Vortex razor hd 4000 rangefinder

Ranger188

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 13, 2018
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I see Vortex has just released a new rangefinder.
Priced right. Just called and the beam divergence is 2.0x1.0
Why come out with a new rangefinder and have it already behind
some of the competition?
They should know that most will be ranging steel or some targets
at extended ranges, ( 600-1500 yds. )
Leica 2700 and 2800, the new Leupold 2800 have half that
I really like their products, but seems like a waste of time
in a already crowded market.
 
Hi everyone,

I just want to clarify what might be a typo above. The beam divergence is not 2.0x1.0. It's 2.0x0.1 ("zero point one"). So, it's a very thin line. While 2.0 on the long edge may seem like a lot I have used and tested this rangefinder extensively as I oversaw the team that developed it. We also had no trouble hitting 1M sized targets at over 4000 yards and beam divergence was not an issue precisely picking up 1M sized targets from clutter around the target. We also used a stop sign (about 0.75M) since we knew customers use street signs to test sometimes and had no trouble with beam divergence. It is absolutely a completely new rangefinder and recycles nothing from our previous offerings. The optics are by far the best we have ever had in a rangefinder and from our analysis rivals or beats any other handheld we have looked at for optical quality. Ranging performance is phenomenal. We actually got over 4000 yards on reflective targets. I personally took a prototype out to Montana for the Unlimited Sheep hunt last year. I was pretty much ranging anything in sight. I hit trees at 2300 yards on a single momentary press in normal mode (no scanning necessary), with instant returns (0.25 seconds is the normal return rate unless in ELR mode and scanning...see our video for more explanation on the various modes). For hunting it was stunning. I thought to myself, "there is no way I would ever need more range performance than this for hunting anything." I was also hitting deer at around 2000 yards (unfortunately I was not hitting sheep with my laser). It's slightly less range on animal hide than trees but still does fantastic. The display is also a completely new type of illumination technology which makes this display able to go brighter than anything else on the market in a hand held rangefinder, to date. It's bright enough to see the red display against snow on a bright day. The display is also a lot more energy efficient so even at the highest brightness setting we are meeting or exceeding battery life of our previous rangefinders or other models on the market. A couple of other tidbits: Magnesium body, buttons are much more ergonomic and work awesome even with gloves.

I'm looking forward to other independent reviews of the unit so you don't have to take my word for it.

I have limited connectivity right now so I may not be able to respond right away if you have more questions.

I think people will really enjoy this unit!

Thanks
Dave
 
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Dave, I called and received an email from Vortex. And only posted this
after receiving the two. This does change my original post and sorry to anyone
that might have been swayed, but I can only relay accurate info given to me
at that time. The 2.0 is still more than Leupolds 1.172 round and Leica's
2700 .5x1.2 I know the Leica is more $$ but Vortex should have come out with a
industry leading range finder in that price range.
I'm not bashing Vortex, I own and like all my Vortex item, just saying, if coming
out with something new, make it better than everything else in it's price range.
Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, just mine. Take it or leave it.
 
That certainly makes a difference .01 vs 1.0

Dave is the 4000 2 mils tall x .01 wide?
The long edge is horizontal to the unit when held normally. If you need to range between narrow tall objects you could turn the unit sideways...or better yet you could use the first mode or last modes. Speaking of which, often times the desire for a smaller beam divergence is to discriminate a target among "clutter" either in the foreground or the background. The "first mode", "last mode", or "normal scan mode" can be used to help with this. Here is a video explaining these modes, how to use them, and how they work on the Razor HD 4000:



Fair points Ranger188 and I appreciate the feedback. I hope you get to try one out and see how it works in actual practice.

Some food for thought. If you can discriminate targets and hit targets accurately at very long ranges I think you are probably doing very well. Often times paper specs tell one story and actual user experience tells a different one. Again, referencing my experience above, I think this rangefinder will serve very well for most everyone. I hope you all get a chance to try it out for yourself! Thanks!

Dave
 
.1 not 1.0 or .01 but .1

Also curious on which is width and hight. @Delta Echo
Yah, thanks! I don’t know where I came up with that .01!

