SHOT Show for 2020 is here, and so is the Vortex Razor HD Gen III. We got our hands on this optic today for a little bit, and we can say that we are sincerely looking forward to getting it out on the range in the future. While this isn’t a review of the product, as we haven’t had the chance to truly test it yet, this is everything we learned about it.
Let’s dial in on this killer optic.
Meet the Razor HD Gen III from Vortex.
If you’re at all familiar with Vortex rifle scopes, then you’re already familiar with the Razor HD line-up. For those of you not in the know, however, here’s a quick recap.
The Razor HD Gen I is a long range precision hunting scope that is known for its 35mm one-piece tube, and first focal plane hash-marked MOA and MRAD ranging reticles. This scope is well known by many shooters, and is a go to for most hunting applications. I personally have one of them mounted on my deer rifle, and have used it as my go to precision scope for years.
The Gen II of this optic, known as the Razor HD Gen II, is similarly built. The primary difference being that this optic was built with the AR platform in mind, and offers the shooter the ability to freely shift from 1x to 6x magnification at the twist of a dial. The Gen II is also known for it’s extreme durability, which is something we are pretty sure is going to carry over into the Gen III of the optic simply from the looks of it.
When it comes to the Vortex Razor HD Gen III, we have a solidly built and rugged looking 1-10x variable zoom rifle scope. With this new variable zoom capacity, Vortex has also changed the game by releasing two new reticle patterns. The EBR-9 MRAD and the EBR-9 BDC at first glance were both very easy to interpret, with the MRAD having a quite obvious and self-explaining ranging feature that really caught my eye. Here’s what it looks like.
Specifications of the Vortex Razor HD Gen III.
Who is the Razor HD Gen III For?
According to Vortex, the the Razor HD Gen III was designed for military and law enforcement applications, as well as competition shooters. The design of the optic and reticle lend themselves to a good balance between speed and accuracy for the shooter. Using magnification levels between 1 and 10, the shooter is able to go immediately from a close quarters battle situation, into one where they are firing on targets at long range.
Essentially, this optic is for the end-user who is looking for an extremely versatile rifle optic. If you want to go from kicking doors to ringing steel at range with the flip of a switch, you are the target audience for the Razor HD Gen III.
Our Hopes For the Third Gen Razor.
In all honesty, just the overall look and feel of this optic in the little bit of time we had with it was amazing. We haven’t had the chance to get it out on the range yet, but we will. Our biggest hope is that this optic will stand up to the durability of its predecessor. We think it will, but there’s only one way we’ll know for sure. We’ll leave that to your imagination for now.
On top of the durability, we are also really looking forward to getting behind these new reticles. There’s always a bit of a learning curve when you get behind a reticle for the very first time. We are not sure if that’s going to be the case here. These things scream ready to go.
You can expect a full review from us as soon we get our hands on one of these. We are truly looking forward to it.
That’s just our initial thoughts on the newest addition to the Razor HD family from Vortex. Let us know down in the comments what you’re hoping this optic can accomplish. Is there anything in particular you want us to test for when we conduct our full review of this in the future?