Vortex Viper 4-12x40 Scope Review By Troy Adams

[rdsii64]

Back to the Vortex....Anyone have an opinion regarding the Viper series vs. Nikon Monarchs... in particular the Viper 4-12x40 PA vs. the Monarch 3-12x 42 SF?

Or Viper 6.5-20x44 PA vs the Monarch 5-20x44 SF?

Anyone have a feel of how the Viper PA, Viper PST, Viper HS, compare with the various lines of Monarchs?

I have the Viper 6.5-20x44 PA on my RRA. It is my opinion that money spend on vortex optics (the viper in particular) is money well spent. My only complaint ( and a minor one) is that cranked up to 20 power, the eye relief is kind of short. That is to be expected on a scope that cost less than 5 bills. The turrets are solid and accurate. the glass isn't the best but its much better than what I expected for a scope in this price range. Unless you need the the feature set of the PST line, (at twice the price) I think the viper is the best variable powered optic with a three digit price tag.

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

I topped a Bell and Carlson stocked Remington 700 SPS .204 with a Viper PST 4-14x44 in a DNZ low one piece mount. I love the fact that's it's got a playings card's clearance between objective bell and barrel. The problem is the darn near 90 degree bolt turn of the Remington puts the handle too close to the scope's large ocular end. I'm NOT going to a higher mount. I'll fork up the cash to get the stock bolt handle or a custom handle welded onto the bolt. That super low optic to bore centerline is too good to give up.

 

[375ruger]

This is a thread for discussion of the article, Vortex Viper 4-12x40 Scope Review , By Troy Adams. Here you can ask questions or make comments about the article.

Have a 3x9 vortex on my 375,very good optics-adj work when needed/has been thru alot of recoils/weather & travels hard to beat for the $gun)

 

[Ag4x4]

I own a 6.5-20x50 viper vortex. I really liked the optics (other than at full power), but seemed clear and bright. Problem, I have now had two of them that won't hold zero( 8 months apart). Me and the gun smith tried everything to get good grouping with my 26" barreled AR-15 (5-6" at 100 yds)...... but everything seemed to fail. SO, two days ago we threw a Nikon Monarch on, (for testing) and now I have 1/2 " grouping at 100 yds, and 1 - 1 1/4 at 200 yds.

Customer service from them was great, exchanged the scope with very few questions ...... but I think they may have some quality control issues.

Until recently, I had a Vortex Viper HS LR 6-24x50 FFP scope on my Weatherby Mark V .300 Mag. Long story short, the scope had a major malfunction while afield and cost me an opportunity at a Large Bull Elk. The scope cross hairs would rotate when the magnification was increased or decreased and the FFP / magnification failed to adjust as well. According to Vortex Customer Service, "this is not a durability issue but a major manufacturing defect..."

Vortex is taking care of the issue by sending me a new scope however, the "VIP Warranty" did me no good when the scope failed while on an expensive, out-of-state hunt... I don't mean to come off as bashing the company. I know they have a good reputation which is why I purchased a Vortex scope. I agree with the quoted post that it seems they have some underlying Quality Control Issues!!

I will be selling the replacement scope and purchasing a Leupold or possibly the NF SHV unit.

I was until recently, a very big fan of Vortex and their optics. However, after this one had a major malfunction while on a hunt, I won't be putting a Vortex scope BACK on anything I own....

Hope this info helps inform anyone considering a Vortex optic.

Good luck

 

[Grumpy Leadslinger]

I've owned and used a Vortex 10-50 Diamondback Binos, and a Strikefire Red Dot Sight without any complaints. However, I just purchased a 6-18 x 44mm Vortex Crossfire II w/Dead Hold BDC on my Browning A-Bolt .300 Win Mag. I've never used a scope with so many options, i.e. magnification, BDC and range slection; a handful to get dialed in while hunting on the move for quick shots. It took 40 rounds and two days to get it zeroed at 200 yrds, and I'm not convinced it remained in zero. I hunted caribou with it successfully last month, but was so close to the animal that the scope was not much help. Thanks for the heads up, I'll go spend some more time on the range to verify.

 

[miket156]

I had heard about Vortex scopes from other Forums and generally the reviews were positive, with some exceptions. A few people that said they had problems or defects with their Vortex scopes and were very dissatisfied with Vortex customer service. In both cases they said that Vortex tried to blame them for the problems with their scopes. In one case a new Vortex owner said that the glass was blurred no matter what distance he tried to focus. He did not get a satisfactory response from Vortex customer service, no offer for him to send it back to have them check it out. Warranty is something that we may never have to use. However, I like Leupold's lifetime warranty, and it applies to their Redfield budget scopes too. So, I decided to stick with Leupold and buy a scope I could afford within their product line.

