Vortex Diamondback riflescopes | Optics Trade Debates

By Maruša Justinek Jul 23, 2020

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Optics Trade Debates. We have many debates over the various Vortex riflescope series, and today, we will be discussing one of the oldest ones, the ones with the biggest tradition when it comes to Vortex – the Diamondback series.

Even though these scopes have been around for a long time, they are still a very viable choice. The design may look a bit outdated, but it is of the traditional design. In Europe, there are many producers that have been producing the same series of optics for many years – and there is nothing wrong with it. The product still works and is still useful, while in the US, the life cycles of the products are a bit shorter. The Diamondback products have no need for change, and people are still buying them.

There are 5 models, all intended for hunting. The 1.75-5×32 is a really compact and small scope (almost a wide-angle scope). The 4-12×40 has an adjustable objective and is meant more for sport shootings and for shootings with small caliber rifles. The 2-7×35 is a really compact scope, perfect for stalking. The 4-12×40 and the 3-9×40 are general purpose scopes. There is also the 3.5-10×50, which is the only one with a 50 mm objective lens that gives you better precision on close-range, and it is popular with hunters who shoot with small caliber rifles at competitions made only for hunters on 35 m; so you can use the adjustable objective to set the parallax on 35 m and it works perfectly.

The Diamondback series include riflescopes that have more unifying characteristics than the Crossfire (20 different scopes in 1 series). What do all scopes in the Diamondback series have in common? Low-profile capped hunting turrets. They all have ¼ MOA clicks and a second focal plane reticle. They have two reticles available: the V Plex, and the Vortex BDC reticle. They also feature a 1-inch tube and non-illuminated reticles. They come with a simple, classic, traditional, see-through eye-piece cover.

All the models mentioned are produced in the Philippines, and they all carry the Vortex VIP warranty. They fall into the price range between 200 €-250 €, and they are also well-known to withstand high recoil – you can put them on .308, .30-06. Vortex already promised big recoil resistance with Crossfire, now Diamondback is just taking it a step further. Both of them, more or less, work all the way up to .300 Winchester Magnum. The difference is that with Diamondback, you get better optical performance – better glass, better definition, better light transmission rate, and a wider field of view compared to the Crossfire II.

Naturally, every series has some disadvantages. What are the disadvantages of the Diamondback? No-illuminated reticles (it would be great if they would include this in the next Diamondback generation), the field of view is a bit too narrow – but this is something every series could have done better because a wider field of view gives you a better optical impression. And also, because they all feature a 3x zoom factor, a 4x zoom factor would be appreciated.

This is it; we put together a playlist for you to watch, so do check it out. Thank you, bye.