vortex viper HST low light?

[55stone]

Good afternoon guys, does anyone on here have experience with the vortex viper HST in low light(hunting) conditions. I have no doubt its great glass in normal daylight but i know some of the lower end vortex hunting scopes are horrible in low light. Does this compare lets say to a Leopold at low light or does this not pick up light that well? thanks for any information

 

[entoptics]

I've never done a true side by side comparison, but have hunted dusk and dawn with 4 scopes. A Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x50, Sig Whiskey 5-25x50, Sig Tango4 6-24x50, and an HST 4-16x44.

I can say that all 4 were PLENTY bright for shooting at "legal light", even on cloudy days. I've spent more dusks/dawns behind the Vortex than any of the others, and never once felt it was a handicap, despite being considerably cheaper than the others (and smaller objective).

 

[Deleted member 103481]

I had a viper hs lr and I wasn't a fan of its low light capabilities compared to say a vx3i or a Zeiss conquest or something.

 

[55stone]

That's what I was looking for thanks!

 

[Braunschweiger]

compared to other similarly priced optics I can't say it is any better or worse. I also own several top end optics and they are noticeably better.. but that really only equates to maybe 5-10 minutes more shooting light... FWIW

 

[McRem45]

The HST I had was not as good in low light as my Zeiss conquest. Other than that it was fine.

 

[jrock]

I had an HST and sold it for a Zeiss HD5. Worth the trade up in all respects. The HST does have enough light gather for low light but the edge to edge viewing clarity is a bit lacking. I didn't care for the performance above 16x. Its the same glass as all the other viper series scopes so if you have access to one of those, it will be a approximate.

 

[SteveBurton]

I have one on top of my 6.5CM and can say that compared to similarly priced scopes it's on par. What it really needs is an illuminated reticle and it would be better. The so-so light abilities at dusk without an illuminated reticle make it tough. With that said I did harvest a nice 10 pt buck last year about 20 minutes before dark.
If you can afford it, go with a Vortex PST or a Nightforce SHV instead. You'll never go wrong with better glass.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

I have heard the 3-15 pst IIs are quite good

 

[hthunter]

I've had HST, vx6 and vx3. HST was worst of bunch

 

[jrock]

I think I would go VX3i over the HST myself.

 

[55stone]

jrock thats what i was looking at going with a VX3I. i really like Leopold so idk why i was thinking about going some other direction. lol Thanks for all the responses guys

 

[MJT700P]

I have the 6-24 hst and the 6.5-20 vx3i . For me the Leupold wins hands down but your eyes may be different.

 

[hthunter]

I've had HST, vx6 and vx3. HST was worst of bunch

To clarify mine was vx6 HD and vx 3i