Vortex Razor HD LHT 4.5-22x50mm Q&A

[Ucsdryder]

Surprising on the drop test and disappointing. Curious if its a scope specific issue? My wife dropped my LHT SFP on some rocks about 20 minutes before I shot my bull at 575 yards. It hit hard and dinged the gun pretty good. Maybe I got lucky…or maybe you got unlucky.


Did you say you had a video of the drop test? Can you post it up?

 

[MuleyFever]

Do you mind sharing what other scopes you had out?

 

[Formidilosus]

Surprising on the drop test and disappointing. Curious if its a scope specific issue?

Sure. May be. It’s just that I’ve apparently seen 100% of the Razor hunting scopes that don’t work. This scope behaves exactly as the dozen or so prior versions did.

Did you say you had a video of the drop test? Can you post it up?

I have lots of videos- probably over an hour. I will see if Ryan can get them put together.

 

[Formidilosus]

Do you mind sharing what other scopes you had out?

NF ATACR, SWFA 3-9x, Minox ZP5.

 

[woods89]

I might have bumped rifles harder than that getting them out of the safe......regarding 6" in snow.

 

[260madman]

Just because it’s a LOW scope doesn’t mean it’s durable. Built to spec OEM. SWFA HD series is built by LOW but to a different spec. It’s all on Vortex. I’m not surprised.

Maybe in the spring I’ll drop test my chinesium Athlon and see what pops up. So far a SWFA 6x, Weaver Tactical 3-15, and Burris XTR II 4-20 have survived waist high drops, and more, on the scope for me.

 

[Dioni A]

@Formidilosus Please test a Zeiss v4. I've had good luck with the 4 i have but I'm paranoid now about dropping my guns.

 

[Formidilosus]

@Formidilosus Please test a Zeiss v4. I've had good luck with the 4 i have but I'm paranoid now about dropping my guns.

I have. Several.

I would pad it heavily… with bubble wrap.

 

[Formidilosus]

Just because it’s a LOW scope doesn’t mean it’s durable. Built to spec OEM.

That is correct. Why people think that because a certain manufacturer makes two scopes for two different companies, that they will be the same is a bit baffling. They make it to whatever spec they’re paid to.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

That is correct. Why people think that because a certain manufacturer makes two scopes for two different companies, that they will be the same is a bit baffling. They make it to whatever spec they’re paid to.

Do you have a list of scopes somewhere that have passed your drop tests with flying colors?

 

[MuleyFever]

At this point we need an "Ask @Formidilosus" sticky thread. @Ryan Avery you 2 should talk and make it happen

With Forms blessing of coarse.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Someone with a ffp go drop it 6” in the snow and see if it’s off. I’d love to see someone replicate it.

 

[Formidilosus]

After the last drops, I rezeroed which happened without issue. No more abuse will be put on it unless somethings changes. It’ll ride in the truck seat and be shot regularly to see how long it holds zero. It clearly is not what I would term a “rugged” scope, but it is good to see if day to day light use will effect it.

Also, there will be a thread detailing why the drops are done the way they are, at those heights, etc., and how they are applicable to hunters- they’re not just random.

 

[Formidilosus]

Does the entire christmas tree light up, or is it just the center dot like on the 3-15 ?

Entire tree.

I’m just wondering how do we as readers quantify the quality of your interpretation of this design versus the other LHT optics that you have opined. Do you have some additional insights that will help differentiate this design over the previous iterations?

What specifically are you looking for?

Because it is SFP to FFP? Does design change constitute modification of specific lenses to achieve a different magnification range, or the arrangement of erector (SFP/FFP)?

Yes there are differences between them, however being that I am not an engineer and didn’t design them I could only guess.

I ask these questions because when I evaluate this specific model and the forthcoming results I want it to be as solid of a basis as possible. From an initial review the LHT 50mm obj. seems to share the same length, tube diameter, objective size, and within an ~1oz.

They do. And the results are the same as I’ve seen from the earlier ones.

 

[Dobermann]

But ... the warranty!

 

[snarkscarbine]

This is a huge freaking bummer. A buddy just bought one of these and I was thinking about it too. Guess I’ll spring for the NX8 when the time comes after all.

 

[elkguide]

Thanks for taking the time to do the testing and write up.

 

[ETtikka]

Thanks Form

 

[kickemall]

Great evaluation. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[ChrisAU]

Thread is going exactly how I expected, which sucks. I really commend Vortex for what they are doing in the LHT series, but my clumsy ass needs something a bit tougher than that.