The MTC Viper Connect....A Scope for all seasons?
So what the hell gives me the right to go reviewing products by a company like MTC?
They have been round a bit, forgotten more about shooting than I am likely to know (apart from the surface to air missiles...but hey, not much use against rabbits) and design and build their own scopes which are rightfully popular with good value, good performance, and with a reputation for service that is second to none.
There are professional reviewers out there too, so why should I comment?
Well, I know what I like in a scope, I shoot regularly, and probably represent the majority of folks out there shooting for sport or hunting...and I don’t draw a salary so I will say what I think...simples?
It will also not go unnoticed that being run by shooters, MTC listens to shooters and values their opinions when it comes to product development. Shooters get what they want, and MTC get free consultation and R&D, which saves money and improves sales...it’s a win/win situation for all parties really.
It must be understood that this review is based on a prototype, the production unit will differ slightly, but operation and concept are fundamentally the same.
You will notice that this coincides with Phil Price’s review in AGW. This has been written for a month or so now, so any areas where Phil and I seem to agree uncannily are pure chance but, it does go to demonstrate how strikingly different the Viper Connect is from the rest.
In the beginning....The Connect 01
On the 8th day Gary (actually I suspect it was Vlad from HTC, but he will correct me on this through the medium of a clenched fist or a highly articulate flaming no doubt) woke up with a hangover and created the Connect 01.
Given the hangover he did pretty well. The Connect 01 had a certain appeal. I remember when I took mine out of the box and looked through it....ruddy hell, I could see so clearly, and with a massive field of view.
It had a funny eye cup that kept falling off(I replaced it in time with a pigs ear from Bisley), a ruddy great knobbly focus ring, it weighed a ton (Usually a good sign as this implies lots of glass and not plastic) and came with dire warnings about using it on recoiling rifles.
Gary often referred to the Connect 01 as Marmite, you either loved it or hated it...I managed to do both in equal measures.
On setting it up I soon discovered why it should not be fitted to a recoiling rifle, the eye relief was somewhere near 16mm, so if you got the eye piece focussed (an art in itself) there was not much room for an eyepiece.....so my thought that it would look right on an AK47 soon went out the window.
The image though was amazing. It was a full size MP8 reticule but it was dwarfed by the massive FOV. It was as though the thing was printed on your eyeball.
This made target acquisition very quick, and in service the Connect 01 was my preferred squirreling scope as I could track the little gits through the trees very easily.
The first time I used it in anger I sent a pellet whistling over a rabbits head at about 30yds. The size of the reticule (relative to the field of view) just said to Mr Brain that the intended recipient was further away than I thought....I didn’t do it again!!
That said, the problems for me, (and the love hate relationship) really began when I mounted it on a rifle.
You see the very short eye relief (and there really was little if any leeway) meant that with an eye piece, you really needed to get your face aligned vertically in order to get the eye relief (and subsequently a full image) correct.
This was fine standing, kneeling and sitting. A friend of mine took some shots standing, and with the extra point of contact with the head commented “You cannot miss”.
No, for me the problems began in the prone (and with the physique of an Elephant seal, I spend a lot of time in the prone).
You see we are not really designed to have our body near flat on the deck with our heads vertical, so when we use a normal scope, the moveable eye ball (Mk1) tends to help a bit, but since with the Connect 01 we had next to no eye relief, unless we wanted a less than full image, we had no choice in the prone but to become a contortionist....I tried, god knows I did, but in the end I had to admit defeat.
The other compacting issue was that if I remember correctly, the centre of the scope was nearly 2.5 inches above the bore.
This was non negotiable as the mount was fixed height, which was great for shots from 25 yards on, but for the short range quick shots it meant a lot of hold over....which can be quite counter intuitive. That and the fact that ret was not quite as fine as it could be meant that although good at longer ranges, precision was still a bit lacking.
It was a great scope though, and in some circumstances perfect, but not a scope for all seasons.
I sold mine and I wish I had not, as I now think it was a keeper, if for no other reason than its quirks and what it was leading to, it was after all pretty unique, and in a world where the scopes from many companies can offer little between them (they may well all be made on the same production line) I think this innovation took bottle.
I likened it to a SUIT or SUSAT sight, quick acquisition and robust.
I'm a maggot in another life you know