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Trying to decide. Here are the two front runners for my next rifle. The SWFA is a bit more money I have seen it for just over 1000 and the vortex is somewhere in the 950 range. I have seen that the vortex is very popular and many people use it. Everyone raves about the fixed power SWFA but I haven't heard much about this model. It will be going on a target rifle shooting out to 1000 yards no hunting it running around with it. I just want a nice high power scope in the $1,000 dollar range.
i dont know much about the SWFA but can tell you ive seen a few PSTs fail...one in particular the guy had just gotten back from being repaired and re-installed it the night before..we shot the next morning and it either broke in the first 2 shots again or never got fixed to begin with. on the other hand ive seen several PSTs that have never had an issue.
im not knocking vortex as i think they are great scopes and i own one...not a PST but a gen2....for the money your looking to spend id take a close look at these....
http://www.allnightforce.com/nightfo...opes-s/421.htm
ive shot with night force scopes for 7yrs or so...i had a 19lb rifle get knocked off the tail gate of my truck about 4yrs ago and it landed on the scope...the NXS still tracks perfectly to this day...i recently bought a GEN2 vortex and love it but if NF had a better christmas tree style reticle the GEN2 would be a NF F-1.
For $899 you can get a Leupold VX3 6.5-20x50 or 8.5-25x50 and end up with a much more reliable optic than the Vortex with better glass. I have had and seen too many Vortex scopes fail for me to ever recommend to anyone. Leupold carries the same great warranty but you will never have to use it.
I like the Vortex PST. I have the 6-24x FFP and have been using it on my .243 and it's done just fine. Below is my write up on it. Tracked well and I like the 2C reticle a lot. I have it in my Razor II 3-18x as well. The PST is a very good scope in that price range for FFP scopes.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_2_277/2...unted_up_.html
I know two people with the SS 5-20 and both have CA and one was giving the shooter problems tracking so any scope can have issues. There are a lot of people who have them with no issues as well as there are plenty of PST users with no issues.
I have 3 PST on my rifles. If I had the money, I would love to get a Gen II Razor but I don't see that happening in the near future. The oldest scope I have is 3 years old and I don't have any issues with it.
I have the Razor Gen II on my rifles now but I had a a few Viper PSTs before it. That's basically all I recommend to people looking to spend less than a grand. I've never heard of any failing, and they were fantastic scopes for the money in my personal experience. Vortex does have an unlimited lifetime warranty, so if for any reason it did brake, or you "accidentally" dropped it off a cliff, they either fix it or replace it with a new one. Best warranty I've heard to date, though I don't expect having to ever use it.
One thing to note, Nightforce voids the warranties on their scopes if they find that you used anything besides Nightforce mounting systems with them. I think I prefer the 'no questions asked' warranty from Vortex better.
ive seen 5 PSTs fail this year and like i said above one twice...ive also seen a steiner fail this year and one last year..so as Rob said its possible for any scope to fail its just a gamble...my suggestion to the OP is to google failed PSTs or something along those lines and see what you come up with and make your decision...personally i wouldnt buy one when i could get a MUCH better optic for less as stomp pointed out..or for the same price..or a few more bucks..and once again im not knocking vortex.
i also doubt NF would tell you sorry we wont warranty your scope because you had it in seekins rings...but i doubt youd ever be on the phone with NF for a warranty issue.
There are tens of thousands of the PSTs out there so you will hear more about them when they fail but they don't have a higher failure rate than most similar priced scopes. Also when they do the problems are taken care of very fast unlike some companies who have you wait months. People talk more when they have problems so you will hear about them when there are issues. People don't talk as much when they get a scope and are happy with it. And who said something about a scope being in Seekins rings? Seeing as Vortex sells the rebranded Seekins rings as their Precision Matched rings I don;t think they would have an issue with Seekins rings. And I know Vortex would not say anything about not warrantying a scope for any reason.
