The Razor HD features a Porro prism design that provides excellent optical capabilities without sending the price to the moon. The 85mm also allows you to make out bullet holes in paper at considerable distances, certainly at 100 yards. On the other hand, I prefer the 85mm for Western hunting and the many times I’m watching elk at 1,200 yards or more. The 85mm version weighs 4.1 pounds, which isn’t a big deal if you’re scouting by vehicle, but it gets bulky if you’re packing that sucker on your back. Magnification is obviously one thing to consider when choosing which scope you’ll invest in, but weight is the other. The scope comes with the option for either straight or angled eyepieces and is available in variants of 11-33x50mm, 16-48圆5mm, and 20-60x85mm (reviewed here). The Vortex Razor HD comes in a few different setups and represents the top-of-the-line for Vortex spotters. Ruggedly built to stand up to the worst elements, the Razor HD is also backed by the famous Vortex lifetime warranty-unlimited, fully transferrable, no receipt needed-which makes it an extremely tantalizing option for the serious hunter or shooter. The Razor HD carries a very reasonable MSRP of $2,000 (which means you can find it on the street for quite a bit less) and has the optical horsepower to hang with the big dogs. One of its best new spotting scopes is the Razor HD 20-60x85mm, which features premium high density (HD), extra-low dispersion glass that is precision crafted to produce outstanding clarity, resolution and color fidelity. With the help of a well-crafted marketing and social media strategy, a no-questions-asked lifetime warranty, and the knack for building performance optics that don’t crush your bank account, Vortex has carved out a strong following with long-range shooters and hardcore hunters alike. If you’re facing that dilemma, one of the best solutions comes from Vortex Optics.īased out of Wisconsin, Vortex has built a solid reputation in the optics industry by offering premium quality glass at a price point that’s significantly less than the European bigs. The great tension, of course, is that we’d all like to own the Bugatti of glass, but many of us simply can’t afford to drop four or five grand on a spotting scope.

I’ve done my time afield with cheaply made binoculars and bargain-basement spotting scopes, and I’ve also had the opportunity to tour the wild backcountry with some of Europe’s finest optics. When you spend dozens of hours each year picking the right hunting unit, putting in for points, stretching the maximum effective range of your rifle at the range and glassing high-altitude ranges for that trophy animal, poorly made optics are simply an unacceptable strain-and a waste of time. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the decades as a hunter and shooter, it’s that big, open country demands high-quality glass.

The Vortex Razor HD spotting scope proves it’s sharp enough to run with the big dogs.

Vortex spotting scope