Which Scope covers for Vortex Viper

[Bullet bumper]

Thanks all for the replies but the new Votex scope has turned out to a bit of a dud so I am not going to spend any more money on it .
Might have to send it back yet . I am not that impressed with Vortex quaility so far .

 

[SidecarFlip]

Thats suprising. The domestic scopes are fine, at least the PST and Raqzor's are....

 

[amce]

I have nothing but positive impressions of the Vortex organisation. I have two PST's and they both work great. I've also had the opportunity to test their warranty and customer service. One of my rifles "fell" forward out of the safe and landed on the elevation turret on a concrete floor. Could see that the spindle was skewed off-centre a bit. The Vortex importer here in Sweden replaced the scope without any hesitation.

Get in touch with them. I'm certain they'll sort it out.


Cheers

 

[Bullet bumper]

Yes I am as surprised as you . However the scope I got I could not describe as great , infact my first thought was I may have a fake .
My wife paid for it and I don't want to send it back and make her feel bad.
Going to try and use it as is if I stay between 8x and 20x it's passable but not great . Illumination don't seem to work well and only can be seen on 3 settings . Optical quality is average , parallax adjustment makes a noise and does not seem to lock the reticule solid on the target like my Leupold scopes do . The image seems to jump sometimes when coming back to 6X .
I have not seen anything so far that says to me I bought a great scope .
I'm quite unhappy now . It took us a long time to save that money as I am only a disabled war veteran and not wealthy at all.
I did not buy a $1085 warranty , I wanted a good scope not promises of repair or replacement . I know they are good to have but that's not why I bought a Vortex in the first place .

 

[westcliffe01]

Was a "bikini" type set of lens covers not included in your package ? It was on both PST scopes I bought. I personally hate flip up covers.

 

[Bullet bumper]

I contacted Optic Zone and Vortex so I am waiting to get replies .
I have worked out a cunning way of sending it back without hurting my wifes feelings .
I said I am sending it away for a custom reticule job. She does not know any different . That will cover posting it off and hopefully getting it back .
I hope Vortex replaces it as I feel it's a sub standard build in many ways .
I had a similar problem with Leupold about 15 years back and had to send a scope back 3 times until eventually a technician who was also a shooter and top bloke took it to his range and mounted it on his own gun and then he admitted that it was no good. However the warranty lab sent it back twice saying it was fine .
God I hope Vortex is better than that .
Is it possible that there is two sets of rules at Leupold , one for the US customers and one for the rest ?
If I don't get complete satisfaction I am sending the scope to a friend in El- Paso and he can send it in in his name.

 

[amce]

Good on ya, mate. Hope it works out for you.
About the illumination: as I understand it only the higher levels 6,7,8,9 and 10 are visible in daylight. Below those you need for your eyes to be adjusted to available light. Lowest levels are only available with night vision devices.

Check out the Vortex website. Lots of info there.

Cheers

 

[Bullet bumper]

Good on ya, mate. Hope it works out for you.
About the illumination: as I understand it only the higher levels 6,7,8,9 and 10 are visible in daylight. Below those you need for your eyes to be adjusted to available light. Lowest levels are only available with night vision devices.

Check out the Vortex website. Lots of info there.

Cheers

I don't get any Illumination even on setting 10 with any kind of light going into the scope , had a dull overcast day and a dark background and setting 10 , no illuminated reticule . If I put my hand over the objective I could see it on 8, 9 and 10 . Clearly faulty and not what it is supposed to be.
I have a feeling that the production in the Philipines now may be the problem .
I was led to believe by the Vortex site last time I looked that the Viper PST was made in Japan but no such luck now.
Optic Zone has offered to replace the scope , but at my end I have to shell out another $100 to post it back with insurance .
The Vortex site is good and very helpful but it can't turn a bad scope into a good one.

 

[amce]

I don't get any Illumination even on setting 10 with any kind of light going into the scope , had a dull overcast day and a dark background and setting 10 , no illuminated reticule . If I put my hand over the objective I could see it on 8, 9 and 10 . Clearly faulty and not what it is supposed to be.
I have a feeling that the production in the Philipines now may be the problem .
I was led to believe by the Vortex site last time I looked that the Viper PST was made in Japan but no such luck now.
Optic Zone has offered to replace the scope , but at my end I have to shell out another $100 to post it back with insurance .
The Vortex site is good and very helpful but it can't turn a bad scope into a good one.

At least you're getting it replaced. Another thing came to mind now. Check the battery cover. I remember reading that you sometimes need to carefully tighten it down a little more. I've read of one guy who even put something under the battery, think it was a piece of tape. Not that it matters much as you're getting a new one but now you know.


Cheers

 

[SidecarFlip]

I wonder if you have a bad battery. My 6.5-24 shipped with a dead battery. I keep extra batteries in my MTM ammo box taped to the lid, inside. The illuminator is hard on batteries and it's easy to not turn it off. To be off the dial has to be on any dot in between any number BTW.

The Viper series has always been made in the Philippines, well, assembled there with Japanese glass btw. No secret, it's engraved on the erector housing. I prefer the Philippines over China.

Now, if they were assembled in Australia......

It's the way of 'World Class Manufacturing'. Make it where the labor is cheaper so the profit margin is greater. I've said before that with most optics, returning a defective scope (and every manufacturer has a percentage of defective scopes, thats they way it is with mechanical components, no matter what it is...), that the seller just takes your defective product and landfills it and replaces it with a new one. The markup versus manufacturing cost is that high and always has been. I'm in the retail/manufacturing business so you can take my word about markup. I bet the markup percentage approaches 300% on their scopes. In other words, if said scope retails for $1000.00 USD, the scope actually cost the retailer (in this case Vortex Optics), $300.00 USD and thats at the high end. Probably even less than that.

Kind of reminds me of the story about the tie rod ends for Ford F series pickup trucks. I was at the company that actually makes the part and I asked the production foreman what the part cost to make, complete. He told me about 25 cents each. When you buy the part, even at the cheapest retailer (Autozone), the parts cost $30.00 USD each or $60.00 USD for a pair. Getting from 25 cents a copy to $30.00 a copy is called markup and is based solely on what the end user will pay and that applies to every consumer item.

Hogdon Powders are all made in Australia, bulk packaged and shipped to Hogdon Powders here and repackaged into retail quantities.... no issue there either.

Just things to ponder.............