Razor LHT vs. Mark5HD for hunting

[HMRamateur]

I can get a good deal on both of these scopes. Curious which is the better choice. I'm looking at the 4.5-22 razor or the 3.6-18 mark5. I prefer FFP so that's why I'm going with a higher mag range for the razor. This will be going on a 7mmSaw used for backcountry hunting.

The weight is close enough not to make a difference to me, and the rifle has a krieger 5.5 contour barrel on it, so super lightweight isn't the goal. I've read reviews on both, so I know they aren't tier 1 optics, but I also know they are considered reliable by most. I haven't found too many comparisons between the 2 though.

 

[dk17hmr]

I have a Razor LHT on my hunting rifle, for the money I really like it. I havent looked through the Mark5.

I'd just pick the reticle you like more and go with that one.

 

[4O6shootist]

I've been really happy with my 4.5-22 lrh. I had a 3.6-18 mk5hd, and the glass in the vortex is better in my opinion and has a bettee reticle. Turrets go to leupold. The 5-25 MK5 is a good scope and has brighter glass than it's little brother in the few samples I've tested. But it's a significant weight penalty over the razor. The only light weigh scopes with excellent glass/turrets are the March scopes under 30oz and they're great. Also jumping up a few price points too.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I've had both and really liked both.

The LHT rode on a Sig Cross and a Q Fix, and I really liked it but it just never was the right optic for the rifle. IMO it lends itself more as a target or varmint optic than hunting in the crossover aspect. On low mag the FOV was just lacking compared to other optics at similar magnification. Other than that I had no other real complaints. Excellent glass, turrets not as bad as some make them out to be, solid tracking. Some have issues with the illumination controls taking a shit, mine never did but the illumination controls could be better. I also put a MKM throw lever on the mag ring to overcome it being on the stiffer side and hard to grab the ring and it was a non issue as well.

I've had a few 3.6-18 M5's, love the optic my only complaint is that they did the windage knob marking dumb but it's not a huge deal, and lack of good illuminated reticles. For hunting uses this scopes NEEDS illumination just like most FFP's when trying to use them in low light, that gives you a couple options that blow (TMR and PR1) and T3 which a lot of people don't like and you're looking at a much more expensive optic optic at that point.

Between those two I'd pick the MK5 but only if you're going to get illumination.

My hunting rifle now wears an NXS 2.5-10x42 which so far I like more than either of those optics for this use. It's been plenty of magnification for shooting beyond 800 yards on fairly small targets so far and even spotting 223 misses in the dirt.

 

[FuhQ]

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Get the LHT, or an XTR-III, or a few other options to choose from in that price range...

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[Ronws]

I like Vortex. One of my bosses likes Leupold. He gets deer every time he hunts, though he says that is from the skill and not a particular brand of optics. It just depends on what you are comfortable with. Whichever reticle floats your boat.

Western Desert Shooter usually does not mag past 16x, even at 1,000 yards. Too much detail makes you notice the wavering. Back out a bit and just go for the dark spot.

 

[Sogan]

LHT still having a lot of zero shift issues if dropped etc?

 

[FuhQ]

I like Vortex. One of my bosses likes Leupold. He gets deer every time he hunts, though he says that is from the skill and not a particular brand of optics. It just depends on what you are comfortable with. Whichever reticle floats your boat.

Western Desert Shooter usually does not mag past 16x, even at 1,000 yards. Too much detail makes you notice the wavering. Back out a bit and just go for the dark spot.

When I worked at the gun store, went sent back more Leupolds than any other scope. Their warranty was great, and so was their customer service, but damn...the track record was terrible. After my last one got stolen back in 2008, I haven't bought another one...I spent money on better.

 

[mj23polaris]

My 3-15 lht had a glass jaw. I was constantly re zeroing it. Had it torqued and mounted properly in Seekins rings. Eventually sent it in for parallax issues. The magnification ring was insanely stiff and on a cold day sucked to turn.

