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Vortex 2.5-10x44mm Review

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Fbach View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fbach Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Vortex 2.5-10x44mm Review
    Posted: March/06/2011 at 22:56
Well, here goes nothing!

After much debate and talking to Scott at Vortex Optics and COMPETITOR, I decided to purchase the Vortex PST 2.5-10x44mm (SFP) off of Mike.  I chose to go with the EBR-1 MRAD Reticle with Mil turrets.


This scope will be going aboard a LaRue PredatAR 5.56 with a 16" barrel (whenever they ship my pre-order).  It is going to be used strictly as a hunting rig, namely for coyotes.  So as of right now I am unable to mount and test it but once I get it mounted up I will put it through it's paces and add more to this review.


This is how the scope showed up to me.



This is what came in the box.



It includes a cloth with the Vortex logo on it, an allen wrench for resetting the turrets, the shims for the Zero Stop, a little Vortex pin, a reticle manual and a scope manual, one CR 2032 battery, and a 4 inch 44mm sunshade.  One note is that at the front of my sunshade there is a 1 inch skuff mark on it.  Not a big deal to me as it will se far worse in the field, but figured I would note this.


I'll begin my review at the rear of the scope.  On the ocular side of the scope it  utilizes a fast focus eyepiece.  It's stiff enough where it should not turn on it's own if it's bumped so once you set it, it should be good to go.


Moving on to the illumination knob.  It's positioned at a 45 degree angle off the left side of the eyepiece for ease of operation with your left hand.  It has 10 illumination settings.  The lowest settings are usable with night vision devices and the higher settings for daytime illumination dependent on the background.  The illumination settings are numbered 1-10 with a dot between each setting.  This dot is an off setting.  Instead of having to start at zero and work your way through each intensity level until you reach the desired one like for instance on an Aimpoint T-1 Micro, you can find the setting or two you like and just turn it to the dot in between them.  An example would be if you find that intensity levels 8 and 9 are what you would most commonly use, when you are not needing the reticle illuminated just turn it to the dot between 8 and 9.  When you need the illumination feature just turn to 8 or 9 and you are set.



One note to mention about the illuminated reticle is that during the day you aren't going to really see the illumination unless you have a dark background.  In no light/low light or with a target that has a dark background the reticle really sticks out.  It still retains it's edge and doesn't get all fuzzy when lit.  It runs of a single CR2032 battery which is included.  I'm not sure how long the battery will last on which intensity settings however.  If you do a lot of low light shooting where you will need to use the illumination feature I suggest carrying a spare battery or two.


The power adjustment ring is marked at 2.5x, 3.3x, 5x, and 10x.  When starting at the 2.5x and rotating to 3.3x you can feel a click letting you know you are engaged at that power, this also happens as you hit the 5x mark.  Likewise this happens when going from high to low power.  The adjustment ring has a rubber piece around it.  Some might find this cheesy or cheap, but I like it.  If your hands are wet or sweaty or even if you have gloves on I think it will aid in being able to adjust the power ring.  It also has a fiber optic indicator to line up your power adjustments in low light situations.




The web site says that it has a max elevation and windage of 29 Mils.  After twisting the turrets numerous times I found this not to be true.  What I recorded was it has 25 Mils from stop to stop in both elevation and windage.  Not 100% sure if maybe Vortex had a misprint, if my scope was not made right, or I was half asleep when I was doing this, but I counted 25 Mils, not 29 Mils.  Not a big deal to me, but I figured I would chime in and let people know what I recorded before they think they are getting 29 Mils.  The turrets have 5 Mils of adjustment per revolution.  Each click is 0.1 Mils.  The elevation turret is marked 0-5 mils and the windage is marked 0-2.5-0 mils.


The turrets themselves have good audible clicks when rotating as well as having a nice tactile feel.  I would not say that they feel mushy or overly hard to turn.  They are about middle of the road.  I twisted them from stop to stop over 2 dozen times and never found them to start to loosen.  They also feature a little fiber optic rod on the top of the turrets to help index them.  The turrets are also uncapped, non locking, and are about middle of the road in height as well.  Not too tall, not too short, just right in my opinion.




The elevation turret is set up with Vortex's CRS Zero Stop feature.  Basically once you have acquired your zero, you remove the elevation turret cap and insert shims (which are included) until you fill up the gap that they

"The Roman Empire did not create a prosperous land and come to be feared by having meetings and doing paperwork; they did this by killing all who opposed them." - Unknown
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ccoker View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ccoker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/07/2011 at 06:50
well done..

Do you own any other scopes to compare the glass quality to?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote stickbow46 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/07/2011 at 07:15
Fbach,you do realize that buying & advertising for another site is against the rules you agreed too when you joined OT.
 
Swfa does price matching & doesn't charge to use the OT,have a little consideration next time.
 
Any way welcome to the OT & thanks for your quick review & keep comming back!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SVT_Tactical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/07/2011 at 08:35

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For buying and advertising from someone other than SWFA.

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For a review.


Edited by SVT_Tactical - March/07/2011 at 08:35
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axio View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote axio Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/07/2011 at 16:35
Nice review.  Mine arrived last week from another vendor (SWFA was backordered, the other vendor had one in stock), haven't had a chance to shoot it yet.  I also haven't counted the total MILS of adjustment but if I get a chance tonight, I'll update.
 
The glass is very nice, the turrets are solid and audible.  I actually like the turrets a lot, along with the zero stop feature even if it is just based on shims.  I wish my SS10XHD had this feature.
 
I can confirm that the illumination is not that bright during the day though.  It works if your background is dark, but if it's a brighter background, forget about it.  This is unlike my PST 1-4X, where I found the illuminated reticle to be very visible in daylight except against the brightest of backgrounds.  Since i probably won't be using the illumination at all on the 2.5-10X, it doesn't really matter to me much.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fbach Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/07/2011 at 17:50
Originally posted by ccoker ccoker wrote:

well done..

Do you own any other scopes to compare the glass quality to?


Sorry, that'd be a negative.

Originally posted by stickbow46 stickbow46 wrote:

Fbach,you do realize that buying & advertising for another site is against the rules you agreed too when you joined OT.
 
Swfa does price matching & doesn't charge to use the OT,have a little consideration next time.
 
Any way welcome to the OT & thanks for your quick review & keep comming back!

Man, that's my bad.  Embarrased  I honestly have no excuse for doing that and apologize to OT for doing so without thinking.  I hope there is no bad blood between me and the mods as I like the information I gather on this forum.  I plan to keep coming back!

Originally posted by SVT_Tactical SVT_Tactical wrote:

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For buying and advertising from someone other than SWFA.

Thunbs Up
For a review.

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[QUOTE=axio]Nice review. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheaptrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/07/2011 at 17:55
Nice write up! Thanks for sharing! 
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axio View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote axio Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/08/2011 at 01:23
Confirmed, 25 MILS of adjustment for both windage and elevation. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fbach Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/08/2011 at 19:19
Thanks axio!

Another fellow I talked to as well confirmed that he got 25 mils as well so that sums that up!
"The Roman Empire did not create a prosperous land and come to be feared by having meetings and doing paperwork; they did this by killing all who opposed them." - Unknown
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