Rifle Scopes Vortex Viper PST ...checks all the boxes?

garandman

garandman

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Nov 17, 2009
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#1
Looking at this scope.... searched the forum and all I found was a coupla sales of them....

www.midwayusa.com

Vortex Optics Viper PST Gen II Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 5-25x 50mm 1/10

This updated favorite hands an unfair advantage to shooters who seek to keep the upper hand in every situation from close quarters to long-range shots....
www.midwayusa.com www.midwayusa.com

It seems to check all the boxes ... at a great price ... with good reviews .... and a bullet proof warranty ... what am I missing?

Sufficiently high powered (5-25x)
Mil - Mil
FFP
Zero stop
Illum reticle. (not a hunter so....do I really need this?)
EBR-2C MRAD reticle

Alittle heavy tho....31+ oz...

Any first hand reivews?

Thots from the 'Hide ?


Going on a 224 Valkyrie, in an XLR chassis. (bolt gun)

Mostly for shooting steel plates out to 1000y.... some PRS competition in the future. Want to learn wind holds.
 
#2
It should handle your needs. Just make sure you check your zero stop screws, and turret cap screws. Mine have a tendency to walk out a bit after a long day.

You probably don't NEED the illuminated reticle. But its not a bad thing to have either.

I am one of four in my group of shooting buddies with that scope. None of us are unhappy with our choice.
 
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#3
ReaperMedic said:
You probably don't NEED the illuminated reticle. But its not a bad thing to have either.
Click to expand...


Great help. Thx.

One concern was whether the reticle is sufficiently visible without being illumimated. Not even sure I'll put the battery in it. :)

The other thing....y'all aren't "unhappy" ... but yer not really raving about it either.

Would it be better to spend more (maybe up to $1500) and get something better ?
 
#4
I own that scope, it is a bit finicky to setup the diopter but once you get it dialed in it is a great performer, great turrets and reticle for the price. Glass comes under the most scrutiny but really a top performer for a sub $1000 scope, you can get better glass for slightly more but you won't get the 5-25 range. Controls CA the best of the $1000 bunch IMO. I did a review of the Tract Toric where I compared it to this, the 3-15, the XTR II - http://opticsthoughts.com/?p=2354. I've meant to do a review of all these $1000 scopes but time has got the best of me, let me know if you have other questions.
 
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#5
I own the 3x15 and it’s a decent scope for the money. On low power, without illumination the reticle can be a little light though usable. I’ll echo the sentiments above that the zero stop screws can walk, though I’ve only ever seen the bottom on on the windage move significantly. Glass and reticle are both gtg in my opinion.
 
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#6
wjm308 said:
I did a review of the Tract Toric where I compared it to this, the 3-15, the XTR II - http://opticsthoughts.com/?p=2354. I've meant to do a review of all these $1000 scopes but time has got the best of me, let me know if you have other questions.
Click to expand...

Great review. I'll check ou the Tract. Concern there is warranty / longevity of customer support.
 
#8
I have the 5-25. It has a lower than average range of elevation adjustment, but you should be okay with your use. For $700, it'd be hard to find better unless you shop used.
 
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#9
I sold mine 3 days after receiving it. I thought the glass was terrible for the price point. Just my opinion. The Ares ETR and Midas TAC have much better glass imho and a better reticle with the floating center dot which is awesome.
 
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#11
Floglock said:
I own the 3x15 and it’s a decent scope for the money. On low power, without illumination the reticle can be a little light though usable. I’ll echo the sentiments above that the zero stop screws can walk, though I’ve only ever seen the bottom on on the windage move significantly. Glass and reticle are both gtg in my opinion.
Click to expand...
If you think the reticle is hard to see on the 3-15 then you would think its invisible with the 5-25. The 3-15 has a .05mil thick mil while the 5-25 is .03mil thick which seems to be the normal for higher power scopes.
 
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#12
padom said:
I sold mine 3 days after receiving it. I thought the glass was terrible for the price point. Just my opinion. The Ares ETR and Midas TAC have much better glass imho and a better reticle with the floating center dot which is awesome.
Click to expand...
When I first had mine I was not too impressed with its ability to resolve as I set my diopter per the typical blank sky stuff and realized this scope needed additional fine tune adjustments of the diopter; however, after fine tuning the scope did much better in resolving detail. Here's my process on setting diopter these days:

Set magnification to maximum, parallax to infinity and the diopter all the way over on the plus side (reticle should be really blurry) and then point the scope at a clear sky background so the only thing your eye is picking up is the reticle, make sure you do not stare continuously through the scope (our eyes can adjust very quickly) but dial back in steps while taking quick looks through the scope until the reticle just comes into focus. This is your initial setting and where most manufacturer's stop with regard to setting your diopter but if you're like me and your eye is able to focus on that reticle very quickly it may not be enough. From here I've taken advice from HK Dave and ILya with "fine tuning" and find an object that is very far away on a clear day and set your parallax to infinity, does the object look sharp and in focus, if so then you've probably set your diopter correct, but you may also find with minute adjustments to the diopter the object actually looks better (fine tuning). If you happen to be in a place where you can see multiple objects at varying distances you might want to go ahead and check parallax and sharpness at these distances, when your scope is set appropriately and has no parallax the image should also be crisp and sharp, if it is not then you may need to do some fine tuning. After you've done your fine tuning I would go back to looking at the blue sky and check to see if the reticle is still in focus with a quick look (no more than a few seconds) and if you're good you can mark your diopter so if it ever gets bumped out of place you know exactly where to align it.

