Over the past decade Vortex has seen a meteoric rise. Today, Vortex represents a top contender for the most popular riflescope brand in the world. While the variety of scopes on the market has blossomed the 3-9×40 is still a popular configuration. Let’s see how the Viper line‘s rendition of this hunting standby stacks up.
Specifications
The 3-9×40 Viper is a capped turret scope built off of a one inch tube. This scope is designed for a maximum point blank range style system and isn’t intended to be dialed in the field. A lightweight option, the optic weighs a bit over 14 ounces. This isn’t as light as some of the super light options from Leupold such as the VX-2 but is much lighter than optics with exposed turrets.
The format of the optic is in the name; Magnification runs from 3 power to 9 power and the 40mm objective gathers a decent amount of light. I personally have never had problems seeing in legal shooting light and don’t usually put optics with objectives over 50mm on hunting scopes. Others prefer larger objective lenses for extra light gathering at dawn and dusk.
Strengths
First off, this scope packs a lot of handy features into a small package. The optics Deadhold BDC reticle is a good choice. It provides hashmarks at 1.5, 4.5 and 7.5 MOA. These come in useful shooting at targets beyond 250 yards or so.
Another useful feature is the turrets. Despite being capped, the turrets easily index without tools! This makes it easy to switch zero temporarily. For example, I used this feature to set a zero for a moose hunt shooting Nosler Partitions before returning to my standard Federal Trophy Copper zero when I returned home.
Finally, the magnification adjustment is more useful than standard rifle scopes. Most scopes have a portion that turns around the ocular lense. Shooters struggling with a stiff magnification ring sometimes install a large throw lever to gain leverage. However, these large levers are prone to snagging in the field. Vortex decided to get the best of both world with a low profile lever instead of a ring. The magnification is easy to adjust and doesn’t snag even when traveling through dense brush.
Reliability
Vortex is known for excellent customer service and an unbeatable warranty. I cannot comment, because I have never had to use it. The Viper 3-9×40 was one hundred percent reliable and held zero during many outings into the woods.
Competitive Options
The 3-9×40 optic market is nothing if not crowded. I prefer the glass of the Vortex to many competitors in the price range such as the Leupold VX-2. However, the Leupolds do tend to be a bit lighter and at least to my eye more aesthetic. For a super lightweight rifle set up I would favour the Leupold. For a more well-rounded hunting rifle the reticle, turrets, magnification ring and better glass give the Viper the edge.
Closing Thoughts
The Vortex Viper 3-9×40 is a great optic for hunters wanting to be able to shoot a bit farther than maximum point blank range but not interested in long range hunting. It is a simple scope with well thought-out features and great glass for its price. While not the absolute lightest in its glass, the Viper 3-9×40 is a good all around scope for most hunting, especially in the east.