PMCI - March 2021

pmcimagazine.com
OPTICS: VORTEX
uncommonly cold 38 – 45 degree winter days while logging
data. I traveled from large private property to well-known
public ranges in Leesburg, St. Augustine and Jacksonville, FL
to gather information and let others shoot this rifle set up and
provide their cumulative thoughts for this article.
The optic features a very forgiving eye relief of 3 – 4 inches
and eye box to keep the reticle appearing centered despite
any offsetting gear that may keep the cheek weld off center.
This allows a wider range of shooters to get comfortable on
the same rifle with little to zero scope shadow. It should be
noted, the left turret is for illumination adjustments only
with no parallax adjustment. Although this is a 10x power
optic, Vortex designed the Gen III Razor as basically a
range enhanced red dot, NOT a sniper rifle. For the average
warfighter, some believe the concept of parallax amid battle
and constantly evolving data would only further complicate
things as a disadvantage rather than an intended advantage.
If parallax adjustment is that important to the shooter, Vortex
offers a wide range of other optics for that.
By simply pulling the turret outward, the illuminated
reticle is activated ON and OFF with every other brightness
adjustment through the 11 brightness settings. This allows
the optic to be quickly powered down and back up in the
previous brightness setting; pushing the dial back in locks the
selected setting in. Typically, due to the stiffness of the knob
to pull for adjustment, I usually leave it fully extended rather
than pull it out each time. (insert variant of “I don’t pull out”
reference here, see existence of my kids as proof!)
Even against dark backdrops, the basic outline of black
reticle alone stands out well at 1x power, just not as detailed
and easy to find as when the magnification is zoomed in a
bit more. With a twist of the illumination knob activates the
crisp illuminated red dot surrounded by four small rectangles
to life. The design of this illuminated portion of the reticle
reminds me of a Simon Says electronic game I had as a kid.
The center dot offers a pinpoint 1 MOA focal point, while the
four segmented sections deliver a 3 MOA interior circle and 4
MOA outer dimension for faster spot-on shooting.
LPVO manufacturers across the market have always been
challenged to create an optic with the daylight brightness of
a true red dot. In my opinion, Vortex has clearly succeeded.
The crystal-clear brightness settings and impressive life
span stemming from a single 2032 flat battery just bring a
whole new dimension to shooting with this optic. Even in
the bright Florida sunlight, the illuminated reticle is quickly
visible. (Fully bright day, 8 or 9 setting, low light, 3 or 4
setting) Over the past year, I have regularly run this rifle and
even accidently left the optic ON overnight. Twelve months
later, the reticle is just as bright as the day I unboxed it. The
optic ships with a 24 mm screw on sunshade for the objective
lens and works well against unwanted reflection issues during
times when you must shoot straight into the sunlight. I have
also used it several times during training while running the
rifle in rainy conditions. Kudos to Vortex for going the extra
mile!
Transitions with the wide field of view are extremely
fast from target to target laterally across the range as well
as distances moving further outward. With the flick of the
Switchview throw lever that ships with the Gen III Razor, I
could easily use the awesome EBR-9 MOA reticle that comes
into view as the variable power increases. Using the ballistic
data in the reticle, it can quickly be used to determine my
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