.1 itself is amazingly small, I wonder if it is 2mils wide and .1 in height for PRS or just shoot’n steel out in open country. I know for me at least 2 mils wide or high is a no go for anything I do here in the Rockies.

I had a tough time with the 1.3 round of the 2400 ABS, had to scan around target desired and eliminate the surroundings by visual evaluation.

I cannot afford to be off by 10 yards on a longish shot because I ranged the tree next to and in front of the Bull.

I went to the Leica 2800.com primarily because of the .5 high x 1.25 wide. I carry a card with me for beam size at yardage. I believe I recall Bryan Litz said that most missed shots are due inaccurate range.
 
Some additional range info:
7060555
 
On my sheep hunt I actually got better ranges than this. I was in Montana at higher elevation and low humidity, though.

We also designed this rangefinder to do quite well in the rain.

That's it for now. Got to run, everyone. Hope you are having a great Saturday!

Dave
 
The long edge is horizontal to the unit when held normally. If you need to range between narrow tall objects you could turn the unit sideways...or better yet you could use the first mode or last modes. Speaking of which, often times the desire for a smaller beam divergence is to discriminate a target among "clutter" either in the foreground or the background. The "first mode", "last mode", or "normal scan mode" can be used to help with this. Here is a video explaining these modes, how to use them, and how they work on the Razor HD 4000:



Fair points Ranger188 and I appreciate the feedback. I hope you get to try one out and see how it works in actual practice.

Some food for thought. If you can discriminate targets and hit targets accurately at very long ranges I think you are probably doing very well. Often times paper specs tell one story and actual user experience tells a different one. Again, referencing my experience above, I think this rangefinder will serve very well for most everyone. I hope you all get a chance to try it out for yourself! Thanks!

Dave

Well, disregard most of my babbling. I wrote the post as Dave was posting the vid. I would have just kept my mouth shut if I had seen the video and probably should have done that in the first place,

Dave - Thanks for the info. Is the unit MIC or Japan?
 
Well, disregard most of my babbling. I wrote the post as Dave was posting the vid. I would have just kept my mouth shut if I had seen the video and probably should have done that in the first place,

Dave - Thanks for the info. Is the unit MIC or Japan?
It is MIC. As Dave previously stated, I really hope you get the chance to check one out! It won't disappoint.
 
Will write a better review after I have more time behind this, but very impressed thus far. IPSC at 1000 no problem, 48 in steel plate at 1725, no problem. I was able to get single press of the button readings on almost every stump, rock, tree, and target inside 1960 yards which was as far as I could see. For the price point, I think Vortex hit this out of the park. More to follow later.
 
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I was at our range and one of the guys had the Vortex 4000. He let me give it a try and I had no issues ranging steel out to 1500 yds. The day was clear and bright and we had no trouble picking up any of our steel.
The optics are clear and the unit is comfortable to hold and use. I may pick one of these up for myself but would like to do a little more testing.
 
I used mine elk hunting the last week of September in Montana all around Helena. I was ranging cattle at 900 yards all day with 1 button push. Ranged various things all the way out to 2000 or so yards and couldn’t have been happier with the performance. I used it for glassing a lot because the picture is super crisp. My buddy had the Vortex rangefinder binos and the razor 4000 blew it out of water as far as picture, ease of use and weight.
 
Went to the range with mine today and it struggled picking up 12x12 steel at 600 yards. It took me about 10 tries to pick up our 1000 yard benchrest white target backer. Couldn't even range elevated deer blind at 1600 yards. Maybe I got a crap battery or it needs to take a trip to Vortex.
 
Went to the range with mine today and it struggled picking up 12x12 steel at 600 yards. It took me about 10 tries to pick up our 1000 yard benchrest white target backer. Couldn't even range elevated deer blind at 1600 yards. Maybe I got a crap battery or it needs to take a trip to Vortex.

I'd agree check your battery and if that doesn't fix it, definitely send it back. I used mine last week and was ranging steel out to 1959, so 600 should've been a chip shot.
 
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FYI, I don't use anything but lithium batteries in my electronics. A lot of guys had issues ruining their older Kestrel using regular batteries that could leak.