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Rifle Scopes Vortex Razor Gen II 3-18 or Steiner TXi 3-18
- Thread starter notacos4u
- Start date
That’s some of the info I was looking for. I’m sure both will perform well in ideal conditions, was curious about the low light comparison as well as it will be going on a hunting rifle. I’m not super worried about the weight due to whenever shooting, it’ll be done off an elevated platform with a shelf to shoot off…. Although, I might regret saying that if I’m walking in or out midday, lol. Although, I will be cross utilizing the rifle, while “trying” shooting at longer distances, although I can put it into a heavier chassis for that.
The 3-18 Razor has been discontinued so you would have to find a used one or a place with one in stock.
Thanks, I know, there’s one in the PX I was potentially eyeing, but wanted to get some clarification between the 2, before I purchased one, and then was left wanting, only to realize what I currently have, is better than what I spent the money on trying to compare.
The T6Xi glass will be a little clearer but either should work for your use. I used a Razor II 3-18x for years on my Vudoo and it always worked well for me.
I just reviewed both a few months back. I was honestly surprised with how good the ten year old design of the RG2 3-18 is, very impressive, it is too bad Vortex never decided to make a "light tactical" version of this scope, was hoping we'd see that in the RG3 3-18 but that scope never came into existence. I think the RG2 would have sold much better had they offered a LT version around 30oz. The T6Xi 3-18 and RG2 3-18 run very close, during close range testing I actually thought the RG2 pulled ahead, but during long range testing I preferred the T6Xi overall. I'd say you'll be happy either way, if price is close to the same, the T6Xi offers a newer design, 56mm objective and wider FOV.
The Razor Gen 2 3-18 will have a usable reticle on the lower end of the mag range. It is thicker and bolder compared to the Steiner and in a good way. Steiner dropped the ball on the 3-18x56 T6XI when they made the reticle the same dimensions as its higher power brother. The reticle is bad (one of the worst) unless maxed out. I sold mine before it ever seen a rifle. If your scope will live at 18X, this isn’t as much of an issue.
Illumination is only the center cross with SCR2, at 3x this is hardly visible to my eyes, as a 3x scope it is not ideal (but not the worst either) and above 5x begins to improve some. I was hoping for brighter illumination at lower mags, the NF NX8 2.5-20 has much brighter illumination or at least it seams but maybe that's because NF illuminates the entire reticle while Steiner is only the center cross. Just different design intent, there is a lot to like with the T6Xi but 3x use is probably one of its major weaknesses.
Yup it is only the main crosshair that is illuminated but with all the crying in other threads about people wanting "simple" reticles I didn't think that would be an issue especially at the lower powers where you wouldn't be using the tree anyways. I never use any of my optics at their lowest power so was never an issue for me but if someone wants a large reticle at 3x then a SFP might be a better choice for them.
Brighter illumination technology is out there, I honestly think the T6Xi 3-18x56 with brighter illumination for that center cross would be somewhat ideal as it would have similar effect to a center dot. Since Steiner is using a thicker battery than the standard CR2032 I was hoping they might be drawing a little more voltage or something but that was not the case with my scopes.
I agree. I sold mine because of this reason. I almost bought another one to try out because I liked the rest of the optic so much.
Not sure, they had to make some sort of compromise as always to get the msr2 to work in a 3-18, yeah on 3x it’s a bit fine but I don’t really have a problem seeing it, at 18x it’s perfect for long range work. No free lunch. The 3-20 pmii had the original msr thickened at 3x and at 20 it was fat as hell.
This seems to imply that there might be a new gen 3 version of the Razor 3-18 being tested in the wild. Am I reading the tea leaves correctly?
