Vortex or Sightron?

[Uncle Mike]

USA Return Procedure - USA

If you live in the United States, please follow the procedure below.

Step 1: Fill out the following Product Repair Form.

Step 2: Ship your product in a cardboard shipping carton to the following address:

Attn: VIP Warranty
Vortex Optics
2120 West Greenview Dr.
Middleton, WI 53562

Step 3: Vortex will evaluate your product and repair or replace it at no charge.

Step 4: Vortex will ship your product back to you in a timely manner. Average turn around time of 10 business days after receipt of product.

Fine Print: Theft or loss of a product is not covered...that's it. Pretty cool huh?

Did you notice #3... if you scratch a lens, it's going to be a repair I bet, not a replacement.

 

[Gord]

In fairness, a warranty is designed to cover flaws in materials and/or workmanship anyway - if they're at all willing to repair damage caused by the user (like a scratched lens) I'd just consider that icing on the cake.

 

[Red State]

I am really not sure where Tactical Ninja is coming from on this thread. I know that I am not alone in considering $300 to be a significant amount of money on a scope (unless the OP is talking about 6-20x50mm scopes with mil/mil and AO, then yes, $300 can be pretty insignificant).

Depending on the amount of magnification, you can get all of the following quality scopes for $300 or less:
Nikon Monarch
Vortex Viper
Elite 4200
Burris FFII
Sightron SII
Leupold VXII

None of these are Ziess or Nightforce, but they are quality products that are going to last a lot of years and will put a lot of rounds downrange.

Both Vortex and Sightron have been around for several years and are getting rave reviews. I wouldn't worry about being a lab rat and I have put my money where my mouth is on that. I think that both brands offer a lot of value for the money (in general, more than Leupold). I can't say enough good things about my Sightron.

 

[Norrick]

I'm a new member. I generally spend time at thefiringline but lately so many of my google search results have been coming up on thehighroad that I figure I'd better join.

for 2-300 i would go with Vortex. I have a Diamondback (3-12x40 AO BDC) and it is very good for the money.

here's a writeup I made not too long ago:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=410962
Hopefully that will satisfy alot of your curiosity.


I still have not got around to the box test, and as an update to the writeup, it does have a full 15MOA per revolution, its just the numbers are spaced a fraction too far apart so that by the end of one revolution they ran out of space for the last 1/4 MOA. If you manually count the clicks, it's all there (60 clicks), you'd just have to be aware that near the second half of a revolution the value shown is actually 1 click less than the true value. Does it sound confusing? Sorry...

I also have a Sightron II Big Sky (4-16x42 MD), and while I feel it is a better scope, it also costs twice as much. My understanding is the "Big Sky" lineup of scopes have updated optics (not sure if its glass, coatings, or a combination of both).

No experience with SI and SII series.

 

[Hangingrock]

In the world of optics three hundred dollars is not significant money. That said it maybe significant to you or I. What often applies is”I can’t afford cheap”. On the other hand I can’t afford the thousand dollars plus optics either. My middle ground approach has been and continues to be Leupold.

My thoughts are for most applications users of optics spend to much money on power that is magnification range. Usually but not always the high end of the magnification range is utilized while sighting in from a bench rest. In actual field usage the power range is set at the lower end.

Some users, use the high magnification range is a spotting scope application which is problematic and unwise or more clearly put stupid. That’s to say you and another hunter viewing each other thru you’re scope is not a good time was had by all scenario.

The cost of optics is not solely determined by materials and workmanship. The cost of doing business applies. The little I know is that Leupold was here yesterday, is here today, and tomorrow most likely. That adds value.

 

[islandphish]

I own a SII 3-9x42, it is not a Big Sky.

When I was shopping I compared scopes in the store. The Sightron was clearer than a VX-1 and beat a Rifleman waaaay bad. Burris FF was also not on par with Sightron glass. Yes Nikon was a touch clearer and also 1-200 bucks more. I had small time gun stores in MT and NE telling me the Sightrons were good stuff and people in MT and NE shoot plenty far.

At the time I bought the Sightron it was the over the counter replacement warranty which ticks me off that now I would have to send it in. But whatever, I haven't had to worry about that in the 3 years I've owned the scope.

 

[WYcoyote]

Comparison of some scopes under $200.

http://www.opticstalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=21176

 

[shootr]

Given the OPs priorities especially, Leopold all the way. Find a used one even. IME, no one beats Leopold's warranty or customer service.

Got a big Sightron II on an HMR .17 and it's great. Holds zero, tracks well and I like it. Ditto a few others too - Bushnell 3200 on a .22, even a Pine Ridge 3 X 9 on another .22. Got some old steel Weavers on a few too - all work fine.

However - been hunting a lot of years in some very remote places. All my serious hunting rifles wear Leopold because over the years, they're the most rugged, dependable scopes I've found.

When I sent my 20+ year old Vari-X II in for service (I thought it might be having problems - found out it was the rifle) they cleaned it, resealed it and set it back to me better than new in about 2 weeks IIRC and charged me nothing. Sent a nice letter saying wat they'd done and that they'd found nothing wrong with the scope. Can't beat that.

