Talk me out of the Vortex Viper PST...

T

tobnpr

New member
Ready to pull the trigger for two of them for the boys' Xmas builds, one an AR-10, other a Rem 700 "Rem-age" conversion I'm going to do in .260.

Looking at the 6-24 x50, SFP (Not interested in an FFP optic).
Target turrets a must. Must be at least 20x on the top end, long-range rifles.

Don't seem to be any "deals" around, and can't find anyone discounting off the $750 ea. street price.

Anyone care to try to talk me out of them for something else?
 
As a fellow member of The Firing Line it is my duty to advise you to get those scopes, you will be happy you did:D:D
 
I doing have a PST, but I do have an HST MRAD on order.

The one nice thing about Vortex is there incredible warranty, they fix anything no questions asked and they fix it fast. I had my binos back the same week after dumping them 25' out of a treestand. No questions asked, that type of CS is what will keep me coming back.
 
Just bought a Trijicon 5X20X50 BAC Post with turrets and loving it. Granted I wanted a simplified reticle for hunting but for hunting this thing rocks. I was considering spending a lot more on a Ziess, S&B or Swaro but I'm glad I didn't, this scope does everything I want or need.
 
I got to shoot a Remington 700 in .308 Winchester that had a Viper 6x24x50 on it a couple months ago. I was very impressed by that scope. Clear, bright, easy to adjust, and considerably cheaper than my Swarovski. I did not think it was as bright or clear as my Swarovski but it was so close it was hard to tell sometimes.
 
I won't try to talk you out of a Vortex, but IMO a 6X24 will be overscopeing an AR. I have PST 6X24 on my Cooper MDL 22, 6.5x284, it is the FFP, zero stop version.

Optically it is the equal of any Leupold or Nikon I own, but has features you can't get from Nikon or Leupold. Leupold offers two FFP scopes, with less magnification, w/o zero stop, for at least twice the money.

I suspect that the PST, the high end Leupolds, and the Nikons, all use the same glass. At least my aging eyes can't see any difference in them. The features are what separates them.

If you just don't want the Viper, then check out the Sightron III. I'm told by some owners that they are high quality, rugged optics, but the versions with the highest magnification are not underpriced either.

The PST is not most suitable for the AR, because it is a 30mm scope, is larger and much heavier, too much magnification for shooting done by most ARs. The weight kind of defeats the purpose of an AR, which most users shoot high volume, generating more heat waves, which will be exaggerated at higher magnification. Also this scope may require high rings, altering your cheekweld. I have had the best luck with a moderate magnifying scope, 4-6x, fixed power. Like a Weaver K series or such.

There are many suitable choices but you will have a hard time find more features in a scope at its price.
 
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Steiner "Extreme Predator" 4.X16 is as good as any S/B or Swarovski at a price point of $800.00 +- and deals if you shop around. Excellent uncluttered BDC reticle useful windage hash marks. www.cameraland.com has about the best deals on optics I have seen,especially with their display/demo/open box scopes from a bunch of makers.I have bought 4 scopes from them n the past 4 mos. Steiner,Minox and Zeiss. Steiner is better glass at longer distance than the others for my eyes.
 
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Nope, I won't talk you out of it either! I'm pretty seriously considering the PST for my 260 build when I get back from this deployment.
 
I have the viper pst ffp 4-16x50 on a AR30 308. Great scope great value,great warranty. But like was said before i wouldnt mount it on an AR platform/ Note my AR is the armalite AR 30 bolt gun
 
I won't talk you out of a Vortex, I've been very satisfied with all of my Vortex Viper scopes. My largest Vortex Viper is a 6.5-20X44 and it has target turrets and side focus. It sits atop my LR .243 Winchester that I built, no fancy reticle just a Wide Plex. I'd like a Mil Dot or some sort of MRAD reticle but for the price I paid for it I can't complain. I picked it up for less than $300 open box special, CameralandNY has them on sale for $430 with the MIL Dot of Dead Hold BDC reticles.

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You should definitely not buy a Viper PST. You should definitely spend much more money to get the same features, just so you can brag about how much you spent on optics. Why spend $900 on a scope when you can have the same thing for $1500 or more? You need to forget about the excellent CS department at Vortex, too. In all honesty, you can't do better for the money than the PST line. I upgraded from a Viper to one of the FFP PST 6-24x50's a few months ago and I have been very pleased. My final two choices were a Nightforce NXS and the PST, and I just couldn't justify spending another $700 on the NF. My experiences with Vortex have been excellent and the CS is second to none.
 
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