Vanguard Endeavor HD 15-45 x65 or Vortex Gen II Razor HD 22-48x65

Netherman

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May 24, 2016
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428
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Michigan
I'm looking to get a mid priced spotting scope and have settled on 65mm as I plan to take it backpacking in addition to glassing from a truck and this seems to balance the needs of those two extremes.

Can anyone tell me what I'd be missing going with the vanguard? It seems like if I went with the Vortex the only thing I'd be missing is $800. All the reviews I have read put it on par with the Vortex. The only thing I can seem to find better is that the Vortex design would allow for easier packing. I plan to keep this scope for a few years and decide if I need to upgrade to a high end option, get a larger objective, or just keep what I have.

Does anyone have experience with both of these scopes? Also I wonder if Vanguard is clearing out their inventory in preparation for a refresh as they no longer offer the straight and are currently giving away a tripod ($130) with the purchase of any endeavor scope. (insider information and conspiracy theories welcome)

Right now I am leaning towards the Vanguard as it would allow me to pick up a few more things on my wish list, but I don't want to be disappointed with my purchase down the road. From my limited experience with rifle scopes you get what you pay for and I don't want to be wishing I had ponied up for the Vortex.

Nick
 

Titan

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Sep 13, 2016
Messages
570
Location
Texas
There a thread a few posts down about the Vanguard spotter and that it is a pretty good bang for your buck. I was in the same situation yesterday. I was mainly stuck on the idea that I needed a 20-60x instead of the 45x. Apparently you don't spend much time in the 45-60 range.

But I am also a little worried they are about to jump to a new version for the same price.
 
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Netherman

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May 24, 2016
Messages
428
Location
Michigan
I'd really like to look thru both of them or at least get an opinion from someone who has. Cabelas is my only option locally and they only have the 85mm Vortex which was pretty impressive. That coupled with Jared's review of the Gen II 85mm Vortex has me wondering if the 65mm version is improved enough to be significantly better than the Vanguard.

Nick
 

Ben

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Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
301
I'm glad you asked this as I was getting ready to myself. My current and only spotter is a minox md50. It's a great little spotter, but I often find myself wish I had the extra weight for the extra zoom, even when elk hunting.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
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Vanguard was on sale at cabelas so I went to check it out. Compared it to the Vortex razor and Swarovski. Keep in mind this was inside cabelas with great lighting. The Vanguard was better than the Vortex in brightness and clarity. Both had good edge to edge crispness. Against the Swarovski it held its own. The Swarovski was a tad brighter. Clarity? Couldn't tell difference. Colors seemed more vibrant on the Swarovski but maybe that was due to the slightly brighter image? Anyway I went with the Vanguard and I'm a Vortex fan. Swarovski was just simply out of my budget or I would've chose it. I'll be checking out the Endeavor binoculars next.



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