Sold it, went trijicon credo on my hunting rifle and have been extremely happy.

 

[dgheriani]

I have a 4.5-22 on my hunting rifle and quite like it. Good glass, great reticle, illum makes it usable on low mag. The turrets aren't great but do their job, it tracks well, put a throw lever on the mag ring as well. No experience with the 3.6-18 but tons on the 5-25s (which are nice scopes). About 6 extra oz for the 3.6-18 vs the 4.5-22. The killer is the Leupold illum upcharge which is pretty ridiculous and a ffp optic sucks for hunting without illum, imo.

 

[Hegre]

When I worked at the gun store, went sent back more Leupolds than any other scope. Their warranty was great, and so was their customer service, but damn...the track record was terrible. After my last one got stolen back in 2008, I haven't bought another one...I spent money on better.

What kind of issues were you seeing? I am close too ordering a 3-18 vx6 so would not mind knowing. I am good friends with the distributor so I am not worried about getting any issues resolved.

 

[supercorndogs]

What kind of issues were you seeing? I am close too ordering a 3-18 vx6 so would not mind knowing. I am good friends with the distributor so I am not worried about getting any issues resolved.

I seriously doubt any gun store is seeing tons of Mark 5s going back for warranty. Leopold has lots of low end Chyna built crap like Vortex. That is the stuff you can expect to break.

 

[Hegre]

I seriously doubt any gun store is seeing tons of Mark 5s going back for warranty. Leopold has lots of low end Chyna built crap like Vortex. That is the stuff you can expect to break.

That sounds more like what I would expect.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I seriously doubt any gun store is seeing tons of Mark 5s going back for warranty. Leopold has lots of low end Chyna built crap like Vortex. That is the stuff you can expect to break.

This. That cheap chinesium shit is what most people buy and what’s mostly out there.

VX5HD, VX6HD, MK5HD are all solid optics.

 

[Crews]

I vote Mk5, excellent scope with more desirable form factor and in my opinion a better reputation than anything Vortex makes. Would definitely reinforce the suggestion above about illuminated reticle. At low power and low light, it’ll sometimes disappear against a dark background.

 

[FuhQ]

What kind of issues were you seeing? I am close too ordering a 3-18 vx6 so would not mind knowing. I am good friends with the distributor so I am not worried about getting any issues resolved.

This was 20 years ago, but we sent back tons of VX-1, VX-2, VX3, MK-4, and VX-6's (especially the ones that had the inverted hump in the bottom of the objective lenses to clear the barrel). I can't remember any other models right off the top of my head, but those were the main ones that I can recall. Mostly tube issues. We had a bunch of the VX1, 2, & 3 series have weak tubes that crushed lenses at 10-15 in-lbs while torquing the ring caps down. Like I said, their CS was phenomenal, never had an issue getting a customer's scope replaced...Hell, we even sent back some for a customer from the 70's, and they rebuilt and refurbished them like brand new for him, with modern upgraded glass and internals. Most of the time, they told us to put on a new one for the customer, and they'd send us the replacement. And if we didn't have that scope, to upgrade them to next closest thing we had, and they'd send us a new one.

Well, Vortex also has an amazing warranty, but having personally owned about 20 different Vortex optics of different price ranges and countries of manufacture, I can tell you that still doesn't mean that anything less than their Razor line isn't cheap shit, and prone to failure under heavy use.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

This was 20 years ago, but we sent back tons of VX-1, VX-2, VX3, MK-4, and VX-6's (especially the ones that had the inverted hump in the bottom of the objective lenses to clear the barrel). I can't remember any other models right off the top of my head, but those were the main ones that I can recall. Mostly tube issues. We had a bunch of the VX1, 2, & 3 series have weak tubes that crushed lenses at 10-15 in-lbs while torquing the ring caps down. Like I said, their CS was phenomenal, never had an issue getting a customer's scope replaced...Hell, we even sent back some for a customer from the 70's, and they rebuilt and refurbished them like brand new for him, with modern upgraded glass and internals. Most of the time, they told us to put on a new one for the customer, and they'd send us the replacement. And if we didn't have that scope, to upgrade them to next closest thing we had, and they'd send us a new one.