The Leupolds mentioned are SFP and the OP appears to be looking for FFP optics. Also Leupold isn't immune to scope issues. I had two and they both didn't track perfectly.
And sorry to say it but NF has issues too. My team mate's original F1 had turret issues which they refused to admit was a scope issue and that is the main reason we stopped shooting for NF. They tried to tell him he didn't know how to zero the scope and set the zero stop but he had no problem doing it on our other team mate's scope. There are also issues reported with the new 4-16 ATACR. NF makes a great optic but even NF isn't perfect.
I have owned six vortex scopes personally all of which failed me within the year. One particular viper the last one I owned was sent back multiple times and was never or broke immediately upon use. I simply threw it in the trash when I was tired of messing with it. That's a 100% failure rate for me. I have never had that kind of failures from even a tasco or BSA optic.
What models were the others and the Viper was the standard Viper model or the PSTs?
Rob i agree with you that any scope can fail and also that there are 10s of thousands of the PSTs out there with no issues but other than the few NF scopes you mention how many do you hear failing?
Not as many as the PST but they also cost 2-3x as much. It's the same as you don't hear of many if any of the Razor II scopes having issues. They are also a $2100-2500 scope. If you want more bullet proof performance then you need to spend some money.
The SHVs are about the same price as the PSTs...and your right we hear more when something goes wrong then we do when theres no issues.
I just bought a GEN2...about 600 rounds with it now so ill see how it holds up next season...i went with it over the F-1 because of the ebr-2c and it was hard for me to switch because ive had such great results with NF...i sure wish NF would come out with an ebr style reticle.
I'm sure all scope in this price range can have issues. Durability isn't a major issue for me since it's just going to be a range gun. I want something in the 5x20 power range and best possible turrets. I saw the SWFA has high density glass. Does that make a big difference in optical clarity?? I don't think I've ever used a scope with HD glass
Yes it does...Do you have a scheels or cabelas near you?
Nope. I'm in California. The best place with a nice choice of scopes is bass pro
Id go there and see what they have and look through a few...may not have what your looking for but you can get an idea of what the differences in cheap glass good glass and great glass looks like...most places (here in nevada)will take you outside to look through them.
I had one standard Viper the 6-24x44 I believe and the others were a 4-16x44 HS-Ts, 6-24x50 PSTs and one 6-24x50 HS LR. Not the Razors I admit but all junk just the same.
I've checked out a few scopes at the range and a few stores. I was really impressed with the viper but that was when I first started looking to buy a scope. I think the best I have put my hands on was a US Optics, very clear glass even when dailed up to the highest power. It also had the nicest turrets I have ever felt. Very positive clicks and seemed extremely well put together. I'm sure most of the 2000 + scopes are very impressive.
They are but so are a lot of the $900 -$1200 dollar scopes just need to find the right one for you.
In a word.............Sightron................ In your price range you can have the 6-24 or the 8-32 SIII model excelent glass and repeatable clicks.
Sightron, Burris, Vortex, Leupold, SWFA. Take your pick and don't look back.
I've got a PST FFP 6-24 that's been nothing but dead reliable for me for a few years now. Shoot matches with it as well, out to 1k yards. Never a problem. Nice thing about Vortex is their warranty. If something DOES happen, no matter what it is, they'll fix it or give you a new one. No questions asked.
Yes I really like the vortex warranty.
Yeah, I've literally never heard of someone having THAT terrible of luck with a Vortex. Anyone that I've talked to absolutely loves them, and all of them have been on their rifles for a year + with no issues. I too know plenty of guys that shoot comps with the PSTs, some of which take an absolute beating and still work just as well as they did when new.
I mean I guess it's possible to have that many issues with a specific scope, but in my experience with Vortex, if you were ever that unhappy with one of their products, they would just send you a new one. Saying that you had 5 PSTs fail in the same year is just silly unless you had them strapped to a 20mm cannon or were running them over with a truck everyday.