Re: Vortex Viper HS 5-15x44 Mil-Dot
I decided to go out and do a very quick side-by-side comparison between my Bushnell Elite 4200 Tactical 6-24x50 FFP and my Vortex Viper HS 5-15x44. I got the Viper on sale from Midway for $400 early last month and I got the Elite 4200 Tactical used on the Hide for about $630.
The Savages each scope resides on; 12FV .223 for the Vortex (closest) and 10FP .260 for the Bushnell.
Now for crappy through-the-scope pictures!
Here is the Viper 5-15 on 6x power (for comparison with the Bushnell). Note one picture is "brighter" than the other; that's due to my Rebel XT's settings, not a result of the scope itself.
Now for the Bushnell 4200 6-24x50 @ 6x power:
As others have mentioned, the Viper HS eyebox is HUGE...especially compared to the Bushnell 4200. Even at 6x power getting these through-the-scope pictures to be halfway decent were difficult enough as it was, but the Bushnell was very finicky and I had a half-dozen pictures that looked good when I pressed the shutter button but the camera shifted a teensy bit causing half the view to be obstructed.
With both scopes set at 15x, the eyebox issue was even worse.
Looking through both scopes at 15x power at the same playhouse this morning, the Bushnell seemed ever-so-slightly clearer and brighter than the Vortex. Might be the slightly larger objective of the Bushnell, I'm not sure. Roll both scopes down to about 12x, and I couldn't discern any difference whatsoever.
Of course, upthread I said I thought the Vortex was very similar if not a touch better than the Bushnell after shooting both rifles...so WTF do I know? To my very much non-discerning eye, the optical quality is very, very similar.
While I don't have any complaints about the Bushnell's turrets, I prefer the feel of the Vortex turrets (zero stop is nice too, but I've yet to use it).
The Vortex absolutely kicks the Bushnell's ass when it comes to elevation. The Vortex is on a 20MOA Weaver base and I've got 16.0mil up from a 100m zero with 75gr HPBT handloads, while the Bushnell is on a 25MOA EGW base and has 8.0mil up from a 100m zero with 140gr A-Max handloads, which gets me to about 1000yd and beyond if I use 130gr VLDs.
Unless one needs greater than 15x magnification, illumination or FFP I find this Vortex scope to be a fantastic value.