We’re lucky enough to work with some of the best YouTube channels and get them the gear they want to test out. The best part about it is they’re excellent at giving our OpticsPlanet modification (OPMOD) gear the in-depth break down’s that it deserves. With a mix of everything from competitive shooters to ex-military there’s not only a perspective for everyone but an OPMOD product for every price range.
After having much success with two of Vortex Optics red dot sights and being truly impressed by the quality, clarity and price point I decided it was time to try a different product line and see if the same characters were present.
Now the backstory: I was heading down to Florida in April for my first ever Oceola Turkey Hunt. There are four species of turkeys found in various regions of the USA, for example the Easter Turkey can be found as far north as Maine and as far south as Georgia however the Oceola is only found within the state of Florida.
I knew the hunting would require some glassing, both across fields and also in swamps. I was literally going to be hunting under palmetto and Cypress trees in a swamp in south central Florida. What better time to put another Vortex Optic through its paces.
The Talon HD comes in several configurations. I selected the 8×42 set up because of the wide field of view. I wasn’t looking to spot a bull elk 900 yards out. I was looking for a bright red head with a long straggling beard and for this reason, the lower eight power is perfect.
The first day we set up under a palm tree at 5 am. I used the Talon HDs to glass the field and located a Tom early morning right after the fly down. He was about 175-180 yards out and hung up with some hens. I continued to watch him as he created the dewy ridge. He was in full strut and even at 175 yards it was clear he was the boss. The Talon HDs were clear and crisp even during the humid Florida morning. I never lost sight of this Tom however I never was able to get a shot on him. We went in for lunch and then decided we were heading for the swamp in the afternoon!
Hunting in the Florida swamps took place in three distinct steps, first we used an airboat to get into hard to reach areas, second we glassed these areas looking for birds and third, when we did locate a tom, and so the stalk began.
After traveling for over an hour by airboat we pulled into a secluded, high grass area which looked like something out of Swamp People. After glassing for 5 mins with the Talon HDs I spotted two birds moving away from us into the thicker portion of the swamp.
We bailed out of the airboat and headed into the thick swamp marsh. The birds were about 100 yards out and we began a low crawl through the swamp. Now that was much easier to write then perform. Low crawling through mud Cypress Tree stumps also known as Cypress Knees and through all sorts of throwing stuff isn’t exactly something I had done before.
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After 30 mins of low crawling and painting my front half in swamp, we closed the distance, about 50 yards out was one tom giving us the stretched neck stare. He acted as if he was altered to something, he watched our area intently. It was at this point, already being proned out in the swamp, I pulled my Remington 870 turkey gun up and unleashed 3 and a half inches of 12 ga fury.
The tom was down and I had my first ever Oceola. We recovered the tom and laser the position where we walked from, 47 yards, not a chip shot on a turkey for sure especially after dragging yourself through the finest swamp Florida has to offer. None of this would have come to fruition without the aid of the Talon HDs.
On side note, I also purchased the Vortex Bino Buddy harness and I was damn glad I did. Crawling through the swamp with the binos around my neck would have rendered them unusable however the Bino Buddy kept them pulled in tight and out of the mud. While not included this addition is worth buying as a compliment to the Talons.
HOW could this have happened? How did they do it? How did Vortex take the most desirable magnification range for an AR15 and cram it into an aircraft grade aluminum package for under four Benji’s? This is the question that constantly woke me up in the middle of the night in a mixture of curiosity and excitement after getting to fondle the hell out of the Strike Eagle at SHOT Show 2015. Fast forward six months later and the teases that are Vortex Optics finally had one on my doorstep for further handling but this time it was attached to my .223 blaster.
For those of you not in the know, riflescopes with mag ranges like 1-6x, 1-7x, 1-8x and so on, almost always hit the “I need to hide this from my wife” price of $900 and up. Why? Put simply, it’s really expensive to produce a scope that is a true 1x magnification but also have that medium range 6x power or more. As you can imagine, when the news broke that Vortex was going to release a 1-6x24mm scope for less than half the price of other manufacturers, guys from every nook and cranny of the internet lost their minds and rightfully so.
How did they do it and is it any good? The short answer is built it overseas and YES. Ready for the ramble? The reason why Vortex is able to keep the price point on this particular scope so low is that it is in fact either made entirely overseas or some/all of its components are manufactured overseas. Regardless of which method they use, I can guarantee you’ll never think twice about the top notch quality of this scope. The manufacturing tolerances on all of their optics, along with this Strike Eagle, meet or exceed anything I’ve seen come out of the states. Before you start beating on your chest spouting “Murica” while wearing your American flag parachute pants, hear this!!!! Very few companies can or will produce 100% of products stateside. YES even the flag out in front of your house is most likely made across the pond. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in…..