I'm always open to find better quicker ways to obtain the right diopter setting on a scope, but this is the best way I have found so far that gives me very consistent results.
 
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#13
#15
padom said:
I sold mine 3 days after receiving it. I thought the glass was terrible for the price point. Just my opinion. The Ares ETR and Midas TAC have much better glass imho and a better reticle with the floating center dot which is awesome.
Click to expand...
Something else to realize that might affect how good one particular scope is is sample variance. I think this happens more with lower end/cost scopes as I think more slip through (or are allowed through) QC, but grab two of the same model scopes and set them up properly and one may perform very well while the other performs inferior, this can be a frustrating thing but if you purchase from a Hide dealer they will take care of you and often accept returns as long as you haven't mounted it up, that's why I suggest setting it up before mounting and making sure it performs well before the range, this way if you notice something is wrong you can return it if need be. Case in point, I owned a Burris XTR II 4-20 a few years ago that was pretty horrible optically, then I bought another last year after hearing that they had improved the optics and low and behold the new 4-20 performed very well, even slightly better than my PST II 5-25, but I kept the 5-25 because it focuses closer and I decided I wanted the tree reticle over the SCR in the 4-20, but I would not hesitate to pickup another XTR II 4-20 (that being said, I have it on good authority that the XTR II 3-15 and 5-25 are inferior optical designs so I'd have difficulty recommending those scopes).

One final thought on the PST II 5-25, besides focusing to 25y, it also has a very generous FOV for a 5-25 range scope
 
#16
garandman said:
Looking at this scope.... searched the forum and all I found was a coupla sales of them....

www.midwayusa.com

Vortex Optics Viper PST Gen II Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 5-25x 50mm 1/10

This updated favorite hands an unfair advantage to shooters who seek to keep the upper hand in every situation from close quarters to long-range shots....
www.midwayusa.com www.midwayusa.com

It seems to check all the boxes ... at a great price ... with good reviews .... and a bullet proof warranty ... what am I missing?

Sufficiently high powered (5-25x)
Mil - Mil
FFP
Zero stop
Illum reticle. (not a hunter so....do I really need this?)
EBR-2C MRAD reticle

Alittle heavy tho....31+ oz...

Any first hand reivews?

Thots from the 'Hide ?


Going on a 224 Valkyrie, in an XLR chassis. (bolt gun)

Mostly for shooting steel plates out to 1000y.... some PRS competition in the future. Want to learn wind holds.
Click to expand...

My brother owns one & loves it; he plans on buying another in the near future. I have tried it, too, and liked how it performed. It has good glass; was quite clear where we went. F.Y.I.
 
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#18
I never saw the point in them when they were $1,100. I got one for $800 and thought it was fair for the money. Now that they are $700ish it's hard to beat at that price point. I put mine on my 22lr. Your not going to get a $4,000 scope for $1,000. If you keep that in mind you won't be disappointed. The focus and parallax work, glass is clear, tracks, and clicks feel good. Does it compare to my NF? No. Does it work way better that my top tier scopes form 20 years ago? Yes. Hope this helps.
 
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#20
I have the 3-15. Got it from a Hide Member. It's excellent for my purposes which are 1-2 MOA steel at assorted distances out to 1500 on my 7mm RemMag. I plan on doing a paper 600y match probably next month just to see if all my bullshit skills and reloading procedures are worth a shit :)

It allows me to hammer with a Tikka T3x Lite I got off another Hide Member ?
 
#24
My only complaint is that the clicks are a bit easy to move. Wish they were a bit more stiff like the Gen 1, the Razor, or the XTR2. Otherwise, a locking or covered windage turret would be nice. My sample size is only one. Some black tape and zip ties lock down the windage on mine. Otherwise a great scope!!!
 
#25
Dthomas3523 said:
For $1500, just get a used razor gen 2 4.5-27.

15/1600 is the going rate on the PX.
Click to expand...

This is very true. In all fairness that's over double the cost of the (new) $700 PST Gen 2 in question. It also adds a nice bit of weight, which was already a concern in the initial posting.

AND the $800 to $900 difference will go a long way with the thots he's searching the hide for. ?
 
#31
garandman said:
...OR some level of discontent. Sure... a few of ANYTHING will get sold. But 3 out of 20 on pg 1 ???

Where I come from, thats "buyer beware" ...

YMMV
Click to expand...

I’ve been on 3 versions of the Hide now and have had plenty of time to observe the goings on here.

That’s hardly a fluke or bad sign.

Actually a quite common occurrence.
Lots of new high end optics options and sales on highly desirable rifles often create situations like that.

I’d totally buy with confidence if it’s a reputable seller and the vast majority are reputable.

Bad sellers get called out and cleared out with gusto.
 
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#33
Dustysa4 said:
This is very true. In all fairness that's over double the cost of the (new) $700 PST Gen 2 in question. It also adds a nice bit of weight, which was already a concern in the initial posting.

AND the $800 to $900 difference will go a long way with the thots he's searching the hide for. ?
Click to expand...

He asked in the original post if he should just buy something else for up to $1500.

At that point, if 1500 is within his budget, the pst shouldn’t even be in the conversation.
 
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