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IOR Scopes, your thoughts?


Trigger73

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I've been trying to get some info on IOR scopes, a lot of the info that comes up via Google goes back a good few years and are mainly on US sites and they're not particularly favourable, I've seen some reviews by Richard Utting on his YouTube channel and he gives them a thumbs up.  Has anyone owned or currently owns one, if so your thoughts? 

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First class scope i owned one years ago when they first came out over here not a lot of people where selling them i bought a .223 Remy sort of semi custom from Rogers place when Dave was working there South Yorkshire shooting supplies and i think at the time Roger was Importing them they used to be if i am right one full turn of the turrets was 25 moa which was very usefull and fantastic glass 

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I have an IOR 6-24 x 50 MOA on my 6.5x47, and I can't fault it..........very sharp, bright, and with good contrast, and the 25 MOA per turn elevation is a great asset.

(ex-demo from Opticswarehouse with a set of Tier one 34mm rings.)

Pete

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I have two 12-52's on 7mm's and they tick all the boxes for me ..... I sold my Atacr after getting the first one !

If i was being picky .... The 12-52 has only one ret choice which I find busy and they called it a Terminator 🤢

OSOK

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Thanks for the replies so far. I was doing some research as mentioned and not much in the way of positive comments stateside, maybe because those boys stick with Nightforce (when comparing NF vs. IOR? )

I took the plunge and ordered the IOR Vulcan Tactical 6-24 FFP after what little reviews I could find, the ones that did appear seemed very favourable regarding glass and tracking, coincidentally, those reviews were from UK and EU owners. 

Hopefully when it lands this coming week (fingers crossed) it'll live up to what I've seen and read? 

 

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I compared the Recon with a PM2 and a Gen2 Vortex Razor, Khales, and Steiner top of the range model.

The ergo on the Steiner was great but the optics were abysmal so I sent that one back..l.truly sencond rate with obvious edge distortion and a yellow fringe on the image.  Their cheaper scopes were much better! The Gen2 Vortex was amazing.  Good fov, superb bright, crisp image but I found the mass and the busy stadia ret off-putting.  Of the lot, I think it had the brightest image.

The IOR had a great contrasty image but the ret was quite thick on it and the colour cast from the coatings whilst making some darker objects better in contrast left a pronounced cast over things although the image was clear and bright.  It seemed well made and rugged.  The cast renminded me of the coatings that Leupold used to use for their hunting scopes a little.  Great scope and I was tempted but that ret!

I  liked the optics on the Khales a lot but found the eye relief just a little too short for me.

The PM2 I found perfect for my tastes.  Crisp image, possibly 2nd best of the group, no obvious colour cast, a fab ret and I loved the simple, intuitive dialling with the double stack turrets.  I much preferred it to the IOR tbh but that's my eyes and my preferences.  You're best to try for yourself.

One thing put me off the IOR and I know plenty on here love them and have had no issues but I do know someone who had to send 2 Cruisader scopes back due to turret issues, and the second one ended up with the same fault as the first.  A quick google showed that this was not an uncommon occurrence and like the chap I know, others had to wait a long time for anything to be done and the scope to be returned.  That put me off.

For me, the top 3 choices for LR were the PMII, Khales and the Vortex.  I would have bought the Vortex for the superb warranty and that amazing bright sight picture if it hadn't been for the open centre, very busy ret, so I ended up with the PMII and have been delighted with it ever since.  It has been faultless and consistent on dialling.  Love the optics too.  VFM I think that the Gen2 Razor had it though.

Good luck with your IOR Vulcan though.  Hopefully some of the reliability niggles of the older models will now have been sorted, and they have a decent enough rep.

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11 minutes ago, VarmLR said:

I compared the Recon with a PM2 and a Gen2 Vortex Razor, Khales, and Steiner top of the range model.