 

[Kurt]

I had heard about Vortex scopes from other Forums and generally the reviews were positive, with some exceptions. A few people that said they had problems or defects with their Vortex scopes and were very dissatisfied with Vortex customer service. In both cases they said that Vortex tried to blame them for the problems with their scopes. In one case a new Vortex owner said that the glass was blurred no matter what distance he tried to focus. He did not get a satisfactory response from Vortex customer service, no offer for him to send it back to have them check it out. Warranty is something that we may never have to use. However, I like Leupold's lifetime warranty, and it applies to their Redfield budget scopes too. So, I decided to stick with Leupold and buy a scope I could afford within their product line.

Bad customer service first I have heard that. I will throw the bs flag on your fictional stories.

 

[miket156]

Kurt:

I had considered a Vortex Scope, but read about the poor customer service on one of my favorite Forums. Why would I make up a story? For what purpose? You can call it BS if you like, but that doesn't speak well of a website that has members that call other people liars.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/optics-discussion-forum/175141-vortex-optics.html

Bad marks about Vortex CS starting with the first post in this thread. There were others that were OK with their Vortex scopes, but there are more negative comments. Read the thread and then call me a liar.


Mike T

 

[ohiohunter]

The thing w/ vortex's CS is you don't even have to call them in the first place. Just print out the from and fill it out box the optic up and send it in. How is someone on the phone going to fix your scope?

I've heard nothing but good things about their CS. Until I talk directly to someone who can give me specific negative details regarding vortex Cs I'm gonna stand on the side that says they are GTG. You can literally slam your scope on the ground and send it back, how is that bad??

 

[miket156]

I Posted the Link to the thread in Marlinowners.com. There are Posts that addressed Vortex Customer Service issues in that thread. I own several Leupold scopes and I probably won't have to ever call them either. My point is that when the people that DID call spoke to people at Vortex, they tried to blame the end use for their problem. Finger pointing and blaming others is not the way to solve problems.


Mike T.

 

[Swamplord]

The Redfield budget scopes may sound like a great deal at below $200 but unless you are hunting in dry desert conditions it's a poor choice for a big game hunting optic, I had a Redfield Revolution 3-9x on my sons Tikka T3 300 WSM that was dark during peak evening and morning hours then fogged up when it started raining ...... They are no where near the same quality of the original Redfield Tracker scopes of the late 80's, still have one in 2-7x that's all beat up and still clear as a bell !

My buddies 11 yr old boy drew a sheep tag this year and he bought him a Ruger American in 7mm-08 and we had my smith machine a brake onto the end of the barrel to help the kid practice and train up for the hunt .... He asked me about a scope and I told him to mount the new Bushnell Elite 4200 I sold him some time back, instead he bought the 3-9x Redfield Revolution because of the low price ...
All was well on the range during the summer but up in the Mts in sheep country the scope took a dump and started fogging up when it was needed most , it almost ruined the hunt after months of planning numerous days of climbing and camping on the side of the mountain ..... the kid got his sheep in the end but it was a lesson well learned ........ Now of course the rifle has the Bushnell Elite 4200 on it and I guarantee he won't have any problems with it ...

Now back to the Vortex ...... I do not have any Diamondbacks but have 2 PST's and one HS-T ... The 2.5-10x PST sits ontop my Win 70 223 WSSM and I've hunted for lynx and wolverine in Dec - Jan with it in -20 -50 F temps and high elevations near Thompson Pass in the Tsaina River drainage area , never had any problems with fogging, tracking or any other issues, shot many ptarmigan from 10 - 100 yards and point of impact didn't change from extreme weather conditions ......

My 15 yr old daughter drew a tag for a winter (Nov Dec) moose hunt and her rifle will have the Vortex 4-16x44 HS-T on it, I simply do not trust the Redfield and have relegated it to Ruger 10/22 plinking duties in the sandpit .......

 

[miket156]

Swamplord:

Great information, thanks for your Insight. Yep, the Redfield is a budget scope. My goal was to get even a budget scope on my Zastava made Remington 798 so I could fire it at the Range. That rifle does not have iron sights. I have a Winchester Model 70 Classic made at the Winchester factory in 2001 that has a Leupold VX-3 4.5 - 16 with adj objective and parallax capability, chambered in 300 WSM. It has a stainless steel barrel and a composite stock. I bought that for winter weather hunting, it is sighted in and ready to go.

The Zastava was sitting there in the gun safe and better the Redfield scope for now, and when I get back to work, I can consider a better quality scope for that Rifle if I decide to use it for hunting. I have more rifles than I have scopes so some scopes can be put on other rifles.

I was not aware of the problem with moisture getting into the Redfield and fogging up. I understand it is made by Leupold and it comes with a their Life-time warranty. Now, a warranty doesn't do any good while on a hunting trip if you can't use it, Experience is a great teacher, thanks!


Cheers!


Mike T.

 

[Raven23TST]

Troy,

Have you compared the glass quality on the Viper to the Razor LH? Thanks for any info you can give

 

[Kurt]

The razor lh is a big step up form the viper