When a scope manufacturer creates an excellent product for its customers that is highly praised, coming out with a follow up can be a bit of a challenge. The Vortex Viper PST is an awesome scope. It has many features that shooters wanted at a price that was affordable. The price, combined with their excellent warranty, made for a great purchase.
Vortex has now released a follow up to the PST, the Gen II. It features newly designed glass, improved controls, wider zoom range, more travel, a better zero stop and new reticles. Not to mention it is a more handsome optic than its predecessor. For this instance, I decided to go with the 2-10x32 milradian, which is a first focal plane scope. Vortex Viper Gen II mounted in a Badger Unit Mount on my AR, I hit the range.
With a 32mm objective lens, this 2-10 is perfect for a precision AR, because of its relatively compact layout. I would call it plenty of power for 700 yards and was even successful at 1000. The exit pupil (eye box) is very wide and forgiving, as is the field of view. The glass clarity and brightness, even with a 32mm objective, is an obvious step up from the first gen PST.
Another welcomed improvement are the turrets, which take a lot of inspiration from its big brother, the Razor HD Gen II. The illumination has been relocated to the parallax knob and the turret clicks feel a lot like what you will find on a Razor. The knobs are bigger and have a nice chunky feel to them.
Combined with a generous 10 mils per turn (25 moa), they are noticeably better than the original PST and feature second revolution numbers on the turret, so you don’t have to mentally add up the previous turn plus how far you are into the second.
When you've done your distance shooting and need to return to your zero, you will notice the new zero stop mechanism. This mechanism is the replacement to the shim technique that the Gen I PST utilized. The zero stop is now heavily derived from the Vortex Razor 5-20 Gen I, which is a superior design and a lot more robust.
(photo provided by Derek W., with a custom paint scheme)
In all, the entire Viper PST Gen II line is a worthy successor to the original. Powers include a 1-6, 2-10, 3-15 and 5-25. No matter what style of rifle shooting is out there, Vortex has a PST to match. Prices start at $699 and peaking at $1099, EuroOptic will soon have these in stock in all their varieties.
(photo provided by Derek W., with a custom paint scheme)