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Vortex Razor HD LH 1.5-8X32

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wapitiwacker View Drop Down
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    Posted: September/21/2017 at 13:11
Hello folks, looking for info, good or bad regarding this tweener. Haven't seen much written about it since it came out a year or so ago.
 Mr.Koshkin, I found an article written by you saying you had given your 1.5-8 to a friend to test and compare to a Leica ER 5 but couldn't find the results of that anywhere. Can you point me in the right direction or expound on his findings here? Thank you.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/21/2017 at 13:24
I am behind on my reviews.  

I never got my hands on the 1.5-8x32 ER5, unfortunately, but the HD LH is back in my hands, living life on top of my 458 SOCOM.  Stays zeroed despite being on a thumper and I am stoked with this scope as I was after my initial impressions review.

The friend who has looked at this scope posts here, so I hope he will chime in.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2017 at 10:35
I'm pretty sure I'm the friend Koshkin is referring to. I had the Razor HD LH 1.5-8X32 for a couple months and used it a bit on my .300BLK Kimber Adirondack.

I didn't compare it to a Leica ER5, and have never tested the ER5 series. However I did compare it head to head with my all time favorite "tweener" scope, the Kahles 2-7X36 CL. As much as it pains me to say, I thought the Razor HD LH was every bit as good optically as the Kahles, and in some ways, I thought the Razor was the better scope. 

At the same magnification, I couldn't say one was better than the other in terms of resolution and low light performance, except that the Razor's excellent G4 reticle is a tad bolder and stands out more against a dark background in low light than either the plex or 4A reticles I have in my Kahles 2-7s. Being a midrange magnification, lightweight traditional hunting scope, I didn't do a tall target or box test to evaluate the Razor HD LH's tracking precision, but there were no surprises during initial zero and POI shifts equaled turret adjustment inputs pretty precisely. I don't think micrometer-like tracking precision is a necessity on this type of scope, as it wasn't designed to be a turret twisting, LR precision scope. That's not intended to imply it doesn't track well, it may very well do so; I just don't know. If it has maintained POI on Ilya's 458 SOCOM, it's accomplished the most important aspect of its design intent. Of course, any rifle scope that doesn't maintain POI is useless for its intended purpose. 

I thought the G4 is an outstanding "set and forget" hunting reticle! That reticle combines very bold posts with thin central crosshairs and a floating dot. It's similar to a #4, and offers the main advantages of a #4, except it's an improved version. The horizontal bars extend close to center, so you can bracket an animal's vitals with them in low light even when it might be difficult to see the fine crosshairs and dot in the center. It also includes BDC holdover marks, which could be useful when used within its limitations. This is one aspect where the Razor was clearly superior to the Kahles CL, or most traditional plex or #4 reticles, for that matter. It's simply an outstanding, well-designed hunting reticle.

I loved the scope's compact size and light weight. This scope would be an excellent choice for a lightweight rifle! I appreciate compact, light scopes, which is why I've always been a fan of midrange variables ("tweeners"), though I'm obviously in the minority, given today's rifle scope offerings.

My only real complaint of the scope is it has the fine thread diopter adjustment, and I prefer the coarse pitch "fast focus" style diopter. Not a huge deal, as you typically don't mess with diopter adjustment very often.

Otherwise, I thought it held its own against the excellent Kahles 2-7X36 CL, with a better reticle and a little more zoom range, while still having the exact same length and weight. From my point of view, what's not to like?


Edited by RifleDude - September/22/2017 at 10:40
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wapitiwacker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2017 at 13:47
RifleDude, thank you for the informative post. Exactly what I was hoping to hear. It seems our optics tastes are similar and I have been tearing my hair out looking for the "perfect" tweener for a recent acquistiion. I thought the Leica ER5 1.5-8X32 was going to be the holy grail, but alas it is unobtainium, north of the 49th at least. Sightron has an S TAC 2-10X32 that looked promising, but I haven't found one to look through and a quick search of Youtube found a video showing some tunneling from 3 back to 2X. Having a big black ring around a low power field of view is not my idea of optimum. Euro tweeners for the most part were too large and/or heavy for my tastes. I was just about to fall back on the tried and true VX3i 2.5-8 with a B&C reticle when I stumbled upon Vortex's Razor HD LH. I have a Viper 2.5-7X36 on a 375 Ruger. It has held up fine. I don't see why the Razor won't do an outstanding job on the 35 Whelen it is slated for. I am really looking forward to taking a peek at the G4 reticle. Once again thanks for your input. I appreciate it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/22/2017 at 15:07
No problem, Wapiti! I'm a big fan of the Leica ER scopes too. I have 2 of the now-discontinued ER 2.5-10X42s mounted on rifles I hunt with a fair amount, and absolutely love them! They are nothing short of spectacular, so I understand the allure of the ER5, though I haven't tried a scope from that series yet.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/23/2017 at 17:39
I am testing a 2-10x50 ER5, but I have not had any serious time with the 1.5-8x32 ER5, so I can't talk about it much.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wapitiwacker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/23/2017 at 20:01
I look forward to that review. Something I just noticed for the first time on the Leica website. They list "vignetting at low power" in the spec list. I would assume that this means these scopes must tunnel to some degree? The only scope in the ER5 series that doesn't list a vignetting spec ( well yes, but 0%) is the 5-25X56. Vignetting at low power would be a quite undesirable for me. At low power I want a full expansive view, not a big black ring around my FOV. I just pulled the trigger on a Razor HD LH. Had to order it so I still haven't looked through one. I really hope there's no big black ring around the sight picture at 1.5X.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote R H Clark Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/07/2017 at 14:43

