Rifle Scopes Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

[rkgsmith]

About a year ago I had a chance to see the Vortex series scopes on display at the FN/Leupold Long Range Precision Rifle Match held at Ft. Meade. I decided to get a PST based on that and from discussions on the Hide. I had intended on using it on a personal gun, not on my dept. TRG.

Fast forward to the first week of May 2011 when my PST 6-24 FFP w/ EBR-1 MRAD arrived. I had been practicing for the comp already but decided with 4 weeks to go to switch from my MK4 to the PST. I planned on giving it a week, if it didn't pan out, I would go back to the MK4.

First impressions of the scope were good, and I liked the reticle, mainly because it was heavier and appeared darker than my MK4. I was concerned about the turrets because they were positive, but very easy to click. However it never was a problem.

First shot for zero was 4.5 mils high, I corrected 4.5 mils, and the next shot went POA/POI. I was liking the matching reticle/turret already. Over the next 4 weeks I put about 572 rounds downrange and the scoped performed without a hitch. No loss of zero from either shooting or bouncing around on 3 mile runs with the rifle. Everything I dialed was spot on from my data book for the range I was shooting. I never babied the gun or the scope and banged that thing off barricades, and snapped the bipods up and down more times than I can count. But it always came back to zero.

There was not turning back now and at 8am on June 6th I was on the line at Ft. Meade for the Adcor/Beretta Long Range Precision Competition.
I'm happy to say there was no change in the scope while under match conditions and another 102 rounds downrange. I'll admit I was a little leary about the scope at first, but Scott at Libery Optics assured me it would be durable enough and he was right.

In a nutshell I'm plenty satisfied in the PST and would recommend it. Get it from Scott at Liberty Optics. I waited a bit, but the price was worth the wait.

 

[leadbullet]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

cool review, thanx for the range report, I am sure lots of the guys waiting will feel Better now.

 

[Nate O.]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

that's what i was lookin for. thanks

 

[Scott_at_Vortex]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

Glad to hear it worked out well for you. I really wish I could of made it out to Meade again this year for the comp, but I already had a few other things scheduled in the same time frame. Feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions. Hope the match went well.

Scott

 

[Scott_at_Vortex]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

Glad to hear it worked out well for you. I really wish I could of made it out to Meade again this year for the comp, but I already had a few other things scheduled in the same time frame. Feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions. Hope the match went well.

Scott

 

[Topstrap]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

This wasn't at an official match but is the same targets we shoot at for the match. Thought this looks like a good thread to add our comments on our PST 4-16 FFP scopes. We did have to send them both back for minor paint flecks and one with a rotated reticle. Before anyone thinks we are complaining about these scopes that is not true. As some of you may know we shoot these on our Long Range Pistols (XP-100s in 260) at our local 1000 yard matches. They are lightweight and generate quite a bit of torque and sharp recoil even though they don't appear to move much when firing.

Vortex added extra adhesive to try and solve the rotating reticle problem which so far is working great and many thanks for them in trying to help fix the problem rather than say we were abusing them and don't use them on these guns or they will void any warranty work in the future.

We don't run and roll down hills, dive under trees, slam the gun between tree limbs, crawl thru sand piles or toss the guns into the back of a moving truck so we can't share how they will hold up under those conditions but I do think our lil guns give them a pretty good test compared to most rifles due to the different recoil they generate.

After mounting and checking the tracking thru 48moa of verticle travel and getting our 200 yard zero we headed to Rayners to check settings at actual distances. To make a long story short I sure wish it had been match day instead of a play day. Starting at 234 yards and working our way thru 300, 375, 400, 500, 580, 600, 630, 650, 690 and 775 yards we had first round hits with some even on the smaller higher value targets. It was right on with our previous settings and JBM charts.

Next we tried experimenting with cranking down different amounts of moa and then using the hash marks in the reticle to sight on. Each was dead on which really amazed us since we've never had that luxury before in our pistol scopes we used to use. If we cranked down 4moa and used the 2nd hash mark down it was perfect, if we cranked 10moa the 5th mark was also dead on. My son likes to crank wind, I prefer to hold off using the hash marks. Again if he used 1 1/2moa on the turret and I used 1 1/2 on a hash mark again it was dead on.

One other thing I tried at the 900 yard line was experimenting with my anti-cant bubble mounted on top of my scope. I made sure of my hits on a 8" x 12" plate then tilted the gun so the right side of the bubble was just touching the right line. It just missed the bottom left corner of the plate, I then tilted it so the left side of the bubble was just touching the left line and the bullet just missed the bottom right corner of the target. The tilt was so small that none of us could see it by looking thru the scope and crosshairs. It probably would not have been enough to miss a larger IPSC or 15" circle but a shooter going for higher point value targets would have missed it. Just thought I'd add this to things we experimented with and found it interesting.

