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It’s no secret that Vortex’s line of Viper PST rifle scopes caused quite the stir when they hit the market several years ago. Even today, a good five years later, they are still in such high demand that Vortex can’t make them fast enough to keep up. It was just dumb luck that I happened to stumble across this unit while at one of my local gun shops.
The Viper PST Series is packed full of features. The lenses are XD (ultra-low dispersion) and are fully multi-coated using Vortex’s proprietary XR lens coatings, and the exterior lens surfaces are ArmorTec coated to prevent scratching. The Precision-Glide erector system features their Precision-Force spring system to ensure precise and repeatable adjustments each and every time.
The EBR-2C MOA reticle is an etched glass unit that is mounted in the first focal plane (FFP) on this particular model. This ensures that no matter what magnification setting you are using the spacing of the sub tensions in the reticle will always be the same unlike with scopes with the reticle mounted in the second focal plane (SFP). This is advantageous when using the reticle for ranging, and it eliminates a possible variable that you could forget about or get wrong in the field.
The Viper PST reticle is also illuminated in red. Vortex addressed one of my biggest gripes with illuminated reticles by putting an off position between each intensity setting on the illumination dial. This way no matter what intensity setting you prefer to use or the conditions dictate you only have to turn it one click in either direction to turn it off and back on again. Why hadn’t anyone thought to do this before? The system uses a standard CR2032 battery which is very common and easy to locate a replacement when needed, and they generally seem to last a good long while if you remember to turn the unit off.
The main tube is a one-piece unit made of aircraft grade aluminum measuring 30mm in diameter. O-ring seals, Argon gas purging and rigid construction assure that the Viper PST’s are waterproof, fogproof and shockproof.
The Ocular bell features a fast-focus eye piece to adjust the focus of the reticle as well as the magnification dial which features Vortex’s MagView fiber optic indicator.
The elevation and windage turrets are of the tactical style with both tactile detents and audible clicks for each click of adjustment. The elevation turret features Vortexes Radius Bar fiber optic indicator and their CRS Zero Stop mechanism to make finding your preset zero rotation much easier after a day of dialing up and down in the field. A side-focus knob is also found on the left side of the turret housing with marking ranging from 50 yards to infinity.
For testing purposes I mounted the Viper PST atop my custom Savage chambered in .22-250 Ackley Improved using a Ken Farrell zero MOA base and Burris Signature Zee 30mm rings. My pet load for this rifle consists of an 80-grain Nosler Custom Competition bullet being propelled to a muzzle velocity of just over 3,300 fps by a hefty charge of Hodgdon H4350 powder.
Once sighted in at the range I reset the turrets, installed the shims for the CRS Zero Stop, and proceeded to performed a six MOA box test at 200 yards to verify the accuracy of the tracking system. The Viper PST did not disappoint and provided a nearly perfect symmetrical box and when returned to its original zero stacked another three-shot group right on top of the first one. The clicks are very positive in feel and are accompanied by an audible click as well. I would conclude that the slight deviation in the box (1/4 MOA) was shooter induced than an inaccuracy in the tracking system.
Checking the depth of field on the Viper PTS was next on the list, and I again used the 200 yard range as its well suited for this particular evaluation. Fortunately the range hadn’t been mowed recently so the plethora of dandelions made discerning the depth of field fairly simple. Adjusting the parallax for the clearest image of the 4x4 post used for the target stand, the depth of field seemed to be roughly around 4-6 feet.
To check for chromatic aberration (CA) I used a homemade version of Carson Optical’s Chromatic Aberration Test Chart which consists of a series of red and blue strips of decreasing thickness that will merge and appear purple when there is CA present. The thickest set of lines on the chart (#18) measure 1/2-inch wide, while the thinnest (#2) are 1/16-inch wide. The chart was setup at a distance of 30 yards and the Viper PST and two comparison scopes were all set at 12x magnification with the parallax adjusted accordingly for the distance. The smallest line the Viper PST could differentiate the two colors was #4 (1/8"), while both the Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x42mm and Viper 6.5-20x44mm bowed out at #6 (3/16").
The last two items on my checklist were image distortion and field curvature (aka flatness of field). The Viper PST exhibited no noticeable occurrence of either when tested at 8x, 12x and 24x magnification on a variety of surfaces and objects with straight-line patterns.
Not surprising the Viper PST did quite well in all of the optical tests and left me very impressed. At this price point it definitely should and its performance justifies the upper mid-level price that it carries. As good as the Viper PST is there are a still a couple small things I found to nit-pick.
First up is the magnification ring. Not only is it extremely stiff and almost necessitates the purchase of one of Vortex’s Switchview Throw Levers, but it also only has a few magnification levels marked on it (6, 8, 12 and 24x). I understand that having a FFP reticle lessens the need for more precise markings for ranging purposes, but it would be nice to know exactly where I’m at in terms of magnification as 12 to 24x is a very large gap. If there were an indicator for 16 or 18x I’d be a lot happier.
My second nit-pick isn’t a big deal, but rather something I thought was worth mentioning for those who haven’t ever used a FFP reticle before. Once you dial up the magnification past roughly 16-power (I’m guessing here due to the lack of markings as mentioned above) you start losing the lower portion of the reticle as it goes out of view. At full 24-power, the 22 MOA mark is the last stadia line visible through the scope even though the lower leg of the reticle has stadia lines clear down to 36 MOA. Now granted, if one needed to accommodate for that much drop they would dial all or some of it in on the turret to keep their aiming point as close to the center of the picture as possible, but in the heat of the moment in the field you don’t always have time to dial in your dope and that’s where the stadia lines really become beneficial.
Aside from those three very minor things I’ve been extremely impressed by the Vortex Viper PST. I particularly like the reticle and the fact that for most of my varmint hunting needs I will never have to adjust the turret off my 200 yard zero, but it’s nice to know there’s plenty of adjustment range should I ever find myself in a need to dispatch a critter beyond 600 yards. The CRS Zero Stop and excellent turrets will be great for those looking for a 600 and 1,000 yard competition scope. I also have to tip my hat to Vortex for offering the Viper PST in both MOA and MIL configurations giving the customer to choose whichever he/she prefers.
While the Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50mm FFP isn’t cheap at around $,1,000 on the street, it’s still a major bargain in my option compared to some other options out there. Given all of the features and the stellar optical performance the PST offers you’d be hard pressed to find a comparable scope for the same money.
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Contact Information
Vortex Optics
2120 West Greenview Drive
Middleton, Wisconsin 53562
www.vortexoptics.com
Vortex Optics
2120 West Greenview Drive
Middleton, Wisconsin 53562
www.vortexoptics.com
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