Vortex Golden Eagle

[46490]

Can anyone give me a good or bad advice on the golden eagle bench rest scope? Is the image clear on all power settings? Which reticle in better for bench shooting out to 300 yards. I am really torn between this scope and the bench rest and competition scopes from Night Force. Thanks in advance

 

[group therapy]

I had a ge on my lrbr rifle before I got the sved. its a great scope and I REALLY liked the ecr reticle. its got a great image up to about 45 power, after that it gets pretty dark. great Mechanics, clicks and held poi great. NO ONE can BEAT their warranty. if you are looking at the comp(in that price range) and can handle the weight of the sved, id look into it. the focus is crazy and you can eliminate about 1/2 the mirage vs other scopes. super bright and clear all the way to 50 power and great eye relief. if I didnt keep the sv id go back to the golden eagle, I really liked it. I compared the ge to a 12x42 nf br and I liked the ge better. if you can look through some before you decide, thats better. but that option doesn't always exist. good luck sir

 

[beemanjohn]

I had one for a couple seasons. Like the other guy, I love the ECR reticle. I thought it was good up to 40 power, but got dark and grainy above that. The turrets are real nice on it. I thought it did not do well in the mirage. I ended up selling it and buying a Trjicon 5-50x56. Its going to cost you around $1800 for a Triji, but it is in a whole other league than the GE. Lance can get you a good price on one.

 

[Ranger188]

The Golden Eagle is a really good scope for the money. (had one)
It DOES get darker above the 50-60X
Wish Vortex would up the glass quality, and keep the cost relative.
I think they sell a ton of them now, because of the price point.
I think the other manufactures have stepped up their game.
I would hold out for the 10% off sale LanceXXX runs here on Sightrons
and get a SVSSED 10-50x60 and call it a day. It will cost you $700 more
but you won't sell it down the road for another scope.
The NF will be even more money.
I do own 2 Trijicon 5-50x56 AccuPowers. Nice also.
For 300yds. the GE is a fine scope.
I've always liked a dot reticle.

 

[ACF]

I have a GE and a SVSSED and I agree with Ranger188. I'm really liking the SVSSED over the GE.

Chris

 

[jimmymac]

I like my GE. The glass clarity is plenty good enough for score shooting. Not NF clear to be sure, but it also doesn't carry the NF price. I agree with the others that the image deteriorates at power settings above the mid to high 40's, but...

For my shooting, the most important thing to me is that the scope doesn't wander. POI is quite repeatable on mine and dialing back and forth between yardages presents no issues. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have 2 Golden Eagles, had 3. I sold one when I bought a SVSSED. The Sightron is in a class by itself when it comes to resulution and clarity. I shot it all this year, tracks perfect. The GEs have been very good. No tracking issues, not quite as sharp optically but there are days I see holes with my 73 old eyes with the GEs when others with much higher prices optics could not. For the price point the GEs can not be beat. I would love for the Sightron to go to 55x but even as it is, it is my favorite scope. I shoot various matches from 100 to 1000.

 

[46490]

Thanks for all of your inputs and suggestions.

 

[drano38]

This is a great thread. I’m considering both of these scopes for my 600/1000 yard IBS Light Gun, a Bat B on an LRB stock. I’m currently using a NF BR 12-42x. At 16.2 pounds, I have some weight to work with.

The NF BR is a solid scope, but I’d like side focus and turrets that don’t have caps.

Sightron SVSSED – Will put me right at 17 lb. Costs more than Vortex GE. But dual side focus sounds awesome. And above posts say bright and clear. Wish a floating dot reticle was available.

Vortex GE - Floating dot available. Nice glass for the price. Light weight.

My rifle balances about 2” in front of the action face. The GE would give me plenty of weight available to add rear stock weight to move the balance towards the receiver face. Currently the rifle rides the bags pretty well, but I’ve seen a fair amount of rifles balance closer to the receiver.

Too many good equipment choices out there.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have both. The SVSSED is in a class by itself. For the money GEs are a great buy. If you can handle the weight and price is irrelevent, buy the Sightron. I just bought, my third GE, it was slightly less than half of what the Sightron goes for. All of them have had zero tracking issues or POI issues. The fine focus on the SVSSED is great in bad mirage and the big glass is great on dark days. Both will serve you well.

 

[group therapy]

This is a great thread. I’m considering both of these scopes for my 600/1000 yard IBS Light Gun, a Bat B on an LRB stock. I’m currently using a NF BR 12-42x. At 16.2 pounds, I have some weight to work with.

The NF BR is a solid scope, but I’d like side focus and turrets that don’t have caps.

Sightron SVSSED – Will put me right at 17 lb. Costs more than Vortex GE. But dual side focus sounds awesome. And above posts say bright and clear. Wish a floating dot reticle was available.

Vortex GE - Floating dot available. Nice glass for the price. Light weight.

My rifle balances about 2” in front of the action face. The GE would give me plenty of weight available to add rear stock weight to move the balance towards the receiver face. Currently the rifle rides the bags pretty well, but I’ve seen a fair amount of rifles balance closer to the receiver.

Too many good equipment choices out there.

look at the moa-h reticle, I think the dot floats with the Christmas tree all around. I REALLY LIKE!!!! the design of the moa-h. just me though, and my .02

 

[drano38]

Thanks Group,
I was thinking the MOA-H dot was a lot bigger, but it isn't much because its referenced at 24x.
Of course, the Christmas tree is more clutter than we need for punching paper. I have a MOA-H on an SIII 8-32x but haven't shot it much.
Here's what I came up with for dot sizes. Bold is per their websites, non-bold is a calculation of it.
NF BR NP-2DD .1875 @ 22x, .13 @ 32x, .1 @ 42x
Sightron SV TD .2 @ 25x, .15 @ 37.5x, .1 @ 50x
Sightron SV MOA-H .25 @ 24x, .167 @ 36x, .125 @ 48x
Vortex GE ECR-1 .19 @ 20x, .095 @ 40x
OK, I'll turn off my OCD for now.

 

[CharlieNC]

All of the advice in the world simply cannot tell you what your eyes will see, and your associated perception of value. Unlike most I simply could not see adequately with the GE, and Vortex was great trying to make it right. I'm very happy with the Sightrons, SV and SIII.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I love my G.E. I sold my Nightforce 12-42 BR after I purchased it. I will be buying a Sightron in the near future, keeping the G.E.