If you’re in the market for buying a new rifle, one thing you’ll notice off the bat is that the rifles with long range scope are what’s trending these days. The flat shooting cartridges are being promoted heavily for long range shooting. Now, this trend raises some questions like What is the best long range scope on the market? To answer this, there are many variables in place. We need to consider these variables and access our needs before making the decision. To help you with this process, we’ve collected some basic things that you might want to get from a long range scope and we’ve also reviewed a product that we believe ticks all the boxes.
What Is The Best Long Range Scope On The Market?
Vortex Optics Viper PST Gen II
Vortex Optics is a rifle manufacturing company which is known for their optics. They make some of the best optics on the market. Their designs and features are also very unique, they have new designs almost every year. In addition, they also have some proprietary technologies that push their products as being the best.
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Pros & Cons
✔ Great build quality, strong and sturdy
✔ Illuminated reticle
✔ Great lenses
✔ Compatible with most rifles
✔ Great Customer Care service
✔ Reliable and Branded
✗ Fairly expensive
✗ A bit on the heavier side
✗ Can be a bit offputting for some
✗ Not Suitable for a beginner
The PST Gen II FFP Riflescope is certainly one of the best rifle scopes that they have produced in past few years because it is the perfect scope for a lightweight carbine which is shot from a rather long distance. The scope has a solid build quality, it is built around a 1-inch aircraft grade aluminum tube. This material is a very strong one. It has multicoated lenses which are pretty strong and scratch resistant. The reticle is also illuminated and the target turrets can be reset very fast.
The scope is compatible with famous rifles such as AR 10, AR 15 or other light and fast rifles. The scope has all the good bits that Vortex is known for. It is also very strong due to the material that it is made from. Since Vortex is a very customer friendly company with the best customer service, the scope is really reliable. For a professional shooter who likes to be tactical, this is a perfect scope to have. It boasts an illuminated reticle which is perfect, the scope has all the features that you’d want to see in a scope.
Key Features
- The scope has incredible versatility and it is almost perfect for when you want to go on long-range shooting sprees.
- Professional shooters will very much appreciate the turrets which are laser etched and the provide you support while shooting. The rotation of the turret is performed with fiber optics and it makes sure you can keep the turret position in check with ease.
- The illuminated reticle offers a very good support to shooters. It comes with intensity levels ranging from 1 to 10 and there are decimal positions between each dial for a more precise aim.
- The glasses on the lens is also very sturdy. The resolution you get is impressive and it doesn’t hinder the color of your aim. The glasses are also resistant to oil, scratches, and dirt.
The Viper PST Gen II is really a great scope to have. It ticks all the boxes. It has a decently sized objective bell. An Illuminated reticle and great target turrets. In addition to it, the build quality is insane. There is good customer service too and that is always a bonus.
There are certain drawbacks too, we didn’t like its pricing. It’s a bit too much so, it can be a bit of a deal breaker for some. Also, the scope is heavier because of the turret and the reticle. In addition to it, we don’t see a reason why a beginner should get such a heavier and expensive product. But, for professionals and semi-professionals who’ve already tried out some other scopes, we urge you to try this one out too. It won’t really disappoint you, that’s for sure. This makes it one of the best long range scope on the market. We strongly recommend this product.
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Features Of The Best Long Range Scope
Objective Bell
Objective bell has crucial importance. It doesn’t imply that you’d want to get the largest objective bell possible. Size plays only a little role here. However, a larger objective bell will certainly give you a better performance on low light. It also has a larger field of view.
A larger objective bell can also change the balance point of your rifle and add much weight in bulk. It is also applicable to 30mm tubes. They might be a luxury item for many people but if you think you don’t need it, you’d not want to buy it. The cost can be pretty high if you do.
BDC Reticle
BDC reticles from a manufacturer’s point of view is an important requirement to sell a long range scope these days. All the best rifles in the world are equipped with a BDC Reticle. They add some sort of measurable level of complexity and they have zero weight to the rifle scope.
In past, BDC reticles were pretty hard to try and use. In these days though, they have become pretty slim with fresh designs. It provides better aiming. Although to make use of such an important feature, you need to have immense knowledge of BDC Reticles. This is especially a thing that a beginner should keep in mind.
Target Turrets
Target turrets which are also known as target style turrets are these large knobs that extend above from the two of the scope. It ensures that you’re able to make quick adjustments on the position of the reticle within the focal plane. It is very helpful, especially when you are shooting from a certain known distance. Or with the known speed of the wind as it enables you to hold the aim on target with the reticle.
Target turrets may or may not be needed depending on your cartridge and the range you’ve expected. In most cases, target turrets are only effective while you’re shooting targets because it takes time to dial them in. So, in high-pressure scenarios and actual battles, the turrets aren’t that much effective.
Also, target turrets can cause many problems when you’re going hunting particularly because of the fact that the turrets weigh on your rifle. The rifle gets very heavy to carry and you might even trip with it if you’re not strong enough to carry or when you bump on an obstacle. You should buy the target turrets only if you’re absolutely certain that you need these. Otherwise, it’s better to skip it altogether.
With that being said, there are still a ton of products to choose from that have met all the requirements. So, to make it easier for you, we have done the research part ourselves and as you know by now that there was one product that we felt was more relevant to the question. Keeping the objective bell, the target turrets and the reticle in mind, Vortex Optics Viper PST Gen II is the best long range scope on the market.