Well, Vortex also has an amazing warranty, but having personally owned about 20 different Vortex optics of different price ranges and countries of manufacture, I can tell you that still doesn't mean that anything less than their Razor line isn't cheap shit, and prone to failure under heavy use.

And if you worked in a gun store today the brand you'd be sending back the most would be Vortex because its a giant marketing machine and huge brand. The fact you worked at a gun store two decades ago and warrantied Leupolds means jack shit in 2023. Leupold makes solid some solid optics as does vortex.

 

[FuhQ]

And if you worked in a gun store today the brand you'd be sending back the most would be Vortex because its a giant marketing machine and huge brand. The fact you worked at a gun store two decades ago and warrantied Leupolds means jack shit in 2023. Leupold makes solid some solid optics as does vortex.

Did you even read my post? I said sub-Razor Vortex scopes were shit. Leupold was the Vortex of yesteryear. Go be a Fudd somewhere else. You're the one who stated that you think suppressors should be regulated to prevent crime in that Texas suppressor lawsuit thread. And you're lecturing me about my opinion being relevant?

I never said anything about the MK5HD other than they're overpriced for what you get, but I will now just to piss you and the fanboys off... I refuse to pay $2,000 for 30 year old technology in a fancy new modern package. Leupold hasn't done anything truly innovative in 15+ years. Same reason I won't buy a Schmidt & Bender. And before you talk shit, affording one is damn-sure not an issue...I'm not "a poor".

 

[264win]

Of the two optics listed by the OP the MK 5 is the better choice.
My experience is very similar to BMXs above.
I have had the mk 5 and LHT and like them for light duty use, but for hunting rifles I prefer the NF NSX 2.5-10 and ATACR 4-16

 

[PappyM3]

LHT still having a lot of zero shift issues if dropped etc?

According to Rokslide, the Mk5 has those issues too. The Trijicon Tenmile 3-18 has been durable though.

That said, I liked the glass and light gathering ability of my Mk5 3.6-18 when I had it. But the non-illuminated Tremor 3 was worthless below 5-6x.

 

[Ronws]

Well, in a few weeks, I have to go get some new teeth, which is going to be a while to pay for. And normally, I would go and "be poor somewhere else."

But I like it here, so I will just be poor here.

I am 6'4" (used to be 6'6" but life has worn me down) and 260 lbs (down from 296 a few years ago.) So, yeah, go ahead and make me move. Wait, let me get my popcorn, this should be entertaining.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Did you even read my post? I said sub-Razor Vortex scopes were shit. Leupold was the Vortex of yesteryear. Go be a Fudd somewhere else. You're the one who stated that you think suppressors should be regulated to prevent crime in that Texas suppressor lawsuit thread. And you're lecturing me about my opinion being relevant?

I never said anything about the MK5HD other than they're overpriced for what you get, but I will now just to piss you and the fanboys off... I refuse to pay $2,000 for 30 year old technology in a fancy new modern package. Leupold hasn't done anything truly innovative in 15+ years. Same reason I won't buy a Schmidt & Bender. And before you talk shit, affording one is damn-sure not an issue...I'm not "a poor".

I did read your post, I also read these two:

Friends don't let friends buy Leupold...

Get the LHT, or an XTR-III, or a few other options to choose from in that price range...

When I worked at the gun store, went sent back more Leupolds than any other scope. Their warranty was great, and so was their customer service, but damn...the track record was terrible. After my last one got stolen back in 2008, I haven't bought another one...I spent money on better.

I'm not a fanboy because I can see that they have some good lines but you sure are a butthurt hater for having to send other peoples stuff back a long time ago. You have zero experience with this stuff but you're calling it shit and even suggesting a phillipino burris over a MK5.

