Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP

[Westcliffe01]

So I am thinking of returning my Minox riflescope since I think it is defective. I bought it from our board advertiser from NY as an "open box" special "which had not been mounted" and it appears that there is something optically out of order since it produces color fringes around high contrast subjects. It just about gave me a headache at the range trying to sight on my black and white target with the fringing. The scope should be fine with this type of target since it is the same type I have used for the last year and I have sighted in an untold number of scopes with them.

In considering returning the scope, I doubt I could get the same one (unless I wait for it to be repaired) since it was discounted as an open box item) so I am considering upping the ante and replacing it with the Viper PST 4-16 FFP scope. Given that this is going on my long range coyote gun (Savage 12 LRP 343 Win) I think I should have sprung for a better scope in the first place, but I expected it to be AT LEAST the equal of my Nikons.

So those of you who did spring for the Vortex PST 4-16 FFP, what are your thoughts ?

I imagine that learning to lead running dogs or hold for wind should be simpler with the FFP reticle, where with the SFP Nikons the "hold over" would be different for every magnification and these are typically very fluid situations...

I might add that Coyote hunting here in the Midwest is pretty challenging. In 6 months of hunting, being out virtually every weekend, I have only had 3 coyote sightings, resulting in 2 misses, 1 wounded dog that ran off and 1 dead dog..... Ranges have been 130 yards (dead dog + missed dog) to 250 yards (wounded dog) to 350 yards (missed dog). All of those with my 223 and 55gr Vmax ammo except for the 2 at 130 yards which was my learning experience with 75gr match ammo and 200yd zero (3" high at 100 yards). Hence the thought that I may be better off with the 243 for most of the longer range stuff.

[johnjohn301]

I have the same Savage (Model 12 LRP in .243) and have just buttoned a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP to the top. Very happy with this scope. It is a feature-packed scope that is very hard to beat for the money.

Regards!
JohnJohn

[42769vette]

if your expecting nikon quality out of a vortex pst there is no chance you will be disapointed

[Westcliffe01]

I just had my second range day with this scope. Doug advised that when mounting a high power scope, it needs to be set to max power when mounting or it can cause issues. I had never heard this before, nor read it anywhere, so I was highly dubious about it to say the least. So I started at the 50 yard line and released the scope from the rear ring, dialed it up to 15x, then re-torqued the rear ring. Released the front ring, then re-torqued that too.

Frankly, I was pretty amazed that the fringing was no longer present. Given that I have mounted plenty of scopes without any consideration for what magnification they were set to when bolted in, this was the first time that there was any interaction with the way the scope worked. That makes me wonder whether this scope is more sensitive to stresses in the tube than others, since the focus mechanism is internal.

The rest of the story is however not so good. Today was 91F with about 5mph of wind, so there was quite a severe mirage. Setting up at 100 yards, I immediately noticed that the scope had a lot of parallax at 100 yards. The cross hairs could move more than 2" left and right of the aiming point with the rifle in the bench rest and just changing eye position. I tried changing focus of the reticle to see if the parallax could be minimized, but that had no effect as expected. To finish shooting my grouping at 100 yards, I tried to find the maximum displacement left and right of the aiming point and get these amounts to be equal before firing. With this tedious method, I managed to shoot a slightly greater than 1" group, whereas last time out it was a >2" group. Given that I have shot 0.4" groups with my Nikon scope, this does not give me more enthusiasm for continuing my relationship with this scope.

In retrospect, I should never have considered a scope without side focus for long range application, but the other (considerably cheaper) scopes that I have show virtually no parallax at 100 yards (the range they are normally corrected for).

[42769vette]

the vortex pst 4-16 has a parrallax adjustment on the side of the scope. it also has a eyepeice focus on the rear, did you try adjusting that dial on the left side of the tube?

[Westcliffe01]

The comment was on the Minox scope, not the Vortex. The Minox scope is traveling back to NY courtesy of UPS today. If I'm lucky I will get the Vortex a week from now... I know what the side focus knob is for, the Minox scope I bought didn't have one. I imagine if the scope is properly corrected for minimum parallax at 100yds it is less likely to be a problem, but as I concluded in my closing statement, the omission of the side focus is probably the death of any scope intended for long range shooting...

[clambdin]

I had a Minox that I bought from Doug it was junk, However I like my vortex HS series scope !

[AKShooter]

Get the vortex you wont be disappointed, I've got two vortex's and three nikon's.

The Vortex's consist of a 6-24 viper pst ffp and a diamondback 2-7 bdc. The Nikon's consist of a 4.5-14 & 6-18 buckmasters, also a 4-16 monarch. Would have to say the Monarch is my biggest disappointment above 12x it gets hazy(the 3 I've tried are the same), as does the viper pst but only above 20x would expect that but my 6-18 buckmaster blows the monarch away.

I love the ffp and matching reticle/turrets of the PST, it makes long range so much easier, its also funny to shoot steel farther with a 22-250 than the guy down the line with a .50bmg haha. Btw both my vortex's have come from cameralandny, very happy with the service and perks to buying from doug.

Keep shootin.

[Westcliffe01]

It sounds like there could be a long wait for the 4-16x50 FFP scope. I let Doug know that I will be out of town for a while and not to ship (if one comes in) prior to June 15, so we will see how that works out.