Optics Review: Vortex Razor HD 5-20×50 EBR2-B Reticle

I picked up an Accuracy International MKII so I needed a new piece of glass. I usually don’t have trouble picking out a scope, but with all of the great tactical scopes on the market, this one was a tough decision. I’m not one to stick with a particular scope manufacturer…… so everyone has a fair shot at getting my money. With all of the great things that I am hearing about Vortex Optics, I decided to give the Vortex Razor 5-20 with the EBR2-B reticle a shot.

First a little intro to the Razor line of scopes for those not familiar:

Vortex Optics offers two different tiers in their tactical line of scopes. The Razor is their upper tier Japanese made scope and is offered in either Mil or MOA reticle designs (turrets will match the reticle):

1. The EBR-1 and EBR-2B are offered in MOA. These scopes will have either 15 or 25 MOA worth adjustment per revolution depending on the scope model.
2. The EBR2-B and EBR-3 are offered in MIL. These scopes will have 5 or 10 Mil worth of adjustment per revolution depending on the model .

I wound up with an EBR2-B in Mil. I don’t really get caught up in the “which is better Mil or MOA argument”. As long as my turret matches the reticle, I’ll work in either system. I find that more of my friends are shooting Mil so I tend to go that route too. It’s just easier when I’m spotting for them to be able to make adjustments if the reticles match and you don’t have to do any conversions (although there would be ways around that by calling out distances in relation to the target….like …..you were half a thickness left or something like that).

Anyway…..moving on……

Scope Specs:

Magnification	5-20x
Objective Lens Diameter	50 mm
Eye Relief	3.9 inches
Field of View	22-5.76 feet/100 yards
Tube Size	35 mm
Turret Style	Tall Uncapped – RZR Zero Stop
Adjustment Graduation	.1 mrad
Travel per Rotation	10 mrads
Max Elevation Adjustment	36 mrads
Max Windage Adjustment	36 mrads
Parallax Setting	40 yards to inifinity
Length	15.8 inches
Weight	35.2 ounces

What’s in the Box?
The scope came loaded with extras…..here’s what I got:

Voretx Razor HD 5-20X50

1. The scope itself
2. Removable 3″ sunshade
3. Flip up “bushwacker” scope caps (basically upgraded Butler Creeks)
4. Anti-Reflective Device (ARD) that fits in the scope cap
5. Vortex scope mounted bubble level
6. Lens Cleaning Cloth

I was pretty excited about the extra goodies. My Schmidt Bender came in a box with a cardboard wrapper. They want $100 for their sunshade.

Initial Impressions of the scope:
Taking the scope out of the box the first thing I noticed was that  the scope is hefty.  Off the bat, it feels heavier than my Nightforce, which at 35 or so ounces I guess it should feel heavier……duh!

The clicks on the adjustments are nice. Deep detents but not too deep that they might take a lot of finger dexterity to move them. To compare, they feel like the turrets on the Nightforce. I like the fact that the newer Mil-turret version is now 10 Mil per revolution -vs- 5 Mil. The Elevation turret seems like it is taller than it needs to be. I see the purpose of having a fat gnarled turret for making changes with a gloved hand, but don’t see a need for the turret being as tall as it is.

The high-viz tube on the top of the turret could prove useful in low light conditions  I guess. I’ll have to see once I get to shoot with it.

The clarity of the glass is what I would expect from a scope of this price point. Edge to edge clarity is nice. There is no tunneling when cranking from 5x up to 20x. Nice wide field of view and eye relief stays constant through out the power range. However, the scope is a little touchy once you get behind it. I loose my site picture pretty easily.

This is my first venture into a “Hours” style reticle. I don’t think that the reticle will be too thick at 20x to shoot long distance with. I like that the reticle is open in the center.

The illumination control has nice positive clicks and the adjustment range of the illumination is sufficient. I like that there are off positions between each setting.

