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Right now, Vortex unveiled the all-new enclosed Viper Shotgun sight, that includes a common mounting system for seamless set up. Historically, mounting a crimson dot on a shotgun meant utilizing rib-mounted options or aftermarket plates, usually leading to awkward positioning and a compromised cheek weld. The Viper eliminates these points with its built-in mount, permitting direct set up on drilled and tapped shotguns.
This design ensures a pure sight image and constant taking pictures stance, making it splendid for looking and aggressive taking pictures. I’ve been taking pictures with this optic since December, so let’s dive into the specifics and the way it held up.
Specs:
Vortex Viper Shotgun Sight: Out of the Field
The Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Purple Dot arrives prepared for motion with an built-in common mount, making it simple to connect to most drilled and tapped shotgun receivers with out additional plates or adapters. Included within the field are mounting screws for many shotguns, a CR2032 battery, and a customized device for set up. It additionally consists of a rubber optic cowl, lens material, and proprietor’s guide.
Mounting and Compatibility
Designed particularly for shotguns, the Viper’s built-in common mounting footprint eliminates the necessity for extra plates or adapters. The included mounting screws safe the optic on to most drilled and tapped shotgun receivers. The ultra-low mount ensures a good cheek weld, maintaining the shooter’s line of sight naturally aligned with the reticle. Vortex offers a compatibility checklist to verify fitment for these utilizing completely different shotguns. Whereas this mount sits barely too excessive to nonetheless make the most of the rib and entrance sight for aiming, it sits low permitting me the identical cheek weld.
Housing and Sturdiness
Constructed from 6061 aluminum, the enclosed housing offers a sturdy shell to guard the optic from moisture, filth, and recoil-related stress. The enclosed design ensures reliability in tough situations, stopping particles from interfering with the emitter—a problem that plagues open-style crimson dots. That is additionally the primary enclosed emitter microdot from Vortex which is cool to see. Given its rugged development and low-profile mounting, the Viper is constructed to face up to the high-impact setting of turkey looking, waterfowl taking pictures, and sporting clays.
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Reticle Choices and Glass
Each a multi-reticle system and a single-reticle system are at the moment obtainable. Nevertheless, the Viper stands out with its multi-reticle system, providing a 3 MOA dot, a 32 MOA circle, and a 65 MOA circle. These choices are tailor-made for various shotgun functions: the three MOA dot works effectively for exact aiming at stationary or slow-moving targets, whereas the bigger circles present an intuitive aiming reference that aligns with widespread shotgun patterns. The big viewing window enhances goal acquisition, maintaining the shooter’s subject of view open and unobstructed. The absolutely multi-coated glass reduces glare whereas maximizing mild transmission. There’s a little little bit of a blue hue, however it’s minimal and never distracting. Additionally, because of the achromatic lens, there’s a slight distortion of the wide-circle reticle that makes it look extra squashed on the prime of the lens. Nevertheless, the glass stays clear.
Viper Shotgun Sight Parallax
To judge the Vortex Viper Shotgun Sight’s “parallax-free” declare, I examined for any reticle shift when considered from completely different angles throughout the window. Ideally, the dot ought to stay mounted no matter head place, guaranteeing constant shot placement. At 12 yards, I noticed roughly a 1-inch shift each vertically and horizontally when viewing the reticle from the intense edges of the window. Whereas this quantity of deviation is minor for many shotgun functions, it’s one thing to pay attention to, particularly for exact slug taking pictures. To reduce any influence, I like to recommend zeroing in with the dot centered within the window for essentially the most constant level of influence.
Controls and Brightness
Adjusting the Viper is simple, with 12 brightness settings (10 for daylight and a couple of for evening imaginative and prescient) to accommodate completely different lighting situations. The crimson dot maintains visibility even in vibrant daylight, guaranteeing a crisp aiming level. Reticle choice is easy—concurrently clicking each the “+” and “-” buttons cycles via the obtainable choices, making changes shortly and effectively within the subject. The buttons additionally give an audible and tactile click on, making it simple to really feel your changes.
Whereas the Viper Shotgun sight has 2 NV settings, the dimmest setting nonetheless appears a bit brighter than most NV settings on different crimson dots. Nevertheless, it nonetheless will work and may very well be enjoyable for the adventurous shotgunner who tries to shoot clay pigeons after darkish.
Vortex Viper Shotgun Sight Elevation Turrets
The Vortex Viper Shotgun Sight options an elevation turret on the highest of the housing and a windage turret on the best facet, permitting exact changes to the purpose of influence. Dialing the turrets up or down shifts the influence accordingly, guaranteeing fast and intuitive zeroing. Every click on strikes the purpose of influence by 1 MOA, offering shooters with fine-tuned management.
The turrets have an audible click on with every place despite the fact that they’re fairly mushy to dial via. With a complete adjustment vary of 100 MOA for each windage and elevation, the Viper affords ample correction to match numerous shotgun masses and taking pictures distances.
Battery Life and Energy Administration
Powered by a CR2032 battery, the Viper boasts a claimed battery lifetime of as much as 50,000 hours at a medium setting. Whereas precise longevity will depend on utilization and brightness settings, the movement activation function helps preserve energy by shutting off after 10 minutes of inactivity and routinely turning again on when motion is detected. If customers desire, the movement activation may be disabled. Simply maintain the “+” and “-” buttons concurrently for 3 seconds whereas manually powering down the unit. The battery cap is situated on the right-hand facet of the housing.
Efficiency within the Subject
Testing the Viper in numerous conditions revealed its strengths. The ultra-low mount made it simple to maintain a pure sight image, and the big viewing window allowed for speedy goal acquisition. To show this, I did some drills taking pictures a metal goal from 20 yards after resting the inventory on my leg till given the beginning sign. I used to be constantly getting a primary shot off in 0.6-0.8 seconds with none concern discovering the crimson dot.
The reticle choice additionally proved helpful, with the 32 MOA and 65 MOA circles aligning effectively with widespread shotgun patterns. This makes it a wonderful alternative for turkey looking, wingshooting, and sporting clays. The assorted rings can align with the patterns of various chokes, and will also be used as holds for flying objects. From taking pictures birdshot to three.5″ magnum masses, the optic held zero reliably.
READ MORE: Testing the New Vortex Viper HD 3-15 SFP!
Remaining Ideas On the Viper Shotgun Purple Dot
Vortex has designed the Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Purple Dot with the pleas of shotgun shooters in thoughts. Its rugged enclosed housing, intuitive reticle choices, and ultra-low mounting system make it a strong alternative for hunters and aggressive shooters alike.
Whereas the road worth of $299 ($349 for the multi-reticle mannequin) locations it in a aggressive market, its tailor-made design for many shotguns provides it a powerful edge over generic crimson dots. For these searching for a purpose-built shotgun optic, the Viper delivers the place it counts.
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