Yes we did have a couple problems with our scopes but it was taken care of and they didn't try to get out of any warranty work even after they saw what we are using them on. Time will tell if the reticle stays in place after a few matches. We've not had the opportunity to try any of the higher end rifle scopes on these guns but I really wonder how they would hold up. If they want to send along a couple we'll sure give them a test.

Thumbs up to Vortex so far, they seem to be in the limelight which may be good or bad due to this new scope challenging higher end scopes for a very reasonable price.

We got lucky to have a very calm day with wind in the 0 to 4 mph which let us really get a chance to check the scopes on our guns. I'm really looking forward to the next few matches to see how they hold up. Time will tell on how the PST will hold up to heavy usage but as of now absolutely no complaints.

Topstrap

 

[tickled pink]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

Results of my first 1,000 yd. Benchrest club competition.
This was the very first time I had ever shot at a paper target at 1,000 yds. The mirage was so bad that I had to change my magnification from 24x to 12x so I could "kinda" see the target.

We had 2 relays. At the beginning of the first we were allowed 3 sighter shots. Then we had a 20 minute time limit to shoot a 10 shot string to be recorded for group size and score. The second relay was no sighters just 20 minutes to shoot our second 10 shot string for group size and score.

My first ever 3 sighters centered just outside the ten ring at 4 o'clock and only 4" across. I moved my 6-24x50mm FFP MOA Vortex PST turrets one click left and one click up. When the target was scored I had a 91-1x with a 10 shot group that measured 14+1/8".

The wind changed for my second 10 shot string and I read it backwards. The group went higher. It scored 82 and the group measured 17+5/8".

Well in benchrest class & overall I came in second with a 173-1x The first place was 174-1x and he had smallest group of 9+3/8".

I'm shooting my 6mm Norma BR. with 105 gr. Berger VLDs. Barrel is a Brux 1 in 8" twist.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=617537&highlight=

40gt

 

[tickled pink]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

2 nd. 1000 yd. competition incase you might be interested.

Shooting my 6mm Norma BR. with 105 gr. Berger VLDs with my 6-24x50mm PST FFP MOA scope on top.

Got back from our club 1,000 yd. comp. It was only 3 strings of 5 shots for score & group size.The big guns came out today and wooped my butt.

First relay I shot a 46-0x with a 11+1/4" group.

Second relay I shot a 42-0x with a 8+1/8" group.

Third relay I shot a 44-0x with a 10+3/16" group

The winning group was 5+1/4", but one of the other guys had all of his 3 groups with 4 out of 5 shots around 2". The killer for him is that he had 1 flier in each which put his total sizes of about 6" each.

gt40

 

[Matt_3479]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

rkgsmith and topstrap.

I was curious on what your thoughts were on the glass quality. Im looking into getting the 4-16x50mm to be topped on my 300. wsm for targets between 100-600 yards as well as hunting Elk, moose, caribou, black bear and deer. what are your thoughts on the glass and how does it compare to your other scopes?

 

[Topstrap]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

I'm not sure I can really help much on that. Compared to what we were using last year this is light years better than even the best pistol scope we tried. I have an older Leupold VX-III 6.5-20 and I'd say it's as good as it.

For what we are using them for I find it works very well. I've looked thru a couple of NightForce and a March and yes they are probably clearer but for what they cost I wouldn't pay or need that type of scope. As for brightness we have an 8" circle in the woods at 1000 yards painted red and it don't really matter what we've looked at it with it's hard to see when the shadows are on it.

Hopefully others with a good selection of higher end scopes will jump in and give a more informed opinion on comparing the optic qualities. In all of the scopes we've looked at when you crank the power up they all get darker no matter if it was one of our cheap pistol scopes or the March a buddy just bought.

The Vortex has been compared to everything made so I'm sure one of the existing threads will have a lot of opinions on optic quality and comparisons. If you were near us we'd be glad to let you look thru ours and shoot them to get a first hand opinion for yourself.

Topstrap

 

[rkgsmith]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

Id second that. My regular scope is a MK4 4.5x14 and I actually thought the glass was slightly better. Maybe because the cross hairs looked thicker and darker to me.

 

[LibertyOptics]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

rkgsmith,

Thanks for this post! I'm glad the PST did the job you paid for it to do. Field data from professionals like yourself is invaluable in building confidence in a product. Thanks for putting the PST to the test, and for your recommendations.