 

[DANNY243]

I think I'm going to play it safe and get another Redfield. Either the 3-9x50 or the 4-12x40 4-plex.

 

[Maverick223]

Danny243, as soon as I get my hands on the scope, I will check it and let you know. Now, the crossfire is a "lower" model. But, if the glass is good, then I could only imagine that the "higher" model will be better.

While I believe the Crossfire is a good value, it isn't close to the other optics offered by Vortex. Additionally it is the only series that is made in China to my knowledge. The Diamondback and Viper are some of the best optics for the money IMO. They are great for someone seeking good optics on a somewhat restrictive budget, and IMO are honestly the best most folks really need for a dedicated hunting scope. That said I like the Sightron a smidgen better, and would opt for a S-II before the Diamondback (the Viper is a better match to the S-II IMO, and I like it a bit better than either).

I think I'm going to play it safe and get another Redfield. Either the 3-9x50 or the 4-12x40 4-plex.

IMO that is a mistake; your original choices were some of the finest optics on the market right now. Both beat the snot out of the Redfield or any comparable Leupold (Rifleman or VX-I) according to my eyesight. If you are satisfied with your current Field, then you will be amazed by the optical quality and light transmission of the S-II (or better yet the Vortex Viper for little more).

 

[DANNY243]

I'll revisit the the vortex, sightron and leupold options again for this rem 700 in 7mm08. But for the time being I'm going to top it off with a redfield. I intend to put it on a Marlin xs-7 in .243, which is not worthy of a better scope imo, later on.

 

[classcpl]

You should check out Bruno Shooter Supply. I picked up a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x50 with side focus parallax adjustment for $286 about a year ago. Its been a darn good scope on my 26" bbl Savage 12fss. It was also $100 cheaper than the nearest competitor. As I recall they also had excellent prices on the Bushnell Elite series.

 

[Maverick223]

I'll revisit the the vortex, sightron and leupold options again for this rem 700 in 7mm08. But for the time being I'm going to top it off with a redfield. I intend to put it on a Marlin xs-7 in .243, which is not worthy of a better scope imo, later on.

JMO, but the main reason for a lesser priced rifle, is to budget more to your optics. The Marlin XS-7 is a fine hunting rifle for the money. I typically budget at least $200.00 for optics (even for low budget rifles), and more often spend $3-400.00. Case in point, my new Parker Hale Mauser, picked it up for $200.00, then bought a new Nikon Monarch 2.5-10x42mm for it. You may be different, but cheap glass tends to cost me more, because then I have to buy more optics for replacements.

 

[-v-]

For the OP's price range, a lower-end Leupold is a good choice. That said, Vortex Optics is also a rising star in this field.

As the optics talk thread that keeps getting brought up says, in the $200 range, the Vortex line offers the clearest and crispest optics, widest field of view and overall "best value".

Their warranty is "As long as we don't see you bashing the scope with a hammer, we'll fix it" is nice too.

Its up to the OP's choice, but Leopold and Vortex are the two most solid choices.

 

[pat86323]

I can tell you without a doubt from firsthand experience that vortex is quality stuff and their customer service is much much better then anyone could expect. I myself have had a total of 3 pairs of binos from them. The first set was a factory blemish model that i picked up for very low cost, they were 10x vultures. While scouting for my elk hunt i dropped them......and they bounced, and bounced and bounced some more all the way into the bottom of a canyon. I went and picked them up and the optics were super blurry and unusable. This really bothered me as i actually liked them about the same as my dads leupolds that he payed a significant amount more for (unsure of model) With my elk hunt 7 days away i called vortex.

Fully expecting to hear "thats too bad" i talked to the customer service guy. The response i got was "dang man that sucks, well send you a loaner pair with a shipping label, when they arrive just put the broken ones in the box and ship them back. We cant have you out on an elk hunt with no glass" This was on a friday afternoon. Monday afternoon i got the loaner pair which were diamondbacks actually a nicer pair then i had broken though 8x instead of 10x. I shipped the broken ones in and went on my elk hunt. After the hunt was over i had a voicemail saying "these binos are too damaged to repair, you have the option of keeping what we sent or we can send you a pair of 10x." i called them and told them id rather have the 10x but would be willing to buy the 8's as well. All said and done they sold me the 8x at a VERY discounted price and shipped me the 10's. All of this was done without having to fill out a warrenty card, on factory blemished products, no questions asked and no BS. Needless to say from this day forward you will have a hard time getting me to buy any optic that doesnt have the Vortex name on it.

 

[coug]

if you do go with the vortex viper you will be happy they are well above bushnell, lupold vx-3, and nikon monark. I own the lupold and monark scopes. you are getting close to night force with the viper. its the clearest scope I have ever owened. and there is no better warrenty out there bar none. the only down fall I can see on the viper line is the don't have zero stop. you have to look at your turret to put it back to zero. the warrenty is unconditional and fully transferable.

 

[phoglund]

Great story Pat and a good indicator of the kind of support the company is willing to give!