Vortex Viper PST
Posted: 30 Jun 2013, 07:59
I have a couple of these scopes and they seem to be gaining popularity, as they should, so I thought I would tell you all about my experience with them.
I have the 6-24x50 ffp MOA reticle on a custom 7mag and a 4-16x50 ffp MOA reticle on a DPMS bull 20.
These scopes, IMO, dominate the $1,000 market for a tactical/hunting line of scopes. They come loaded with features such as: zero stop, illuminated reticle (10 settings), FFP reticle, and your choice of a MOA or Mil Radian reticle.
My 7mag is probably my favorite gun, as I use it for deer hunting, long range target practice, and this past spring I used it to harvest an aoudad sheep in Texas, so needless to say it sees a lot of use.
In testing, I first shot a group of 3 shots at 100 yards. Upon completion I dialed the scope up to 800 yards and fired 3 more shots that all hit a 1'x2' target. Upon completion of that, I dialed the scope back down to 100 yards and fired three more, all of which were exactly where I was sighted in (3" high@100). After doing this, I used the MOA calibrated reticle to shoot 3 more shots at 800 yards. Once again, all 3 shots were on target. That being said, it is clear to me that the elevation tracking as well as the MOA reticle are very reliable. I have *not* done anything as far as windage tracking goes.
As for glass quality and clarity it is comparable to a Leupold VX3. I've used this scope from dusk to dawn and the light transmission is as good as any V3 that I've used, it however is not as good as my z3 swarovski.
I highly suggest looking into this scope for long range hunting and long range practicing. I would *not* purchase this scope for competion benchrest shooting, as the crosshairs in the ffp reticle get fairly large, IMO, for extreme benchrest precision.
The only issue I've ever had with either of my PST's was the illumination would not stay on. This happened on both scopes. The fix was simple. I called vortex and they shipping me two illumination caps that they had shimmed. This allowed more pressure to be put on the battery and thus fixed the problem. They done this for free and I had them in less than a week. Vortex customer service is exceptional and these scopes come in an unconditional lifetime warranty. The only thing they will not cover is if your scope is stolen. All in all I am more than satisfied with my PST's. A sidenote, my 6-24 *might* be for sale in a few months as I would like to try out some different scopes. I do this quite often. Hopefully someone will find this helpful and I am sure there is more I meant to say and forgot. If anyone has any more questions about these, please let me know and I will answer them. If anyone wants to know, I can tell you about some of my other scopes such as Leupold and Swarovski.
I have the 6-24x50 ffp MOA reticle on a custom 7mag and a 4-16x50 ffp MOA reticle on a DPMS bull 20.
These scopes, IMO, dominate the $1,000 market for a tactical/hunting line of scopes. They come loaded with features such as: zero stop, illuminated reticle (10 settings), FFP reticle, and your choice of a MOA or Mil Radian reticle.
My 7mag is probably my favorite gun, as I use it for deer hunting, long range target practice, and this past spring I used it to harvest an aoudad sheep in Texas, so needless to say it sees a lot of use.
In testing, I first shot a group of 3 shots at 100 yards. Upon completion I dialed the scope up to 800 yards and fired 3 more shots that all hit a 1'x2' target. Upon completion of that, I dialed the scope back down to 100 yards and fired three more, all of which were exactly where I was sighted in (3" high@100). After doing this, I used the MOA calibrated reticle to shoot 3 more shots at 800 yards. Once again, all 3 shots were on target. That being said, it is clear to me that the elevation tracking as well as the MOA reticle are very reliable. I have *not* done anything as far as windage tracking goes.
As for glass quality and clarity it is comparable to a Leupold VX3. I've used this scope from dusk to dawn and the light transmission is as good as any V3 that I've used, it however is not as good as my z3 swarovski.
I highly suggest looking into this scope for long range hunting and long range practicing. I would *not* purchase this scope for competion benchrest shooting, as the crosshairs in the ffp reticle get fairly large, IMO, for extreme benchrest precision.
The only issue I've ever had with either of my PST's was the illumination would not stay on. This happened on both scopes. The fix was simple. I called vortex and they shipping me two illumination caps that they had shimmed. This allowed more pressure to be put on the battery and thus fixed the problem. They done this for free and I had them in less than a week. Vortex customer service is exceptional and these scopes come in an unconditional lifetime warranty. The only thing they will not cover is if your scope is stolen. All in all I am more than satisfied with my PST's. A sidenote, my 6-24 *might* be for sale in a few months as I would like to try out some different scopes. I do this quite often. Hopefully someone will find this helpful and I am sure there is more I meant to say and forgot. If anyone has any more questions about these, please let me know and I will answer them. If anyone wants to know, I can tell you about some of my other scopes such as Leupold and Swarovski.