope with the illumination on at low power it's not a bad scope for the price. It's built well from what I can tell and fits a lot of bills without taking a lot of them . Biggest issue IMO is the weight. That said, I've not weighed the Bushy against say an Accupower so I cannot compare it's biggest price-point competitor. Basically one cannot necessarily believe some of the specs on weight.

I also toyed with a ZP8 with the Minox deal, but decided the ZP5 was probably where I should spend big dollars as glass becomes more important at higher power. Though, to be honest, if I thought i had time (as recently as 2 days ago), I'd probably buy another M18 and jump in on a ZP8. However, never seeing a ZP8 in the wild I held off.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Bushnell has a 1-8.5 on their website that is listed out of stock.

The Elite Tactical SMRS 1-8.5x24mm - Illuminated BTR-2 is listed as out of stock on the Bushnell website beciase we bought all their existing inventory and are blowing them out at only $679.99

 

[BytorJr]

Wow Doug, do you ever sleep or take time off? Merry Christmas!!!

 

[Ponyboy96]

Thanks for the replies. That’s a lot of good info. It’s definitely tough to find a good lpvo that checks all the boxes.

 

[BytorJr]

@Ponyboy96, I actually don't think the "perfect" LPVO exists. It's going to be a compromise most of the time. The closest I found for MY needs/desires would be the ZP8, but I decided it wasn't worth the money. It had what I wanted, a dot AND an illuminated reticle after 2-3x. However, it apparently is also very difficult to get behind at high magnification levels. I was very close to buying (as in the morning I ordered my ZP5; but, I spent enough of high end scopes this year so despite having the ability to purchase for 1/2 off I bailed. Ultimately the choice is yours. If you have a chance try to look through as many as possible - go to the range, store, etc.

In summary, I'm not disappointed with my Bushy purchase. Especially for what Doug is selling them for. Are their better LVPO's...yes; but bang for buck it's pretty damn good. Especially if you want something along the lines of a red dot (not that bright) at low magnification power. Good Luck. Merry Christmas.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Wow Doug, do you ever sleep or take time off? Merry Christmas!!!

Sleep, yes, about 3-4 hours a night.

Time off, rarely. Time with my family, absolutely, however, with web on the phone and laptops seems working is just an extension of the day.

Merry Christmas

 

[JWG]

Eyebox doesn't always equate to "fast". For example, I prefer the nx8 for speed vs the k16i, even though the k16i has a more generous eyebox.