Now that we’re past that and you no longer think I’m a treasonist for even recommending (I’m getting there) a scope not entirely made in the U-S of A, the Strike Eagle is a solid “8”. Ten being the best thing since sliced bread and one being a total hunk of junk that you can’t even give away, an eight is pretty good.
What makes it an 8?
(Watch the video above)
–The fact it’s a 1-6x. This mag range in my opinion is thee perfect setup for tactical/ competition shooting with your AR. On the low end you’re able to shoot pretty fast and move from target to target a hair slower than a red dot. Crank that power ring to six and 300 to 450 yard targets are in clear view.
–The price…Duh. At $335 here, it’s $70 more than that cheap toy that other company is making. The closest scope with the same quality level and mag range is many hundreds more.
–The Weight. At 17ish ounces it’s on the lower weight side of the 1-6x riflescope spectrum.
–The reticle. It’s illuminated with 11 brightness settings which are daylight visible. The reticle itself is what they call an AR-BDC, in others words it’s built for your AR15 with bullet drop holdovers out to 600 yards. The one thing I’m a fan of is the large horseshoe for fast run and gun hosing of targets.
–Etched Reticle. Not only does it add strength to the reticle but you also get a sharp crisp reticle outline for longer range work.
–Capped Turrets. “Get you zero and never worry about it again”, said no one with exposed turrets ever…All jokes aside, none of my scopes have exposed turrets because they’re on rifles that get bumped and banged around. Vortex kept these capped because they know you’re probably going to be doing the same thing. Big Plus!
–Waterproof, Fogproof, Shockproof. I did some early foggy morning shooting with this scope and a bunch of rifle 3-Gun barrel dumps and the scope never skipped a beat. Didn’t get the chance to go swimming with it, but I assume after the other tests it’d do just fine.
–Smooth as glass. All of the knobs, turret clicks, eyepiece and power ring are surprisingly smooth to the turn/twist.
–VIP Lifetime Warranty. I have a feeling after just over two months of semi hard use and way too much canoodling (yes you read that right) the Strike Eagle is probably going to outlast the AR it’s cinched down on. HOWEVER if I’m completely wrong and it gets run over, spontaneously combusts or any other dastardly destructive acts deem it “broken” then it’s off to Vortex to get fixed or replaced for free. It’s a warranty that leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
What makes it not a 10?
-The reticle. For what I’m doing, 3-Gun, it’s just not as precise as I’d like. Don’t get me wrong I’ll have this on my backup rifle but my primary rifle I like/need/want a small 1 MOA center dot. Heck your usage may differ and the “T” crosshair may be all that you need. Different strokes for different folks.
-1/2 MOA Adjustments. Most of the people that buy this scope are not going to need to shoot a quarter at 200 yards. If ultra-precision is your forte, you may want to spend a few extra bucks and get the Vortex Razor Hd GenII 1-6x. While ½ MOA adjustment clicks on the windage are “OK” for dialing in your zero, those of us shooting hand loads and match grade ammo need ¼ MOA clicks.
The Verdict
I hate to disappoint but this scope is not a 10/10 but an 8 which with the price considered is pretty damn good. I mean c’mon a 10 might look good on paper, but usually doesn’t pan out to be “that” great and usually doesn’t treat you as well as you brag about to your buddies at the range. The Strike Eagle is rare in that it’s an 8 that all of your pew pew pals want but doesn’t leave you broke and quite matter of factly, it’s a cheap date. It’s the one you’ll be glad you brought home and is most definitely going to be with you for a long time. We’re talking about riflescopes still………right?
Right about now you’re getting hit with some blazing temps. Now we’re not ones to complain about a little heat but this has got a lot of us inside with the AC on max. Instead of scrolling through every episode of you favorite show, we’ve got something much much better. While it may be hot outside, we have sizzling deals on some of the best glass from Nikon and we think its the perfect time to pick up a scope for the upcoming hunting season. Which scope on this page do we recommend? Take a look at the brief breakdown of every optic you can get during this Nikon Sizzling Summer Sale.
