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Rifle Scopes Vortex Gen III 1-10 Review

Trigger Monkey

Ronin
Full Member
Minuteman
  • Apr 29, 2005
    4,196
    4,898
    Winchester Virginia
    So, I only had to do a short write up for a publication so now I’m going to offer some more comprehensive thoughts on the subject for you fine people.



    Unboxing and Overview



    I have to say that the Gen III 1-10 comes in one of the nicest scope boxes I’ve ever laid my hands on. It has a magnetic closure on the lid, fitted foam inside, and a space for everything from the manual to the sunshade.

    IMG_2168.JPG


    Lifting the scope out of the foam I immediately noticed an impeccable level of fit and finish, it exudes quality in my opinion. Nothing felt gritty, loose, or too tight for that matter, it all felt just right. The euro-style ocular adjustment was stiff but it rotated smoothly so it was easy to get the reticle focused but it’s not like it was going to get bumped out of adjustment by just taking it out of the case. Same with the magnification ring, it rotated perfectly but with a slight resistance, which is why it makes sense that Vortex included a SwitchView throw lever in the box. Mounted on a rifle, fully rotating the magnification ring would be awkward. Illumination, elevation, and windage knobs felt good, no complaints there at all. The clicks on both elevation and windage knobs were audible and tactile and quite consistent throughout their rotation.


    IMG_2166.JPG

    I’m not going to bore you with a bunch of figures but it is interesting that Vortex was able to keep the weight and length the same as their Gen II 1-6, while increasing tube diameter and magnification.



    The EBR-9 MOA Reticle



    While I’m a pretty die hard mil/mil kinda guy, I wasn’t going to turn down a chance to check this optic out simply because it had a MOA reticle. The EBR-9 MOA is actually a BDC reticle located in the FFP and follows Vortex’s general subtension layout that I’ve noticed is common amongst their different BDC reticles. This isn’t a bad thing and they’re kind enough to supply an excellent reticle manual to help you work out your drops for most common 5.56 and 7.62 ammunition types.

    IMG_2160.JPG


    That being said, instead of doing the old zero at 50 yards and hoping the hold over lines match up kinda close method, I went a different direction. I tuned my zero at 50 yards so that I could give the trajectory of the round the best possible chance to match up with the hold over lines from 300-650 yards. This isn’t going to work out perfectly in every case but it’s pretty damn close. For example, if I was shooting Mk 262 Mod 1 and simply zeroed dead on at 50 yards the actual ranges for the holdovers could be 20-30 yards off, so instead of the 500 yard line being 500, it’d be 470 yards. However, if I tune the zero to be ½” high at 50, that works out to roughly a 220 yard zero and the hold over lines are matching up to within 5 yards or less out to 600 yards. JBM Ballistics was an excellent resource to help work some of this out and I found that I could get the hold overs to match up with 77gr SMK’s, 55gr ball (within reason), M118LR, and M80 ball too.

    EBR9 Comparison.jpg


    There is a ranging feature on the reticle but thankfully it’s up and out of the way in the reticle, i think they realized that using the holdovers stadia for ranging is lost on most of us. We’re usually not engaging targets that fit the criteria for those brackets and we’re better served by windage holds. The windage dots to the right and left side are calculated for 5,10,15, and 20 mph winds, although with JBM I found they mostly correlated to a wind speed a couple mph faster. Not a big deal really, for the most part the windage holds are within 1 MOA so depending on the size of the target it will still be a hit.

    An interesting feature to this reticle that I actually fell in love with is that the illuminated portions of the reticle are somewhat see through. Segmented circle reticles like this have normally been solid so that they can illuminate but this has caused heartburn because that tends to obscure large portions of the target on higher magnification.

    IMG_2160_close in.jpg


    With the reticle being see through, those obstructions are a lot less evident and you can more precisely place the reticle for consistent holds. The illumination itself is daylight bright and the typical day time setting that I found myself using most of the time was “7”, in bright, bright conditions bumping it up to “9” may be necessary. The highest setting might be for shooting directly into the sun, I haven’t gotten confirmation on that but if you dial it up that high, grab your shades before you look through the scope. Down at “1” the illumination is almost too bright for night time settings but then I thought about how this scope might be used in the context of a duty or defensive rifle with a white light. If there was a low setting to where the reticle was still visible but wasn’t not so bright that it washed out the target behind it, it’d definitely get washed out the moment you activated a multi-hundred lumen light. With the lowest illumination setting as it is, you can activate the weapon light and not worry about losing the reticle.



