Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Opinions on Vortex Viper?

Posting for a friend that wants input. Personally my choice from Vortex must have razor stamped on it. That said what have been your experiences as far as reliability/RTZ and tracking goes?

TIA

The 2 Vipers I've owned were crap in both respects. One wouldn't hold zero so it was returned and replaced , then sold the 2nd one before ever mounting. 2nd was a hst it didn't track at all. Sent it down the road as well.

Mine has been fine nothing special optically but the 22-259 it’s on shoots tiny little groups. Son in law more recent model holding up well on his 300 Weatherby.

JUNK

I had 2 viper samples and both had right reticle travel when dialed for elevation. Not a lot but still there. Probably not enough for most to notice. RTZ isn’t a problem I see. But my testing doesn’t include recoil until it’s mounted and fired. The viper scopes are phillipene made. I prefer Japan built for dialing or US built nightforce

I will pass this on

Fotis,

I don't particularly care to get into the brand bashing but I do not understand the hype around this line.

In the past two years, I've sorted out rifles for two friends-of-friends that had burned through a ridiculous amount of ammo trying to get their rifles sighted in and were fit to be tied.
In both cases, each young hunter was convinced the rifle was to blame and I assured each that likely wasn't the case.

Each had a Vortex Viper on it - both seemingly far too much magnification/size for the rifles they sat above (Browning Micro in 7-08 and Ruger American in 6.5 Creed) - I digress.
I checked that rings/bases weren't the issue and because I had loads worked up for my own rifles in each chambering, I used my own stuff in the rifles.

I couldn't get either to track when trying to get them zeroed - it was downright laughable. In both instances, I mounted a spare 4-12 VXII and proceeded to shoot MOA groups with zero effort.

"But I spent good money on the scope" was the theme for each. IMO, they spent good money on marketing, not a product.

I have friends who won't go near a Vortex anything , and others that have 7 or 8 and love them. Three people I know had issues and had their scopes replaced ASAP.
I have also seen them shoot well out to 1,000.
Personally, I have never shot a Vortex scoped rifle lot, but I have shot them.
Cat

WOW, never heard of this chambering !!!!!!! what kind of rifle ????????

Agreed. When the largest reason someone should buy your stuff is a "replacement warrantee" that everyone seems to NEED - kinda the clue you're looking for.

The BEST warrantee is the one that's never used.

Bought one on closeout really cheap. It did what it was supposed to do dialing it in. Optically it was unimpressive. So much so that I sold it.

But, but, they're Made in Wisconsin ! (This coming from a Wisconsinite . . . . )

Know more than a handful of guys that refer to the as Vortex Wipers.

I believe in buying from the manufacturer.

I've yet to come across someone locally - be it in a store, gun club, party etc., that when I ask about "why Vortex", the answer isn't "hey, if something happens to it, they replace it".

I'm aware they offer some pretty good products on a couple of levels - and folks use (and like) them because of that. But the people that lead with the "replacement benefit" rationale generally know enough about optics and shooting to fit in a 22LR case. The latter makes up the majority in our neck of the woods.

Hammer meet nail.

I have two 6.5-20s glass is worse than a low end Weaver, much worse, I think it is about the worst image of all my scopes including some 50+ years old. I use one for working up loads and the other for Egg Shoots the dot reticle is perfect for laying in the bottom of the egg at 150.

I would never purchase a Vortex - not worth the gamble.

If I was given a Vortex, I'd sell it.

I have 3 Vortex PST's, 1x6 , 2x10 and 4x16.

The 4x16 is ~10 years old, use it on a 7.7 twist 243 win now, most of its life was spent on a 300wm.

It does hold zero and does track well as do the other two.

Not stuck on Vortex at all as I have Leupolds, Sightrons and SWFA.

I have had good performance from the PST's

interesting, I didn't realize Vortex had such mixed reviews.

I have a crossfire on one of my AR's. I don't have any reason to complain and the price was right.

I have one Vortex scope,..their 1X muzzleloader scope that has since been discontinued. I have it on a Kel-Tec SU16. It's very clear, had good eye relief and I like its fast focus feature.

I can't use red dot sights (my eyes don't like them) so I keep low power scopes on some rifles because of their quick target acquisition ability.

I like the scope just fine for the purpose intended. I especially like the fact that I paid $50 for it new when Vortex decided to discontinue them,....probably because there wasn't enough demand for scopes on muzzleloaders. Some states have goofy laws that won't allow magnified scopes to be used on muzzleloaders while deer hunting, so Vortex made a non magnified scope to accommodate that requirement. It didn't sell, so they blew them out the door at giveaway prices.

Very decent $50 rifle scope.