Vortex Impact 4000 and Razor 4000 mini-review.

[MinistryOfTruth]

I guess I'll pump out a mini-review. I bought the Impact 4000 and then went on to get the Razor 4000 GB to complement it.

I procured the Impact 4000 first and have just recieved my Razor 4000GB. TLDR: I would buy both again, and I did.

THE RIGHT WAY TO MOUNT IT

Impact 4000 Good/Neutral/Bad

+Ranges quickly
+Supports scan mode
+Ballistics work great
+Good battery life so far
+2000m every time, 3000m sometimes, 4000m at night
+Ate a grenade at the range when the wind blew my rifle off onto the concrete. Still zeroed and functional
+Great cover design
+Excellent execution

3MILx3MIL LASER SPLASH DOWNRANGE

~905nm laser. Expected at this price, but 1550nm would have rocked
~It has a slash-shaped beam pattern. 45-degree angle from bottom left to top right. No idea how that is supposed to work well.
~ The application had difficulty connecting to one unit for a moment
~The idea of a network of devices to provide data/solutions/etc is neat but complicated. Especially since it auto-joins other devices in a network, or at least it did in our testing. I wish it was able to be switched on with "advanced" mode.
~I would have preferred a "Laser Fire" button where the vortex logo is. Why? With gloves, I have a distinct different place to push to get a laser actuation. Instead, I'm always fighting the menu buttons too.
~Not as small as the competition (the $11,000 competition mind you...)

-One of 3 units died every time you fired a round. I polled the massive group of shooters I participated with and our number came out to be 24 in hand, 2 dead. So not awful.
-The display screen updates slowly when cold. This IS an issue if you have to go menu hunting for something.

Razor 4000 GB Good/Neutral/Bad

+Unit is fast. Everything is. Powers on, solves internally, ranges etc. Fast fast fast.
+Dropping pins on the map is cool and useful for SAR/Hunting/Etc
+Glass is good.
+Seems to have a coated metal body that is nice
+The case showed that they were listening. Hard
+Good scan mode that's pretty decent handheld to 2km
+Wind editing is easy and fast with the dedicated button.
+It has a tripod mount. Hooray!

~Old fashioned screen tech like you would have seen in any laser in the last 20 years. Instead of a more modern dot style display as in the Newcon 3500 or Sig Kilo 10k
~ELR mode saves battery power I suspect...but the 5 second return time isn't something to be in love with. You can tell you aren't blasting away with a PLRF25 when you enable it.

-CR2 battery. It's a huge unit. Why do I yet again have a unit that takes this POS battery just to save 3mm of size. Its literally the only thing that I own...other than two other pocket LRF's...that take this POS expensive hard to find battery.
-I'm still waiting 2 seconds for the unit to display my solution in Ballistic mode. I personally don't give a shit what the yardage is on a thing that I'm using my ballistic LRF to range as much as I care about the holdover, and now please. It should display holdover and then yards.

One Thing
One thing i would love to see is the ability to coordinate between the two units as to what I'm pointed at downrange. In the HUD in the app.
I have a compass and inclinometer and GPS data and and and.

The M-TADS system in the Apache for example has a box at the bottom that tells the other person where the designator is pointed vs the gun:

Country of Origin:
Impact 4000 = Taiwan.
Razor 4000 GB = Phillipines.

 

[rlsmith1]

Thank you for the review! Excited to purchase one first part of next year.

One Thing
One thing i would love to see is the ability to coordinate between the two units as to what I'm pointed at downrange. In the HUD in the app.
I have a compass and inclinometer and GPS data and and and.

The M-TADS system in the Apache for example has a box at the bottom that tells the other person where the designator is pointed vs the gun:

I was listening to the Vortex podcast on a long drive, and they indicated the app has the ability to do something similar. Basically, you can laze a target and that ping shows up on the map in the app. Their use case was that you could point the laser to the point you last saw an animal after a shot, and use the app to direct you to that point.