    Optical Performance

    Being from the higher tier of optics from Vortex, the image quality was very good, I really have no complaints in that department. Chromatic aberration is kept to a minimum while color and contrast looked true to life up on 10X. On high magnification the eye box can get a little tight but at 1X, the eye box and field of view improved dramatically. This no doubt helped when transitioning from target to target later on.

    At The Range


    IMG_2175.JPG


    Because of the nature of the review and current events I didn’t actually get as much range time with the optic as I wanted to get a full, in depth review. I mounted the scope in an AeroPrecision extended 34mm mount and I’m glad I went with that mount because this scope has some serious eye relief. I had the scope pushed a little farther forward than I’d normally have it. Getting the optic zeroed was incredibly easy, I was on paper in five shots but I think that was more by accident than by design. Even still, tracking was spot on, I tested the tracking up to 30 MOA and back down to zero and experienced no significant issues with the mechanical tracking.


    Down on 1X I was pretty much as fast with this scope as I am with an Aimpoint. I had three IPSC targets set out, spaced about 20ft or so apart with the drill being two shots center, two shots left, and two shots right. Transitioning between all three and getting good center of mass hits generally put me in the 3’s from about 10 yards. Where I thought having this huge illuminated dot would be a disadvantage somehow turned out to not be the case at all, it was super easy to pick up and put exactly where I wanted rounds to be.

    IMG_2156.JPG


    The BDC reticle and FFP makes this scope pretty brilliant at longer distances too, especially since the reticle isn’t going to obscure large portions of the target. Being perfectly honest even though I’m a mil/mil guy, this BDC reticle is pretty bitchin’ I wouldn’t cry if that’s what I was stuck with. If for some reason you feel the need to dial out to longer ranges, the elevation knob has 25 MOA in a single turn, which should be more than enough to get you out to 700 yards without getting lost in the rotation.

    Conclusions

    I’ve used a fair number of low power variable optics and to me, it seems like Vortex took the best features from some of my favorites and mashed them together here. This scope joins a short list of optics that would be my preference for a precision semi-auto like a recce carbine or SPR. I just wish I could’ve afforded to keep this one.
     
    G
    So, I only had to do a short write up for a publication so now I’m going to offer some more comprehensive thoughts on the subject for you fine people.



    Unboxing and Overview



    I have to say that the Gen III 1-10 comes in one of the nicest scope boxes I’ve ever laid my hands on. It has a magnetic closure on the lid, fitted foam inside, and a space for everything from the manual to the sunshade.

    View attachment 7288032

    Lifting the scope out of the foam I immediately noticed an impeccable level of fit and finish, it exudes quality in my opinion. Nothing felt gritty, loose, or too tight for that matter, it all felt just right. The euro-style ocular adjustment was stiff but it rotated smoothly so it was easy to get the reticle focused but it’s not like it was going to get bumped out of adjustment by just taking it out of the case. Same with the magnification ring, it rotated perfectly but with a slight resistance, which is why it makes sense that Vortex included a SwitchView throw lever in the box. Mounted on a rifle, fully rotating the magnification ring would be awkward. Illumination, elevation, and windage knobs felt good, no complaints there at all. The clicks on both elevation and windage knobs were audible and tactile and quite consistent throughout their rotation.


    View attachment 7288035
    I’m not going to bore you with a bunch of figures but it is interesting that Vortex was able to keep the weight and length the same as their Gen II 1-6, while increasing tube diameter and magnification.



    The EBR-9 MOA Reticle



    While I’m a pretty die hard mil/mil kinda guy, I wasn’t going to turn down a chance to check this optic out simply because it had a MOA reticle. The EBR-9 MOA is actually a BDC reticle located in the FFP and follows Vortex’s general subtension layout that I’ve noticed is common amongst their different BDC reticles. This isn’t a bad thing and they’re kind enough to supply an excellent reticle manual to help you work out your drops for most common 5.56 and 7.62 ammunition types.