The MK5 is hardly 30 year old technology either, it's got a turret lock system only found on one ATACR model and then a couple other Leupold lines. Other than that it has features found on other modern precision optics so I don't know what makes the MK5 30 year old technology but not every other optic too.

You also think christensen makes good rifles, so that says about all that needs to be said about your judgement.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

According to Rokslide, the Mk5 has those issues too.

I wouldn't put much thought into that. When you consider how most hunters shoot and then see their test "targets" of cardboard with boxes sharpied on them it's not hard for a rifle to shoot a different POI on two different outings.

 

[Ronws]

I did read your post, I also read these two:





I'm not a fanboy because I can see that they have some good lines but you sure are a butthurt hater for having to send other peoples stuff back a long time ago. You have zero experience with this stuff but you're calling it shit and even suggesting a phillipino burris over a MK5.

The MK5 is hardly 30 year old technology either, it's got a turret lock system only found on one ATACR model and then a couple other Leupold lines. Other than that it has features found on other modern precision optics so I don't know what makes the MK5 30 year old technology but not every other optic too.

You also think christensen makes good rifles, so that says about all that needs to be said about your judgement.

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[Crews]

And if you worked in a gun store today the brand you'd be sending back the most would be Vortex because its a giant marketing machine and huge brand.

A world class warranty with a complimentary scope. Corners have to be cut to float such policies…

 

[FuhQ]

I did read your post, I also read these two:





I'm not a fanboy because I can see that they have some good lines but you sure are a butthurt hater for having to send other peoples stuff back a long time ago. You have zero experience with this stuff but you're calling it shit and even suggesting a phillipino burris over a MK5.

The MK5 is hardly 30 year old technology either, it's got a turret lock system only found on one ATACR model and then a couple other Leupold lines. Other than that it has features found on other modern precision optics so I don't know what makes the MK5 30 year old technology but not every other optic too.

You also think christensen makes good rifles, so that says about all that needs to be said about your judgement.

You think suppressors should be regulated, fuddy Leupold scopes are the tits, and that Q actually makes good products, and that says all that needs to be said about YOUR judgment.

 

[FuhQ]

A world class warranty with a complimentary scope. Corners have to be cut to float such policies…

Exactly...

 

[jwhjwh54]

Just ordered the LHT. It should be just fine.

 

[PearShooter]

look at the VX5 3-15x44. They have a 0.1 mil option with a TMRish reticle. I set up one recently and it was 9 oz less than my 3.6-18 Mk5. Only problem is they are SFP only.

 

[Crews]

look at the VX5 3-15x44. They have a 0.1 mil option with a TMRish reticle. I set up one recently and it was 9 oz less than my 3.6-18 Mk5. Only problem is they are SFP only.

I can live with SFP on a hunting rifle, but ONLY at a max magnification of 10x. Triji 2.5-10 is my jam for the woods.

 

[Clownbuster]

I can get a good deal on both of these scopes. Curious which is the better choice. I'm looking at the 4.5-22 razor or the 3.6-18 mark5. I prefer FFP so that's why I'm going with a higher mag range for the razor. This will be going on a 7mmSaw used for backcountry hunting.

The weight is close enough not to make a difference to me, and the rifle has a krieger 5.5 contour barrel on it, so super lightweight isn't the goal. I've read reviews on both, so I know they aren't tier 1 optics, but I also know they are considered reliable by most. I haven't found too many comparisons between the 2 though.

My son and I have been hunting hard with both of these for three seasons over four states, flying into AK, ID, driving to MT, and all over our home state of WA. I have three MK5's and two LHT's, and both are good choices for hunting. None have had any issues with holding zero under magnum recoil, resolution is excellent, easy to get behind quickly under pressure. I had my doubts from past Leupold zero-holding issues and Vortex Razor parallax problems, but that seems to be in the past.
I only prefer the MK5 due to a higher external build quality as far as turrets and durable matte black finish.