Viper pst2 3-15 as a starter scope?

[GreenMushroom]

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

FREE SHIPPING on Vortex Viper PST 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

www.eurooptic.com

So I've been thinking of getting into the ffp longer range shooting thing and these popped up on europtic. I only shoot 5.56 so the 15x should be plenty. Little large and heavy but would mostly be off a bipod. According to the specs it has a huge field of view. I hate scopes with finicky eyeboxes and was wondering how this one is. Also how's the glass? Will it fill me with shame and self loathing? For reference my current glass is accupoint 1-6, bushy smrs 1-6.5, razor lht 3-15-50, Swaro 10x slc, and kowa 553.

 

[chutinlead]

It is a fine scope. That being said, I just sold mine. It was my first move up from a diamondback tactical 4-16 and it was way better than that. The eyebox is pretty forgiving and it is the smallest of the longer range precision vortex optics. Mine lived on my AR-15, my 6.5CM, then my hunting rifle, then my rimfire. It worked fine on each of them, but lacked some feature I wanted on that specific rifle.

I wouldn't pay retail for it since it is a vortex and their warranty has you covered even if you buy a used lemon. They go for somewhere around $600 in the PX and you might even get rings or caps with it at that price.

Edit: I thought I saw $799. For $599 that isn't a bad buy at all

If you aren't committed to buying Vortex you might look at some of the Athlon Scopes. The Ares ETR 3-18 looks like it ticks most of the same boxes as the 3-15PST with some added value features.

 

[Nikon147]

Take a look at the Bushnell LRTS...look used they come up fairly often.

I was able to grab one from Cameraland when they had them in stock and it's perfect for 556, and super light.

It's a little pricier than the Vortex, but it's Japanese Glass and a huge step up in quality.

 

[supercorndogs]

Its pretty nice for the money. I agree the LRTS is a significant step up, having just been messing around with the two. I decided to sell them both, but if I was keeping one it would have been the LRTS.

 

[bigdaddydmd]

It is a great starting scope. The 3-15 works well and I have made hits out to 1525 yds in local PRS comps with it. I want to step up to the alpha level glass scopes now. there is some truth in the adage of buy once, cry once, but as a starter scope you could do much worse. Especially since Euro optic is blowing out the older EBR-2d reticle version in MOA and MRAD for $600. I happen to prefer that reticle to the EBR-7 because of the .5mil hashmarks on the horizontal compared to the 0.2mil hashmarks on the EBR-7 which seems cluttered to me. The advantage of the EBR-7 is it has an open cross with dot and the entire tree is illuminated, but if those aren't necessary to you then the that $600 price will be very hard to beat.

 

[GreenMushroom]

I've done quite a bit of research over the last month and have pretty much settled on the burris xtr2 3.3-18 I'm just not sure how much use the scope will get or if I'll get bored with it so I'm hesitant to throw down the $. Seems like the pst2 would be a low risk way of finding out how far I wanna go with this. If I enjoy it I'll definitely get something better and the pst could be sold off to friends/family at a good price.

 

[chutinlead]

I've done quite a bit of research over the last month and have pretty much settled on the burris xtr2 3.3-18 I'm just not sure how much use the scope will get or if I'll get bored with it so I'm hesitant to throw down the $. Seems like the pst2 would be a low risk way of finding out how far I wanna go with this. If I enjoy it I'll definitely get something better and the pst could be sold off to friends/family at a good price.

I doubt you would have any problem selling it for what you got in it. That is unless vortex has a gen 3 PST around the corner that would bump these down a little.

 

[st1650]

I'd get the bushnell match pro 6-24 before a PST gen 2 3-15

 

[beetroot]

Eyebox, glass and FOV are great on the PST G2. I have a 3-15 and really like it, great multipurpose mag range, a great choice for a 5.56.

For $599 I don't think you can do much better.

 

[st1650]

Eyebox, glass and FOV are great on the PST G2. I have a 3-15 and really like it, great multipurpose mag range, a great choice for a 5.56.

For $599 I don't think you can do much better.

They don’t have the greatest reputation for their tracking. I’ve always been a big fan of the Razor but I always had issues with PSTs and know a few shooters that did as well.