    View attachment 7288036

    That being said, instead of doing the old zero at 50 yards and hoping the hold over lines match up kinda close method, I went a different direction. I tuned my zero at 50 yards so that I could give the trajectory of the round the best possible chance to match up with the hold over lines from 300-650 yards. This isn’t going to work out perfectly in every case but it’s pretty damn close. For example, if I was shooting Mk 262 Mod 1 and simply zeroed dead on at 50 yards the actual ranges for the holdovers could be 20-30 yards off, so instead of the 500 yard line being 500, it’d be 470 yards. However, if I tune the zero to be ½” high at 50, that works out to roughly a 220 yard zero and the hold over lines are matching up to within 5 yards or less out to 600 yards. JBM Ballistics was an excellent resource to help work some of this out and I found that I could get the hold overs to match up with 77gr SMK’s, 55gr ball (within reason), M118LR, and M80 ball too.

    View attachment 7288038

    There is a ranging feature on the reticle but thankfully it’s up and out of the way in the reticle, i think they realized that using the holdovers stadia for ranging is lost on most of us. We’re usually not engaging targets that fit the criteria for those brackets and we’re better served by windage holds. The windage dots to the right and left side are calculated for 5,10,15, and 20 mph winds, although with JBM I found they mostly correlated to a wind speed a couple mph faster. Not a big deal really, for the most part the windage holds are within 1 MOA so depending on the size of the target it will still be a hit.

    An interesting feature to this reticle that I actually fell in love with is that the illuminated portions of the reticle are somewhat see through. Segmented circle reticles like this have normally been solid so that they can illuminate but this has caused heartburn because that tends to obscure large portions of the target on higher magnification.

    View attachment 7288039

    With the reticle being see through, those obstructions are a lot less evident and you can more precisely place the reticle for consistent holds. The illumination itself is daylight bright and the typical day time setting that I found myself using most of the time was “7”, in bright, bright conditions bumping it up to “9” may be necessary. The highest setting might be for shooting directly into the sun, I haven’t gotten confirmation on that but if you dial it up that high, grab your shades before you look through the scope. Down at “1” the illumination is almost too bright for night time settings but then I thought about how this scope might be used in the context of a duty or defensive rifle with a white light. If there was a low setting to where the reticle was still visible but wasn’t not so bright that it washed out the target behind it, it’d definitely get washed out the moment you activated a multi-hundred lumen light. With the lowest illumination setting as it is, you can activate the weapon light and not worry about losing the reticle.



    Optical Performance

    Being from the higher tier of optics from Vortex, the image quality was very good, I really have no complaints in that department. Chromatic aberration is kept to a minimum while color and contrast looked true to life up on 10X. On high magnification the eye box can get a little tight but at 1X, the eye box and field of view improved dramatically. This no doubt helped when transitioning from target to target later on.

    At The Range


    View attachment 7288040

    Because of the nature of the review and current events I didn’t actually get as much range time with the optic as I wanted to get a full, in depth review. I mounted the scope in an AeroPrecision extended 34mm mount and I’m glad I went with that mount because this scope has some serious eye relief. I had the scope pushed a little farther forward than I’d normally have it. Getting the optic zeroed was incredibly easy, I was on paper in five shots but I think that was more by accident than by design. Even still, tracking was spot on, I tested the tracking up to 30 MOA and back down to zero and experienced no significant issues with the mechanical tracking.


    Down on 1X I was pretty much as fast with this scope as I am with an Aimpoint. I had three IPSC targets set out, spaced about 20ft or so apart with the drill being two shots center, two shots left, and two shots right. Transitioning between all three and getting good center of mass hits generally put me in the 3’s from about 10 yards. Where I thought having this huge illuminated dot would be a disadvantage somehow turned out to not be the case at all, it was super easy to pick up and put exactly where I wanted rounds to be.

    View attachment 7288041

    The BDC reticle and FFP makes this scope pretty brilliant at longer distances too, especially since the reticle isn’t going to obscure large portions of the target. Being perfectly honest even though I’m a mil/mil guy, this BDC reticle is pretty bitchin’ I wouldn’t cry if that’s what I was stuck with. If for some reason you feel the need to dial out to longer ranges, the elevation knob has 25 MOA in a single turn, which should be more than enough to get you out to 700 yards without getting lost in the rotation.