-Quicky becoming one of the most popular magnification ranges for hunters everywhere, this 4-16x M-308 scope is exactly what you need to top off your bolt gun or AR10 style rifle. With the optional BDC 800 reticle and a 100 yard zero, you’re able to engage targets/ game from 200 to 800 at speeds that’ll have your head spinning. One feature that we’re huge fans of is the spring loaded zero reset turrets which allow you with the lift of a knob to go right back to your original zero authoritatively.
Have a 22 rifle sitting around in some serious need of glass? The Nikon P-Rimfire 2-7x32mm is the perfect fit for Ruger 10/22 or other comparable models from Marlin. We especially like way this scope looks sitting on top of the Magpul X-22 Ruger 10/22 stock. When paired with Nikon’s always excellent BDC reticle, good groups are easily attained with this scope sitting atop your favorite rimfire rifle.
Hunting with an AR15? Look no further than Nikon’s M223 series of scopes. We’re fond of the 3-12x42mm M-223 scope because it pretty much the perfect mag range for hunting a wide variety of smaller game. If you go with the BDC 600 reticle and 55gr 223 rounds, you can accurately make shots out to 600 yards without all of the guest work or need for a spotter to help you correct. Side parallax adjustment, 1/4 moa adjustments on the turrets, 4″ of eye relief, and up to 95% light transmission round out this extremely high value scope for your AR.
Want to know what we like the most about all of these scopes????? Now until August 12th, Nikon is discounting these riflescopes as well as several others with up to $80 off instantly. Crank that AC and bust out that credit card before you get burned on these sizzling Nikon summer savings here.
As I was prepping for a weekend trip to visit Vortex Optics, I thought of how long I have been waiting to finally cross off some long-range shooting from my bucket list. I shot my first pistol 10 years ago but never had the opportunity to shoot a rifle! There was so much for me to learn as a newbie, but I was eager to gain experience. When the guys at Vortex offered to take us out to the range, they showed us the ropes and set us up to get addicted to long-range shooting. We had a field day shooting their assortment of kick-ass rifles!
I will be honest, being the only female in tow with experienced shooters was a bit intimidating. “How will I get comfortable if the rifle is too big for me?” “What if I miss my target by a ‘mile’?” I did not know what we were in for when we pulled up. This was a REALLY long distance shooting range. I could barely see the target with my naked eye. They set up 8 different rifles and a couple spotting scopes, just as the wind started to pick up. This was it. I was going to hit those tiny targets from all the way over here, over 500 yards away. I was skeptical of my long-range ability but once I had my eye on the target and took that first shot, I immediately understood why people get addicted to target shooting!
The best part of going out to shoot with a competitive shooter and a veteran was that they had the best toys. They had a variety of long-range caliber rifles and all the best accessories: free float handguards, bipods, custom stocks, suppressors, and triggers. Working at OpticsPlanet involves knowing about all these products, but we don’t get to field test them in the office. To see the clarity and true color of the optics we were using was astounding. I know Vortex has great quality because I have tested their binoculars and spotting scopes, but to see it first-hand in just a handful of firearm optics was mind-blowing.
I wish I could tell you I learned about all the optics we used and what caliber we shot, but I was too excited about shooting these targets down from such a far distance. I was so focused on my shot that I didn’t grasp any of their lingo as they were talking to one another. My eye was deeply fixated on the target as I was controlling my breath, and when I pulled the trigger for a clean shot, I barely felt the recoil and smelled the stink before I heard a…TING! It was the most rewarding sound. I did take away a couple things with my learning curve: I had to pinch the saddle bag with my left hand to steady my shot because I couldn’t hold my elbow in the air. It also helped to push the rifle forward on the bipod legs to catch a little bit of the recoil.
I came into this feeling unsure of what my aptitude would be. Yet, with the right tools along with Steve and Tom’s instruction, I no longer had an anxious feeling that I wouldn’t hear that target ring. I was hitting my targets against the wind and even hit multiple targets side-by-side in a row! Steve and Tom told us stories of 2-inch wide targets at even further distances and I was just itching to get on that level. I no longer felt intimated, but empowered to practice more, get some gear, and compete with the big guys!
The coolest part of this experience was being able to use a variety of Vortex optics and really get to know more about the products we offer at OpticsPlanet. Just kidding! Shooting metal targets from a quarter-mile away was the best! But honestly, the second coolest part of the day was seeing the bullet trace in a Vortex Razor Spotting Scope. You could literally see the shockwave of the bullet flying through the air.
For any female reader who is thinking about long-range shooting, I suggest you do it any time you get the chance! There’s no other bad-ass feeling than hitting a target at 500+ yards and then bragging to your friends about it! So stop reading and get out there already!