This leads me to believe they may have some sort of ATAK / CivTAK capability coming down the pipe (which would make sense given all their work on the XM157). I've obviously got no inside information but seems like the logical next step

 

[MinistryOfTruth]

It does and this does work. But I like the HUD type thing that shows azimuth and bearing better than trying to look at a map and figure out where the thing is. Well, really I want both and have one of the two.

Imagine I say take a picture of the AO with my phone...then laser something and drag a pointer onto it on the picture. then that becomes the caliberation for a cursor that moves with the laser.

 

[BurtG]

I hear they unreliable and recoil sensitive ???

 

[MinistryOfTruth]

So I have talked to a total of 27 owners of this device now. 1 (mine) died when you fired a round out if a 22lb 6.5 creedmoor bolt gun with a can. The other one it was a .50BMG and it no longer worked.

I replaced my deader. And the new one is fine.
25 good to 2 dead is a good number. Probably a connector popped loose in there or something. Its less than 10% and for a brand new electronic thing that ain’t bad.

 

[R_A_W]

-I'm still waiting 2 seconds for the unit to display my solution in Ballistic mode. I personally don't give a shit what the yardage is on a thing that I'm using my ballistic LRF to range as much as I care about the holdover, and now please. It should display holdover and then yards.

That's too bad... my only real complaint about the Fury 5000 ABs is how long it takes to get a solution. It's not terrible, but I was hoping Vortex would improve this, w/ these being the Razor line & the switch to GB

~Old fashioned screen tech like you would have seen in any laser in the last 20 years. Instead of a more modern dot style display as in the Newcon 3500 or Sig Kilo 10k

Kind of disappointing to see they didn't update the display, either. Switching back and forth between the range and the firing solution can be aggravating. Having different information occupy the same space by alternating what is displayed doesn't make sense to me.

 

[MinistryOfTruth]

It’s still one of the best non-bino lasers. It doesn’t F you all the time with phone or god help me kestrel connection problems. It just works.

The only handheld LRF thats “holy shit” better is the much more expensive sig 10k

 

[TheOE800]

View attachment 8277197
THE RIGHT WAY TO MOUNT IT

Care to expound on that vs. diving board?

 

[MinistryOfTruth]

Care to expound on that vs. diving board?

My left eye naturally sees it. no popping up. I can see the buttons easier and reach them easy. its. little closer by about 1.5”.

 

[TheOE800]

I figured it was a bore offset issue first and visibility/reach was a bonus. Not too many mounts that can accommodate side picatinny, though.

 

[Escanor]

Was just going to ask, how did you mount it to the left side @MinistryOfTruth ?

 

[MinistryOfTruth]

The spuhr diving board also fits on the side.

 

[Escanor]

The spuhr diving board also fits on the side.

Ah sweet, thanks!

 

[Wallflower]

With the Razor HD 4000 I found it very difficult to get consistent readings when ranging objects through sparse grass and tree branches within 150 yards, even when the line of sight to the target through the entire reticle was clear. Getting reliable measurements on 500 yard+ distant vehicle-sized targets when ranging between intermediate obstacles yielded inconsistent results in a process that's far slower than just using mil dots. It ranged just fine to distant buildings or features like chimneys with nothing else in the vicinity to cause measurement errors. I think it's telling that the ranging example Vortex provides in the Razor HD 4000 manual shows an illustration of ranging an elk at 230 yards. Increase that range to 800 yards and put some more trees along the sight line -- not obstructing it, just along it -- and I believe this unit will struggle to give consistent readings. For archers it's probably a great tool but I don't see much utility for typical rifle shooters.

The Impact looks more promising but the only tests I've seen of it show it running under nearly ideal conditions: extremely broad and completely clear sight lines with targets placed immediately in front of large berms, where the displayed range could be to the berm instead of the target. What ultimately convinced me not to buy one was inability to send data from the Impact to other devices. It's a bit infuriating not to have more control than that over a $2000 piece of hardware.

