Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Riflescope: Review

Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 FFP Riflescopes are becoming extremely popular among PRS (Precision Rifle Series) shooters in the USA. It not only gives them the FFP advantage but also lots of features. That’s why the world’s best shooters, especially in the PRS competition segment, take it so seriously.

Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Riflescope – What’s Special?

The Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5-27×56 scope model has a wide array of benefits that make it one of the most sought after scopes. This scope boasts of having:

• 56mm objective lens
• 27x maximum magnification
• 6x zoom range (4.5-27x magnification range)
• 34mm main tube
• A wide array of reticle options 
  • EBR-1C (MRAD)
  • EBR-2C (MOA and MRAD)
  • EBR-7C (MOA and MRAD) – New reticle option incorporated in 2019
  • Horus H59 – New reticle option incorporated in 2019 
  • Horus Tremor3 (MRAD) – New reticle option incorporated in 2019
• Lower profile turrets & sophisticated L-Tec turret system
• Single-piece aircraft-grade aluminum tube
• Second & third revolution indicator
• Locking elevation/windage turrets
• Zero stop elevation turret feature
• Parallax turret integrated illumination control, and many more

Now that you know the specialties of Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Riflescope, it is time to check the different aspects of the scopes more closely.

Physical Appearance & Weight

Just like the rest of the HD-line optics, Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Riflescope comes with dark earth anodizing finish. As this scope comes with a 56mm objective lens, it comes with a robust look and feel. When compared with the Razor HD 5-20x Gen I Scope’s knobs (elevation, windage, and parallax), the Vortex Optics has now made it much lower profile. However, the turret size remains the same. 

Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Scope is not at all a lightweight scope. It weighs 48.5 oz. As this scope is meant for the long range, precision shooters, you’ll hardly feel the need to carry it while shooting. If you are handling this Vortex scope for the first time then you may be worried about the weight at first. However, the high weight will hardly affect you in long-range, PRS shooting.

Optical Clarity

Vortex Optics manufacturers have incorporated this scope line with prime glass. This ensures that plenty of light enters the scope, enabling you to shoot your target clearly in legal light conditions. Vortex has ensured that the premium glass comes with other advanced features such as:

• Index-matched APO lens system
• XR Plus Fully Multi-Coated anti-reflective coatings
• Plasma Tech coating
• Premium extra-low dispersion glass HD lens elements

All these optical features ensure that the PRS shooters stay behind the scope till sunset. Illuminated glass-etched reticle at the first focal plane ensures that you are able to count the points on your target (deer or elk standing in black timber) even in extreme low light conditions. Ranging targets also becomes easy and your score count of hitting targets also increases.

Magnification & Parallax Knob

The Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 scope boasts of a wide magnification range. It comes with a 6x zoom range. While the lowest magnification is 4.5x, the highest magnification is 27x. Therefore, you can hit targets in the short-to-medium range as well as long range. With 27x highest magnification, you can easily hit targets at 1 mile, 2,000 yards or even beyond. As the parallax knob comes with yardage markings, shooters can easily correlate to the actual yardage. 

Parallax turret has the same size as the elevation and windage turrets. This is a well-needed improvement over the small turret present in Razor Gen I 5-20x scopes. The PRS shooters often complained about their unease and inconvenience in making the required parallax adjustment with the smaller parallax knob. With the comparatively larger parallax knobs available in the Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 scopes, the pro-shooters can make the adjustments quite comfortably. 

The illumination controls are now all being integrated within the parallax knob. For gaining access to the illumination controls, you simply have to pull out on the outer most knurled ring. As the entire reticle is illuminated, you will get a sharp image of the reticle even when shooting at the highest magnification.

Controls (Elevation/Windage Turrets)

Both the elevation and windage turrets are now low profile. However, these turrets have a large diameter. Therefore, it is comfortable for the shooters to work with when the shooter is on the field. In fact, the large diameter knobs (elevation, windage, and parallax knobs) are located on three sides of the scope. This enhances the aesthetics of the riflescope.  

With every turn of the elevation turret, 10 MRAD movement takes place. The 0.1 MRAD click adjustments are tactile as well as positive. On the windage turret, 5 MRAD markings are there on left and right. 

