Vortex Viper 6.5-20x50mm PA Full Review

It seems that every month there is new scope manufacturer and every week one of those manufacturers comes out with a new model. Most of these new scope makers, and their various models, are manufactured by one of the few OEM scope builders around the world. Many of the scopes have the same features and even have similar tube and shoulder designs and are a rehash of the other “all new” scopes that are out there. For this review, we wanted to take a step back, to an era not too long ago where the scopes were a bit more simple with less features and gizmos, but yet could still get the job done. It just so happens that this simplicity, a lot of the time, leads to a more robust and easier to operate scope. What we wanted to do with this review was to determine if this was truly the case, or is perhaps we were being nostalgic and looking back through rose colored glasses. For this test, we selected one of the few “old school” style scopes that is still in production, the Vortex Viper PA. This scope has a few different iterations, but the version that is most suitable for sniping is the 6.5-20x with larger target knobs and the very nostalgic and old-school mil-dot reticle. So with the scope selected, it was time to see if there really is some value to be found in a simpler time.

The scope arrived in a basic Vortex box with some basic accessories including bikini style lens caps, a large lens cloth, warranty card, some basic instructions and a simple pamphlet for the mildot reticle…and of course, the obligatory Vortex lapel pin/tie tack. Like all the mainstream Vortex scopes, the Viper PA is covered by the Vortex VIP lifetime no questions asked warranty. While no one ever wants to deal with a malfunctioning scope, it is nice to know Vortex stands behind their scopes and will take care of you. At this point, the very first thing we check on a scope during a review is the country of origin. Flipping the scope over to examine the bottom of the tube, we quickly see that the scope has a serial number and it is made in the Philippines. Most mid-range scopes are made in the Philippines and this is a good sign as we much prefer the Philippine made scopes over Chinese made as we have not had any luck finding durable and high quality made Chinese scopes.

This Viper PA has the older style eyepiece that has been around on the Viper scopes since the beginning which includes a fast(ish) focus eyepiece with a soft rubber ring on it. The full eyepiece adjustment range is covered in about 2.1 rotations and it focused to our eyes without much fuss. The rubber is pretty soft and it flexes considerably when adjusting the eyepiece but it does provide some good cushion in the event your eye is too close and you receive a scope-kiss under recoil. The eye relief is a relatively short 3.1″, so this may be something to take into consideration on high recoiling rifles. Set toward the front of the eyepiece is the unique zoom power indicator ridge that is canted toward the shooter to make it easy to see what zoom power the scope is set to from behind the scope with just a quick glance up by the shooter. It may look a little odd, but it works well and with a second focal plane scope where the magnification setting is critical for range estimation, it is a good feature. There is a tick mark on the 14 to indicate what power the scope needs to be set to for accurate reticle use.

In front of the ridge housing the number markings, is the actual zoom power ring. This has a fine serration on it to aid with grip and the indicator bar also is raised to further help with getting a good grip on the power ring. This bar acts in the same way a throw lever does, it is just not as tall, and there is a nice red tick to indicate what power the scope is set on. As mentioned, it may be a little unorthodox, but it works well.

In front of the eyepiece and the zoom power ring, there is 2.2″ of scope tube length to mount the rear scope ring. The tube is a single piece 30mm diameter aluminum tube with matte black anodizing. The shoulder area of the tube is a rounded slim profile design that houses the windage and elevation knobs as well as the side parallax adjustment. Again, harking back to the old-school long range scope design, both the windage and elevation knobs are tall target style knobs with full dust covers the screw on and off.

The elevation knob on top of the shoulder has 12 MOA of adjustment per revolution with .25 MOA clicks. There is only a single level of number markings and there is no zero stop type of function, though there are horizontal marks under the knob to help keep track of what rotation the knob is on. With only 12 MOA per rotation, the shooter will need to start keeping track after only about 500 yards with a 175gr .308 as that is where the second rotation will begin. The technical specifications of the scope indicates there are 65 MOA of adjustment, but our scope had 68, a few extra just in case. The clicks themselves have a nice distinct click with little to no mushiness and a muted audible sound. The knob also features an easy zero set feature that allows for just lifting the knob and rotating it around to zero and then letting it snap back down, requiring no tools to slip the dials to zero once the scope and rifle are zeroed.

The windage knob on the right of the scope has the same size and shape as the elevation knob and also features the same tool-less zero reset function. The clicks are the same nice feel and sound and there is the same 12 MOA of adjustment per revolution. The knob does count up in both directions with the negative numbers indicating left adjustment. The numbers obviously begin to overlap at 6 MOA which gives you about 700 yards in a 10 MPH direct crosswind with that same 308 175gr load, before seeing that overlap. While having an exposed knob always allows quick access for scope adjustments, the dust covers also have their advantages as well, such as protecting the knobs from inadvertent changes while stalking and maneuvering the rifle as well as physically protecting the knobs.

On the left hand size of the scope is located the side focus, or parallax adjustment. It is exposed without a cap and is a wider diameter than the other knobs. The markings go from 50 yards up to 500 and then finally infinity. The full adjustment range covers about 75% of the knob giving a decent amount of adjustment space for precision. It is satisfyingly firm to keep it in place once set and it is smooth through the entire range. The serrations on top of the knob are helpful due to the knob’s resistance level.

