Vortex break down, once again.

Gen 1 Razor spotter. It had been rained on then stored. This exact same optic has been sent in, two years ago for dust inside of it. The lines are water, and the what ever cleaning agent Vortex used the last time they had it. "Vortex has a great warranty!" Yes, and everyone has used it. Two Vortex optics I've owned. The rifle scope was sent in, and this spotting scope will be going in for the second time.

Is that a Spider Man bandana I see in the reflection?

Can’t say I’m surprised.

What you see in the reflection is a damn killer.

I would throat punch the person who sold you that scope. Using the warranty once is one thing but twice...

Well, sheist! I was about to pull the trigger on a Vortex Venom for one of my pistols. This makes me think the Bushnell FF is a better buy. . .

Bushnell makes solid optics.

I've used their warranty as well, but only once.

Not the seller's fault. It's the builder's fault.

I understand that but knew who the seller was. He always could use a throat punch... Just saying

I gave him a bit of a verbal one last night...

Well [censored].... what spotter am I gonna use on the 8th lol.

I have a mount to hold my Leica binos. They're 10X, but super clear. Can also put a rifle and scope on the Reaper Rest.

Bushnell has been very solid for me. I’ve used more of their products with fewer failures than Vortex.

That’ll work I’ll probably have multiple people watching it’ll be hard to see some of these 22 hits

Exactly! Same for me.

I will bring the burris and help you out I guess.

I’m not a fan of Vortex scopes, to be blunt I won’t own one. I believe their mini red dots are good though. I have a Razor, Venom and two Burris Fastfire III’s. I can’t tell a difference between any of them quality wise and wouldn’t be surprised if they came from the same factory.

That sucks. I will say that I am less than impressed that their razor spotter and binos are made in China. I give Athlon a hard time for making most of their stuff in China, so I can't give Vortex a pass for the same thing. At least their Razor scopes are made in Japan.

I'm not as big of a fan of Bushnell as others - something about their glass just doesn't perform at the price point IMHO. But I think it's just something related to how it looks to my eyes and not necessarily something that other folks see the same way. They're incredibly popular on SH for good reason.

I was out shooting some steel a couple of weekends ago, and put my Leica 10x up on a really sturdy tripod. Will 100% agree, it's really a joy to spot through that 10x Leica glass and I didn't miss much at 900 yards. Easy to pick up trace and spot impacts. I haven't ever used a spotter, but honestly with a good pair of binoculars on a tripod I don't see a real compelling reason to go out and spend a bunch of money for a spotting scope that's a one trick pony. If I get anything else, it'll be a pair of 15x Meopta for a little over a grand.



Agreed glass isn't going to set the world on fire. But you can spend less than a thousand on a LRHS or LRTS and get a rifle scope that has a great reticle and is very sound mechanically. Plus not too heavy. They're an excellent choice in that regard.... you really can't tell the glass isn't top tier unless you're sitting it beside a scope that is. And for the guy that only wants to spend a G, that doesn't happen often.

I also have the First Gen made in Japan Vortex Razor spotter and with the original 20-60x eyepiece it’s nice but not as good as some of the top tier like Kowa etc.
But I will say with the 35x WA eyepiece with Mil reticle it’s a different animal. I have used it side by side with the Swaro and the Kowa Prominar and it’s very very close.
I was thinking about selling mine to get a Kowa or Maven until I put that eyepiece on and decided to hold on to it.
I had been mainly using the original eyepiece as I had an attachment that I could phonescope with but it wouldn’t work with the 35x.
I saw where Vortex quit selling that particular eyepiece due to low sales but IMO its an upgrade for sure.

The fixed 30X clarity is much better than the variable 20-60X. I appreciate the Mil reticle spotting for customers, which allows me to call out exact corrections. Judd and BarneyWho were out a couple of weeks ago. Judd's NF spotter and BarneyWho's Swaro were on the zero line. With a morning sun coming in on us, both spotters could see 7mm bullet holes in white paper at 500 yards. I don't know if the Vortex could have hanged with those two. And to my eye the Swaro was, as usual, providing the best image clarity. If I were wealthy I would have the Swaro STS-80 with the digital reticle, but the budget does not allow for it.

I am sure it’s 30x on mine not 35x just didn’t remember correctly.
I have heard from folks who have both that the Maven edges out the NF but so far the best I have looked thru are the Kowa Prominar fluorite models. It’s been a few years since I used the Swaro spotter but I wasn’t as impressed as with the Kowa

Spoke with a friend of mine that shoots the King of Two Miles, two days ago. He pretty much said the Kowa was the cleanest image. But, you are not going to get a reticle, that puts you back to the Swaro, if you need clean image, as well as reticle.

I've owned numerous spotters, including the Kowa 884, Nikon 82ED, and Meopta S2 (currently). I've also had the luxury of looking through some that hunters have brought in over the years. If you have to have a reticle then your choices are rather limited. I had my Kowa alongside the Meopta S2 side by side on tripods, looking for mule deer. My 54 yr old eyeballs(at the time) couldn't tell any difference between the two up through 45x, but after that the S2 was a nudge clearer and sharper. That's the main reason I kept it and sold the Kowa. The S2 is also easily better than my hunting buddy's Zeiss 85 FL T, especially at the edges.

Although a bit dated, several of the spotters in this test are still the same. I still find the results quite interesting.

https://www.petersenshunting.com/editorial/bes-spotting-scopes-of-2013/272948