Introduction
And again, we have some pretty exciting news from Vortex. They introduced a new rifle scope in the Strike Eagle series. The Strike Eagle rifle scopes have been very popular for AR-15 and similar rifles since only 2 wide-angle scopes were available in this category up to now. The new scope is different – it is designed for long-range shooting and is packed with features that are normally found only in much more expensive rifle scopes.
Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25×56
The new Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25×56 has a lot of features that many long-range shooting enthusiasts desire. The main tube is 34 millimeters thick, which is a common feature of many top-tier tactical rifle scopes on the market.
Thanks to the bigger main tube diameter, the user now gets a bigger field of view, and what is most important for long-range shooting – much more elevation travel. If we compare it to the more expensive Vortex Viper PST Gen. 2 5-25×50 rifle scope, the Strike Eagle features 40 MOA (12 MIL) more elevation, which is astonishing. This makes an entire elevation range of 110 MOA or 32 MIL.
The turrets
The turrets are also different. From the design, they look similar to the ones on other tactical scopes, but they feature the new RevStop™ Zero System. This is their new patented zero-stop design, which is very easy to set and offers a repeatable return-to-zero adjustment. When the zero stop is set, the turret goes 5 clicks below zero, which is perfect if you shoot in different environments and the point of impact varies.
Whatsoever, this design has a small disadvantage. When the RevStop™ ring is inserted, a bit of the elevation range gets lost. The good news is, the scope can be zeroed and used also without the zero-stop, so the user gets the entire elevation range available in the scope.
The turrets are multi-turn with 25 MOA or 10 MIL of elevation per turn. When you choose a MOA reticle, the turrets are also in MOA, or the opposite – everything comes in MIL.
The reticle
Similar to the more expensive Vortex Viper PST Gen. 2 rifle scopes, the new Strike Eagle features a reticle illumination, the compartment of which is located on the parallax wheel on the right side of the scope. The entire reticle is illuminated.
The reticle is positioned in the first focal plane, so it constantly changes in size corresponding to the magnification. This is perfect for target shooting at various distances, calculating the distance to the target or using the reticle for bullet drop compensation.
The Strike Eagle 5-25×56 will be available in MOA or MIL. The MIL version features the EBR-7C (MRAD) reticle while the MOA version features the EBR-7C (MOA) reticle.
The Glass
The glass quality is where Vortex made some savings – according to Vortex, the quality is better than in the Diamondback series (which is also very good), but not as good as in the Viper PST Gen. 2 series.
Nevertheless, this scope still features the well-known Vortex XD™ Lens Elements (Extra-low dispersion glass) which are fully multi-coated for great light transmission, contrast, and color fidelity.
The outer lenses feature the Vortex’s proprietary ArmorTek® Ultra-hard, scratch-resistant coating for increased protection against damage to the glass elements.
Additional features
The Strike Eagle rifle scope features a side focus adjustment for parallax adjustment. It is adjustable from 15 yards (14 meters) to infinity. The value of 15 yards is even closer than the lowest value on 5-25×50 Viper PST Gen. 2.
The ocular has a European-style fast focus design, the length of the scope is 14.6 inches (37 centimeters), and the weight is 30.4 oz (860 grams).
Conclusion
We are really excited to get our hands on this amazing piece of optics. We think that it will be really popular since the price will be under 1000 EUR. For a rifle scope packed with so many features it is really affordable, and the perfect solution for everyone that starts to shoot longer distances and does not want to invest a lot of money in gear.
The scope comes with a sunshade and an easy-to-install throw lever for fast magnification changes.
“this design has a small disadvantage. When the RevStop™ ring is inserted, a bit of the elevation range gets lost.”
It goes from 110 MOA to 47 MOA when the zero stop is used so you lose over 60% of the available elevation, I’d call that a lot more than a bit! The fact that Vortex isn’t putting that info anywhere but hiding it in the manual, is extremely misleading knowing that customers are absolutely going to want to use the zero stop feature.