The ergo on the Steiner was great but the optics were abysmal so I sent that one back..l.truly sencond rate with obvious edge distortion and a yellow fringe on the image.  Their cheaper scopes were much better! The Gen2 Vortex was amazing.  Good fov, superb bright, crisp image but I found the mass and the busy stadia ret off-putting.  Of the lot, I think it had the brightest image.

The IOR had a great contrasty image but the ret was quite thick on it and the colour cast from the coatings whilst making some darker objects better in contrast left a pronounced cast over things although the image was clear and bright.  It seemed well made and rugged.  The cast renminded me of the coatings that Leupold used to use for their hunting scopes a little.  Great scope and I was tempted but that ret!

I  liked the optics on the Khales a lot but found the eye relief just a little too short for me.

The PM2 I found perfect for my tastes.  Crisp image, possibly 2nd best of the group, no obvious colour cast, a fab ret and I loved the simple, intuitive dialling with the double stack turrets.  I much preferred it to the IOR tbh but that's my eyes and my preferences.  You're best to try for yourself.

One thing put me off the IOR and I know plenty on here love them and have had no issues but I do know someone who had to send 2 Cruisader scopes back due to turret issues, and the second one ended up with the same fault as the first.  A quick google showed that this was not an uncommon occurrence and like the chap I know, others had to wait a long time for anything to be done and the scope to be returned.  That put me off.

For me, the top 3 choices for LR were the PMII, Khales and the Vortex.  I would have bought the Vortex for the superb warranty and that amazing bright sight picture if it hadn't been for the open centre, very busy ret, so I ended up with the PMII and have been delighted with it ever since.  It has been faultless and consistent on dialling.  Love the optics too.  VFM I think that the Gen2 Razor had it though.

Good luck with your IOR Vulcan though.  Hopefully some of the reliability niggles of the older models will now have been sorted, and they have a decent enough rep.

Thanks for that, I only had a budget of £1k so I was scouring as much info as I could.  The review that Richard Utting made for the scope I bought (albeit SFP not FFP) gave me more confidence in opting for the IOR. 

I was looking into the Viper PST Gen 2 and they had a great review by many but then there were those that stated that they had to send their scopes back due to one issue or another, that said, Vortex have a brilliant warranty program so those owners weren't too fussed. 

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I think you've made a decent enough choice there in the Vulcan.  Vortex pricing and business model is such that it covers for returns in this way so unlike owners of Khales, Swaro or S&B who wouldn't expect any issues (that's not to say that there haven't been any) they can always send them back for a no quibble repair or exchange.  Richard does present some good reviews...I bought a Delta Titanium based on one of his, but sometimes doesn't cover things that more long term ownership might bring up so like all reviews, take it with a small pinch of salt.  His comments on the optics though seem pretty spot on.  I know that some NF owners of the entry level models were having some issues not found on the (better) NSs and ATACR scopes so there is also the question of some manufacturers introducing models which may not be all in-house with the same QC, to try and get a bite ant the more entry level markets.   From what I read of the Vulcan though it seems pretty sound.  Best of luck and why not report back and give us the low-down on optics, dialling reliability (it might be fun do do a dialling test on it), use of the ret etc?

The only issue I once had with some premium euro optics was with a set of Swaro Bins. I was the second owner.  They returned them good as new, no charge 4 weeks after I sent them in, fully expecting to pay a bill for the repair works. Can't ask better of any company than that! 

I find that the "real world" reviews offered by owners, rather than reviewers, ultimately of greater value, especially if they've used them for an extended period.  That takes nothing away from Richard as he's a good guy.  He used to be a regular visitor to the gunsmith I use but don't know if he still is.

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5 minutes ago, VarmLR said:

I think you've made a decent enough choice there in the Vulcan.  Vortex pricing and business model is such that it covers for returns in this way so unlike owners of Khales, Swaro or S&B who wouldn't expect any issues (that's not to say that there haven't been any) they can always send them back for a no quibble repair or exchange.  Richard does present some good reviews...I bought a Delta Titanium based on one of his, but sometimes doesn't cover things that more long term ownership might bring up so like all reviews, take it with a small pinch of salt.  His comments on the optics though seem pretty spot on.  I know that some NF owners of the entry level models were having some issues not found on the (better) NSs and ATACR scopes so there is also the question of some manufacturers introducing models which may not be all in-house with the same QC, to try and get a bite ant the more entry level markets.   From what I read of the Vulcan though it seems pretty sound.  Best of luck and why not report back and give us the low-down on optics, dialling reliability (it might be fun do do a dialling test on it), use of the ret etc?