Wapitiwacker

That black ring around the sight picture that you speak of is a hateful thing in a scope IMHO. It is something that I notice right away and really bothers me. The Vortex Razor HD LH 1.5-8X32 and the 2-10X40 have absolutely zero black ring.

The sight picture flows seamlessly right to the edge of the aluminum giving you a big screen theater view rather than a peeping through a tube view. These scopes are becoming some of my very favorites.

I've has the 1.5-8 on a Kimber Montana 7mm-08 for a couple years and love it. Low light performance is plenty for legal light hunting. The size and weight are perfect on a small light rifle.

I keep saying it and I'll say it again. If Vortex would do the dot in Tritium and keep everything else the same, to give just a tad better reticle contrast in dark environments and thick stuff, I would sell my other scopes are get Razor HD LH scopes for all my rifles. With one stipulation that is. I simply haven't had it long enough, and it hasn't been out long enough, to completely cement it's long term dependability in my mind yet. I do not however expect any problems being Japanese built.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wapitiwacker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/07/2017 at 17:28
Gentlemen, I have to thank you once again for your insight into the Razor 1.5-8x32. This has been the first scope I have ever bought without a hands-on inspection/evaluation prior to purchase. Your comments were definitely beneficial in making the decision.

I picked up my scope today and I have to say I am very impressed with this optic so far. So far it meets or exceeds all of my expectations. All that's left to do is mount it up and play a little with it tonight as the light fades. I'm interested in seeing how long the G4 reticle is useable. The inner portion of the reticle is so fine I can definitely see where Mr. Clark is coming from with his suggestion of a tritium dot. Conversely, the subtensions are perfect for precise shot placement.

Thanks again,
WW
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/07/2017 at 18:30
To answer an earlier question: vignetting does not mean tunnelling.

In this case, this is a measure of how much of the objective lens is utilized when the scope is on low power.  For example, on the ER5 2-10x50 I am testing (which is a very nice scope, by the way), the vignetting is listed as 36% and all it means is that only inner 32mm of the objective lens are used at 2x.

The 2-10x50 has no tunneling that I can perceive and I do not recall any in the 1.5-8x32 ER5 when I saw it at SHOT.

On the fine dot of the HD LH: I  persist in badgering Vortex to illuminate it in some way.  However, I will also admit that when testing the scope in low light, those thick bars were pretty effective in bracketing whatever I was aiming at.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote R H Clark Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/07/2017 at 19:13

Mr. Koshkin.

You are correct about the bracketing ability in low light. I was thinking the same thing when I read Wapitiwacker's post. Even though the dot disappears on me in the very last few minuets of legal light I couldn't imagine not being able to make a shot just by bracketing a deer sized animal's chest at any reasonable distance that I would shoot in that kind of light anyway.

Tritium would however make it absolutely perfect. It would have much better ER and power range than the Trijicon. I keep suggesting Tritium to keep the scope light and trim for it's perfect role on a light weight mountain rifle.



Edited by R H Clark - October/07/2017 at 19:18
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wapitiwacker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/07/2017 at 19:49
Thanks for the clarification Koshkin. I didn't think vignetting was synonymous with tunneling, rather a product of it. There are a couple of videos on YouTube demonstrating tunneling. When the tunneling occurs, because the field of view does not increase as the magnification goes lower it looks like the black ring on the outer edge of the field of view increases in size. I thought vignetting, as stated in the Lieca specs may refer to the percentage of image NOT seen through the eyepiece rather than, as you explained, just the amount of ocular not utilized. Thanks again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/07/2017 at 21:44
In optics, vignetting is usually thought of as "darkening of some of the FOV", while what we think of as tunneling is more of an "obstruction of a portion of the possible FOV".

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wapitiwacker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/07/2017 at 22:41
Makes perfect sense. Thank you.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Maverick2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/09/2017 at 00:10
Originally posted by koshkin koshkin wrote:

To answer an earlier question: vignetting does not mean tunnelling.

In this case, this is a measure of how much of the objective lens is utilized when the scope is on low power.  For example, on the ER5 2-10x50 I am testing (which is a very nice scope, by the way), the vignetting is listed as 36% and all it means is that only inner 32mm of the objective lens are used at 2x.

The 2-10x50 has no tunneling that I can perceive and I do not recall any in the 1.5-8x32 ER5 when I saw it at SHOT.

ILya

Ilya -- thanks for the explanation on vignetting.  Are you hearing any rumors on when the ER 5 scopes are going to be made available -- particularly the 1-5 and 1.5-8 models???
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