    Conclusions

    I’ve used a fair number of low power variable optics and to me, it seems like Vortex took the best features from some of my favorites and mashed them together here. This scope joins a short list of optics that would be my preference for a precision semi-auto like a recce carbine or SPR. I just wish I could’ve afforded to keep this one.

    Great writeup.
     
    Nice review man.

    I'm a mil/mil guy as well on things I'm dialing, but I ordered mine in MOA. I really liked the JM-1 on my 556 guns and this seems to just be an improved version.

    Think if I build up a SBR Grendel I'll be grabbing a mil version for that.
     
    Thank you for sharing your view of the scope well done.
     
    Great writeup, thank you for putting the time into that. One of my issues with BDC reticles is they are usually SFP which means they only work at a specific magnification, nice to see that Vortex put this in FFP. The other issue is that BDC is designed for a specific cartridge (bullet BC, powder, etc.) in a specific rifle (bbl length, twist, etc.) and with specific atmospherics (BC is different at 1000' elevation vs. 5000' et al) so it is sometimes a struggle to get the BDC to match with your setup, the other issue I see here is that the center dot is NOT zero, it's at 225 yards for 5.56 77's and 7.62 175's, with every other scope I use the center dot always means zero and my brain is used to that, so not sure if I'd like that especially in a stressed situation. But I do like that it is essentially a 50y zero which would not be out of the ordinary for a CQB rig... I wonder if this is a BDC I could really find myself liking and possibly preferring, but a lot of tests would need to be done to ensure that with my rifle, my rounds and my altitude everything aligned just right.
     
    So my key question is, with this trend of high mag scopes with a true 1x at the bottom: is the 10x actually usable in any positional shooting? With such a tiny objective and such a huge mag, does it work for anything other than a perfect prone?

    I hear that LPVOs are getting really good at being a red dot, but so is a piggyback MRDS.
     
    How is the eye relief from 1x to 10x? Do you have to move your head on the stock?
     
    Great write up and pics. Love the 1x pic. I knew it would be like the 1-6x but nice to see. I really like the JM-1 in my Razor 1-6 and wouldn't be upset at all to run the MOA/BDC version or even the mil version as I can run that too. I got my mount ready to drop on my .308 for the 1-10x and it looks sad sitting there all empty. LOL Thanks for the write up and gun porn to keep me going.
     
    it is essentially a 50y zero which would not be out of the ordinary for a CQB rig...

    I didn't convey it well but that's pretty much how I would be utilizing the reticle, essentially anything 0-300 yards is going to be within the large segmented circle and depending on the size of the target, that's not a big deal. Especially in the context of multi-gun competitions and even in some DMR matches where target sizes can be generous. It's just a matter of mapping out the reticle and the reticle manual that's provided is a great resource for that.

    So my key question is, with this trend of high mag scopes with a true 1x at the bottom: is the 10x actually usable in any positional shooting? With such a tiny objective and such a huge mag, does it work for anything other than a perfect prone?

    Up at 10X the eyebox isn't that bad, sitting, kneeling, and offhand from a barricade were fine, that being said the great thing with it being FFP is that if 10X isn't optimal, drop it down to 6X or something to where it's more suitable for the position.

    In regards to the eye relief I did not notice any major difference going from high to low power, not enough that I had to significantly change my cheekweld.
     
    Good news on the eye relief...that is something of concern of mine...lets see how they stand up...
     
    Great writeup, thank you for putting the time into that. One of my issues with BDC reticles is they are usually SFP which means they only work at a specific magnification, nice to see that Vortex put this in FFP. The other issue is that BDC is designed for a specific cartridge (bullet BC, powder, etc.) in a specific rifle (bbl length, twist, etc.) and with specific atmospherics (BC is different at 1000' elevation vs. 5000' et al) so it is sometimes a struggle to get the BDC to match with your setup, the other issue I see here is that the center dot is NOT zero, it's at 225 yards for 5.56 77's and 7.62 175's, with every other scope I use the center dot always means zero and my brain is used to that, so not sure if I'd like that especially in a stressed situation. But I do like that it is essentially a 50y zero which would not be out of the ordinary for a CQB rig... I wonder if this is a BDC I could really find myself liking and possibly preferring, but a lot of tests would need to be done to ensure that with my rifle, my rounds and my altitude everything aligned just right.