 

[Rhed]

How well does the Impact 4k range with precise and consistent range return reading in extreme heat waves or mirage? My buddies handheld RF bino’s (don’t wanna say which RF bino’s) which is 905nm could not get a good, consistent reading or no reading at 1k+ As well as my RF handheld which is also 905nm. Thanks..

 

[Wallflower]

Those conditions are probably going to play hell with any ground-based laser rangefinder out there. But effects of mirage can be almost entirely negated by ranging with a drone-mounted unit.

 

[Rhed]

I have a 1550nm wmlrf on one of my rifles. And it ranges very consistently and accurately in heat condition's all the time. Also did very well during a sudden heavy rain condition. Don’t want to mention which wmlrf I have. Just want more feed back on the impact 4k. As im planning to invest on another wmlrf in a few months to go on a new rifle I plan to buy. If the impact 4k can deliver in such condition, I’d rather look into one. If not, Id invest in another 1550nm base rf.

 

[tangokilo]

Was considering the Impact 4000 for an M82A1 but after reading the unit died on someone else's 50 cal I'm discouraged. Anyone else mount this to a 50 cal without issues or dead unit? Thanks

 

[Denver_AR]

Those that have been running the GB for a while, have you played with different modes (Normal, First, Last and ELR)?
Wondering what works best for steel targets at PRS distances.

 

[B Man]

@MinistryOfTruth when zeroing it did you have to use a vertical and horizontal offset when using it? I’m running a piggyback dot and wanted to run my impact 4K 90* offset like yours but was concerned about ranging accuracy.

 

[Scott_at_Vortex]

Those that have been running the GB for a while, have you played with different modes (Normal, First, Last and ELR)?
Wondering what works best for steel targets at PRS distances.

This will depend on what you are trying to range. If the target is the first thing the laser can possibly hit then first is the best mode. If you are ranging through a pocket of trees/bushes and the target is pretty much the last thing the laser will hit then run last.

Generally, normal is what will work for 95% of scenarios. First,last, and elr are "speciality settings". Another example where you might want to run "first" is shooting clear line of sight steel in front of berms. This will help with getting the actual range to the steel and not the berm.

Hope that helps.

-Scott

 

[Scott_at_Vortex]

@MinistryOfTruth when zeroing it did you have to use a vertical and horizontal offset when using it? I’m running a piggyback dot and wanted to run my impact 4K 90* offset like yours but was concerned about ranging accuracy.

You can run offset to your reticle or you can zero the impact to your scope reticle at a distance that is close to the farthest distance you'd be shooting/ranging at.

I personally like zeroing the impact to my scope reticle at 1100-1500yds. I feel this method is more precise than measuring an offset at close range.

Hope that makes sense and answers your question.

-Scott

 

[B Man]

You can run offset to your reticle or you can zero the impact to your scope reticle at a distance that is close to the farthest distance you'd be shooting/ranging at.

I personally like zeroing the impact to my scope reticle at 1100-1500yds. I feel this method is more precise than measuring an offset at close range.

Hope that makes sense and answers your question.

-Scott

So if it 1000 yards, do you dial the scope to zero it. I would use 1000 yard dope and zero it that way?

 

[MinistryOfTruth]

I infinity zero my laser. so i use night vision to zero it at 2000 yards. Eliminates issues with offsets. just know you are however high you are on optical offset.

 

[Scott_at_Vortex]

So if it 1000 yards, do you dial the scope to zero it. I would use 1000 yard dope and zero it that way?

No, you wouldn't want to do that. If you did that you would need to dial your 1000yd dope everytime you wanted to range something. You want your scope at its zero range. For most of us that's 100yds. I am using the 1000yds or farther target to get the rangefinder aligned to my reticle at its 100yd zero. This way my laser is aligned with my reticle at 100yds out to all of the distances I'm shooting and quite a bit farther. The absolute farthest the laser will be off inside of that distance is at the muzzle. Which would be whatever the offset between the scope reticle and the laser is, but thats such a small amount that it's inconsequential.

Hopefully that helps

-Scott