I just recieved my new Vortex HS-T in the mail this weekend. (Thanks to the guys at the Buck Stop in Belle Fouche SD) I got it mounted on sunday and took it out to the range to zero it.
I really like the looks and size of the HS-Ts.It has both windage and elevation knobs exposed and also a side focus knob. The knobs are easy to manipulate and have nice crisp adjustments. Another nice feature of the Vortex line is the slot they put on the elevation and windage knobs so you can see the number of revolutions you have turned your knobs.
THe glass is bright and crystal clear. The hash marks are sharp and easy to see, even in heavy brush. After mounting the scope I threw it up to my shoulder and had a nice clear sight picture even on 16X without having to move my head back and forth. This alone would make it a nice hunting scope in my opinion.
Even though it was windy I decided to play around with it by doing some laod testing at 300yds. I had no problem focusing on my 3" paster at 300yds. It was clear and sharp. After shooting a couple of groups I decided to try out the MOA hash marks. I dialed 4 MOA on the scope then shot a group and went down and marked the holes then came back and shot another group using the 4 MOA hash mark. The groups were within an inch of each other. I was pleased with that but want to play with it more at longer ranges.
I replaced an older Leupold 4.5X14 target with this HS-T and there was no comparison between the two. The HS-T is much brighter and clearer than the older Leupold. I honestly feel its as clear and may be even brighter than my 4.5X14 MK4 on my 284.
The HS-T comes with 1/4 minute adjustments. "I" would perfer the 1/2 minute adjustments for the kind of shooting that I do but I know there are others of you that will really like the finer adjustments. The one thing that "I" think would be nice is for Vortex to number the larger hash marks. The MOA scopes are marked off in 2 MOA marks with everyother one being larger. The larger marks are on 4 MOA increments out to 28 MOA. I think maybe Vortex may have done this to keep the price down.
My son in law has a PST on his 284 and when we shoot long range he can tell me how many MOAs I need to dial to be on by simply looking at his cross hairs and seeing where the bullet hits. This is a really nice feature for fast follow up shots esp for us MOA dialers.
My only complaint, if you could call it that, is that the focus knob yardage does not follow the actual yardage that you focus on. I would say that is because of my old eyes but the HS-T MIL scope I tried a few months back was dead nuts on for yardage focus. Like I said its not that big a deal but I did really like that about the other HS-T.
I did not have any problems focusing on anything I looked at and had no parallex problems. The cross hairs and hash marks were also easy to see in heavy brush.
I think Vortex hit a home run with the HS-T line. Its going to be a great scope for both hunters and tactical shooters alike. It has many of the features of more expensive scopes for half the cost. In my humble opinion you can't go wrong with the HS-T line all I can say is, WAY TO GO VORTEX!!!
I really like the looks and size of the HS-Ts.It has both windage and elevation knobs exposed and also a side focus knob. The knobs are easy to manipulate and have nice crisp adjustments. Another nice feature of the Vortex line is the slot they put on the elevation and windage knobs so you can see the number of revolutions you have turned your knobs.
THe glass is bright and crystal clear. The hash marks are sharp and easy to see, even in heavy brush. After mounting the scope I threw it up to my shoulder and had a nice clear sight picture even on 16X without having to move my head back and forth. This alone would make it a nice hunting scope in my opinion.
Even though it was windy I decided to play around with it by doing some laod testing at 300yds. I had no problem focusing on my 3" paster at 300yds. It was clear and sharp. After shooting a couple of groups I decided to try out the MOA hash marks. I dialed 4 MOA on the scope then shot a group and went down and marked the holes then came back and shot another group using the 4 MOA hash mark. The groups were within an inch of each other. I was pleased with that but want to play with it more at longer ranges.
I replaced an older Leupold 4.5X14 target with this HS-T and there was no comparison between the two. The HS-T is much brighter and clearer than the older Leupold. I honestly feel its as clear and may be even brighter than my 4.5X14 MK4 on my 284.
The HS-T comes with 1/4 minute adjustments. "I" would perfer the 1/2 minute adjustments for the kind of shooting that I do but I know there are others of you that will really like the finer adjustments. The one thing that "I" think would be nice is for Vortex to number the larger hash marks. The MOA scopes are marked off in 2 MOA marks with everyother one being larger. The larger marks are on 4 MOA increments out to 28 MOA. I think maybe Vortex may have done this to keep the price down.
My son in law has a PST on his 284 and when we shoot long range he can tell me how many MOAs I need to dial to be on by simply looking at his cross hairs and seeing where the bullet hits. This is a really nice feature for fast follow up shots esp for us MOA dialers.
My only complaint, if you could call it that, is that the focus knob yardage does not follow the actual yardage that you focus on. I would say that is because of my old eyes but the HS-T MIL scope I tried a few months back was dead nuts on for yardage focus. Like I said its not that big a deal but I did really like that about the other HS-T.
I did not have any problems focusing on anything I looked at and had no parallex problems. The cross hairs and hash marks were also easy to see in heavy brush.
I think Vortex hit a home run with the HS-T line. Its going to be a great scope for both hunters and tactical shooters alike. It has many of the features of more expensive scopes for half the cost. In my humble opinion you can't go wrong with the HS-T line all I can say is, WAY TO GO VORTEX!!!