The only issue I once had with some premium euro optics was with a set of Swaro Bins. I was the second owner.  They returned them good as new, no charge 4 weeks after I sent them in, fully expecting to pay a bill for the repair works. Can't ask better of any company than that! 

I find that the "real world" reviews offered by owners, rather than reviewers, ultimately of greater value, especially if they've used them for an extended period.  That takes nothing away from Richard as he's a good guy.  He used to be a regular visitor to the gunsmith I use but don't know if he still is.

Thanks, and as a "noobie" coming into the FAC world, your replies are worth a lot. 

Regarding Richard's reviews, yes a long term "owners" review would help but I'm guessing that as he covers a wide range of optics and other shooting related items, he may not have the time? 

Also I get the feeling that he's honest with his reviews and not just being a sales rep for optics warehouse which helps. 

I've seen lots of reviews on YouTube from so called "end users" that allege to have nothing to do with the scope (in this instance) they're reviewing, yet they're covered in head to toe with the scope manufacturers label, I tend to take those with a pinch of salt. 

Time is on most of "our" side regarding this virus which can help with sitting down and doing some research into whatever "flicks our switch". 

Once I get time to use the scope I'll do a quick report 👍

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One thing to bear in mind about scope reviews, is that most are purely subjective.  Very few test or report on tracking repeatability and accuracy, resolution as tested against a standard, the various forms of distortion etc etc.  There was one on Precision Rifle Blog a few years back which gave a more balanced objective view so you can see the sort of things that they looked for which are really of more use in comparisons:

https://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/09/19/tactical-scopes-field-test-results-summary/

There has also been discussion on this forum a year or two back on the best way to undertake scope field tracking tests which is also worth a read.

Also, worth not under-estimating the importance of the scope mounts either.  Inexpensive ones may look tempting but don't be tempted.  

 

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59 minutes ago, VarmLR said:

One thing to bear in mind about scope reviews, is that most are purely subjective.  Very few test or report on tracking repeatability and accuracy, resolution as tested against a standard, the various forms of distortion etc etc.  There was one on Precision Rifle Blog a few years back which gave a more balanced objective view so you can see the sort of things that they looked for which are really of more use in comparisons:

https://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/09/19/tactical-scopes-field-test-results-summary/

There has also been discussion on this forum a year or two back on the best way to undertake scope field tracking tests which is also worth a read.

Also, worth not under-estimating the importance of the scope mounts either.  Inexpensive ones may look tempting but don't be tempted.  

 

Regarding a mount I have bought the Tier One Unimount 👍

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IOR are not popular in the US for two reasons:

1.  Their customer service is abysmal.

2.  The US long range optics market is saturated with good options at many different price points.  It's hard to compete as it is, and even harder with the burden of the first point.

For most Americans, Vortex, NF,  S&B, TT and ZCO get the nod for Tier1/2 glass.

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10 hours ago, Trigger73 said:

 

Also I get the feeling that he's honest with his reviews and not just being a sales rep for optics warehouse which helps. 

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but Richard is associated with optics warehouse. 
 

I don’t know the exact details of the association, but when you look at all the reviews most of them are optics warehouse imported products. 
 

I own a simple 4-14X50 ior scope. The glass is excellent and it holds zero. The exterior finish is horrible if I’m honest. I’ve had it 12 years on my original stalking rifle and trust it. 
 

I have previously owned a 3-18X42.  It tracked well and I only sold it because I wanted to move to FFP. 

