Reviews Vortex AMG 1-10x: Glorious American Goodness Steven Kuo February 27, 2026 Join the Conversation At RECOIL, we review every product fairly and without bias. Making a purchase through one of our links may earn us a small commission, and helps support independent gun reviews. Read our affiliate policy. Find out more about how we test products. Low power variable optics, or LPVOs, have soared in popularity over the past two and a half decades. LPVOs are riflescopes that zoom in magnification from 1x on the low end to 4x, 6x, 8x, and beyond. This makes them extremely versatile, as you can handle quick engagements up close at 1x but also zoom up for longer distances, small targets, and positive target identification. Competitive shooters and top-tier military units jumped on the bandwagon early, with more and more shooters drinking the Kool-Aid over the years. These days, you see LPVOs fielded by everyone from civilians to military and law enforcement. Some key characteristics for high-performing LPVOs include a wide magnification range, excellent glass, wide and flat field of view, precise and repeatable adjustments, a well-designed first focal plane reticle, daylight-bright illumination, durability, and overall packaging. Turrets can be configured without tools, and the diopter can be locked down. The illumination dial also locks in place. Vortex has built a stellar reputation with its line of LPVOs. Its Razor HD Gen II and II-E 1-6x scopes have reigned supreme on the 3-gun circuit for well over a decade, not to mention being used by elite military and law enforcement units. And its Razor HD Gen III 1-10x was unveiled six years ago to great fanfare. But Vortex’s best and brightest was yet to come. Vortex AMG 1-10×24 FFP SPECS Magnification: 1-10x Objective Lens Diameter: 24 mm Focal Plane: FFP Reticle: EBR-9 (MRAD) Eye Relief: 3.3″ Field of View: 116.0′ – 12.0′ @ 100 yds. Turret Style: Dual Zero – Capped Tube Size: 34mm Adjustment Graduation: .1 MRAD Travel Per Rotation: 10 MRAD Max Elevation Adjustment: 30 MRAD Max Windage Adjustment: 30 MRAD Parallax Setting: 250 yds Length: 8.4″ Weight: 18.8 oz. MSRP: $6,400 The origin story for the new AMG 1-10x scope began when the UK’s Ministry of Defense was seeking a new optic. In particular, their set of requirements specified a very short and light LPVO, ideally a 1-10x. The short length would allow for the scope to be used on a short carbine while leaving room for key accessories like lasers and clip-on thermals. This was such a challenging task that Vortex’s usual factory partners declined to participate, concluding it’d be too difficult and expensive. So Vortex decided to do it themselves, setting their Advanced Manufacturing Group (AMG) loose. It’s been a seven-year process. Along the way, Vortex designed, developed, and has been delivering scopes to the UK military for the L403A1 Alternative Individual Weapon System program, then tweaked it further for commercial release. The AMG 1-10x is absurdly short at 8.4 inches and light at 18.8 ounces. The AMG 1-10x is manufactured by Vortex in Barneveld, Wisconsin, with all components sourced domestically except for lenses from Japan and reticles from Switzerland. If you haven’t already heard how much this scope costs, that last sentence should give you a clue, as manufacturing in America isn’t cheap. The MSRP is $6,400 and street price around $4,000. As we delve deeper, you’ll understand better why it costs so much, and it’ll be up to you to decide if it’s worth it. Vortex starts with aluminum billet, machining away nearly all of the material to reveal a one-piece scope tube for optimal durability and precision. The tube’s length and the lofty goals for optical and mechanical performance are the key drivers of complexity and cost. The new scope is 8.4 inches long, 1.7 inches shorter than the Gen 3 1-10x that preceded it. This is a massive 10:1 zoom ratio for a 1-10x optic, compared to your grandpa’s old 3-9x, a mere 3:1 ratio. When you rotate the zoom ring on a scope, it moves lens elements back and forth to adjust magnification. Two dials allow for dual zeros. Vortex includes caps and an extended sun hood. To bend all that light around in such a small space is a real challenge. It requires aspheric lenses, which are significantly more expensive than regular lenses that have a constant-radiused uniform curve. The erector tube assembly sits inside the scope body and moves around to adjust for windage and elevation when you rotate the turrets — because of the compact package, the components must be finer and more precise. The first focal plane reticle is etched on glass and also needs to be very precise to ensure accuracy. Therefore, tolerances must be very exacting. Not only must each component be manufactured consistently, but they also must be positioned very precisely relative to each other. For example, lenses that aren’t aligned properly will noticeably decrease image quality. Some components in Vortex’s design require a tolerance of 5 microns, which is smaller than a red blood cell. Even