2muchgun
New member
Well, I owned a Viper for a short time, and sold it. Not because I thought it was an inferior product, and not because I did not think it was worth the money I paid for it. I just wanted another NF.
In the limited time I owned it, I had some "sneaky suspicions" about it.
Without writing a novel here, I'll try to put this in the most basic of terms so everyone can understand.
The reticle was canted. And so is the reticle of the Viper my friend owns.
What does this mean? Generally what it means is that when you adjust for elevation, you will also end up getting a small amount of windage adjustment with it. Basically, your crosshair is moving diagonally. Although not so pronounced, and nowhwere near the 45° angle most of us picture in our minds when we hear the term "diagonally".
I am guessing it is 1-2° off. What does this amount to? As best I can tell, if I dial up 30", I would end up with about 30.75"=31" of elevation travel. However, you would then have to dial your windage back a couple of clicks to regain center.
The other Viper, does the same thing, only the click values are a hair off. In other words, assuming the reticle was in fact not canted, it would still move a bit more than the 1/4" designated on the dials. Add to the fact that reticle is canted, and this compounds the problem, making it more pronounced. For anyone but a long range shooter, this is not THAT big of a deal. However, for a LR shooter who is trying to get the most out his precision rifle, it is deemed as totally unacceptable. In fairness, a LOT of scopes suffer from the same problem(s). Furthermore, A LOT (I'd say most) shooters will never, ever know it. At shorter ranges, it simply isn't that noticeable and at longer ranges the shooter could easily blame it on himself, the wind, or the rifle. I guarantee many out there who read this have scopes with canted reticles and do not know it. And I'm not referring only to Vipers, nor close.
In regards to windage, some "lesser" scopes, and even some "better" scopes, will exhibit diagonal travel, but only when near the end of their adjustment range. In other words, if you max the dials out left or right, when they near the end where they stop turning, the crosshair will travel diagonally for the last half dozen or so clicks. Some manufacturers actually take this into account. In other words, if they say it has 55 moa of windage, the diagonal movement will not occur until 55 moa of travel has occured. Others "fudge" the facts, and even though the dial turns 55 moa, the last 5 moa (or whatever)may be diagonal movement, meaning the scope does not truly have 55 moa of windage. This was also the case with the Vipers I have used.
Given the fact that I only have experience with 2 Vortex Vipers, it is hardly enough evidence to say that they suck, or that I dislike them. Again, I would bet that most happy Viper owners would never even know their reticles were canted a degree or two, if in fact, that was the case.
I'd like to hear from some Viper owners in regards to my findings.
Thanks...........
In the limited time I owned it, I had some "sneaky suspicions" about it.
Without writing a novel here, I'll try to put this in the most basic of terms so everyone can understand.
The reticle was canted. And so is the reticle of the Viper my friend owns.
What does this mean? Generally what it means is that when you adjust for elevation, you will also end up getting a small amount of windage adjustment with it. Basically, your crosshair is moving diagonally. Although not so pronounced, and nowhwere near the 45° angle most of us picture in our minds when we hear the term "diagonally".
I am guessing it is 1-2° off. What does this amount to? As best I can tell, if I dial up 30", I would end up with about 30.75"=31" of elevation travel. However, you would then have to dial your windage back a couple of clicks to regain center.
The other Viper, does the same thing, only the click values are a hair off. In other words, assuming the reticle was in fact not canted, it would still move a bit more than the 1/4" designated on the dials. Add to the fact that reticle is canted, and this compounds the problem, making it more pronounced. For anyone but a long range shooter, this is not THAT big of a deal. However, for a LR shooter who is trying to get the most out his precision rifle, it is deemed as totally unacceptable. In fairness, a LOT of scopes suffer from the same problem(s). Furthermore, A LOT (I'd say most) shooters will never, ever know it. At shorter ranges, it simply isn't that noticeable and at longer ranges the shooter could easily blame it on himself, the wind, or the rifle. I guarantee many out there who read this have scopes with canted reticles and do not know it. And I'm not referring only to Vipers, nor close.
In regards to windage, some "lesser" scopes, and even some "better" scopes, will exhibit diagonal travel, but only when near the end of their adjustment range. In other words, if you max the dials out left or right, when they near the end where they stop turning, the crosshair will travel diagonally for the last half dozen or so clicks. Some manufacturers actually take this into account. In other words, if they say it has 55 moa of windage, the diagonal movement will not occur until 55 moa of travel has occured. Others "fudge" the facts, and even though the dial turns 55 moa, the last 5 moa (or whatever)may be diagonal movement, meaning the scope does not truly have 55 moa of windage. This was also the case with the Vipers I have used.
Given the fact that I only have experience with 2 Vortex Vipers, it is hardly enough evidence to say that they suck, or that I dislike them. Again, I would bet that most happy Viper owners would never even know their reticles were canted a degree or two, if in fact, that was the case.
I'd like to hear from some Viper owners in regards to my findings.
Thanks...........
