Vortex 3-15 Razor LHT review

I got my hands on one of these from a buddy. We are always looking for a light weight scope that has features of the heavy scopes. I wanted to put it on the scope checker to see if it would hold zero and track accurately. A scope checker is a one piece mount that has a frozen scope (45x leupold) mounted in fixed rings on one rail and the scope your testing on the other rail. The frozen scope is used as a reference. I put a ruler at 100yds and aimed the 45x at 30". Then dialed the razor over to the same point. After verifying both were aimed to the same point I dialed 10 minutes into the razor and re aimed it to 30". The 45x now was aimed at 19 1/2". Good, next I dialed up another 10moa and reaimed. Now the 45x was aimed very close to 9". I only took it up to 25 moa from zero but this scope dialed accurately to less than one click of error up to 25 moa. I cant same that for my current light weight scope which ads 1 moa over the last 10 moa of travel. I did also dial up and down a bunch and it always came back to zero. The other test is how it holds zero. Same deal, aim both reticles to the same spot and shoot a round for a recoil impulse. Then re aim the frozen scope, if the razor held its zero it will also be aimed to the same spot. It was. I fired enough rounds to be satisfied. Bottom line, I just wanted to share that this is a really solid option for a light weight scope. A lot of scopes fail these tests, so Im impressed with this thing. Just FYI

Thanks for taking the time to report on this, Alex. I've looked really hard at this scope in the past. It seems pretty feature heavy for a light scope. Glad to hear it performs as well!

Thanks Alex, I've been satisfied with several that I have been using. Actual mechanical verification by you and your techniques is appreciated.

Thanks for the review, Alex.

I have a sample of two, no scope checker yet, but on the heavy base they both dial within +/-5%.

Good to hear! I have 2 of these scopes on my rifles. The glass is excellent, the zero stop is great and the locking turret is a must for me. So far no complaints and seeing this makes me feel even more confident in the scope!

Love the scope, not a fan of the reticle options.

We have checked a handful of the Vortex Golden Eagle scopes for the 1000 yard br game. They have all been solid and actually were used to shoot 2 small group records this year by two different guys. So my confidence in the higher end Vortex stuff is pretty good. Better than most to be honest.

Is the Golden Eagle a Light Optical Works product as well, @Alex Wheeler ?

I dont know the factory that makes them. They are made is Japan, thats all I know.

I have one on my 300prc and like it a lot. Great scope for an all a round hunting rifle especially if you need weight loss

Alex Wheeler said:

We have checked a handful of the Vortex Golden Eagle scopes for the 1000 yard br game. They have all been solid and actually were used to shoot 2 small group records this year by two different guys. So my confidence in the higher end Vortex stuff is pretty good. Better than most to be honest.

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Have you looked at or tested the Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44 SFP IRMOA scope? I just got one to put on a TC Omega .40 smokeless conversion. It's a long range hunting gun. I have a Vortex Viper gen2 PST 5-25x50 FFP IRMOA and I like the scope a lot for the money & it's held up very well under some pretty serious loads.

I ended up with one of these on my Browning Xbolt pro in 6.5 PRC great scope. I recently ordered a second one to put on another rifle.

Thanks, Alex for empirically documenting expensive items that are usually bought on either reputation or recommendation. Guys like you make the sport more rewarding for THOUSANDS.

I love the features of the vortex 3-15x50 that I have. This is the one sold at europtic or optics planet as the "euro version". I have found one complaint with it. The tracking lags terribly. I will dial up and the first shot will land significantly low then the next will all be up where they should be. I have recently began working the turret to see if that will help reduce the lag but haven't confirmed that it has helped yet. I have used the reticle to check that the rifle is producing the correct drop then dial up and its low. If anyone has any input to help with the lag other than send it back, then let me know.