@MarinePMI was conservative with his comments. He is very well placed to comment on the US market and will have seen the adverse IOR commentary first hand, especially on snipershide. To he honest is was justified. 

IOR branded a model of scope the “snipershide edition” without backing from the website owner   . The scope was terrible, the failures rate was through the roof and as I’m sure you can imagine returning for warranty work from the USA to Romania was no simple task. 
 

The brand hasn’t recovered as a result.

 

I know you have ordered a scope. But to be honest if In your position I would have picked up a vortex viper secondhand for about £400. Shot it and learned to use it and become proficient. During the process put some money to one side and when the time was right sold the vortex for pretty much what you paid for it and then bought a Schmidt or kahles 

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Scotch_egg said:

Sorry to burst your bubble but Richard is associated with optics warehouse. 
 

I don’t know the exact details of the association, but when you look at all the reviews most of them are optics warehouse imported products. 
 

I own a simple 4-14X50 ior scope. The glass is excellent and it holds zero. The exterior finish is horrible if I’m honest. I’ve had it 12 years on my original stalking rifle and trust it. 
 

I have previously owned a 3-18X42.  It tracked well and I only sold it because I wanted to move to FFP. 

@MarinePMI was conservative with his comments. He is very well placed to comment on the US market and will have seen the adverse IOR commentary first hand, especially on snipershide. To he honest is was justified. 

IOR branded a model of scope the “snipershide edition” without backing from the website owner   . The scope was terrible, the failures rate was through the roof and as I’m sure you can imagine returning for warranty work from the USA to Romania was no simple task. 
 

The brand hasn’t recovered as a result.

 

I know you have ordered a scope. But to be honest if In your position I would have picked up a vortex viper secondhand for about £400. Shot it and learned to use it and become proficient. During the process put some money to one side and when the time was right sold the vortex for pretty much what you paid for it and then bought a Schmidt or kahles 

 

 

 

No worries about bursting my bubble, if he is , he is, but I can't see him falsely advertising the quality of the scopes he's reviewing?  What you mentioned regarding the US sites and their negative feedback , (especially sniperhide as it is one of the sites I visited) and the reasons as to why IOR have had a slating , it makes sense.

I was going to go for a Vortex but I've had decent scopes in the past prior to me swapping over to FAC and I'd rather not go through the ballache of buying a used Vortex only to sell it later at a lesser price, "touch wood" I've not lost money on scopes over the past few years and fingers crossed the IOR stands upto the review from Richard and the others that I've read?

I guess the beauty of getting the optics from OW is that they offer the "try to see if you like" option, if it doesn't work out then I send it back and have credit sitting there waiting to spend on another scope or add to at a later date.

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The one observation I have regarding Richards affiliation with OpticsWarehouse is that OW don’t only retail IOR and in fact do SB, NF and Vortex. It will be interesting to see what his latest test results show. I run the Crusader and it has its plus’s and minus’s but on the whole, Mine is a good scope.

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OW give good service to be fair and I know that anyone who's had trouble with any scopes bought from them has been well looked after.  My Steiner came from them and as a result of my feedback, and their check of remaining stock to find exactly the same issues, they no longer stock that scope.  They do listen.  They try not to sell crap, but the odd one no doubt slips through.  Yes, Richard is affiliated with them but having owned or tried a number of the scopes he's reviewed, I've only had cause to have issue with a few of his conclusions and for most of us who didn't come up the river in a bubble, we generally know what we're looking for and recognise any BS for what it is.   Richard gave a glowing review of the Delta Titanium but never once mentioned how crap the turret adjusters were...to be fair the glass (at least 3/4 across anyway) was deserving of his comments but the turret adjusters were crap.  The glass alone made it worth the cash until it got very popular and prices inexplicably rose as demand was there to justify it from a business proposition but by then the Steiner Ranger had overtaken it in optical as well as mechanical quality....even outstripping its more expensive siblings!  My PMII came from OW and it's the best I've owned.  An ATACAR might be nice but is different rather than "better" in terms of results on target in varying conditions and on reliability or on glass quality.  It pays to do your homework and speak to as many ownersas you can as next to a rifle, a decent scope is about the most expensive outlay in the sport you'll make.  It's been said many times before but buy once, cry once.