measuring dimensions to that level of precision is very challenging. The packaging, challenge coin, and signed certificate of authenticity make you feel special. As a hard-use optic originally designed for military use, excellent durability is a must-have, both from recoil, the environment, and getting banged around. Vortex tested for hot, cold, rapid temperature swings, drops, and water and dust submersion. They built a recoil simulation machine to accurately reproduce the exact shocks spread over time imparted by various guns, such as the punishing SCAR 17. Across six years of testing, Vortex logged over 1.8 million simulated rounds in development, making successive changes to enhance durability. For instance, the zoom ring was decoupled from the erector assembly so impacts to the zoom lever aren’t transferred directly to the erector, a common vulnerability in traditional riflescopes. Additionally, the AMG 1-10x is IPX8-rated (10 meters of submersion for 2 hours). The new AMG has daylight-bright illumination for the reticle, critical to make it behave like a reflex red dot sight at 1x. It’s extremely bright, so whether you’re in the desert, surrounded by bright white snow, or cursed with Mr. Magoo eyesight, you’ll be able to pick up the dot. The control knob should be familiar by now — pull it out to unlock and rotate to your desired setting. There are two night vision settings and nine day settings, alternating with off settings. At the highest “11” setting, the AMG is equivalent to an Aimpoint T-1 on its second highest “11” setting and the Razor HD Gen II-E 1-6x maxed out. Vortex achieves this by using diffractive grating to precisely direct the illumination and make the reticle appear very bright with reasonable power draw. This also drives up manufacturing costs. The scope is packed with features. The zoom ring goes from 1x to 10x in a very short 120-degree throw, making transitions very quick. The ring has a shark fin lever that engineers carefully crafted to provide leverage without being a snag hazard. It’ll also glance off impacts rather than hitting things squarely, to better protect the scope. The turrets are also cleverly designed. They’re capped, and the zero position can be reindexed without tools. There are two dials for the dual-zero system. First, zero your rifle, then unscrew the turret retaining nut by hand and index the primary zero position to match. Next, dial your alternate zero and set the secondary zero ring on the turrets. This simplifies switching between supersonic and subsonic ammo or between hoser ammo and long-range ammo at a 3-gun match. The reticle has an effective mil-based Christmas-tree style design. It allows you to hold for drop and wind at distance. The horizontal crosshair has a mil scale all the way across for wind, leading moving targets, and measuring objects to estimate distance. Up top is a quick reference ranging guide to estimate distance based on a typical 18-inch shoulder width. Parallax is fixed at 250 yards, to optimize for better performance at distance; some parallax error up close is less of a concern. Mounting markings on either side of the scope body make for simple installation in a scope mount. Some one-piece mounts won’t be compatible if the rings are spaced too far apart for the compact AMG (we used a Scalarworks LEAP/09 mount here). If your mount has horizontally split rings, align them with the line on the scope body and leveling is complete. Use the hash marks to set and recall eye relief or as witness marks to watch for unwanted movement. This is valuable for unit armorers setting up and maintaining a bunch of rifles. The diopter adjustment has a counter locking nut to lock it in place. Vortex put the new scope on a strict diet, shaving weight everywhere — from materials choices to intricately machining excess material, such as the sunken corners on the turret housing. Thus, the AMG weighs just under 19 ounces. Everything about making this scope is difficult and costly. But it’s glorious — the AMG 1-10x is truly superb. It damn well ought to be for the price. Indeed, everything about it is carefully considered, smartly engineered, and wonderfully executed. 1x is fantastic; the eye box at 10x is tight, but that comes with the territory and is still workable. And it’s manufactured here in America. A couple small nits: The zoom ring on our sample is smooth but a bit stiff. The turrets track precisely and consistently, but the clicks are muted compared to our other Razors. A limited segment of the market will buy this scope. But that’s OK; it’s not for everyone. The lessons, technologies, processes, and everything that Vortex poured into making the AMG 1-10x a reality is already trickling down to other product lines. And all of us will benefit from that. Why you can trust RECOIL Since our founding in 2012, RECOIL remains the premier firearms lifestyle publication for the modern shooting enthusiast. We deliver cutting-edge coverage of guns, gear, accessories and technology. 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