I’ve owned a number of first gen VX5 and VX6’s. I certainly wouldn’t call them my favorite scopes, but they are certainly serviceable, usable for hunting rifles. I’ve had a couple that I had to send back in for wondering zero shift. But otherwise they’ve worked decent for the money.
As Jim has mentioned more than once, and you read about it just about everywhere, the biggest gripe for these things is the need for keeping that tiny tiny Allen key in case you need to remove the scope cap for re-zeroing, dialing below zero, etc. I’ve got a little door compartment on my truck that’s full of them along with little tools used by other scope manufacturers for their scopes. So I was quite pleased to hear when they announced that the next generation of these are going to have toolless caps.
I purchased one back over the summer but it’s been sitting in the safe and I just put it on the gun a week or so ago. I do like the method of removing the Caps without having to use any type of tools other than your finger. Time will tell if it’s a robust system or not. But then today I went to install the battery for the illuminated reticle. I know where the battery compartment is, but couldn’t get the darn thing opened. So I pulled out the instruction manual and it says that I have to use a special tool that basically looks like someone took a blade from a kitchen mixer and cut it down. I searched and searched, I still have the box with the battery and instructions and everything and there is no tool in this darn box.
But I mean really?! Who came up with this idea???You got rid of the need for having to carry around a tiny hex tool, but now I’ve got to keep a hold of and carry around a special battery compartment tool. And you know you’re going to need it because batteries do die and need to be replaced. The older versions, first generation versions you just opened up the compartment by unscrewing the cap with your fingers.
I’m starting to think the first generation is better. I can at least get hex keys at my local walmart, or Hardware store. This tool is special order from the company itself.
It’s like one step forward and one step backward at the same time. Come on guys you can do better than this!