Re: Vortex 1-6x Is here, Review Here **
<span style="font-weight: bold">Vortex Razor HD Gen II 1-6x JM-1 </span>
Vortex Website Details Page for the Razor 1-6x 24
I mounted the scope on my Knights Armament 16" EMC as I felt this was the right system to use the Razor. The KAC is not especially accurate but it is a current battle rifle, it has back up iron sights to highlight the scope's clearance, and can be used out to distance to simulate the guys who would use this for 3 Gun or other similar situations.
Out the box, the Razor is pretty impressive. Immediately you notice the weight of the optic. It comes in at 18.4 ounces according to the Vortex Site. It feels strong and capable in your hands. The next thing we notice is the glass. It has excellent quality optics. Last, but more importantly in this look and feel is the design and controls. The controls are oversized, easy to handle and the eye relief is long with a very forgiving eye box. Really forgiving. We have an 11 position illuminated reticle, the Jerry Miculek 1, which has a few small holdovers reference marks, but hardly what you would consider a Christmas tree type reticle. The scope tested is a MOA version with the MOA reticle, although it more like a ballistic duplex as it doesn't have any hash marks or windage or hold points.
<span style="text-decoration: underline">The view through the scope </span>
No that is not it, although you can see the reticle. Trust me I have others.
According to the Vortex literature they recommend a 200 yard zero for the scope to give the ballistic holds the appropriate value. So off to the 200 yard line at the Colorado Rifle Club. Now all the image you see will be from 200 yards unless otherwise noted.
On 6x
Immediately you'll note the excellent FOV on this scope. At 200 yards you are looking at marker boards that are at least 6ft wide.
On 4x
This is one 4 power, just look at the quality as well as the tight edge to edge clarity even using a camera behind the scope.
On 2x
Finally on 1x from 200 yards
All highly usable, all edge to edge clear and in all a great sight picture.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Day Light visible Illumination </span>
The 11 position illumination is definitely daylight visible. It is not washed out and I used 11x to illustrate this, but it is definitely visible. It's a nice crisp dot.
This is not the greatest image, but hopefully you can see it. I know using the scope it was easy to see and use out to distance.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Shooting the rifle and scope combination 200 to 400 yards. </span>
I took this system from my 200 yard zero to ending up at 400 yards. I think you have to map the reticle and adjust your hold slightly based off your rifle and system as I ended up a tiny bit high at 400 yards. However this does not takeaway from the fact you can be very effective with this combination. And believe me I think a better rifle would have yielded better results downrange. Still for minute of man targets, this is just about perfect.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Internals</span>
The Vortex Razor line has proven to be durable. And you can tell by the internal just how well made this scope is. Compare it to your current line of scopes and you can see immediately just how much effort they put into the construction.
There are not short cuts here. The scope just feels beefy and strong. The adjustments are solid and true, when I tested tracking it was 100% across the entire range on the Sniper's Hide Training Target.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Conclusions. </span>
Early on I looked at the S&B 1-8x and the Leupold 1-8x and both those scopes retail well over $2500. I found that each one had a different strong point. The S&B I felt was good under 3x and the Leupold better over 4x. The Vortex has them both beat. It does the entire range well. And it retails for $1400. I really don't want to hype this scope, but I feel it is the best scope to date from Vortex. In fact, I don't know any scope that came out this year that compares in the overall quality or that has lived up to the build up like this one. Maybe that is hype, but also I have never been known to jump on the Vortex bandwagon, yet here I am giving them the highest praise I can muster. They did a fantastic job on this scope.
If you're a 3GUN shooter and not sponsored by an optics company, this is your scope. If you're a hunter looking for something that can handle a wide variety of situations, from inside 100 to beyond 400, this is your optic. This makes a battle rifle, right and is an great addition to your rifle regardless of your intended use. Will you get sub moa accuracy out of a 6x scope beyond 200 yards, probably not. But that is not its job. This is a fast, accurate, well made scope designed to lend speed and efficiency your shooting.
Kudos to Vortex, if they had contest for Optic of the Year, I don't see how anyone from $500 to $3000 can compete.
x scopes out there as far as quick reticle acquisition, optical distortion, exit pupil, etc. The Swarovski Z6i is probably the benchmark I think of when looking through other higher-end 1-6x scopes as far as optical quality and lack of any tunneling.
