Re: Vortex Viper PST for law enforcement?
I'm not with any sort of agency, but I have had a good bit of trigger time behind a Nightforce 5.5-22X50 and have been trying to spend some quality time with my 6-24X50 PST. I'm not even going to get into glass quality, resolution etc. We known that the glass of the NF doesn't suck and that of the PST is very good, especially for the price point.
Still, I can make a few comments about other areas. First, I've gotta say that I'm the kind of person that just finds himself in out of the ordinary situations and, at least, make an attempt to try to be prepared for whatever it is that I might find myself in, however seldom these circumstances may occur.
When I first got my PST, I shot with it, like anyone else would. Then I got into really using it. Making adjustments and trying to mimick situations that I might find myself in. Based on my limited experience, I can make these comments.
The NF is very robust. Making adjustments with the knobs is very ergonomic, even with winter gloves on. The clicks are not fine, but are positive. What ever it is that they use for detents must be relatively large. When you go from one click to the next, you know that you've gone one click. It takes a purposeful manipulation of the knob to move it more than one click, as well. I also like the fact that when you dial in the magnification, the whole eye piece moves. Some don't like this because it makes the use of flip ups a bit inconvenient. Still, I find it useful for when adjusting the magnification, especially from a prone position. You just grab the eye piece and twist. What I did for a rear cap was to just purchase another one of the stock lens covers, cut the strap in the center and use zip ties to affix the strap to the body of my scope so that I can't loose the eye piece cover and I use a flip up for the front.
With the PST, I found that it was an overall nicely built scope, but...the knobs were a bit smaller with fine knurling that I found has the propensity to grab stuff like loose clothing or sweater type material, sleeves. The detents in the dials are also much finer. Going up 1moa in a hurry took really paying attention to what you were doing so that you wouldn't over shoot it. Dialing in the knobs kind of reminded me of the volume control that was on a stereo that I had years ago. They were very positive, but fine. Using heavy gloves made everything feel unsure. When trying to dial up a MOA real quick, I had to look at the knob to make sure that I didn't over shoot it. I also don't like the fast focus eye piece. I mean, it's fine for a range or hunting rifle, but I don't like the chance that it can be inadvertently adjusted and need readjusting. For me, focusing the reticle of the scope is a set it and forget it thing.
On my PST, the first time I sent it back, they gave me a new elevation knob because the fiber optic insert was off. On the new knob, it's still off. I mean, the very end of the insert does correspond with the "0" on the knob, but it doesn't lead into the center of the top of the knob. Not a big deal and don't know that it will ever matter, but it is there nonetheless. Another thing I found was that I can set the zero on the knob so that it lines up perfectly with the hash mark on the scope body, but when I dial up, by the time I get to "7" or so, the hash mark on the knob no longer lines up with the hash mark on the body of the scope. In use, I did a box test and all seemed fine, but when you get to the point where the marks don't line up any longer and you're in a hurry, you kind of have to ask yourself, "ok, did I go up 7 moa or 7.25 moa?", which kind of sucks.
These were just some of the observations that I made when working with the PST. Of course, being cursed, as I am, mine is making its second trip back to Vortex. When I get it back, I may be able to add more, but for the time being, it is being relegated to rimfire duty. I'm stick with Nightforce for my centerfire rifles. Right now, I just feel that there's less of a chance of finding myself SOL with the NF.
As I said, I am just cursed. My past experiences with Vortex have been very positive and I'm sure that the experience that I'm having with my PST is far from being the norm. If the negatives that I pointed out wouldn't bother you, the PST is a nice scope. I just don't think that it is as robust as the NSX, nor should it be at the price point.
As for the problems that I had with my PST, I'll see if they fix them this time.