The power ring turns smoothly however I am considered that it has a rubber covering over it. Hope that I don’t have an issue with that rubber stretching and coming off in the future. I kind of wish that the whole eyepiece would rotate similar to the Nightforce instead of having to grab the power ring. The way that I have the scope mounted to achieve proper eye relief, it’s difficult to change magnification. I might try adding a switch view to it.

What I’ve learned shooting it:
The scope feels like it as a really long eye relief. When it’s cranked up to 20x, I find that it’s a little difficult to get a good sight picture. Once you get it, you better not move much. It’s not very forgiving in my opinion.

Zeroing the scope is a little different than most. You have to remove the turret and then loosen the second set of turret screws. At this point the scope no longer clicks, but instead feels like the friction turrets of older scopes. Once you zero the scope you then lock the screws back in place to set the zero stop and then replace the turret cap.

I really like the E2-B reticle. Nice balance of thickness on the reticle. It’s thin, but thick enough to pop against a dark background. I don’t find the reticle to be cluttered at all once you get it to the field. I though it was going to be an issue when I was mounting the scope, but that was only looking the scope indoors when I was mounting it. I really like the Open center of the reticle. It makes holding on the “x” ring  or on the center of my diamond targets a breeze.

I’ll be shooting it at a Precision Rifle Class at K&M in January. I’m anxious to see how the scope will preform.

Vortex EBR2-B Reticle (click to enlarge)

So there is the down and dirty on the Vortex Razor. All in all it’s a quality optic and I’m really pleased with it. I think that it was a purchase well worth the money for someone looking for a FFP rifle scope and trying to stay under 2k. I would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about picking one up.

If there is something that I didn’t cover in my review, let me know and I’ll add it. Also if you guys have any questions, let me know.

Optics Review: Nightforce MOAR Reticle Review

I decided to take the scope off my Sako TRG and move it to my LMT MWS. In my search for some new glass, I decided to try out the new Nightforce MOAR reticle.

Sako TRG 22 with Nightforce NXS 5.5-22×56 MOAR HS Zero Stop

For 20 years now, Nightforce has been building optics catering to professionals, hunters, and recreational shooters. The ruggedness, repeatably, and durability of Nightforce rifle scopes are unmatched by any other optic in their class. Their are tons of shooters from all different backgrounds that look to Nightforce when they are looking for consistency, dependability, and reliability.

The NXS 5.5-22×56 with the new MOAR reticle is the first Nightforce optic that I have owned. For those not familiar with Nightforce optics, here is a quick rundown of some of the features of this particular scope:

• 30mm tube for enhanced tube rigidity and added internal adjustment
• Exposed windage and elevation knobs with 20 MOA per revolution on the elevation knob
• Some models are equipped with a mechanical “zero stop” feature which, once engaged, does not allow the shooter to dial down past his zero
• Side focus vs Adjustable Objective which allows the shooter to more easily adjust for parallax
• Illuminated reticle which is turned on/off by manipulating the side focus knob
• The entire eye piece of the scope rotates when changing magnification. This gives the shooter more surface area to grab onto when needing to quickly adjust the scope’s magnification setting.
• Available in 50 or 56mm objective (same retail price)
• Matching turret and reticle

MOAR @ 5.5x

I would describe the new MOAR as an improved NP-R1 reticle. Taking it’s design cues from the NP-R1, the new MOAR in my opinion is a more versatile reticle that dynamic shooters and hunters can enjoy.

The MOAR has subtensions thicker than those of Nightforce’s traditional reticles, allowing the reticle to be seen with ease against dark backgrounds in my opinion. With markers at the 10 and 20 MOA marks the reticle, 30MOA markers in the 3.5-15 and 2.5-10, the reticle is very fast and easy to view in field conditions. The 3, 6, and 9 o’clock posts point to the center of the reticle, which I find help in speed of target acquisition.

The MOAR has 1 MOA spacing on the horizontal as well as the vertical axis providing for precise range-finding and hold offs. The first hash marks on the reticle are 2 MOA from center with the crosshair being 1 MOA in length. Each long hash mark is 2 MOA with the short line being one. This allows the shooter to quickly count by 2’s.

