Rifle Scopes Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

[alpha6164]

I was at the range today and noticed the shooter next to me had a Razor HD on his 700 and asked him if i can fondle it

He was very gracious and said no problem. I was shooting my NF 5.5-22x so i feel i had a pretty good comparison. Although i did not do a back and forth look through i am confident of my analysis since i own four 5.5-22x50 NF scopes for several years.

The scope looks business. It is just straight beef. The elevation knob is big as we all know but not enough to bother me when looking at it. The turrets felt great with audible and great tactile clicks. The glass was very good. Now to mention that this observation was at 11am so there is no low light comparison, but i would say that edge to edge clarity was as clear as my NF. I did not feel at all that the glass was inferior to my NF in any way. Also even at 20x i had no problem getting behind the scope. I did not find the eyebox tight in anyway.

If there is anything that rubbed me the wrong way a little was the reticle thickness. This scope had the MOA reticle which i prefer for my scopes. Every one of my NF scopes have the NP-R1. At 5x the reticle was quite small and not really usable for ranging for me. I was looking at my targets at 300 yards and at 20x the reticle is much thicker than my NF. The EBR-1 does not have the open center like the EBR-2 so i would assume that at 800-1000 yards it would obscure even more. I am not sure what the reticle thickness is at 20x and would like to find out if anyone knows and would like to chime in.

This is my first FFP scope i have looked through and know the inherit problem with the reticle getting thicker at the max range. I think if it had the center dot it would be a win. I am not sure why Vortex would not over the same center dot for the MOA reticle! Overall, i walked away impressed with the scope and may actually consider this as a future purchase. I do need to look at other FFP scopes and see how their reticle change in thickness at max magnification.

 

[sniperaviator]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

Yes, FFP may not be all it is cracked up to be. I have second focal plane Nightforce and I go back and forth from low mag to high mag. I have a usable reticle at low mag and a usable reticle at high mag. The reticle's main purpose is to put you ON TARGET! All other reticle functions are secondary.

 

[Rob01]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

The FFP reticles don't change thickness. It's the same on all powers in relation to the target.

As to if you need it or not, that's up to you but they are better if you actucally use your reticle for more than a single aiming point. When you start doing that then you will see the advanatges to the FFP.

Yes the reticle does appear to get smaller at lower powers but it's still useable in most all FFP scopes without having to do match to make sure your mils or MOA's are correct, if you use the reticle. All FFP reticles are not the same but in regards to the Razor, I have the EBR-3 and have no problem shooting small targets with the reticle. I actually like it better than the NF F1 MLR reticle.

Look through more FFP scopes and more importantly use them and you will see their advantages.

 

[alpha6164]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

^^^Do we know what the thickness is? Cause at 300 yards at max magnification it looked like it was covering .75-1" on the target. My assumption is that at a 1000yards that reticle will take up at least 3". Again this is just a guestimate.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

Looks like it's 0.2 MOA

http://www.vortexoptics.com/uploads/sub_razor-hd_ebr-1_details.jpg

I do prefer the open center on the EBR-2 mRad.

The last couple times I had a chance to compare my Razor HD to Nightforce scopes the Razor did not give anything up. When comparing the same magnification on each scope my general opinion was that the NF was slightly brighter, but the Razor had slightly better contrast. The difference was not enough to base a purchase off of. However I do agree with Rob in that I feel the Reticle in the Razor is a better choice for tactical shooters. It will spoil you if you do more than square range turret dialing. I find myself wishing I could have the same reticle in my SN-3. (John mentioned they are working on something similar).

 

[Chiller]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yes, FFP may not be all it is cracked up to be. I have second focal plane Nightforce and I go back and forth from low mag to high mag. I have a usable reticle at low mag and a usable reticle at high mag. The reticle's main purpose is to put you ON TARGET! All other reticle functions are secondary. </div></div>

Depends what your game is.

 

[jonaddis84]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

Just got one yesterday, and I cant believe I wasted my time with sub $1000 scopes for the past few years. Havent gotten out to shoot it besides just zeroing yet, but cant wait to do so.

Have to give an A+ review already for Vortex customer service from Scott. I bought the scope off here second hand, and had a tight elevation turret issue. Scott walked me through completely disassembling the turret to try and figure it out, instead of just saying "send it in". Ended up being a dry torn up oring inside the inner turret. I doubt it came that way from Vortex, likely previous owner, not really sure. Anyway, is all good now with fresh Vaseline in there and a new set of o-rings is on the way.

Like Rob said, if you use your reticle for correcting miss shots, or for slight changes in range instead of dialing the knob FFP is a must...unless you want to be on 22x the whole time.

Oh, and yeah, the thing is a serious TANK. Its temporarily on my little Savage 10 308 until my PST gets shipped, then it will be moving onto a 338LM where I think it will look more in place.

 

[Buddhapapa]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

A tank it is, but I like mine.

 

[Short-bus]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

I've been going back and forth between trying the new super sniper, or the Razor HD. The razor's been out for a while, and thus any problems it did/would have have been corrected, whereas the SS is brand new, with no track record. Do I think there will be problems with it? Likely no, but I don't like taking chances, and the reticule on the SS isn't exactly what i'm looking for. Razor HD with EBR-3 reticule it is for me, most likely. Gotta find a buyer for my Mark 4 M3 3.5-10x40 now.

Branden

 

[RollinCoal11]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

The razor does have a nice reticle but IMHO the new NF MLR2 reticle is really hard to beat. I know it's a little more then the razor but I feel it's worth it

 

[gugubica]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yes, FFP may not be all it is cracked up to be. I have second focal plane Nightforce and I go back and forth from low mag to high mag. I have a usable reticle at low mag and a usable reticle at high mag. The reticle's main purpose is to put you ON TARGET! All other reticle functions are secondary. </div></div>

I have yet to see a FFP reticle that did not accomplish this task at any mag. Some become unusable for milling at their lowest power, but are still fully functional as an aiming point.

The whole "covers to much of the target" thing really is a non issue in the real world, unless you are shooting at dimes at 1500 yards.

 

[Short-bus]

Re: Played with a Vortex Razor HD today!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gugubica</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sniperaviator</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yes, FFP may not be all it is cracked up to be. I have second focal plane Nightforce and I go back and forth from low mag to high mag. I have a usable reticle at low mag and a usable reticle at high mag. The reticle's main purpose is to put you ON TARGET! All other reticle functions are secondary. </div></div>

I have yet to see a FFP reticle that did not accomplish this task at any mag. Some become unusable for milling at their lowest power, but are still fully functional as an aiming point.

The whole "covers to much of the target" thing really is a non issue in the real world, unless you are shooting at dimes at 1500 yards.

</div></div>

Dimes are too easy, I like to shoot the testicles off a mouse at 2 miles, therefore I need a really fine reticule.

Branden