We understand 100% of what you are saying to a "T". In many cases, yes, the fact that we run the gambit of products from your entry level $150 riflescope all the way up to your top tier $2500 riflescope, and thus, sell to the guy or gal who has literally never touched a gun or scope before in their life to folks who have been shooting since exiting the womb, is somewhat of a blessing and a curse. More people are able to shoot Vortex, we're able to have the resources to put towards the development/testing/equipment for future products and innovation, new great products across the board help the brand stay relevant to a lot of different people (Shooters, hunters, birders, recreational kayaking hippies, etc), blah blah blah... A curse because dudes and gals who are optics snobs scoff at any brand that sells an entry level product also making a high end product and too many people expecting that because we make a high end product that the entry level product is pretty much the same exact thing but magically cheaper. the curse part is more of a side effect - it's not like we try to stoke that fire - it just happens and we go on with business/life just doing what we know best and maybe helping a few people realize they shouldn't attempt the King of 2 Miles ELR challenge with a capped-turret Crossfire II Hog Hunter 3-12x56 AO despite the fact "It's objective lens is huge" along the way.Originally Posted by Eurodriver
Like we said - you're not wrong because you shoot NF scopes. They're awesome, you feel most comfortable behind that glass and you've had a great track record with them from the sounds of it. That, in and of itself, is priceless, so for someone to come up and say "Ya PaId TOo MuCH FeR THaT NiGht FoArCE" is silly. It's worth what it's worth to you. Do we think we make a damn good competing product, too, though? Sure. It sounds like the PST experience you had was with the Gen I primarily, which was a fine scope for us and arguably the reason other scopes like the SHV even came into existence, but the Gen II PST is a much better scope all around. Again, not saying that to get you to go and switch your arsenal to PST Gen II's, but just passing along the fact we're always looking to improve.
As for the torque specs on the tubes, not really sure what to tell you there. They don't need to be torqued any tighter. We've been running those specs forever now and none of our scopes are slipping or having any issue with recoil at that rating and it's not putting any stress on the tube. They get torqued tighter than that all the time by people who hate directions and work just fine, but it's more of a crap shoot once you start strangling the thing - sometimes it works, many times it doesn't. Overtorqued rings is one of the biggest problems all scope companies in our industry face. They may list higher specs, but with how many of our optics are used in dangerous places by dangerous people or even just competition getting the crap kicked out of them all over the place, it's hard to say the tubes are problematic (Admittedly, we don't have every scope on the market in house and sliced open to compare, but we've got a pretty good idea of what folks are working with). The weight is certainly there, but weight doesn't automatically equal durability. Glass and, in many cases, simply the material certain components are machined from in order to achieve the tolerances necessary are just heavier. The Razor AMG is a perfect example - There's a lot of glass in that scope, but most of the materials used inside are a lighter weight material than those in the Razor Gen II, because we machine them in house and have developed processes our factories overseas can't mimic to still achieve the proper tolerances in machining with these materials. With those big changes and some tricky engineering, you've got a scope that's 20 ounces lighter than the Gen II Razor and arguably even more strong. It's also $500ish dollars more.
Reticles - Give us a call some time. Just checked out the reticle manual for what we think is the reticle you're talking about and it seemed to make sense, but we're also the ones who wrote it so maybe it sucks. Always happy to chat subtensions on the phone (800-426-0048 Ext. 5)
That one time you had to spend a bunch of money to send in new scopes for turret issues - We effed up. You should have gotten a shipping label to get those back because they were new.
Anyway - Hopefully that was some mildly interesting reading material for your holiday. We appreciate you using our stuff in the areas of your kit you mentioned that have Vortex represented. Like we said - no issues at all with your recommendations, just feeling scrappy today. Could use a few brews ourselves!
Cheers and Happy 4th
- Jimmy H
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