Anyone have a Vortex Diamonback 4-12x40AO? Would you recommend one?

[RyeDaddy]

Just ordered a new Savage 16 in 260 Remington, now I have to scope it. Max price is $300, and the Vortex 4-12x40 seems to be the best in that price range for features. I like their BDC reticle, and I really appreciate the parallax adjustment.

Is there anyone out there with one, and would you recommend it?

I'm sure I will get other recommendations, and that's welcome of course.

 

[Durty]

I know there is a good number of Vortex fans on this forum although I do not have experience with Vortex. My guess is you'll be getting quite a few positive responses.

 

[aubie515]

I don't have a Diamondback scope, but I have some Vortex Vipers that I like a lot. Take a look at SWFA...they have a discontinued Viper for $279. Vortex discontinued some of their reticles a few months ago and had them on clearance. I bought my 6.5-20 for $250 shipped.

The Diamondback is their mid-level...behind the Crossfire series.

If it was my money, I'd forget the Diamondback and buy a Viper from SWFA.

 

[Gasitman]

+1 for vortex. I was skeptical, but I called them and had an hour long discussion and I was sold. To be honest, my viper 6.5-20 is better than my Ziess conquest 3x9. When I took my zeiss elk hunting it fogged up bad.

 

[Norrick]

i have one, did writeup on it a while ago here:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=410962

short story is its a great scope, my first one failed due to some defect (the magnification ring inexplicably locked up) and was promptly replaced by their excellent warranty (approx 2 weeks from shipping the broken scope to receiving a new one in the mail), the second one was dropped about 2 and a half feet onto concrete and although blemished is still working perfectly.

It is a very clear scope for the money. I would say its the sweetspot for performance/quality vs price with their entire lineup. My buddy has a Vortex Viper (non PST) and I personally would not pay the extra money as the scope did not perform any better. It had better quality turrets, and the view through looked a little worse in my opinion (more like looking down through a paper towel tube). That last statement is exaggerated, but it was noticeable when comparing the two side by side.

 

[greyling22]

My first viper (4-12x40 on clearance) was 4 feet low at 100 yds and I couldn't get it on paper. Vortex took it back, checked it out, said they couldn't find a problem with it, but replaced it with a new one anyway in about a week. That one zeroed right in. They're got good CS, and no phone wait like I've had with leupy. Optically, I've no complaints, but I'm not an optics expert. I really never had a problem with my tasco world class. There was a very popular review a while back that ranked the diamondback above the prostaff, redfield, 3200, and fullfield 2.

 

[TonyAngel]

The range where I shoot every weekend is a stock dealer of Vortex products, so I've shot with just about all of them. I love the Viper line, but all of the others don't impress me. I'm a big Nightforce fan and that's what I shoot with, so whenever I try out a new scope, I compare it to my Nightforce. I'm not going to try to tell you that the Vipers are as nice as a Nightforce, because they aren't; but I certainly wouldn't feel handicapped at the range if I had to shoot with a Viper scope. They are nice.

In terms of comparison to the other lines of Vortex scopes, the Viper is it and all the other follow far behind. I can see a big difference between the Vipers and the Diamondbacks in terms of clarity, resolution and distortion. SWFA was blowing out the Viper models that had the really thin target reticle. Some like them and some don't, but at under $300, it's a hell of a deal on a scope.

If $300 is your budget, I'd look at something like the Bushnell Elite 3200 fixed 10X or the 3200 3-9X. Those are both good scopes with good glass for around $200.