Vortex Venom RDS in short supply

[Borderland]

I have one of these on a Ruger MKII. I've had it for a year or two and it does everything I want it to do. A few days ago I was messing around with a Ruger carbine with a scope on it. It's a $400 scope but the carbine really can't use that nice glass because it's a 3 MOA rifle. I thought I would replace it with a RDS for fast target acquisition. Not something I had previously thought about before the insurrection got into full swing but things are changing. I took the Vortex off of my pistol and put it on my carbine. Nice match and very usable.

Now to find another VV to put on my MKII. Seems they are back ordered everywhere I looked. Some sites saying 2-4 months out. There must be a run on RDS's is all I can imagine. I finally found one here.

https://www.scheels.com/p/vortex-venom-3-moa-red-dot-sight/87587400546.html?cgid=optics-scopes#start=1

I suggest that you buy your RDS soon if you plan on doing that.

[rd62]

Brownells has the Holosun 407cV2 in stock for a similar price. Plus site sponsor.

[HCM]

I have one of these on a Ruger MKII. I've had it for a year or two and it does everything I want it to do. A few days ago I was messing around with a Ruger carbine with a scope on it. It's a $400 scope but the carbine really can't use that nice glass because it's a 3 MOA rifle. I thought I would replace it with a RDS for fast target acquisition. Not something I had previously thought about before the insurrection got into full swing but things are changing. I took the Vortex off of my pistol and put it on my carbine. Nice match and very usable.

Now to find another VV to put on my MKII. Seems they are back ordered everywhere I looked. Some sites saying 2-4 months out. There must be a run on RDS's is all I can imagine. I finally found one here.

https://www.scheels.com/p/vortex-venom-3-moa-red-dot-sight/87587400546.html?cgid=optics-scopes#start=1

I suggest that you buy your RDS soon if you plan on doing that.

There isn’t a general “run” on RDS optics.

More likely Vortex hasn’t ordered anymore Venoms from China because they have a new model coming out

[Borderland]

There isn’t a general “run” on RDS optics.

More likely Vortex hasn’t ordered anymore Venoms from China because they have a new model coming out

Well, that makes absolutely no business sense. Why not just sell the present model until the new one hits the market and discount the old model? Pretty common in retail sales. That's how I buy new vehicles. I never buy the new model year, even if they're rolling off the truck while I'm standing there. I'd rather have the discount.

[Borderland]

Brownells has the Holosun 407cV2 in stock for a similar price. Plus site sponsor.

Vortex has a 100% repair or replacement guarantee. It's like the Leupold grantee.

[LOKNLOD]

Well, that makes absolutely no business sense. Why not just sell the present model until the new one hits the market and discount the old model? Pretty common in retail sales. That's how I buy new vehicles. I never buy the new model year, even if they're rolling off the truck while I'm standing there. I'd rather have the discount.

Makes perfect sense, especially combined with supply chain woes.

Building another boatload of $100 optics that you sell for $200 doesn’t make sense if you’re switching production over to a new version and now you’ve got to discount the old ones to $150 to sell.

You’re better off waiting until you can bring the boatload of NEW!!! $90 optics that sell for $225.

[HCM]

Well, that makes absolutely no business sense. Why not just sell the present model until the new one hits the market and discount the old model? Pretty common in retail sales. That's how I buy new vehicles. I never buy the new model year, even if they're rolling off the truck while I'm standing there. I'd rather have the discount.


These things are made in China and imported in large batches, usually by sea. That is several months lead time even without COVID.

Why would being stuck with a bunch of an old model you need to heavily discount make business sense if you can avoid it?

[Borderland]

A short phone call to Vortex in WI confirmed my first post. I was told that they had no knowledge of any new product to replace the Venom. I asked why they were out-of-stock everywhere and the reply was they can't build enough to meet demand. They also said that red dot sights will generally follow the same high demand/out-of-stock conditions that most of the firearms and ammo industry is experiencing. They knew of only one company that had any in stock and that was Scheels in MT.

So yeah, there's panic buying on Vortex red dots.

I'm just trying to give people a heads up here. If you think it's some kind of red herring then carry on. :D

[jlw]

I ordered several Vortex dots in July via factory direct portal. I received notice of a backorder of up to six months.

[DaBigBR]

Well, that makes absolutely no business sense. Why not just sell the present model until the new one hits the market and discount the old model? Pretty common in retail sales. That's how I buy new vehicles. I never buy the new model year, even if they're rolling off the truck while I'm standing there. I'd rather have the discount.

It makes no business sense until your minimum order to be able to maintain current pricing is 10,000 units or something and you've got the new hotness in production already.

[backtrail540]

https://shop.springerprecision.com/Vortex-Venom-Red-Dot-VMD-3103.htm

In stock as of this post.

[cracker]

I live near vortex, walked into the show room and the first words out of their mouth was "we don't have anything" meaning nothing they did not even know what we were looking for. they gave us a small piece of paper with a list of their retailers to see if they would still have anything in stock. they blamed it on 2.5 million new gun owners.

[Borderland]

I honestly don't know what the problem is. It could be a production issue because of covid, who knows? One thing is for sure. If it has Vortex by the short hairs it might have other dot manufactures in the same boat.

I got my order in at Scheels and it shipped. This from Vortex.



Josh Diederich (Vortex Optics)

Sep 3, 2020, 5:13 PM CDT

Good afternoon,

Thanks for reaching out!

That's a great question! We are a dealer direct company meaning we have dealers all over the US and world that we ship products to, so they can sell to consumers. Based on firearms sales being up over 300%, it being an election year, the pandemic, and with the riots/violence that is happening, a lot of folks are buying everything they can when it comes to firearms, ammo, and optics. Remember there was a stimulus check issued as well so a lot of folks were spending that.

The Venom has not been discontinued, it's just difficult to find as it's backordered almost everywhere. I'm surprised you were able to find one!

Please let me know if you need anything else.

All the Best,
Josh Diederich
Vortex Optics | Sales & Technical
One Vortex Drive
Barneveld, WI 53507
800.426.0048 ext. 2299
www.VortexOptics.com

[Borderland]

https://shop.springerprecision.com/Vortex-Venom-Red-Dot-VMD-3103.htm

In stock as of this post.

6 moa in stock. I think 3 moa is out.