Scott

 

[clj94104]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rkgsmith</div><div class="ubbcode-body">About a year ago I had a chance to see the Vortex series scopes on display at the FN/Leupold Long Range Precision Rifle Match held at Ft. Meade. I decided to get a PST based on that and from discussions on the Hide. I had intended on using it on a personal gun, not on my dept. TRG.

Fast forward to the first week of May 2011 when my PST 6-24 FFP w/ EBR-1 MRAD arrived. I had been practicing for the comp already but decided with 4 weeks to go to switch from my MK4 to the PST. I planned on giving it a week, if it didn't pan out, I would go back to the MK4.

First impressions of the scope were good, and I liked the reticle, mainly because it was heavier and appeared darker than my MK4. I was concerned about the turrets because they were positive, but very easy to click. However it never was a problem.

First shot for zero was 4.5 mils high, I corrected 4.5 mils, and the next shot went POA/POI. I was liking the matching reticle/turret already. Over the next 4 weeks I put about 572 rounds downrange and the scoped performed without a hitch. No loss of zero from either shooting or bouncing around on 3 mile runs with the rifle. Everything I dialed was spot on from my data book for the range I was shooting. I never babied the gun or the scope and banged that thing off barricades, and snapped the bipods up and down more times than I can count. But it always came back to zero.

There was not turning back now and at 8am on June 6th I was on the line at Ft. Meade for the Adcor/Beretta Long Range Precision Competition.
I'm happy to say there was no change in the scope while under match conditions and another 102 rounds downrange. I'll admit I was a little leary about the scope at first, but Scott at Libery Optics assured me it would be durable enough and he was right.

In a nutshell I'm plenty satisfied in the PST and would recommend it. Get it from Scott at Liberty Optics. I waited a bit, but the price was worth the wait. </div></div>

In a few months I will be a happy owner of a Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP as well. Given the choice, if the Leupold mil discount was available to you, would you choose the Mk4 6.5-20x50 or Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP?

 

[rkgsmith]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

Hands down I'd take the Vortex. I took my Leupy off of my duty rifle for the match. I don't want to put it back on, but what;s mine is mine if you get my drift.

 

[Saiga76]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: clj94104</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rkgsmith</div><div class="ubbcode-body">About a year ago I had a chance to see the Vortex series scopes on display at the FN/Leupold Long Range Precision Rifle Match held at Ft. Meade. I decided to get a PST based on that and from discussions on the Hide. I had intended on using it on a personal gun, not on my dept. TRG.

Fast forward to the first week of May 2011 when my PST 6-24 FFP w/ EBR-1 MRAD arrived. I had been practicing for the comp already but decided with 4 weeks to go to switch from my MK4 to the PST. I planned on giving it a week, if it didn't pan out, I would go back to the MK4.

First impressions of the scope were good, and I liked the reticle, mainly because it was heavier and appeared darker than my MK4. I was concerned about the turrets because they were positive, but very easy to click. However it never was a problem.

First shot for zero was 4.5 mils high, I corrected 4.5 mils, and the next shot went POA/POI. I was liking the matching reticle/turret already. Over the next 4 weeks I put about 572 rounds downrange and the scoped performed without a hitch. No loss of zero from either shooting or bouncing around on 3 mile runs with the rifle. Everything I dialed was spot on from my data book for the range I was shooting. I never babied the gun or the scope and banged that thing off barricades, and snapped the bipods up and down more times than I can count. But it always came back to zero.

There was not turning back now and at 8am on June 6th I was on the line at Ft. Meade for the Adcor/Beretta Long Range Precision Competition.
I'm happy to say there was no change in the scope while under match conditions and another 102 rounds downrange. I'll admit I was a little leary about the scope at first, but Scott at Libery Optics assured me it would be durable enough and he was right.

In a nutshell I'm plenty satisfied in the PST and would recommend it. Get it from Scott at Liberty Optics. I waited a bit, but the price was worth the wait. </div></div>

In a few months I will be a happy owner of a Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP as well. Given the choice, if the Leupold mil discount was available to you, would you choose the Mk4 6.5-20x50 or Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP? </div></div>

I ordered this scope from Mason at CS Tactical this last week. This is just more positive feedback on the PST series that I love to hear. Now to play the waiting game till it arrives.

 

[rtimfox]

Re: Vortex PST - Under Match Conditions

I just got my Vortex Viper PST SFP 6-24x50 last week and its pretty sweet so far. I've looked through a couple different scopes and besides the Nightforce there's no comparison especially for the money. It's gonna make for some tough competition. I bought it from Euro Optic they were great to deal with. When I ordered it I was told it would arrive in two days, it was at my door the next day. They don't mess around. If anyone is looking for a place to buy optics, you should check out Euro Optics.