    another factor is how much would atmospherics impact at the range this scope is designed for?

    i wish they did the bdc reticle in mil...wonder why they did not
     
    The drops that I used in my examples were based on a 2,000-3,000' DA, which is pretty average here where I'm at in the warmer months. If I continued to use a 225 yd "zero" at higher altitudes then there will be larger differences between the trajectory and the subtensions of the reticle. I ran some numbers with the Mk 262 and if things spiked to 5,000' DA somehow I'd be about 8" high at 600 yards. Depending on the size of the target, that could still be a hit. However, if you're in an area that generally has a higher average DA then you could probably tune the zero a little to bring it closer back in line with the subtensions. Using the 5,000' DA average from above, if I bring the "zero" down to 210, about .25" high at 50, then I'm within 1 MOA of the subtension on the reticle at 600.

    I have a feeling that using the reticle manual that comes with the scope and some time on JBM Ballistics you can get the BDC reticle to work out in most conditions. Shooter and ammo dependent of course.
     
    Great review! I didn't notice the semi-transparent circle segments before, but that's a very clever touch by Vortex.

    I also went with the MOA reticle since I am going to be using it for multi-gun on an AR. Just waiting for MK Machining to ship it. I was made a believer when I handled one at SHOT - like every scope, it makes trade-offs (weight vs objective size), but the total package just makes a lot of sense, and it is going to be the LPVO to beat in its price segment for quite a while. Wouldn't mind seeing a cheaper 1-6x version that had FFP and used the same MOA reticle, speaking of which.

    Also, vis a vis the reticle, Strelok Pro also has support for it now, so you can play around with your zero to see what fits best for your gun/ammo/environment.
     
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    @erwos

    The SWFA 1-6 and Eotech 1-6 come close to your requirement of a FFP, 1-6, less costly option.

    My main gripe with my former SWFA is that the reticle was not ideal for CQB. That being said, it shined past 25 yards. The other two smaller issues I had with it was no zero stop, and weighed 22.5oz. Give me that same optic at 17oz or less and I’ll put up with the reticle speed. I can get over having no zero stop as the turrets are optionally capped and go 10mils/rev.

    I have not looked through the Eotech.
     
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    @PBWalsh

    What's the illumination like on the Eotech? The thing I like about the Razors is the illumination for red-dot-esque usage at 1x. Very few FFP scopes can pull it off so that it's usable on a sunny day on a bright target. (For that matter, many RFPs can't, either.)

    ETA: oops, I see you don't have it. Maybe someone else can chime in. If the SWFA has great illumination, I guess that would interest me. My go-to for a cheap high-quality LPVO that can't do the CQB thing is the Bushnell SMRS 1-8.5x that CL has for $680 - utterly phenomenal glass for the money.
     
    Last edited:
    It appears as if the EOTech is daylight bright.

    1585939405117.png

    Pic from AR15.com

    I've read reviews that the SWFA illumination is near daylight bright when cranked up to 11 but the design of the reticle seems to make up for that perceived shortcoming.
     
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    another factor is how much would atmospherics impact at the range this scope is designed for?
    For most of the country it may not be a big deal, but in my neck of the woods (Colorado) it is not uncommon for DA over 8000' where I shoot. For up to 300 yards I'd say it's not going to matter much, but once you get beyond 300 the numbers start to increase. I ran some rough numbers using 2000' as a baseline and then input my altitude and just the change in altitude (and barometric pressure) shows a difference of over 10" by the time you get to 600 yards.

    MK262 77 SMK 2000 - 6500 difference.jpg


    I still need to build my SPR and find out exactly what ballistics are at my elevation/atmospherics but this should be good enough to give an idea of what just atmospherics changes can do when using the exact same rifle and cartridge.

    i wish they did the bdc reticle in mil...wonder why they did not
    My personal belief is because the majority of the US market is still stuck on moa and the BDC shooters will typically fall into this.

    Back to the Razor Gen III 1-10, how is the parallax doing when stretching it out beyond 300 yards, is the image still clear and parallax free?
     
