Rifle Scopes My first experience with a Vortex PST

[scudzuki]

And already I'm underwhelmed.
6 months back I helped a friend assemble an AR-15.
He ran it with iron sights for a while, then asked about a scope.
I directed him towards one of the CameraLandNY demo PST 1-4s for $399.
I also recommended an ADM Recon 20 MOA mount.
He comes over today so I can install it and bore sight it for him.
It looks like it's brand new, as I expected.
I ballpark the eye relief and level the scope, torque the rings, then bring the weapon to my shoulder to see the results.
What I see is a big speck of black at 4:30 that does not move when the mag is changed.

I told Mike to whack it with a telephone book and if the speck did not disappear, he can warranty it over the winter.

But still.

Other than that it seems like a good scope for the money.

Joe

 

[bloodsport06]

why over the winter? isn't their turn around time really fast? just going by what ive read. i have the 6-24x50 and so far no complaints. yet to mount it tho. hopefully no surprises show up

 

[Pinecone]

A week round trip is typical.

Send it tomorrow, have it back for the weekend after this one.

 

[scudzuki]

I'm not saying that it will incur a bunch of downtime, I know their turnaround is quick.
I think for now he wants to shoot it, and he won't be shooting during the winter, so it can wait.
Who knows, a few hundred rounds through the AR and it may shake itself loose.

Joe

 

[deadnbrkn84]

First experience? You just put up a post about a 6-24 you supposedly had issues with. Sounds like your purposefully bashing them to me.

 

[VJJPunisher]

First experience? You just put up a post about a 6-24 you supposedly had issues with. Sounds like your purposefully bashing them to me.

what are you talking about, I dont see him mention a 6-24

 

[stanley52]

Vortex viper PST's are solid. I have owned several with no problems, and If their repair/warranty matches some of their other customer care then it will be solid.

 

[scudzuki]

First experience? You just put up a post about a 6-24 you supposedly had issues with. Sounds like your purposefully bashing them to me.

You are mistaken, never happened.

Joe

 

[Outdoorsman9]

Why would you post this experience from 6 months ago? I agree with deadnbrkn84 that it seems like you're just trying to bash.

 

[vh20]

Why would you post this experience from 6 months ago? I agree with deadnbrkn84 that it seem like you're just trying to bash.

You and deadnbrkn84 are both wrong. The post says he helped the friend BUILD THE AR 6 months ago, then he "ran it with iron sights for a while." It appears the scope experience is recent, judging by the way it is written. As for deadnbrkn84, he has this poster confused with someone else. You're accusing him of "bashing" based on two points that are both false.

Whether or not he's "purposefully bashing" I don't know, but neither of those points could support that conclusion.

 

[redirt78]

I have read and heard of the black specs in a lot of different scopes from just about all price ranges. They might shake loose but if they don't I'm sure Vortex will make it right. Not sure it needed a thread for this issue, just call them.

I have seen a few PST threads but no real bashing, just pointing out that some don't like braked magnums and to beware if that is your plan for them. Everyone says they are nice scopes for the money, the customer service and warranty is great but sometimes they don't hold up to the big guns. Seems like if you are going to shoot the big magnums, you need to step up a notch and thin your wallet. Makes sense to me.

 

[vh20]

Well said, Redirt.

 

[Rob01]

I have read and heard of the black specs in a lot of different scopes from just about all price ranges. They might shake loose but if they don't I'm sure Vortex will make it right. Not sure it needed a thread for this issue, just call them.

Exactly! Seen it on scopes costing 6 times that much. It happens but I guess everyone needs a Vortex complaint thread now. LOL

 

[scudzuki]

Exactly! Seen it on scopes costing 6 times that much. It happens but I guess everyone needs a Vortex complaint thread now. LOL

Did you even read my post?

My closing statement from the OP

"Other than that it seems like a good scope for the money."

