Has anyone used the Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18 FFP EBR-7C MRAD. Looks like it might be a great scope for the money.
Thanks for your input’s
Thanks for your input’s
Rifle Scopes Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18 FFP EBR-7c
- Thread starter NavyshooterM40
- Start date
I doubt it being it just came out today. If not today very recently I have the 5 to 25 and it’s been pretty good. I have an arken on pre-order but I think I’m going to cancel and just get this instead.
Should be the same glass at the 5-25, which isnt bad.
I might pick this up for my 12" 6mm arc.
I use Burris XTR rings to zero less that 1 turn from the bottom.
I just ordered one, so I might have it here by the weekend to report on. I love the 5-25 so the size reduction will make this a great option for a little bit of everything. Probably going to use it in matches this year.
Another chickity China scope, was hoping for a PST III line but guess we’ll have to wait for that.
You holding out for another 34mm, 35oz, behemoth tacticol-clicky-target scope, just made in the Phillipines?
Nah, plenty of other options out there, was just hoping Vortex might have something unique coming in the PST line, but PST has always been 30mm and fairly light weight. I am not a fan of Chinese made products, I own some yes, but not a fan of any money that might go to support the CCP.
MY PST GEN II VV 5-25X50 FFP EBR-7C MRAD scope is made in the Philippines not China.
Correct. The thread is about the Strike Eagle which are made in China, PST is made in Philippines and are really good scopes for the price, but could use an update to the design/glass like Burris and Steiner have done.
It caught my attention as I'm eyeing the 4-16 ATACR with the mil xt reticle. Similar specs and reticle make it a poor man's option. I'd really like a Bushy Elite 34mm tube, a 40-44mm objective with this style reticle and priced in-between. Not a fan of the H59. Also not a fan of anything Vortex not made in Japan or US. Personally had too many issues with the PST/HSTs and purged them from my inventory.
I was only joking.
Would be nice if a PST Gen3 stayed 30mm and fairly lightweight but seeing the trend towards behemoth scopes I think we will both be disappointed.
I agree. I would like the turrets to exhibit twice as much resistance when turning though. Turrets that can damn near turn when the wind blows on them is the worst attribute the scope has.
I like Vortex products but they’re a little late to the game with this offering, I went with Arken SH4 for a plinked that I have. Not to mention both are Chinese made but the Arken is quite a bit cheaper than the SE.
The glass is already really good for the $. The 5-25x is available, though the glass isn't as great.
Ok, I have the scope in hand.
Turrets:
-much better than the SE 5-25. Still has the locking elevation which is nice. Very clicky and audible. Not quite like a Midas Tac but close. This was the most annoying part about the 5-25 version, so an improvement is great. There is a tiny bit of movement or play in the clicks, but not mushy (think of the terrible Diamondback Tactical as mushy). Also the turret design is interesting. The top screw does not separate from the turret body. See pic:
So I'm not sure if any other scopes have a similar design, I'm just not aware of any. I'm used to the tiny set screws that hold the turret body in position after a zero is set.
Windage turret was also interesting, but seemed fine. It's capped so that would benefit some for looking for that. It was equally tactile, which was a relief if you have ever played with the new Razor LHT FFP capped windage turret (love the scope but that feature was garbage).
Eye box:
Very good. Not difficult to get behind, even at max. This was also something I was hopeful for considering it's use for me (hunting, target, varying position, or general AR optic at 3 power).
Glass:
On par with the 5-25. I'd say very good for the money. Does have some CA but it's not terrible. I had my son's Arken SH 4-16 to compare and the SE was considerably better. Great clarity. Keep in mind this was only at 200 yards, so I'll be curious to evaluate at distance.
Parallax:
Too early to tell, but I seemed a touch less forgiving. Not quite like an NX8 tho. It's a 6x mag ratio so I expected a tad bit more picky than the 5-25. Again, not bad and probably too short a distance to comment on.
Illumination:
Good but not daylight bright. Wish it was better considering I may use it on the low end for hunting. Not as bad as the Arken SH tho. Not as bright as the NX8. I didn't have a Gen 2 PST but I felt like it was brighter.
Controls:
All felt great, and very smooth.
The overall size, weight, glass quality, and features makes this my new go to multi purpose scope. I'll still wait to see how it wears, tracks, and looks like at distance but I'm very hopeful it will be an affordable option to finally glass my neglected rifles
Turrets:
-much better than the SE 5-25. Still has the locking elevation which is nice. Very clicky and audible. Not quite like a Midas Tac but close. This was the most annoying part about the 5-25 version, so an improvement is great. There is a tiny bit of movement or play in the clicks, but not mushy (think of the terrible Diamondback Tactical as mushy). Also the turret design is interesting. The top screw does not separate from the turret body. See pic:
So I'm not sure if any other scopes have a similar design, I'm just not aware of any. I'm used to the tiny set screws that hold the turret body in position after a zero is set.
