Vortex XBR Short Review

[Shadytree]

I took advantage of the $250 Vortex XBR closeout. For that price, the scope is an incredible deal. It has EXCELLENT glass, very positive and repeatable adjustments (1 MOA per click!), good light gathering, and (IMHO) the best reticle for crossbows that I have seen. I am not a fan of the speed ring thing. With faster crossbows you always end up at 5x or more power which is too much magnification when you are hunting thick woods. Especially if you're stalking or part of a drive. Anyway, I made a drop chart with a 30 yard zero out to 60 yards. I will adhere that to the bow and I can use the reticle to hold over or I can dial the elevation turret. I am not stuck with a fix power scope because of the speed ring.
Now the bad, I cannot understand what Vortex was thinking when they set the parallax to 75 yards. It's dumb. At yardages of less than 50 you have to keep it on the 2.5x setting. Anything above that and you get significant parallax. On 5x at 30 yards you can move your head around and watch the crosshairs sway in a 6 inch circle around the target. On 10x at 30 yards the target is blurry. It makes the scope nearly unusable if you are not super up on the concept of parallax. I am going to have to adjust the parallax setting down to 40 or 50 yards. I would have done it already, but I cannot get the objective ring loose. It will have to either be sent to Vortex or I will have to come up with some sort of non-marring band clamp to loosen it. Does anyone have any clamp suggestions?
I just wanted to let people know what to expect with this scope. It's an amazing deal, but it has a significant fault (that can be fixed).

[Hunt it]

Rubber pipe wrench should do the trick. I have had my XBR for a year now, zero parralex issues. Mine works just fine at 5-10-15-20...... On out to 100. Best scope I ever had and I paid $800.00 for mine! Almost bought another one for backup when I seen the $250.00 deals. I have tried them all, Ziess, Leupold etc and I think the Vortex is best xbow scope out there. Lighted reticle is awesome, just what I needed for nighttime Hawgs in Texas.

[Shadytree]

I did buy a strap wrench and reset the parallax to 40 yards. Real easy to do. Now I am happy.

[coolhl]

shadytree,
at what yardage did you set it and how much did you have to turn the lens carrier to get there?
thanks, norm

[Shadytree]

shadytree,
at what yardage did you set it and how much did you have to turn the lens carrier to get there?
thanks, norm

Set it at 40 yards. Turned the lens about 1/4 turn counterclockwise. Just set it up on my rest at the 40 yard line. Put the scope on 10 power and turned the lens as I moved my head around while looking through the scope until the crosshairs stopped moving around on the target. I did find that the lens and the lockring are a single piece. There is enough resistance to keep it from turning on it's own. I made a small index mark at the setting I want. It is kind of an adjustable objective now.

[robertyb]

Does this not let any nitrogen or gas escape from the scope and make it fog up easily? It seems to me that breaking the seal would do so.

[coolhl]

Does this not let any nitrogen or gas escape from the scope and make it fog up easily? It seems to me that breaking the seal would do so.

That's why I asked how much he twisted it....too much and I am told you will break the seal.

[Shadytree]

The research that I did indicated this is what the factory would do. I am not the first person to do this; It has been done many times.

[wapster]

So its not blurry at 20yrds/10 power now Shadetree???

[gtj]

Can anyone enlighten me on the $250.00 sale cost of this scope?
I am from Canada, if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
Glenn

For those interested, here is a response from Vortex regarding parallax change.

"We can change the parallax on the scope to 50 yards, but that is as low as we can go. The charge for that change is $75. You can pay by check or we can call you for a credit card number when the repair is complete. Attached is a service request form to fill out and send along with your optic packed in plenty of packing material with lens covers but no other accessories to the address on the form. The techs like to hear what the issue is in your words, so please describe it in the box at the bottom of the form. We are currently able to make the change within 10 business days of receipt and ship it back to you free of charge. Feel free to contact us with any further questions or concerns."