I have run through 2 dozen scopes or so including cheap Chinese junk and S&B, Trijicon (several of these), Bushnell (even more of these), Sightron, March, USO, Steiner, and a half dozen other brands I can't even remember, and I've never seen so much as a speck of dust inside a one of them until now.

I told my friend to order this particular scope based mostly on the feedback I've read on the Hide and other forums.

This scope was allegedly a demo, meaning that it was used to showcase this particular model to a number of would be purchasers.

And it has a big fucking black speck on one of the internal lenses.

Also, it happened YESTERDAY, for anyone incapable of understanding my OP.

No agenda here, other than stating my experience.

If I had encountered it with any other scope I can't imagine I wouldn't have posted about it either.

So get over yourselves.

Joe

To anyone who couldn't be bothered to read my 2nd post, I am ACUTELY aware of Vortex's great CS and warranty, which is one of the reasons I recommended this particular scope to my friend, but having to send a brand new product in for service is not terribly confidence inspiring. It would be different if I bought the scope myself, but my friend counted on me to recommend a good product, and he may not feel very good about his first experience with Vortex.

 

[Rob01]

"And already I'm underwhelmed." Yup including that first line. It's a black spec. Happens to much more expensive scopes. You need to get over it as well. Not even your scope and you are posting to complain about it. Have him get it fixed and move on. It's a $400 scope.

 

[Graham]

My first experience with a Vortex PST

It's a $400 scope.

Yup. And it's someone else's $400 scope. And it happened six months ago. And apparently the scope worked properly.

 

[scudzuki]

Yup. And it's someone else's $400 scope. And it happened six months ago. And apparently the scope worked properly.

No, it happened last night.

Read much?

Joe

 

[scudzuki]

"And already I'm underwhelmed." Yup including that first line. It's a black spec. Happens to much more expensive scopes. You need to get over it as well. Not even your scope and you are posting to complain about it. Have him get it fixed and move on. It's a $400 scope.

WTF is the difference how much the scope cost?
$400 may be a lot of money to my friend.

Maybe it's you who should move on.

You keep responding and keeping the thread alive.

Joe

 

[Graham]

My first experience with a Vortex PST

No, it happened last night.

Read much?

I wasn't even there and I can tell you that the speck appeared prior to last night. As to reading much, today I will be reading fewer of your posts than yesterday.

 

[biner626]

Maybe beat it on the phone book instead of with the phone book first.

 

[scudzuki]

I wasn't even there and I can tell you that the speck appeared prior to last night. As to reading much, today I will be reading fewer of your posts than yesterday.

I assembled the AR 6 months ago.
He shot it with irons for "a while", then ordered a scope that CameraLand had on special a month ago.

It was assembled last night.

And *news flash* I don't give a flying fuck whether you read my posts.

Joe

*edit* out of respect to the Hide I'm going to let this die on the vine.
By editing this post, I'm not bumping it to the top.
If the fanboys want to keep it alive, it's up to them.
I can argue and insult others all day but I don't see the point.
I stand by my original post.
I have never exhibited a bias against Vortex scopes, the only time I've ever expressed an opinion on this (or any other) forum was months ago when I looked through a 6-24x50 FFP and was impressed with what I saw, and that's what I wrote.
My experience is my own, and I earned it.
I don't lie or obfuscate facts... I am the first to admit when my rifle won't "shoot sub MOA all day".
Why would I lie about this?

And who the fuck makes you the arbiter of what I should or should not post?

Joe

 

[Graham]

My first experience with a Vortex PST

Maybe beat it on the phone book instead of with the phone book first.

Or maybe just use the phone book to call Vortex before wasting bandwidth.

 

[Rob01]

WTF is the difference how much the scope cost?
$400 may be a lot of money to my friend.

Maybe it's you who should move on.

You keep responding and keeping the thread alive.

Joe

I posted twice and I am keeping it alive? Lol never said $400 was cheap either but in regards to the other scopes that have had this problem all the way up to hensoldts it is relatively inexpensive. Sorry no one is jumping on your bandwagon but its a simple fix. Fix it and go shoot and move on.