In front of the shoulder there is another 2.8″ of tube length to mount the forward scope ring before the tube tapers up into an elongated bell to house the 50mm diameter objective lens. Again, this is an older style design with a longer scope tube and profile as compared to most of the modern more compact style scopes today, but its overall shape and size are suitable and it has a pleasant design. There are not a lot of markings on the scope but the ones that are there are an off white and reasonably sized. There are not any other features on the scope to discuss, which was the reason for selecting it for this throwback look, just keep it simple.

For our shooting evaluations, we mounted the scope to our Remington 700P test mule rifle chambered in .308 Win. This rifle has a 1 piece steel Warne rail on it and we used a set of Vortex 30mm rings of Low Height (PMR-30-87). The single piece rail made for easy mounting of the scope and we were on our way to the range.

The weather was a nice 65 degrees and sunny with a mild 2-4 mph wind and as we settled into the testing regime, we identified a few things of note. First, the glass is actually very nice. Bright, crisp, sharp to the edges and it compares very well with competitors glass and even other Vortex scopes from a higher price bracket. That is one of the advantages with a simple scope, they can keep the price lower because of the missing features and use the higher quality glass and hopefully precision internals to keep the quality higher. We have always been a proponent of going with less features and higher quality when you have a budget to work with, and it seems to hold true for this scope as well.

The first test up was the simple box test to evaluate the adjustments to check for precision as you shoot the corners of the box and insure repeatability. There were no issues with this test but we did notice that the tool-less zero set feature did cause a tiny bit of “teetering” motion of the knobs as you reached up and grabbed the top of the knob to dial in adjustments. Not a huge deal, but just something we noticed.

An important test for any scope intended for long range shooting, is to measure the accuracy of the click sizes. To do this, we fire a group at 100 yards and then dial in 20 MOA of left and fire another group. Finally, we dial 20 MOA of right back in and fire one last round to insure it comes right back onto the first group, which in this case it did, so repeatability is good. We then measure the distance between the two groups to compare the actual distance to what it is supposed to be. Because group sizes themselves have flexibility within them, we allow for some margin of error and consider 5% error to be passing and 3% to be excellent. Both of the groups fired measure right at .6″ diameter. At 100 yards, 20 MOA measures 20.94″ and the distance between our two groups measured 20.88″, which is only a 0.2% error, an excellent score. The click sizes appear to be right on.

Two things that do need to be mentioned is the reticle and the adjustments. First, the mildot reticle is still a joy! It is so simple and clean and functional. We may have some nostalgia here, we admit, but the classic mildot is an elegant solution for measuring targets. The more modern hash style reticles, and Christmas tree style reticles do indeed provide many advantages, especially for engaging targets without dialing in on the scope, there is no arguing that. But they also can be very cluttered, distract the eye, and even obscure lots of the viewing and targeting area with all of those lines. The elegance of the mildot avoids all of that, but it does take more practice to measure as precisely.

The other thing that needs to be mentioned on this old style scope is the fact that the reticle is configured in mils while the knobs are in MOA. For those of us that were trained on scopes setup this way, such as on the M24, M40A1, and others, this is no big deal and in some ways its easier for the mind to do the math on the fly. The reticle is for ranging, the dials are for adjusting bullet impact. Keep it simple. But this cross units configuration is almost unheard of on new scopes. There is an advantage to being able to measure a distance using the reticle of the scope and then dialing that distance into the knobs, but this may not be as advantageous as many may believe. For the most part, it is quicker and easier for a shooter, and or spotter, to rapidly estimate how many inches needs to be adjusted than it is to take the time to try and measure it precisely with the reticle. The spotter or shooter just quickly converts it to MOA at that range and either dials it on the knobs or holds it. Please do not think we are saying there is no advantage to having the reticle and click units match, we are just saying, its not the end of the world if they do not.

On the range during our shooting tests, the scope performed admirably, but there are a few other tests we always perform on scopes to measure quality. We mount a scope bore sighting grid to the rifle and then perform three very specific tests that usually highlight weaknesses in lower quality scopes. The first test is to align the crosshairs on one of the grid intersection points and then cycle the zoom power through its entire range and watch to see if the reticle drifts at all. This highlights the quality, or lack of, of the internal components of the scope through the zoom range and the Viper PA remained very stable. We then do the same thing for the parallax adjustment, as this one is usually even more difficult for scopes to do, especially on the extremes of the PA range. This scope did very well, but there was some minor reticle drift on the lower range, between the 75 to 50 yard markings, but it was minor, as well as a tiny bit of drift at the upper extreme between the 500 and the infinity mark. It was better than most scopes and nearly as good as some of the high end scopes we have tested. Finally, we once again test reticle wandering as we trace grid patterns using the windage and elevation knobs. There was no discernable wandering, once again showing good precision with the knobs.

So what did we learn? First off, this scope, lacking in many modern features, actually is a very solid scope that performed very well through our battery of tests. With a $500 street price, you get a lot of quality, but not a lot of features. Which do you value more? For many folks that need to rely on the scope performing instead of the latest features, this scope makes a very intriguing option. Though only if you can accept not having exposed turrets, no zero stop, cross unit controls, second focal plane reticle, and some other non-trendy stuff. The other thing we learned? Well, simple old school scopes and rifles still seem to hit targets just as readily and accurately as the latest and greatest scopes and rifles and to put it bluntly, the best money that can be spent on improving the capability of your rifle is money spent on practice and training for the person behind the rifle. Master what you have, let the others worry about the latest trends and parting ways with their money.

Sniper Central