    For most of the country it may not be a big deal, but in my neck of the woods (Colorado) it is not uncommon for DA over 8000' where I shoot. For up to 300 yards I'd say it's not going to matter much, but once you get beyond 300 the numbers start to increase. I ran some rough numbers using 2000' as a baseline and then input my altitude and just the change in altitude (and barometric pressure) shows a difference of over 10" by the time you get to 600 yards.

    View attachment 7289509

    I still need to build my SPR and find out exactly what ballistics are at my elevation/atmospherics but this should be good enough to give an idea of what just atmospherics changes can do when using the exact same rifle and cartridge.


    My personal belief is because the majority of the US market is still stuck on moa and the BDC shooters will typically fall into this.

    Back to the Razor Gen III 1-10, how is the parallax doing when stretching it out beyond 300 yards, is the image still clear and parallax free?

    I took it out to 750 yards with no issue.

    ILya
     
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    @wjm308 thanks for running the numbers and they were about were I expected them to be. I think the majority of shots with this will be in 300-400 yards. As you push out using the turrets may make more sense, but without a Zero stop make sure you get it back to zero properly.
    I am 90% sure I will get one of these for a 16in 308
     
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    In my best “kid in the back seat voice”:

    Are they here yet, are they here yet, are they here yet, are they here yet...
     
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    In my best “kid in the back seat voice”:

    Are they here yet, are they here yet, are they here yet, are they here yet...
    It is a good feeling purchasing a toy like this scope because it does make ya feel like a kid again.
     
    • Like
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    For most of the country it may not be a big deal, but in my neck of the woods (Colorado) it is not uncommon for DA over 8000' where I shoot. For up to 300 yards I'd say it's not going to matter much, but once you get beyond 300 the numbers start to increase. I ran some rough numbers using 2000' as a baseline and then input my altitude and just the change in altitude (and barometric pressure) shows a difference of over 10" by the time you get to 600 yards.

    View attachment 7289509

    I still need to build my SPR and find out exactly what ballistics are at my elevation/atmospherics but this should be good enough to give an idea of what just atmospherics changes can do when using the exact same rifle and cartridge.


    My personal belief is because the majority of the US market is still stuck on moa and the BDC shooters will typically fall into this.

    Back to the Razor Gen III 1-10, how is the parallax doing when stretching it out beyond 300 yards, is the image still clear and parallax free?
    A technique to overcome this is to dial the distance you care about to your DA - this is easier if your turrets are nice. Doing this with less reliable turrets, ie an ACOG, you'll want to confirm at distance, or confirm the sub-distance offset.

    If you dial up the 11'' less drop (let's just say 1.75 minutes), you'll be good at 600 yds. According to your chats: You'll be about an inch off at 500. 3.5 inches off at 400. 4 inches off at 300. 3 inches off at 200. 1.75 inches off at 100. Pretty good for a BDC. It'd be tighter if you dialed in at 500, because you'd only dial about a minute. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect. You'll miss a face at 300 if you're 4 inches off. But you'll also miss the opportunity to shoot at a face if you take too long, and the BDC is supposed to help speed you up.
     
    A technique to overcome this is to dial the distance you care about to your DA - this is easier if your turrets are nice. Doing this with less reliable turrets, ie an ACOG, you'll want to confirm at distance, or confirm the sub-distance offset.

    If you dial up the 11'' less drop (let's just say 1.75 minutes), you'll be good at 600 yds. According to your chats: You'll be about an inch off at 500. 3.5 inches off at 400. 4 inches off at 300. 3 inches off at 200. 1.75 inches off at 100. Pretty good for a BDC. It'd be tighter if you dialed in at 500, because you'd only dial about a minute. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect. You'll miss a face at 300 if you're 4 inches off. But you'll also miss the opportunity to shoot at a face if you take too long, and the BDC is supposed to help speed you up.
    I would agree, the BDC is more about "quick" than it is about "precise" but the more precise we can get it to match rifle, cartridge and atmospherics the better. Would like to play with it to really see how far off it is at my location and see what can be done to "dial it in" so to speak.
     