 

[Graham]

My first experience with a Vortex PST

And *news flash* I don't give a flying fuck whether you read my posts.

LOL: That makes it unanimous.

Rob, I'll say it: $400 is cheap.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

What a cluster fuck of a thread.

This is why you shouldn't recommend products that you don't have first hand experience with in the first place. If somebody were to tell me "so and so says its good" I wouldn't give it a second thought most likely.

 

[VJJPunisher]

What a cluster fuck of a thread.

Indeed. Problem is I don't understand why. So a guy posts his one experience with a product, which happens in this case to be a negative experience, so what, that happens hundreds of times a day on the hide, but this one turns into a clusterfuck.

why?

My opinion is the answer is because there are a whole lot of brand loyal members on here, call them "fanboys" if you wish. Add into the equation a whole lot of eliteism goes on here as well(just my opinion). So a guy has a negative experience with a beloved product, shares the experience here and he gets attacked for it, this is funny. A few need to reread what was initially posted.

$400 is cheap? again see my opinion on the eliteism that runs rampant, 400 bucks is a lot of damn money to some of us. Now maybe if your talking COMPARITIVELY speaking against some other brand scopes then ok I see the point.

red, I don't really agree with not providing recommendations without having first hand knowledge, hell what do you think 99% of us are on here for, to read others opinions and experiences with products to make better informed decisions, I think its silly to not relay that information to someone else. Does one only buy a certain model car if he knows someone who personnaly owns that specific model, or a guy he knows that seems to be well versed in cars in general and whats hot and whats not recommends it? Ive been recommended quite a few products from friends that don't own said products, they've just relayed that they have never heard much negative about it or "the guys on the hide rave on product such and such"

think I'm full of shit? look into any thread where a member is posting a negative experience with some of the beloved brands on here, 9 out of 10 the poster is rediculed and attacked and the trhead turns to shit, some of ya'll need to wake the fuck up and look in a mirror

 

[rideHPD]

These threads remind me of this: Almost All Pee - Video Clips - South Park Studios. It sounds like Scud came on here to mention an issue with a scope he thought was reasonable to expect not to have right out of the box. Rob obviously has a great wealth of knowledge, and having gone through lots of scopes in his time knows that this is something that comes with the territory. How many here knew that before? If you did, I'd venture that you know quite a bit as well, and have contributed to educating a lot of us on many different issues. If not, I imagine you're like a lot of us, as VJJ said, and come here to learn things you couldn't possibly think of, encounter, or have the experience to identify or correct it on your own. This isn't my forum, nor am I a mod (only gracious guest), but when someone starts pissing on a thread, everyone seems to join in, and it detracts from the information this site offers, as you have to wade through the piss. This is only my very insignificant opinion, but it seems like more of this and the site will be on the road to barfcom. Besides, even if they were trolling, would it affect anything? The OP didn't say anything directly negative about Vortex as a whole, only an issue he had, which is still only one issue with one scope. An educated buyer, which is whose purchase would be affected by reading said OP, would likely be able to see that, and in their research find many scopes from lots of brands have issues. If the piss weren't diluting this thread, they may come across Rob's post faster, and learn that this is an issue all scopes are affected by, and will use that information in their purchasing decision. I don't mean any of this in a malevolent way, just as an idea for constructive improvement of this forum. Rather that than: IT'S-A-DA-PEE! - Video Clips - South Park Studios

 

[Sinclair]

scudzuki. You blew it. You broke the unwritten rule on the Hide here. Only Leupold gets bashed here. Poeple here get butthurt over posts about their prefered brands. Sin.

 

[DeepEastKilla]

Not sure what to make of this thread, but I'll share my experience nonetheless.

Vortex Viper PST Issue - YouTube

It's a shame I had to use the warranty at all, but its good to know they will take care of you if anything goes south. That was a main consideration when purchasing the scope too.

Vortex Viper PST FFP Customer Service Scope Repair - YouTube