Issues with Vortex PST Viper Gen i

[Arzola22]

I had this scope on my Savage Axis in .308 for about a year, and I loved it on there. I eventually got a Howa 1500 in .300WM, so I decided to throw the Viper on it. That was a nightmare. I had to send the scope back to Vortex twice. The first time because my parallax knob stopped during after last year's season, and the second time because it would not hold zero with my .300wm. I torqued it down to specs, and I have Night Force rings on it, yet I was still having issues. I even thought maybe it was my fault and I just wasn't mounting it right, so I moved it back to my .308 and it does just fine. Once I get back to the .300wm, it will just lose zero again. I can get a good zero at first, but if I go back to the range on that good zero, I hope it's on, but it's not. I have no clue where my POI is going to be. I've tried multiple types of ammo, which all zero decently at first, but then my zero goes out the window after a couple shots (with time in between shots for my barrel to cool). I've even gotten a new scope base for the Howa, thinking that was the issue, but I got the same results.
After sending it to a gunsmith for him to try and get a zero on it, he was struggling too and said it was more than likely my scope, as he had remounted it and had taken it out to zero as well, but couldn't make it happen.
Is the Viper just not good enough to handle the .300, considering it does just fine in the .308? Has anyone else had issues with it?
I'm thinking about switching to Leupold as that is what most of my buddies use anyways, but I don't want to give up on Vortex still.

 

[Arzola22]

It is also good to note that miraculously, the cheap Nikko Sterling that the rifle comes with holds zero just fine somehow. I just hate the clarity on it

 

[hereinaz]

The PST gen 1 and HST are notoriously bad. I had that problem years ago with one, and so did a friend. Just like lots of other scopes of that era when new scopes were hitting the market for long range.

Get it back from Vortex, sell it, and buy a PST Gen 2 if you want to stick with Vortex. Even the Strike Eagle and Venom are infinitely better holding zero.

If you keep it, don’t over torque and don’t put the rings close to the turret. It starts with weak tube and then goes to internals.

 

[The Guide]

Unfortunately, lots of scopes are not impact proof. Vortex are not known for taking impacts well. I would suggest leaving it on the 308 if it works well there and getting a different scope for the 300.

What are you trying to do with the 300? Long Range shooting with dialing or point and shoot with a variable power scope?

Jay

 

[Arzola22]

The PST gen 1 and HST are notoriously bad. I had that problem years ago with one, and so did a friend. Just like lots of other scopes of that era when new scopes were hitting the market for long range.

Get it back from Vortex, sell it, and buy a PST Gen 2 if you want to stick with Vortex. Even the Strike Eagle and Venom are infinitely better holding zero.

If you keep it, don’t over torque and don’t put the rings close to the turret. It starts with weak tube and then goes to internals.

Got it, seems like that is the general consensus with the people I've talked to about it. Thank you!

 

[Arzola22]

Unfortunately, lots of scopes are not impact proof. Vortex are not known for taking impacts well. I would suggest leaving it on the 308 if it works well there and getting a different scope for the 300.

What are you trying to do with the 300? Long Range shooting with dialing or point and shoot with a variable power scope?

Jay

I was keeping the .300 as my main hunting rifle for black bear this year (I know, a 6-24 is definitely overkill when my farthest shot is probably only going to be around 500 yards, but since I had it already, I thought it would make more sense to be on my .300 rather than my .308), so I was hoping to create a dope card to use in the field with it since it had exposed dials, but I was never able to make it that far because of the zeroing issue.