MTC Viper Connect 3-12X32

[kwiky]

I've had this for a while now so I thought it was about time i stuck up a review for anyone thinking of taking the plunge.

Firstly, it was exceptionally well packaged, arriving in a cardboard box with eggshell foam inserts to hold it still and protect it in transit. Inside sat the scopes box, which is a considerable mark up from the usual MTC boxes, the graphics look really professional and the overall box just oozes quality. It even has magnets to hold it closed. On opening this you find the scope, held in place by yet more high density foam and wrapped in a clear plastic bag. The instructions also sit in the box along with a lens cloth. The scope doesn't come with any mounts for its 30mm tube so these have to be bought separately.

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Lifting it out gives the impression of an extremely durable bit of kit, the scope itself is quite short, but has quite a heft. The dials and adjusters all go about there business in a nice smooth manner and everything functions as it should. The built in scope cover on the front is a very nice touch and works very well, springing into the open position and staying there with no hint of any play. Mounting it to the Daystate mk4 was a slight hassle, because of the lack eye relief the scope has to be positioned pretty far back, that means the front objective bell sits directly above where the mag is on a Daystate and in order to clear that, the scope has to be mounted on high mounts. I decided to dump the mag and using the single shot tray, that way I could use lower mounts and keep the scope very close to the bore of the rifle for a really nice trajectory. I have since seen one fitted to an Airwolf on high mounts and to be honest it doesn’t seem to sit as high as I had first thought. Of course this won't be a problem for owners of HW100's and the like; only rifles with mags that stick high above the action will find it an issue.

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With the scope mounted it was time for a look through it alongside the Mamba Lite 3-12x44 on my wolf. All I can say is the Connect is incredible to look through, the field of view is at least double the equivalent view through the Mamba Lite for any given magnification. Not only that, but it is an extremely bright and crisp view right to the edge of the sight picture. It made the Mamba Lite seem extremely closed in and the Reticule suddenly looked very cluttered. Speaking of reticules, the new AMD ret on the Connect is superb. It's very fine so looking at dark targets in dull conditions may mean it gets lost but the Illuminated reticule comes in very handy here. I'll admit I'm not usually a fan of illuminated rets, in fact, I rarely ever use them, but this one is slightly different. Only the very centre cross lights up, so your eye isn’t overwhelmed by the extra light, In a way it kind of looks like a red dot sight when your in the dark which speeds up target acquisition considerably, great for ratting then.

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The one area where users will need to adapt is the lack of eye relief, this is where the scope gets its amazing field of view but it might take some getting used to for some people. As it stands, I'm an NV user and already perfectly used to having the scope touching my eye. In fact, I find it aids in stability especially for standing shots where the extra contact with the rifle really helps.
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First few times out in the field I noticed I kept wanting to wind the magnification right up, and I normally prefer low mag. 4x is what my scopes are usually on when I'm stalking a wood, but with the Connect I found myself thinking I needed more, the wide field of view really tricks your brain into thinking your on less magnification that you really are.

I’ve had my connect since it was launched but I'll not lie, at first it took me a while to get used to it, I could shoot well with it, but it wasn't second nature. By the 3rd hunting trip out though, I was not only used to it, but actually prefer the feeling of my eye being right up against the rear of it. It really does aid stability. It's really biggest plus point is of course, that field of view. It's outstanding and going back to the Mamba Lite is not a pleasurable experience as a result, the view through that feels very restricted.

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I also now like the way it looks on the Mk4, a lot. Even more so than a conventional scope I think, plus the real advantage of having it sit back on the rails the way it does, is that it adds virtually no weight to the front of the rifle, so your leading hand needs take no extra strain. This means the rifle handles as if there is no scope fitted at all.

I've experienced zero white out, and had no issues with parallax error at all. It's also never shifted zero, not even by a millimetre, and I have had it fall over when leaned up against a tree trunk and land quite heavily on the scope but despite people reservations about mounting it with both mounts at the front of the tube I didn’t even have to re zero it.

As it's abit of a Marmite scope, i'll resist the urge to tell everyone to rush out and buy one, that would be wrong because it may not suit everyone and there is a definate period of adjustment with the Connect. I would urge people to try their best to get a look through one though, because if you CAN get used to it, then you may find it's one of the very best scopes you've ever owned.

Phil.