Windage turret was also interesting, but seemed fine. It's capped so that would benefit some for looking for that. It was equally tactile, which was a relief if you have ever played with the new Razor LHT FFP capped windage turret (love the scope but that feature was garbage).
Eye box:
Very good. Not difficult to get behind, even at max. This was also something I was hopeful for considering it's use for me (hunting, target, varying position, or general AR optic at 3 power).
Glass:
On par with the 5-25. I'd say very good for the money. Does have some CA but it's not terrible. I had my son's Arken SH 4-16 to compare and the SE was considerably better. Great clarity. Keep in mind this was only at 200 yards, so I'll be curious to evaluate at distance.
Parallax:
Too early to tell, but I seemed a touch less forgiving. Not quite like an NX8 tho. It's a 6x mag ratio so I expected a tad bit more picky than the 5-25. Again, not bad and probably too short a distance to comment on.
Illumination:
Good but not daylight bright. Wish it was better considering I may use it on the low end for hunting. Not as bad as the Arken SH tho. Not as bright as the NX8. I didn't have a Gen 2 PST but I felt like it was brighter.
Controls:
All felt great, and very smooth.
The overall size, weight, glass quality, and features makes this my new go to multi purpose scope. I'll still wait to see how it wears, tracks, and looks like at distance but I'm very hopeful it will be an affordable option to finally glass my neglected rifles
I got mine today but haven’t had a chance to take it out of the box yet
The Arken is a piece of fuggin shit
So far it’s working for me….
That’s the beauty of chinesium, it works until it doesn’t… which usually doesn’t take too long.
I’d love to see Vortex OEM the Strike Eagle in Japan and charge a bit more for it because they really are a good design. The reliability is just shit.
That's not been my experience. I've had 4 now and all have worked. Lots of tracking up and down too. The sheer number Vortex sells will statistically have more scopes with issues, so unless we all have access to those numbers, how can we make the conclusion? Other than "I feel like".
But I do agree with you about a Japanese made SE. I'd love that to compete with the DMR line from Bushnell. I'd buy those too.
Hard to quantify and it depends on the brand. On one of my rifles, a Vortex Venom cannot dial up to 39 MOA to get me 1,000 yards. That scope has a total of 85 MOA travel.
My Arken, on the same rifle, has 110 MOA adjustment and after zeroing the rifle, I can still dial a total of 42 MOA from zero stop. On my zero MOA rail.
Thanks mate.
So about the same as the 5-25 which has a total of 31 mils without the stop while the 3-18 is supposed to have 45 mils.
That seems strange to me but I'm usually wrong.
I know, obviously for whatever reason this has more room. Also another good reason to throw on a 22lr for all that adjustment. This scope is great so far.
Bumping this to see if anyone else has any input considering this scope to replace a arken on my 18in coyote gun
Just got mine today. The glass is very good. it appears clearer than my PST Gen 2 3-15 ffp. I’m in my backyard looking at cell towers and power lines half a mile away and I’m able to see well defined details and dimensions. Edge to edge clarity is good for the price point, there is some edge distortion at 18x mag but it’s hardly noticeable in use. There’s also some CA but expected at this level. Color looks good and natural and it collects light well. Turrets are solid with nice tactile clicks not much mush. Similar to PST gen 2. We’ll see how it tracks later this weekend. This scope definitely punches above its weight class. I bought the SE 3-18 to save some money over a Mark 5 3.3-18 for a budget AR10 build. Definitely happy so far. Will probably still get the Mark 5 in the future but this will do for now. If vortex would make this same scope in Japan I think it would be a top contender against the Mark 5 and ATACR level glass.
Did you hear that, Vortex? Make it in Japan! Seriously tho, a Japanese version would be a great idea assuming the price point was right. We know it would cost more, but I think worth it.
Grabbed one of these for a hunting rifle and so far I really like it. Weight and size are spot on for what I’m doing with it. There is some play/looseness in the elevation turret for those of you that have this scope do you have the same looseness in your elevation turret?
Being a cheaper China scope I have curbed my expectations but if the turret isn’t normal I ‘ll send it in to get it looked at.
Being a cheaper China scope I have curbed my expectations but if the turret isn’t normal I ‘ll send it in to get it looked at.
I called Vortex and asked about that on mine when I had it, the rep said that there shouldn't be any play in it. He wanted it back but I lived with it for when I had it. I tried tightening it but didn't get any better.
The scope was great tho. Great multipurpose scope.
No gen III anyway. The gen II 3-18 was discontinued around the time the gen III was released, but you can still find used ones from time to time.
