Vortex Optics Crossfire II Second Focal Plane, 1-inch Tube Riflescopes

Comparing this Vortex to other scopes in the same general price range:- glass is generally clearer- reticle is crisp - love the duplex dot- adjustments are accurate and consistient- looks and feels like a quality opticIt will not replace a $3000.00 scope, but it is highly functional for a hunting rifle that will suffer abuse in the field.If I were being picky I would like the windage and elevation adjustments to be a little crisper and maybe even with an audible "click"I did have to use the warranty, completely my fault.....I changed from a QD mount to Vortec Pro Rings and in a rush did not use my torque screwdriver. I overtightened the rings substantially which bent the scope tube. This effected the windage adjustment and made the elevation inconsistient (impact intermittently moved between two points about 2.5" apart).I emailed Vortex, they sent me pre-paid postage to return the scope and within 7 days sent me a brand new scope. Their technician noted the bent scope tube was the problem and expressed the importance of properly torqing scope rings ...which I needed to hear.No one wants to use a warranty....however if you need it, even if you caused the problem, Vortex makes the process a pleasurable experience and truely follows their word without gimmicks and deception. They straight up fix or replace efficiently and without costing you a dime. You just will not find better customer service out there.I would put this scope right near, if not at the top, of budget scopes $300 and under in its own right. The no-fault warranty and amazing customer service are in a class by themselves.

4-12x40 AO Scope = First, you are not going to be looking through the "soda straw" effect with this scope. It has great eye relief of about 4 inches and a great eye view quality of very minimal scope black eye ring in your sight picture. You get a great view with full image at low and high power in this scope. It has an Adjustable Objective and the reticle is very clear at 2nd focal plane use. It is to be used at 12x and if you are going to use that BDC, you need to be prone or in a very, very stable shooting platform position while at 12x to use this BDC. The turrets are fine and are capped. I do not trust them for dialing up and down MOA. There are box tests I have seen where they performed fine but this isn't a $1000 scope. This is a budget hunting scope with a nice BDC that can be used for ranging mixed with a ballistic calculator for holdovers and doping the wind out to what I consider 500 yards use. It has more than enough magnification for that and I have taken mine out to proof it shooting steel rams at 500 yards with no issues off my bipods. I ballistic computer matched the reticle with an accurate handload and it is good out to 600yds on my rifle. If you are just shooting to 400yds, I recommend the 3-9x40 BDC Crossfire II scope for hunting. If you are shooting varmints or shooting out to 500yds, the 4-12x40 AO is what I recommend. The Vortex Crossfire II is a budget hunting scope that would fit nice on a Savage Axis / Ruger American Rifle for a budget rifle optic. I've attached some BDC information on this scope to look at the values. This is great budget glass for a budget rifle setup. If you are shooting 500 yards and under, this is really all you need. If you are going past 500yds, you need a better quality scope for dialing the scope turrets / wind values, custom rifle, handloads, etc. more time & $$$$.

Great scope with clear optics!

I like good glass for my rifles. I tend to own a lot of Leupold scopes just because they tend have good glass and not be stupid expensive. With that being said, I live in the Pacific Northwest where it tends to rain once in a while, and it never fails that it will start to rain when you are out hunting. I also hunt predators a lot, so I tend to move stands and be generally rough on optics. So I started looking for something that I could use on my predator AR that would no break the bank, but also last through the abuse. I ended up looking at Vortex for two reasons. They make good products, including good glass and they have a no BS warranty. So when my scope takes the inevitable spill it will be covered.First, this scope comes well packaged, and is very well built and feels good in the hand. looking through it the glass is clear and bright. The 4" sunshade that comes with it matches the coloring of the scope and threads into the objective bell very well. I have this mounted in a Nikon AR style mount, and it mounts well and it positively locked into the mount. Sighting this in was a breeze, fire a test shot at 25yds and then zero it. Move to 50yds and do the same, then move out to 100 and repeat for final 100yd zero. All in all I used 8rds to zero at 100yds. I then wanted to know how well the scope tracked and the return to zero after adjustments. So I did a box drill which was another 12rds. The box drill at 100yds was perfect and the scope tracked back to zero perfectly. I then input all my values into my ballistic calculator and dialed in the drop for my gong at 380yds and was able to hit it first shot. I returned to my 100yd zero and tested again on paper with perfect return to zero. I was satisfied that the turrets tracked well, and returned to zero. I then used a slotted screw driver to reset the turrets to zero.The next test was a soggy coyote hunt. I went out during a nice afternoon and wanted to get into my stand and wait for dusk. About 30min after sitting down the rain started. The scope held up without fogging and without any residual problems. While the lenses were wet, and that tends to make any scope harder to see through, the vortex preformed as expected and allowed me to shoot without any problems.The next test was a night hunt, and how well the scope would gather red light for shooting in the dark. I was very pleasantly surprised that this scope gathered the red light from my shooting light all the way out to 300yds at 14x and 500yds at 4x. I was able to see eye shine out further than that, but was unable to identify the critter. All in all it gathers light well both at night and during the day. I did use a green light one night as well just as a test and the results were about the same, although I was able to make out more detail in the terrain and brush, but that is the nature of green light, it is much easier for the human eye to see... I will be sticking to red just because it tends to not spook coyotes at night.I got the BDC reticle which is nice for hunting purposes and to be able to quickly send a round down range without having to dial a drop. Vortex offers software on their website that is a little on the clunky side to use. But once you figure it out, it allows you to set your variables and then get a range for each of the BDC hashes at different magnifications. I have a range card that I made with each of the magnifications so that I can quickly take a range, look at my card for a close range, set my zoom and fire. It takes almost no time at all, and is way faster than trying to count clicks in the field with gloves on. I have gone to the range and verified these, as well as practicing my system. Generally I am sitting at 14x for anything over 100yds because the drop hashes for my rifle and round at 100/205/307/399/475 so I get almost 100yds per hash, so there is very little fussing around if it is a pretty straight forward shot. That is just the way my ballistics worked out, yours might work out to roughly the same at 12x or 10x, it just depends. So don't take my data as gospel.For being as cheap as it is, this really is a top notch scope. As long as you are not trying to use it for something that it is not designed for like shooting 1500yds with your .338 Lapua Magnum, or for very precise LE type shooting you will be ok. This scope will do very well for you. While I would not hesitate to use this to make a very precise shot with this scope, just use it for the application that it is made for and you will not be disappointed.