    I would agree, the BDC is more about "quick" than it is about "precise" but the more precise we can get it to match rifle, cartridge and atmospherics the better. Would like to play with it to really see how far off it is at my location and see what can be done to "dial it in" so to speak.
    Yeah it's always fun trying to séance a BDC to your ammo/environment... I found liked to zero the 100m triangle on an ACOG at 50m with 77gr at ~6k DA. If I recall correctly it lined up decently out to 500, with a small holdover at 600, but it's been a while since I looked at the numbers.
     
    Good review man. Alot of good information there. Pretty excited to get these in the store and get some more time behind them.
     
    Has anyone receive their pre order yet? (Besides handful of members) Vortex suppose to launch this week.
     
    Ordered mine from MKM, no shipping notice yet. They did tell me they received a few from Vortex, so they're trickling out.
     
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    My scope showed up today. No shipping notice or anything. I had planned to order my mount when I got shipping notification...oh well...ordered that today. In the meantime, I opened up to play with it a bit. When I turn on the illumination I notice a strange pattern and I was wondering if it’s supposed to be like this/there for a reason.

    I apologise for the poor photo, but it’s the best I could get with my IPAD. It was set at about 9 on yhe brightness in this photo, but the “pattern is visible at all settings. It is visible at all times the illumination is on (daylight/darkroom).

    MRAD reticle

    What I am seeing is 5 points and the angled line at the bottom. The 5 points seem to correspond to the top of the tails on the number 6 at the various locations, so the points are not on the “crosshairs lines”. The angled line corresponds to the left side of the “arrow” at the bottom of the crosshairs line.

    In the poor photo you can only distinguish three of the five points I am referring to, the ones in the tree aren’t making it it in the photo.

    So, is here a reason for these points and the line to be there, or did I get a bad reticle?
     

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    Weird things can happen when illumination is on too bright. Do you see the same thing when the illumination is turned down to match the conditions?

    ILya
     
    Yes. Even at lowest setting in daylight. That is actually when I noticed it, the brightness in the picture above was just the only photo I could get. I’m able to see it when the Christmas tree gets large enough, starts at around 2 1/4 power for my bad eyes.

    I was just able to get a lights on photo that you can see the 5 points in.

    The center point looks brighter and blurry in the photo compared to actually looking through it. Again, my poor photo due to iPad.
     

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    I noticed a similar condition with the one I reviewed but I took it as a byproduct of having a daylight visible red dot in a FFP configuration. When I ran it down to 1X it was not noticeable, only at the higher end of the magnification range, where I doubt I'd be running the illumination on anyway.
     
    I just sent them an email with the above photos. I’ll see what they say.
     
    Mine came on Saturday. Messed around with it a bit at home. Should be putting some real rounds down range next week. Thoughts:
    • Optical quality is stellar, but we already knew that.
    • The comparisons to the Mk6 reticle illumination are spot-on. If your head isn't in the right position, you can lose the illumination partially. I don't think this is a deal breaker by any means, but it's worth noting. No issues with running it cranked up on 1x, which is about 80-90% of my use case for it.
    • 10x eyebox was, I thought, pretty acceptable. I think it's usable from the shoulder, but you will need to be picky about your scope position and stock, and a cheek riser for referencing might prove useful.
    • My magnification ring was not overly tight at all. I'd say it was just right. Once I put the lever on, it was perfect. Very easy to manipulate all the way up and down.
    • I ran a few dry-fire drills on scaled USPSA and plate targets, and felt that the reticle was usable at 1x without illumination. Obviously, I was a little faster with it on, but it was acceptable. It was magnificent at 10x. Vortex did a very nice job with the reticle.
    On the whole, I like what I'm seeing. The only people I think it's going to be a game changer for are folks doing the multi-gun thing at 500+; it could provide them a substantial advantage over the usual 1-6x scopes.
     
    I really like mine as well, finally got to run for the first time in a competition. I thought that I would care more about not having turrets, especially for the price, but I prefer to hold 90% of the time anyway(it just takes out that chance of forgetting to go back to 0, which I have done) Plus for the majority of cases I don't need more than 10 mils of holding. My only other negative comment is the center dot being 1moa, I'd like a finer aiming point for shooting groups, but then again I can just use the 1 mil hold for doing that.

    All in all, I'm super satisfied with it.

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    k
     
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