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The Vortex Diamondback is one of the best value hunting scopes and it’s now an absolute steal. You can save more than half off on it right now, which drops the price to just $200. Here’s what we thought of the scope after our optics test last year.
A very good all-around scope that smart shoppers will be able to buy for about $250, the Diamondback underwhelmed on our optics evaluation, but charmed our test team on our “shootability” assessment. It’s a versatile workhorse that’s home on rimfires to centerfire deer rifles.
We can’t talk about the Diamondback without mentioning what I would call a fixable failure. Part of our test is assessing turret/reticle tracking. We shoot every submission at 25 yards at a Redfield Sight-In target, using the grids to measure precision as we dial up, right, down, and left, and then back to our original zero. It’s a test that assesses precision and mechanical reliability. At some point, after wowing testers with exceptional precision, the Diamondback’s elevation turret locked up. We took the turret apart, gave it a few sharp raps on the bench, and things straightened out. But it’s the sort of performance problem that most shooters would use to activate Vortex’s legendary warranty.
Outside of that hiccup, the Diamondback’s mechanics are adequate. We noted some stickiness of the turrets and magnification ring, but the turret/reticle agreement are right-on. The “Dead-Hold BDC” reticle is similarly useful. We’d like to see a little more definition of the reticle, which gives shooters more than a suggestion of holdover and holdoff hashes, and which could be more distinctive and provide faster aiming references.
The Vortex performed well on our resolution test, but disappointed in low-light performance. But where the Diamondback shined was in our price/value assessment. There’s a ton of value in this simple, honest, and versatile scope. And if it fails, it’s important to know that Vortex and its fully transferable lifetime warranty has your back. All that optical talent, and all that back-end support, allowed the Vortex to be a very close runner-up for our Great Buy award.
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