Got my 5-25 Viper HD today.

[RMS65]

I originally bought a 3-15 Viper Gen 2 for this 6.5CM Varmint. After sending 2 back and getting a 3rd that the Brass windage post mauled by heavy handed assemblers I asked to swap it out for this 5-25 Viper HD to get a different windage zero reset system. Vortex was very accommodating.

I'm not very scope savy so my opinion may mean nothing. First I wasn't impressed with the glass on any of the three 3-15x PSTs. I'd quickly get eye fatigue with them. I have two 6-24 and one 4-16 HSTs and their glass is easier on my eyes than the PSTs. That's just me. The image quality degraded at on both the 6-24 HSTs and the PSTs towards maximum magnification. The HSTs never come off of 18x where the reticle is trued. 18x is enough for my shooting. The degraded image on the PST at 15 was kind of a bummer. Especially at 500yards.

I only just bore sighted HD today so I can only give my first impressions. The glass is clearer and easier on my eyes at 500 yard plate than any of the other scopes mentioned. I'm impressed because that's on 25X. I can clearly see small paint chip details on the 500 plate. The Elevation turret clicks very nicely. I haven't used the windage turret yet because it bore sighted very close. I'm not excited that the windage turret is capped but the step up in image makes up for it.

The scope is surprisingly light for a scope this size. I'm not sure if that's good or bad yet.
II'll add to this as needed.

I just figured I'd throw this out there for anyone shopping scopes.

 

[RMS65]

Update.
I was playing with the Viper HD little bit more today. The windage turret has pretty soft clicks. I guess they feel that's OK since its capped and not a dialer. Elevation clicks very well. I'm still impressed with the clarity at 25X. I could see knots and grain in an old skid at 698 yards.

I've read that the eybox is touchy. I don't find the eybox any tougher than my HSTs or the PST gen 2s I sent back. I got covid and feel like shit. I'll get a proper zero on this rifle and my T1X as soon as I can. Looking forward to retiring my 3.5-14x40 Nikon stand ins. I really can't say anything bad about them. I was dialing my 22 out to 240 and dialing my 6.5 to 500. They tracked surprisingly well.

 

[Ronws]

Most important is how you noticed one is easier on your eyes than another. That should be a primary concern over price or how gucci or not the scope is.

Does it work for your eyes? Are you hitting where you are aiming, within your particular cone of dispersion?

 

[RMS65]

Most important is how you noticed one is easier on your eyes than another. That should be a primary concern over price or how gucci or not the scope is.

Does it work for your eyes? Are you hitting where you are aiming, within your particular cone of dispersion?

Looking through it is definitely easier on my eyes then the PST Gen 2s. I haven't zeroed the HD yet. As of now I can't say how this HD will work until I shoot it a while. What's cone of dispersion?

For the record I don't care if something is Gucci or not. I look at function first. I have a few 3-9x40 Tasco scopes I hoarded while on sale at Walmart for $16 that the glass is much better than most $150-200 Vortex scopes. They held up fine on rimfires and a 243 rifle many seasons as well. I'm very utilitarian. I believe fancy equipment doesn't make a shooter good. It's the same for anything else whether it be fishing, golf etc etc. Fancy equipment is nice to have but its skills that count. I've seen a lot of guys in 800k boats with dozens of $1k rod and reel combos on board that couldn't put a fish in the boat if their life depended on it.

 

[Ronws]

Looking through it is definitely easier on my eyes then the PST Gen 2s. I haven't zeroed the HD yet. As of now I can't say how this HD will work until I shoot it a while. What's cone of dispersion?

For the record I don't care if something is Gucci or not. I look at function first. I have a few 3-9x40 Tasco scopes I hoarded while on sale at Walmart for $16 that the glass is much better than most $150-200 Vortex scopes. They held up fine on rimfires and a 243 rifle many seasons as well. I'm very utilitarian. I believe fancy equipment doesn't make a shooter good. It's the same for anything else whether it be fishing, golf etc etc. Fancy equipment is nice to have but its skills that count. I've seen a lot of guys in 800k boats with dozens of $1k rod and reel combos on board that couldn't put a fish in the boat if their life depended on it.

Cone of dispersion, as in precision of the rifle. If you have a .5 MOA gun and you are getting that .5 MOA at our point of aim, it means, to me, that the optic is providing you with what you need.

Most rifles, especially in longer strings of fire, may open up a bit. I visualize it as a cone in which the majority of hits happen, dispersion being how far apart.

 

[RMS65]

Cone of dispersion, as in precision of the rifle. If you have a .5 MOA gun and you are getting that .5 MOA at our point of aim, it means, to me, that the optic is providing you with what you need.

Most rifles, especially in longer strings of fire, may open up a bit. I visualize it as a cone in which the majority of hits happen, dispersion being how far apart.

thank you for explaining.

 

[RMS65]

Update on first impressions. Been dog sick with China Virus since last Friday. I finally felt well enough today to zero the Viper HD on my 6.5 Tikka.

The elevation clicks are good. I kept forgetting the elevation turret locks. I'll have to get used to that. The zero reset and zero stop are billion times easier than the PST 2s I returned. I really like these changes.

As for the windage. The windage clicks are tightly spaced but felt decent enough to be discernable. I guess that's good enough for a capped turret. I love the lift and drop windage zero reset. I had three PST Gen 2s that the brass windage post was mauled by heavy handed assemblers.

I was wondering if I'd like the push button illumination. Turns out that I do. It's easy to use. Certainly easier than other models with rotating switches. The PST was a bitch to turn. The HD comes on at the last setting used. Short press turns it on. Each short press after changes briteness. Four second press turns it off.

Only negative so far is stretchy neoprene cover. It sucks balls to get on and off. I see traditional lens covers in it's future.