 

[GreenMushroom]

Ordered the pst. I'm not all that concerned with tracking as long as it holds zero. I don't think I'll be doing much dialing. Ballistic calculator on phone shows reticle to be good out past 800 yds and were I live it will be tuff to find someplace to shoot that far.

Its going on a fun rifle I built. Heavy rec type with a big break, heavy buffer and hiperfire trigger on an atlas bipod. I've had an accupoint 1-6 on it so far and its surprisingly accurate rapid firing. I'll probably dial back the mag some on the pst to maintain a good eyebox and field of view. Depends on what power the reticle becomes usable. At least on the accupoint i like the mid magnification. It's a great on 3x but the eyebox tightens a lot on 6x. I'd always figured I'd use my scopes on min or max mag but this has taught me better.

 

[beetroot]

They don’t have the greatest reputation for their tracking. I’ve always been a big fan of the Razor but I always had issues with PSTs and know a few shooters that did as well.

I've had two PST G2s and a mate has one and all have tracked fine.
My 3-15 has done a lot of dialing on my 22lr and has held up great.

The Gen 1 PST has a worse record for tracking than what the Gen 2 does, not to say the Gen 2 has been faultless but definitely more reliable than the Gen 1.

 

[Birddog6424]

I've had two PST G2s and a mate has one and all have tracked fine.
My 3-15 has done a lot of dialing on my 22lr and has held up great.

The Gen 1 PST has a worse record for tracking than what the Gen 2 does, not to say the Gen 2 has been faultless but definitely more reliable than the Gen 1.

If I recall, Frank Galli's thread on the results of his optics tracking tests shows 10 Vortex Gen II PSTs being tested. 6 of them failed to track properly to greater or lesser degrees.

60% is a horrific failure rate. I'm surprised more people aren't aware of this or take it into account when considering this optic.

 

[smoothy8500]

If I recall, Frank Galli's thread on the results of his optics tracking tests shows 10 Vortex Gen II PSTs being tested. 6 of them failed...

Is that the tracking test from a class a few months back? Recollection and memory are always suspect unless verified....Because nine PST II tested scored from 97.7 to a majority at 100%

Rifle Scopes - 150 Scopes tested, Results Posted !

In the Field Scope Tracking Test As many shooters have read in the Sniper’s Hide Forum, or have heard on the Everyday Sniper Podcast, during our precision rifle classes we removed and test scopes for tracking. The genesis behind this was twofold, first, we used to only accomplish this in our...

www.snipershide.com

 

[beetroot]

Is that the tracking test from a class a few months back? Recollection and memory are always suspect unless verified....Because nine PST II tested scored from 97.7 to a majority at 100%

Rifle Scopes - 150 Scopes tested, Results Posted !

In the Field Scope Tracking Test As many shooters have read in the Sniper’s Hide Forum, or have heard on the Everyday Sniper Podcast, during our precision rifle classes we removed and test scopes for tracking. The genesis behind this was twofold, first, we used to only accomplish this in our...

www.snipershide.com

Looks like all but 1 of the 7 were within 2% of perfect which is pretty good and if it's reputable can be compensated for.

A little worse than average of the scopes in that test but it costs considerably less than most scopes in that test, for $600 I still don't think you can do much better than the 3-15 PST from Eurooptic.

 

[pineoak]

these are new inventory

great for .223

there is better glass but not at $600 new

used there are lots of deals

 

[Lone star Shooter]

I have that scope on a CZ455 .22LR used for NRL and PRS. My range is < 250 yds. I am satisfied with the PST gen 2. It is an improvement over gen 1. I feel that the PST gen 2 is a great value for the money.

 

[GreenMushroom]

Scope showed up today. Initial impressions are good. Eyebox and fov are very nice. Glass is good. I'd say just a bit below my razor lht. Oddly it seems to have 2-3x more magnification than the lht even though they are both 15x scopes. On max mag the eyebox is noticeably better on the pst. They're both very good on 3x. Reticle is useable at 8x in a pinch and 10x for sure.

Won't have a chance to mount it and shoot for a couple weeks so will get a better comparison then.

 

[sheepdog697]

These are very solid for the price point.