The best aspect of the larger diameter but low profile turrets is that the shooters now get more spacing between every click. Therefore, the users can now make quicker adjustments on field without overshooting the desired mark.

The locking feature is available on both the elevation and windage turrets. This ensures that the adjustments set by the shooters don’t change accidentally at the time of moving through the woods or at the time of transportation. 
When locking/unlocking the elevation/windage turrets, you will get positive clicks. They are not at all mushy. Whether you are locking or unlocking the turrets, you will always get a click/snap sound (indicating positive clicks).

To help the shooters remember how many revolutions they have revolved, Vortex engineers have incorporated second and third revolution indicator. Once a user keeps turning the windage turret and moves pass the 10 MRAD mark, the second indicator pops out. Once the shooter rotates the turret above the 20 MRAD mark, the third revolution pops out. Therefore, the shooter is always aware of how much rotation is required for reaching the desired marking.

Zeroing

When you are using Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Riflescope, the process of zeroing is a bit different from most of the popular scopes. The process is very simple here. 

First of all, you have to ensure that the turrets are set to zero. Once this step is confirmed, it is now time to take off the top covers. On each turret, now loosen the 3 set screws. Take out the flat head screwdriver from the Vortex tool. Now, fine-tune the brass center screw as per your requirement. Once the zeroing is done, you have to tighten the set screws again and place the cover back. It is that simple. 

First Focal Plane Advantage

Vortex Optics has manufactured the Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Riflescope for the precision, long-range shooters. To provide them with the perceived long range advantage, they have incorporated this scope with first focal plane reticle placement. The FFP reticles provide the shooters with proportional reticle scale with respect to the image magnification. This means that the subtensions with respect to the target image will remain constant in FFP reticles. This aspect is considered advantageous by many shooters. It is because constant subtensions provide accurate holdover as well as ranging at all magnification levels.

In a Second Focal Plane (SFP) scope, the reticle will appear to be of the same size no matter at which magnification the riflescope is set. However, in the case of a First Focal Plane (FFP) scope, the reticle size will appear to vary with respect to the change in magnification. The above image helps you to understand the difference clearly.

The long-range hunters or PRS shooters tend to prefer the FFP scopes as the reticle subtensions appear to be constant throughout the zoom range.

Reticle Options Available

Vortex Optics has provided the long-range shooters with 7 reticle options:

1. EBR-1C (MRAD)
2. EBR-2C (MOA)
3. EBR-2C (MRAD)
4. EBR-7C (MOA)
5. EBR-7C (MRAD)
6. HORUS H59
7. HORUS TREMOR3 (MRAD)

Professional, long-range shooters can choose from these reticles as per their needs and convenience. All these reticles come with either MOA or MRAD based subtension lines for ranging, holdover and windage corrections. Therefore, choose any of these reticles to spot and range targets at a distance more effectively.

Let’s have a closer look at the reticle options you can choose from:

EBR-1C (MRAD)

Highlights:

• MRAD-based hashmarked ranging reticle.
• Designed for maximizing long-distance shooting and ranging abilities.
• Best for determining ranges, holdovers, windage corrections and moving target leads in an effective manner.
• Fine center crosshair subtensions are chosen carefully for providing optimum balance between precision aiming and visibility in low light conditions.
• Available in First Focal Plane (FFP).

Available with (MPN):

• Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 RZR-42704

Reticle Manual: Download
Reticle Subtension Detail: Click Here

Conclusion

Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Riflescopes are real sense premium scopes that has placed itself among the frontrunners in the long-range PRS segment. Serious precision shooters who look for scopes to make long-range shots in extreme environments have started to opt for Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56. This scope is a solid performer and a genuine challenger to Schmidt Bender PMII 5-25×56 Scopes and other undisputed leaders in the long-range combat market. While Schmidt Bender PMII and other comparable scopes come at the street price of over US$3,000, Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Scope comes at a street price of below US$2,000. Though you may get a little bit extra optical clarity and resolution through the S&B PMII 5-25x scope, opting for Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 can easily save you around US$1,000. If you are a serious PRS shooter or a long-range hunter, you should definitely try Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27×56 Scope. It will provide you robust features and numerous reticle options so that you can experience the best PRS shooting at the most affordable price.