Great to have you back posting, and very refreshing to get such honest opinions on YT these days too.

Great Video as Always Richard

Absolutely love your honesty! I feel like I can trust your opinions and observations of scopes implicitly.

Richard very nice to hear from you keep up the good work Thankyou

Thanks Richard, good to have you back! I've owned the Recon, the Lutaz, the Breaker and the Spyder, and I know, they're all under 40 mag, but no doubt, the Recon with 'sleeve' focus was by far the best. But even more importantly, those locking turrets were a problem on all 3 scopes that had them. They're not an advancement either, so I would stick with a Recon /Crusader mk 1. Better glass and better turrets. Hands down

i have 2 recons just put a coaster clip on the focus ,makes it very easy to focus, and can be used right or left handed

Thanks for that, i already suspected that to be honest. I had the Crusader and a Recon, sold the Crusader because I got a shorter rifle and bought another Recon, couldn't be happier.

Thank you Rich! Been missing your videos, would love to see more. Still enjoy my IOR Recon and I agree with the tube focus. It seems to be much better up front on the tube and has to do something for the clarity of the Recon and Crusader...

Thanks for the information. I always look forward to your videos.

they could call it love I love my crusader and still love seeing friends who have not looked through it and despise ior for some strange reason no one can explain and absolutely loose it when they compare what they own to it . The view you get through it is really nice and two years after getting it is still a joy to use . Thanks again for the first video it helped me make my own decision to get one . It is sort of sad they changed what worked so well just to give it a side focus , I would have rather had more elevation mostly to shut my friends with night forces . The locking turrets also are a nice touch not that I have had a problem with them without it , a slightly larger recital selection would also be wonderful 1 moa or mil free floating dot and the solid cross just was not enough choices lol .

never heard IOR in my life till you praised how good it is. bought terminator and never looked back. thought might need a FFP, thanks for the info.

Thanks for pulling that bandaid off! Based off of your review of the Valdada Recon G2 I purchased and couldn't be happier!

wow , this is why i like your video's as you say it as it is . Great quick review Richard , thank for putting it out there

I had a feeling this was coming! I love my recon the tube focus doesn’t bother me. My only niggle with the zero stop! Or lack of. And the way the turret screws bits into the turret threads 😡. Opticaly it’s just makes me happy every time I look through it. 😂

Thank you. I was unable to experience first hand and was debating what to get and this has clinched it. Tube focus it is. Thank you again

Nice honest review ,i love the tube ffocus its easy to use and very positive

This is good to hear some other reviews say different thanks for your honesty 👍

The Dead arose and appeared to many. Super video.

Great review Richard I’m using nightforce benchrest Scopes with front parallax on my .284 and my .308 find them much sharper and easy to focus I will have a look at ior in the future

Thank you for such a straight and honest review, I purchased the IOR terminator based on yours and other reviews and love it, the tube focus is so good and as a lefty it’s so easy.

I have a choice between buying an original IOR Crusader 5.8-40x56 with the parallax adjuster on the main tube and 1/4 moa turret clicks, or the Crusader 2 with side focus and 1/8 moa clicks. The trade-off is between turret click resolution and optics. I'd like to have some advice from more experienced people before making the purchase.

Well thanks for that Richard, you've saved me some money there😁

Thanks for new and precise evaluations. Would You care to express the amount of difference in favour of the old Crusy, may be as a speciment production differencies? I have served in an artillery regiment and am very much avare of fire correction procedures. It may take place in target aplications but in our hunting we need first prercise shot on a cold barrel at any distance and quickley, the fox there will not wait. It may be of Your liking to express Your views on the matter.

Excellent, as per usual. What make is your 338 LM?

I agree with you. I have 5 IOR Recon, 1 Lutaz and 1 Crusader (I am also a left hand shooter) In my opinion and in my user experience the focus ring on objective lens is way superior in comparison of the side focus ring.

Interesting...I was also excited about this version 2.0, good to have someone's else honest feedback....how smooth is the parallax nob? I have an IOR Breaker, but I find the parallax nob a bit stiff for my taste to be honest, and the locking turret has a bit of play when it is supposed to locked....maybe one day I will do a detailed review on it...not a youtuber, but it is never late to start I suppose....would be nice to see a scope cam comparison between version 1.0 and 2.0....thanks for your insight anyways.

Do you have an opinion on the Crusader 2 vs the Recon G2? Thanks for all your videos and invaluable information we all appreciate it.

I have to choose between an original Crusader with 'sleeve' focus and 1/4 moa clicks, and the Crusader 2 with side focus and 1/8 moa clicks. I can't decide. Any advice would be welcome.

dam richard, you just broke my heart because i just added this scope to my collection that includes 5 g2 recons as well. sounds like you're saying dont waste your time on this model. i've looked through the glass (not mounted yet) and to me it looks very similar to the valdada g2. you said it was worst in a lot of areas compared to the original crusader but when you say worst just how bad are referring to? maybe you mean not as good, and what about compared to the g2 since you stated below that you would pick it over the new crusader. should i return this scope and get something else or what? i value your opinion because you are a shooter. also are you saying that you would not buy this scope? how does it compare to the vortex razor gen2? i still have a lot of questions and the video you made was very short compared to the one you did on the g2 (i sold every other scope i had and bought 5 of them and i love them) ???????????

The focus system on the original Crusader is called "sleeve" focus?

Richard, for the longest time I had my heart set on an IOR recon or Crusader. I was influenced in large part by your videos and videos from tiborasauras Rex. However, recently I have come across a flood of negative reviews on the snipers hide forum. On snipers hide they have a reputation for being garbage optics that don't track and leave you no recourse for a replacement or refund. Have you heard these criticisms? I know you have experience with multiple IOR products, so has there any been any indications of mechanical defects? Lastly in your opinion can I confidently spend 3000+ on an IOR? Thanks for all your work putting out great content for all of us here.