While the reticle does a great job catering to the field shooters, I believe the paper punchers will be left wanting more. I find that the thicker subtensions of the MOAR compared to the NP-R1 can cause some difficulty when trying to shoot tiny groups.

However, during load development, I did find a work around. The new MOAR design has a floating center crosshair. I find that this floating crosshair design allows the shooter to bracket the target by using the box created by the first MOA lines.

It will be interesting to see what Nightforce does with their next evolution of their reticles. If I could make a suggestion, it would be to replace the NP-R1 AND NP-R2 completely for the MOAR design. I would offer two reticles in the MOAR. The version which they have now and a MOAR-f (f for fine). The “f” version having the same subtensions as the NP-R1 for the paper punchers.

Currently the MOAR is shipping in the NXS 3.5-15, 5.5-25, and the 8-32 NXS. New for 2013 is the addition of the reticle in the 2.5-10, the ATACR, as well as the long awaited BEAST.

For those interested, here are the specs on the rifle:

Trg22-

• Factory Sako Break
• Factory Sako Bi-Pod
• Near Manufacturing Base (20MOA)
• Nightforce .885 UL Rings

Optics Review: Meopta Meostar 4-16×44 MilDot

For a long time now I have been searching for a scope to put on a Tikka M595 Master Sporter that I picked up from a forum member on SnipersHide.com. I’ve tried a couple of scopes but have really had a difficult time finding a piece of glass that would complement the rifle.

I tried a Vortex PST 4-16 but wasn’t overly impressed with the glass quality and the cheap zero stop feature. Then I had a Nightforce 5.5-25 on it for a trip to the range, but I moved some scopes around and the Nightforce ended up on my TRG. So I had this beautiful rifle sitting around with no scope on it.

My plans for the rifle were to use it as a varmint rig, do some paper punching from 0-800, and banging on some steel out to 800. I really wanted something with good optical quality, something with a nice thin crosshair that would not cover much of the target, and something that I could crank the turrets on.

I turned to a little know company in the sport optics community by the name of Meopta looking for a scope that would fill my needs. I read some really good reviews on their 1-4 tactical optics, so I decided to look at their line and see if there was something that would work for me. After doing some searching, I decided to give the Meopta Meopro 4-16×44 a try.

Tikka with Meopta Meopro 4-16×44

After getting it mounted and bringing it out to the field, I can honestly say that Meopta rifle scopes are optically the most impressive scopes that I have seen in their class. I’ve look through lots of different glass and I was very impressed with the clarity, color, contrast, and resolution that my Meopta provided. The quality of the image was the same from sun up to sundown. I could clearly see hits on target and could clearly define where the edges of my .22 cal shot group were. The mil-dot reticle works very well with the center crosshair not covering much of the target out to 800 yards.

The turrets on the scope are capped, however they are a high target turret so I can make adjustments without having to change my shooting position very much. The scope is waterproof without the caps on. The turret clicks are crisp and I found the scope to be repeatable. The parallax adjustment is located on the objective lens of the scope. Not really a big deal to me, but it would make life easier if I were shooting different positions to have the adjustment on the side of the scope.

As I said before the scope offers a beautiful sight picture with great edge to edge clarity. The eye relief is constant throughout the power range allowing me to stay at a comfortable distance from the scope even when I crank the power all the way up. I believe it is a little over 3.5″ worth of constant eye relief. I don’t remember noticing the scope having a tunneling effect whatsoever.

Not every optic is perfect so here is what changes I would make to this scope:

• Matching turret/reticle. Currently the scope has a milradian reticle with an MOA turret sysetm. Not cool if I want to quickly make adjustments based on the reticle.
• This one is minor but I would like to see the parallex located on the side of the scope versus the objective. Not a huge deal but it would be nice.
• Not a ton of adjustment in the scope itself for long range shooting, however I have a 20MOA base on the rifle so its not a huge deal to me. I deal with  many people that I know do not look at how much adjustment a scope has till they run out.

For anyone looking for European quality glass for half the price, get yourself into a Meopta rifle scope.