This is my first time writing anything in this fourm. I have passed through looking for information on several things reguarding rifles, scopes, mounts etc. Here in the past year I found myself with a Vortex Viper 6-24-50 PST-SFP, looked nice, felt nice and for the most part worked nice. As I started to use the scope in the field and by field I mean tagret shooting and varmint hunting, the scope slowly started to loose its zero. The problem got worse and everytime I took the rifle for a run I would have to do about 12 MOA of corrections up, down, left , right.
The scope was mounted on a CMMG AR-10 with an American Defense QD mount. Quickly I chalked this problem up to the QD mount and had it put back on the AR as if it would be permanent. No dice, still would not hold zero and when I would get the scope back to zero it would give me a wild pitch about every 3-5 shots. At this point and time I sent the scope back to Vortex for a look over. I get the scope back in the mail with a letter saying that the paralax had to be reset and that was causing the problem I was having. Also in the latter they gave me some torque spects for the scope rings. I take my scope and gun to my local gun shop and have them install the scope and mount to the specs that Vortex reccommended. Great i'm back in action...........NOPE! Shortly after I started using the scope again I started having the same problems. I again send the scope back to Vortex with a letter stating that I am having the same problems as the last time. The scope returns with a letter stating that they couldnt duplicate any problems I have been having but the scope seemed to be dented by the scope rings. Their scope tech told me that they reccommend that I use horizontal mounting rings instead of the vertical mounting rings I had on there. I asked him/her why they reccommend a different style product for the scope then they sell. His/her response was (I dunno, doesnt make sense). At this point I have purched a new rifle (Rem. 700 VLS 22-250) that I want to try this scope out on to make sure it hasn't been the rifle. I take my rifle and my scope to a more well know gun smith in the area, he installs the scope to the new rifle with Night Force (horizontal mounting) rings and a Weaver base. After some adjustments to make the scope fit me better and a quick bore sight I am off to the range. First shot takes out the bullseye at 100 yds and then starts to wander a bit due to natural reasons of a new rifle. At this point I take it back a bit to the 200 yd mark, four shots under a half inch apart. Good deal i was thinking....NOPE! As soon as i made my first adjustment we went right back to square one. This is where the fun starts with Vortex. I contact them with the same problem and I am back in touch with the scope tech, he/she then begins to tell me to lower the torque on the rear ring below the minimal torque specs and if that fixes my problem then I am good to go. I ask him/her if my scope will stay accurate out of torque spec and the response was (well it should). I asked what will they do if that doesnt fix my problem and could I just pay the extra bucks to upgrade to the Razor. I was then told that the upgrade was possible but he would have to talk to the boss. To make a already long story short I had that done to my scope and it didnt work. Called Vortex back and I was sent to customer service never to speak with the scope tech I originally spoke with. I was then told that they would give me the upgrade. GREAT!!! but there is a catch. You will be upgraded to the same scope but in first focal plane instead of your second focal plane. I then told them that I would like to have the same exact scope that I have now. I was given three options, take your money back, get the FFP scope or take this other scope that is just like yours but it has scratches and stuff on it. Why cant I get the same NEW scope like mine I asked, (sir we are back ordered and when we build the scopes we ship them out right away). I then explaned how I have burnt up at least $300 in ammo, $200 in rings/mounts and another $100 in gunsmithing fees, not to mention the shipping I paid for both times I had to send it back. Vortex simply told me they were sorry and presented me with the same three options and that they would take care of the shipping this time. The last time I ever use these guys again, i'ts a shame because I have heard nothing but good things about their customer service. If they would have just sent me a new scope when their first one was defective then we wouldnt be in the situation we are in now( most likely).
The scope was mounted on a CMMG AR-10 with an American Defense QD mount. Quickly I chalked this problem up to the QD mount and had it put back on the AR as if it would be permanent. No dice, still would not hold zero and when I would get the scope back to zero it would give me a wild pitch about every 3-5 shots. At this point and time I sent the scope back to Vortex for a look over. I get the scope back in the mail with a letter saying that the paralax had to be reset and that was causing the problem I was having. Also in the latter they gave me some torque spects for the scope rings. I take my scope and gun to my local gun shop and have them install the scope and mount to the specs that Vortex reccommended. Great i'm back in action...........NOPE! Shortly after I started using the scope again I started having the same problems. I again send the scope back to Vortex with a letter stating that I am having the same problems as the last time. The scope returns with a letter stating that they couldnt duplicate any problems I have been having but the scope seemed to be dented by the scope rings. Their scope tech told me that they reccommend that I use horizontal mounting rings instead of the vertical mounting rings I had on there. I asked him/her why they reccommend a different style product for the scope then they sell. His/her response was (I dunno, doesnt make sense). At this point I have purched a new rifle (Rem. 700 VLS 22-250) that I want to try this scope out on to make sure it hasn't been the rifle. I take my rifle and my scope to a more well know gun smith in the area, he installs the scope to the new rifle with Night Force (horizontal mounting) rings and a Weaver base. After some adjustments to make the scope fit me better and a quick bore sight I am off to the range. First shot takes out the bullseye at 100 yds and then starts to wander a bit due to natural reasons of a new rifle. At this point I take it back a bit to the 200 yd mark, four shots under a half inch apart. Good deal i was thinking....NOPE! As soon as i made my first adjustment we went right back to square one. This is where the fun starts with Vortex. I contact them with the same problem and I am back in touch with the scope tech, he/she then begins to tell me to lower the torque on the rear ring below the minimal torque specs and if that fixes my problem then I am good to go. I ask him/her if my scope will stay accurate out of torque spec and the response was (well it should). I asked what will they do if that doesnt fix my problem and could I just pay the extra bucks to upgrade to the Razor. I was then told that the upgrade was possible but he would have to talk to the boss. To make a already long story short I had that done to my scope and it didnt work. Called Vortex back and I was sent to customer service never to speak with the scope tech I originally spoke with. I was then told that they would give me the upgrade. GREAT!!! but there is a catch. You will be upgraded to the same scope but in first focal plane instead of your second focal plane. I then told them that I would like to have the same exact scope that I have now. I was given three options, take your money back, get the FFP scope or take this other scope that is just like yours but it has scratches and stuff on it. Why cant I get the same NEW scope like mine I asked, (sir we are back ordered and when we build the scopes we ship them out right away). I then explaned how I have burnt up at least $300 in ammo, $200 in rings/mounts and another $100 in gunsmithing fees, not to mention the shipping I paid for both times I had to send it back. Vortex simply told me they were sorry and presented me with the same three options and that they would take care of the shipping this time. The last time I ever use these guys again, i'ts a shame because I have heard nothing but good things about their customer service. If they would have just sent me a new scope when their first one was defective then we wouldnt be in the situation we are in now( most likely).
but the fact that they would do that anyway was awsome. I just orderd a pst a couple days ago because of the way they tryed to help me. I never thought a cheap scope would lead to me buying a thousand dollar scope. Hopefully this one does not get lost in the mail. 
