My MTC Viper 10 x fixed

[hendrickotto]

MTC Viper 10 x 44 scope indoor range testing.


After acquiring the 3 – 12 x 44 Viper I could not but get this one for any HFT shooting, since it has a fixed magnification of 10. It also looked just the ticket for recoilling springers.


I. Plus points:

1. The reticle is just very, very good. MTC informs me that it is even etched into the glass ! It is not cluttered at all and very easy to get used to. I like it more and more ! The floating center cross is very easy to quickly put on target and obscures very little of the target area. I just love the Christmas tree and mil and half-mil reference marks.

2. At 10, 25 and 50 meters, the focus mark numbers in yards (!) are not far off the real distances for me.

3. The scope does allow me to focus sharply at 10 yards at 10 power which is great.
It jumps in and out of focus quite crisply. Incredible for this low magnification scope !

4. The image clarity is quite good to my eyes.

5. The total (up and down/left and right) adjustment range is about 80 MOA which is great. The knobs are quite grippy to the fingers.

6. It is a sturdy, solid looking and feeling scope

7. A very complete package with many accessories. Nice dust covers on both ends.

8. The "box test" with my scope gave no problems. The Reticle adjustment does not result in the same value change on the target horizontally and vertically; the vertical change is a bit greater than the horizontal.

9. The adjustment knobs on my scope are very positive, audible and pleasant to use. These are much better than on my 3-12x44 scope. Very easy to lock and unlock (maybe a bit too easy – could be more positive in feeling ?).

II. Minus point:

1. Without the bigger side wheel supplied, the focus ring does not have an even, smooth resistance over the whole range; it seems to hang up a bit in certain positions, but this may wear in over time.
I would like more pronounced (higher) "wings" on the small focusing dial for easier and more positive control.

III. Some observations


1. When carrying hearing protection (at the range, when surrounded by big bore brothers) and one cannot hear the clicks, relying on feeling them only sometimes results in a bit "mushy" feeling.

2. The Turret bezel numbers ring lock must be gripped very well in order to lock/unlock; a bit too fine to me. In stead of 12, the rings on the turrets of this scope carry 6 numbers per revolution. This is more in line with the full value of MOA per revolution and on the other scope the numbers should be read so as to indicate half MOA values. Maybe there was a mistake in the production of earlier scopes (I also noticed this on turrets of the first batch of 4-16 x 50 Vipers).

3. The Battery compartment cover has a very tiny sealing ring which I hope is water tight enough for FT/HFT use in the rain.

IV. The Wishlist.

Some desirable features that MTC might consider for follow- up configurations of these Viper scopes are the following:

1. Number one and very important: I would like the adjustment increments to be in MILS and not in 1/8 minutes of angle. It seems Falcon Optics did understand that logic by making this feature an option. One tenth of a mil per click would be just fine and give a bit more room in the system to have an even larger adjustment range in total. This would eliminate adjustment mistakes (no mental conversion necessary for making the right amount of adjustment). In view of what competitors are now offering, this may be seen as a minus point, really. Come on, Gary, please !

2. I would like the "zero" or "0" marks on the bezel rings on the turrets to stand out more from the other numbers by colouring them red and/or making the hash mark red/thicker and/or longer. On (dark) in house ranges this would make a much better visible mark for quick reference under low light conditions.

I would have liked MTC to have these issues remedied in the Taipan line of scopes. I cannot yet see if they did this.


Conclusion for now: I have not finished testing yet, but like this scope a lot !
This one cannot be beaten for value at this price.

But one thing is already quite clear: to me this is not an entry level scope; it is much better !



February 2010

[poisedshot]

im actually after a new scope, its been an on going process trying to find the one for me but ive narrowed it down to either the mtc viper or the falcon optics menace!

i dont know if you have had a go on both?


would definatly help me figure out which one of these im going to choose for my set up!


thanks in advance,

andy.