Vortex viper red dot 6 moa.

[xdmdude]

Been thinking of getting one for my m&p core. Just wanting to see if any one has used one and there feedback.

 

[venenoindy]

I was at Tim's in Westfield yesterday and they have a few in stock, A very nice lady behind the counter let me look through one and I was very impressed. It seem very well made and the body is low enough to be able to use iron sights, I have astigmatism but in this case the dot is very clear for me and if have an opportunity in the future I will pick one up.

 

[Cool Breeze]

Direct competition is the Burris Fastfire 3. Thats what i chose. You'll have to look, but I think the burris is a tad higher in the back end, but the battery is accessible from the top- nice for a pistol where I wanted to loctite the screws... The power features is: Auto, High, Med, Low. The Auto works well to dim the dot in low light but ramp it up in sunshine. It shuts off automatically after 8 hours. Battery life will be neighborhood of a year, but it alerts you when its getting low, so no surprises.

 

[blueboxer]

I have the viper on my Core 9mm actually.

Pros: has a great lower 1/3 cowitness with the irons. Window is nice and big. Brightness controls are nice and positive, though a bit large. Dot seems more precise than a 6moa, though that may be due to the brightness levels I like to keep it at. Price is competitive as well. It apparently holds zero (see cons).

Cons: Zeroing was a PITA. Granted, zeroing any pistol red dot is challenging due to the fact that it is much harder to be accurate with a pistol than a rifle. Having said that, the controls have zero click. When the lock screws are loose they just move freely without giving any indication how much you are adjusting with a tactile or audible feel/noise. I did not remove my rear sight to sight it in, I did an experiment removing the whole sight from the gun, loosening the lock screws, and then making adjustments. This was a hassle, but I didn't notice any loss of zero between test fire groups.

I came down to this or the Burris FF3. I chose the Vortex since it allows cowitness with irons. IMO, red dot sights other than the RMR just do not have the reliability track record for me to trust them completely. Also, I liked the fact that the Vortex used 2032 batteries like most other sights, and the Burris didn't. Let me know if you want more info.

 

[MC1983]

Nice review. I have a CORE9mm with the FF3 and am thinking about replacing it with the Vortex Viper in order to cowitness with the irons. The FF3 is just a little bit too thick that you can't use the rear sight. How is battery life and auto-off feature on the viper?

 

[blueboxer]

Nice review. I have a CORE9mm with the FF3 and am thinking about replacing it with the Vortex Viper in order to cowitness with the irons. The FF3 is just a little bit too thick that you can't use the rear sight. How is battery life and auto-off feature on the viper?

Auto off takes a really long time (14hrs), which I really like. Zero problem lasting through the night. As for battery life I'm not quite sure. I can say I have had mine for a few weeks and tried to keep the dot on the entire time. So far so good. Vortex claims that on the medium settings you can get somewhere around 20-30k hours. My personal opinion is to either get the Viper and understand it has some faults, or save up and buy the bombproof RMR.

 

[Tactically Fat]

OP - something else to muddy the waters for you in this price bracket: The newer Sig Romeo 1. ROMEO1? | Sig Sauer

 

[blueboxer]

OP - something else to muddy the waters for you in this price bracket: The newer Sig Romeo 1. ROMEO1? | Sig Sauer

Do you know what plate adapter works for the Romeo 1 on the M&P? I was never able to find out. It has a few advantages over the Viper IMO.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Do you know what plate adapter works for the Romeo 1 on the M&P? I was never able to find out. It has a few advantages over the Viper IMO.

I do not know, I'm sorry.

I DO like their idea of a motion sensor to turn the thing on, though.

 

[cedartop]

Well I can tell you one thing I don't like about it already. I don't mind having to take the the sight off to change the battery, I am used to that from the RMR. What I don't care for is that you have to take the sight off to adjust it. Maybe you don't have to, but I am not sure how to reach the lock screws which are hidden behind your rear sight without taking the unit off. Also on my particular example I can't get enough adjustment out of the windage screw to center my dot. That is more than a little bit irritating, but I guess you get what you pay for, maybe some day I will learn that.

 

[42769vette]

Well I can tell you one thing I don't like about it already. I don't mind having to take the the sight off to change the battery, I am used to that from the RMR. What I don't care for is that you have to take the sight off to adjust it. Maybe you don't have to, but I am not sure how to reach the lock screws which are hidden behind your rear sight without taking the unit off. Also on my particular example I can't get enough adjustment out of the windage screw to center my dot. That is more than a little bit irritating, but I guess you get what you pay for, maybe some day I will learn that.

I unlocked my adjustments and mounted the sight. Then zeroed the optic. That was about 10k rounds ago, and the zero has never moved.

 

[cedartop]

I unlocked my adjustments and mounted the sight. Then zeroed the optic. That was about 10k rounds ago, and the zero has never moved.

After feeling the dials they did seem firm enough that they might stay in place without the lock. I had read they were very lose but I did not find that to be the case. I am not completely sure the fault of the wayward dot is the sight. When I went to pick the gun and sight up today after having it set aside at lunch yesterday, one of the employees at the LGS had already installed it and said he had rough zeroed it. While doing some dry fire tonight I noticed the dot was a bit to the right so I went to adjust it. The lock screws were very tight and when I loosened them, the dot jumped off the screen to the right. Nothing is ever easy.

 

[42769vette]

After feeling the dials they did seem firm enough that they might stay in place without the lock. I had read they were very lose but I did not find that to be the case. I am not completely sure the fault of the wayward dot is the sight. When I went to pick the gun and sight up today after having it set aside at lunch yesterday, one of the employees at the LGS had already installed it and said he had rough zeroed it. While doing some dry fire tonight I noticed the dot was a bit to the right so I went to adjust it. The lock screws were very tight and when I loosened them, the dot jumped off the screen to the right. Nothing is ever easy.

Im like you, I hate the location of the lock's, and have brought up the fact IF you want locks on it, get them away from the rear sight. Those sights have 100+ MOA travel. if you cant get zeroed with that, its almost always mounting.