Riflescopes: Vortex - OpticsThoughts

This arrangement is going to change somewhat in 2011, with the Viper line being largely replaced by Viper PST and Viper HS. I will touch on that in the section on Viper riflescopes, but the other three product families continue unchanged for the time being.

Vortex CrossfireTo be blunt, these are “me too” products that almost every midrange scope company has to have in order to satisfy the most price-conscious of their customers. Most of the competition in this segment is on price, quality control and customer service. There are scores of similar products out there from different makers and it really comes down to who can hold their OEMs to better consistency and who is willing to support the end-user through thick and thin. Vortex seems to do pretty well on both counts. Crossfire scopes are not going to win any performance awards (nor should they be expected to considering the low price tag), but they hold up pretty well in normal use. As far as customer service goes, Vortex has developed a reputation of offering almost unrivalled customer support. Truthfully, I would much rather not need customer support, but if you are forced into needing it, you could do much worse than Vortex. Crossifre scopes cover a large gamut of configuration ranging from diminutive 2×20 (pistol) and 3×32 (crossbow) scopes to a rather substantial 8-32×50 built on a 30mm tube. That 30mm tube is shared with 4-16×50 and 6-24×50 models while all other (lower magnification) offerings are built on 1” tubes. Those are mostly variable scopes in a wide array of configurations from 1.25-4×32 to 4-12×40, although there are a couple of fixed magnification scope in the mix as well. Crossfire scopes with 30mm tubes retail for ~$200-$220, while the 1 inch models are cheaper spanning the ~$100-$150 range. They compete against simialrly priced offerings from a number of companies, like Bushnell Trophy XLT, Sightron S1, and a host of others. Personally, in this price range, I tend to lean toward simpler configurations and with those I slightly prefer Sightron S1 to most other scopes in this segment. However, Crossfire is offered in many more configurations and with a richer feature set. For a number of applications they are a pretty decent way to go. Bottom line however, in this price range, these are often starter scopes: they are there waiting to be upgraded to something better when funds allow.

Vortex DiamondbackThese are easily the most underrated scopes in the Vortex line-up. They are aimed at typical big-game hunting applications with scope ranging from 1.75-5×32 on up to 4-12×40. All are built on 1” tubes, with the highest magnification model available with an Adjustable Objective for parallax compensation. Price ranges from $160 to $300. Two reticles are offered: simple plex reticle and a reasonaly well thought out hold over reticle. On the surface these scopes do not offer anything particularly exceptional. These are “meat and potato” designs. However, aside from the fact that these configurations work well in the field, Diamondback scopes have a coupel of tricks up their collective sleeve. One is image quality. In this price range, these are as good as I have seen. Another is Field of View, which is uncommonly large and makes for a very relaxed and easy to acquire image. Eye relief is not very long (although not short either), so on the heaviest kickers you may want to exercise caution. Eyepiece is pretty beefy, so in some rare occasions it may not be a perfect fit for rifles with high bolt lift. However, these are minor complaints. Diamondback scopes compete directly against Burris Fullfield II, Nikon Buckmaster, Bushnell Elite 3200 and a few other product lines. I recently compared about half-dozen 3-9×40 scopes including the Diamondback and it was clearly ahead of the pack.

Vortex Viper, Viper HS and Viper PSTViper scopes are placed squarely in what is likely the toughest market segment to compete in. These are the “sweetspot” scopes. In this approximate price range, you get the most bang for the buck in a hunting scope, in my opinion. Going higher in price gets you into a case of diminishing returns where you pay a lot more money for not a lot more performance. Just like Diamondback, Viper scopes, in my opinion, are “meat and potato” scopes, i.e. they focus on getting the fundamentals right instead extraneous features. Up until now, all Viper scopes were based around 3x erectors and were avaialble either with 1” or 30mm tubes. As of 2011, all of 1” Vipers are discontinued and Viper HS and PST scope lines (both based on 4x magnification ratios and 30mm tubes) are introduced. The only “original” Viper models still in production will be the 30mm 6.5-20×44 and 6.5-20×50 (incidentally, these are the ONLY sub-$500 high magnification scopes I recommend).