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I looked at the Vortex Viper 1-6 a couple weeks ago. I thought that it was a pretty nice option in the price range. Does anyone have one? I would like to hear some reviews from people who are using it. I’m thinking that it is a great choice in the $600 range. Please let me know what your experiences are.
I got two of them recently. For comparison I've had a razor 1-6 (pre e variation) and the previous gen Viper PST 1-4. The Viper 1-6 is a nice scope and has a little better glass than the 1st gen 1-4. It's not quite as nice as the Razor, but given the price difference that's to be expected. It has a nice bright dot that's easily visible out in the sun. It's bigger and heavier than the 1-4, but again that's to be expected. My biggest complaint against it is the reticle. It's adequate, but I personally would have preferred the TMCQ reticle from the first gen 1-4, but it's not available in the 2nd gen models. This is subjective though and you may have different preferences than I do. Overall I think it's a fine scope. People often say it's about 80-90% of the Razor at 1/2 the price. I think I would agree with that assessment. Also keep in mind that you can often find them used in the EE on this forum as well as Arfcom in the $450-$500 range. Given Vortex's warranty and customer service you don't have anything to fear if you buy used.
I have one as well and agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveL
I bought a PST Gen 2 1-6x24 before buying a Razor-E.
The Razor-E was an underwhelming improvement over the PST Gen 2. Yes the Razor-E is nicer, but it isn't 2x the price nicer.
So much so that I returned the Razor-E and got a NX-8 instead, which lived up to the hype IMO.
Managed to bag myself a Viper 1-6 PST II as an open box demo from EuroOptic for $489 last week - it just arrived today (absolutely immaculate condition, wrapped up like new with all manuals/parts present....you'd never know it was an open box one). It is to replace my Gen 1 Viper PST 1-4 which has served me well for 3 Gun over the last 10 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveL
First impressions - what a solid quality feeling scope. As per the post above, increased heft from the 1-4 but no biggie. Very nice capped turrets with solid tactile clicks. They take a bit of turning but not as drastic as I've read about on occasion. Its unlikely I'll touch them other than zeroing anyway. The zoom ring is pretty stiff but is smooth - I don't mind it and is in keeping with the solid feel.
Glass to me looks very similar to the first gen (no bad thing). Field of view at 1x is noticeably wider. Decent eye box, but pretty long eye relief required, this one 'tunnels' fast if you get too close. As a NTTCH shooter this will have to go in my Bobro 3" extended mount for sure...I think if I put it in the ADM Recon 2" extended it won't quite cut it for me.
Compared to the Gen 1 PST, the illumination is mind blowing - the central red dot being 'daylight bright' is absolutely right and found myself clicking it down a couple here in the Florida sun on my initial look through. The illumination on the first gen was one of my let-down points - I found it best to shoot that scope during the day with it turned off. Which you could do, as like the poster above here I also really liked that TMCQ reticle. I think the VMR-2 reticle on the new scope will most certainly do the job but for more short range stuff the illumination will certainly have to be on (which is what I wanted, a more red dot feel).
Can't wait to get this thing to the range....unfortunately will have to wait till Bobro get my mount back to me....somewhere and sometime over the last 10 years it seems a ring stud has sheared off - went unnoticed with no degradation in accuracy, only found it out when I went to dismount the original scope!
I have one and I really like it. It's not at lite weight scope but the eye box is really nice, the illumination is great and the light gathering in low light is really good. That is something a lot of people don't talk about, until the other day I had it on my Ruger ranch rifle I use for hogs. I took it out last year and took two hogs with the scope, the first on the run. Under the canopy of the pines and palmettos there isn't a ton of light in the late afternoon and the scope took in enough light to clearly see the hog and the dot was bright enough to contrast with our being to bright on the 2 setting. Later in the evening with the sun going down and in a blind I was still getting plenty of light to see the last one of the day and see it move from cover. For the 500 or so bucks it's worth the money, my only complaints are is it is heavy and you do have to buy your own throw lever.
Looks like this is an older thread, but I’ll add my 2 cents.
The PST 1-6 is markedly better than the PST 1-4: generally easier to look through, clearer, wide open at 1x, brighter dot.
There is one negative: It is heavy, and is compounded with a QD mount. As reference, the PST 1-6 in a Midwest Industries QD mount plus an objective flip cover plus throw lever = 2 lbs 0.8 oz. That increases my rifle’s weight by about 1/4.
There is one preference, already mentioned by multiple others: The segmented TMCQ reticle was cool on the 1-4. Bringing that over to the Gen 2 would have been nice.