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8 hours ago, VarmLR said:

It's been said many times before but buy once, cry once.

And this ^^^^ in a nutshell. 

This has been said so many times in different "hobbies" that I've had and been involved in over the years. 

Some folk are lucky enough to be able to afford a £2.5k scope and another £1.5k scope on a separate rig. 

I'm comfortable at the £1k mark so from the research I've done the IOR seemed to be the better scope, I may be completely wrong hence this thread. 

But to buy a £400 Vortex? I see no point as previously mentioned I've owned better scopes. 

If it turns out that the IOR isn't as good as Richard suggests then I'll have no problem saying so. 

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For the Upto 1k price tag I would have a Vortex 5-25-50 PST gen 2 In mrad FFP 

got one  = optics good , mechanically spot on , mine tracks out to 1000 + perfectly , 

warranty Superb ! Hard as nails , really easy scope to live with And equally at home on the range or out in the fields. 
 

 

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9 hours ago, Trigger73 said:

I guess the beauty of getting the optics from OW is that they offer the "try to see if you like" option, if it doesn't work out then I send it back and have credit sitting there waiting to spend on another scope or add to at a later date.

But...... that doesn’t go as far as letting you put it in rings, as soon as you do that it becomes ‘used’ and they won’t automatically refund you what you paid. Their view is that you’d be upset if they’d sent you one that had previously been returned and subsequently discovered even the faintest mark on inspection.

“Has it been mounted?” is the first question they ask, the best way to answer that with a hand on heart “No” is not to get it near the rifle.  
Cheers

Fizz 

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39 minutes ago, Trigger73 said:

And this ^^^^ in a nutshell. 

This has been said so many times in different "hobbies" that I've had and been involved in over the years. 

Some folk are lucky enough to be able to afford a £2.5k scope and another £1.5k scope on a separate rig. 

I'm comfortable at the £1k mark so from the research I've done the IOR seemed to be the better scope, I may be completely wrong hence this thread. 

But to buy a £400 Vortex? I see no point as previously mentioned I've owned better scopes. 

If it turns out that the IOR isn't as good as Richard suggests then I'll have no problem saying so. 

The Gen 2 Vortex doesn't compare with earlier models...it's way better and it's also not £400!

https://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/vortex-viper-pst-gen-ii-5-25x50-ffp-illuminated-30mm-riflescope-moa

Under £1000, it would be my choice.

At just over, this is what I would buy:

https://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/bushnell-elite-tactical-dmr-ii-3-5-21x50-ffp-g3-mil-riflescope

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have an i.o.r 6x24x56 Vulcan had it over 2 years now ,great glass and accurate tracking.I unfortunately dropped it and damaged the windage turret OPW didn't have spares so off it went back to Romania it was returned after 11 weeks via OPW and sorted free of charge and of delivery costs with new turret and tracking check .apart from the naff paint like finished you get quality German Schott glass ..I would buy another cheers 👍

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43 minutes ago, bighairyhaggishunter said:

I have an i.o.r 6x24x56 Vulcan had it over 2 years now ,great glass and accurate tracking.I unfortunately dropped it and damaged the windage turret OPW didn't have spares so off it went back to Romania it was returned after 11 weeks via OPW and sorted free of charge and of delivery costs with new turret and tracking check .apart from the naff paint like finished you get quality German Schott glass ..I would buy another cheers 👍

I bought a Viper pst gen ii off a member on here, absolutely mint condition for £700.  That said, that sits on my T3 sporter so the Tik Tak 308 still needs a scope and I'm back looking at the IOR.  

The things you have mentioned have come up on various reviews that I've read, but like you have also mentioned, the Schott glass is something that is very tempting along with alleged great tracking, FFP matching ret and turrets, all for under £1K.

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