Vortex Razor Gen HD III 6-36x56

[CamTheBam]

Anybody running one of the new Vortex Razor HD Gen III 6-36x56 scopes?

What do you think of the resolution, particularly at 36x?

Bonus points if you've used a Gen II in the past, and you can provide a comparison?

TIA

 

[Franko]

It's a very nice optic. Some thoughts:

1. Resolution is good. It's not quite as nice as a ZCO 5-27
2. The ZCO does color and texture a little better
3. Eyebox is excellent and it is very easy to get behind
4. It begins to "darken" around high 20's magnification
5. Turrets are a bit "muted" and aren't as crisp as ZCO or Schmidt DT++
6. The locking/unlocking mechanism is good but not great
7. The zeroing mechanism is pretty clever and I like it a lot

Overall I like it a lot. I have one on a PRS style rig and am waiting to take delivery on a second for a NRL22 type rig.

Unfortunately I can't compare it to a Gen2 for you.

 

[CamTheBam]

Thank you!

 

[moondog]

I got one, thinking about getting another.
I also have a gen2 to compare it to.
I'm a scope whore!!
1) I've compared side by side with TT, ZCO, Schmidt, Niteforce 7x35. Just this weekend, I jumped between the Gen3 Razor, my Niteforce and my buddies ZCO.
We were shooting 2055 yards resolving hits. All scopes at the same mag- 27 power. ZCO was best, Niteforce 7x35 2nd, gen3 3rd. And by that, all 3 were within a flys eyelash.
1) I didn't like the gen3 locking turrets out of the box. Definitely weren't as good as the gen2, or the feel of the clicks
2) when in the unlocked position, no witness mark to line up the turret.
3) Parallax was a bit stiff
I sent it back and asked to have the locking turret feature deleted, Fixed the stiff Parallax and elevation. Boom! Done.
Next to a TT, it has the BEST zeroing mechanism. Really smart. The glass is better than the gen2. My buddy has 2 ZCOs and 2 gen3s, he's selling a ZCO.
Depending on conditions, you can run it at higher mag. Rarely 36 power unless the conditions are ideal. At 27 power, it'll run neck and neck with ZCO.

 

[Darwin]

3 months into my 6-36. For most what I do a high powered BR type variable would perfect but I wanted something that would hunt in the trees too.
It does go dark above 25x. The zeroing setup is handy.
Mirage is awful compared to a Sightron 36ao, Bushnell 8-32x40 AO, Bushnell 4.5-30x50 Tactical 30 mil tube. It does bigger not the more detail thing from 25-36. So in heavy mirage you have go down to 20 clear it up somewhat. A makeshift objective reducer was insignificant. I went far smaller than devices mentioned around here but it was like a mouse pissing in the ocean.
I am getting used to it but it’s draining trying ignore all the visual racket. It’s VERY out of focus beyond the target. Shooting into a berm you wouldn’t know any different. On a stand alone target my eye/brain is distracted and will involuntarily unfocus the when 70% of the field of view is blurry as all hell. Took me a month to beat that one down.

BUT shooting west at sunset or just after with target in shadow it’s very good. The other scopes I mentioned are poor in this condition.

At 1k under cloud the resolution’s amazing. Never seen blades of grass before. Tiny paint chips on a white plate are sharp. Little rust steaks on white paint from those little bare spots are visible. It can see detail in shadow under spruce trees at 1100 very well. I suppose that’s why the high sun is not it’s thing.

Ps. The hash marks on the elevation turret don’t quite line up, a shit show for old eyes. Sloppy product inspection for that much cash.