If you had to choose between Vortex Venom and Vortex Viper sights and you had to do this in 2 minutes, what would you choose? Did you feel a bolt of uncertainty creep into your mind? Well, that’s because you’re not sure. Doubts often come because of a lack of proper information.
Vortex Venom and Vortex Viper are two similar sights often mentioned in the same sentence. People are constantly comparing these two sights and looking for answers to the best one among them.
Viper and Venom sights are both owned by Vortex, an American company that has been in existence since 1986. Vortex has consistently released high-quality scopes, sights, and other weapons gadgets during this period. Their consistency has made it extremely challenging to differentiate between products like the venom and viper sights.
However, our aim here is to break down these two sights as much as possible, providing all the details you need to know to select the right sight for you.
Red dot sights have become popular additions to weapons for short-range shooting like handguns and shotguns. They provide fast target acquisition, ease of usage, among other things, while having no magnification. The viper and venom sights are arguably two of the vortex’s most famous red dot sights.
Vortex Venom
Vortex venom is a mini red dot sight that is only 1.9 inches long and sports a low profile. It sports a premium wide-eyed field lens for a better view and easily captures your target when you look through. It comes with two dot options, 3 MOA and 6 MOA.
Vortex venom offers impressive battery life and ten brightness settings for shooting across different light conditions. Windage and elevation dials are easy to operate. In contrast, the brightness dial is located to the left and has ten brightness settings available. There’s also an auto-brightness sensor that makes use of ambient light to control brightness settings automatically.
Vortex Viper
Vortex viper is a rugged red dot sight with a low profile that allows you to use it on handguns, even on those with cutouts. It uses the 6 MOA red dot option and is a lightweight option weighing only 1.03 ounces and only 1.8 inches long.
This low-profile red dot sight will allow you to co-witness with other sights. The controls are also located to the left of the sight, making it incredibly easy for right-handed people to operate. It uses the popular CR 2032 battery. The windage and elevation adjustment is dialed to 1 MOA per click to help you easily and quickly make changes.
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Vortex Venom vs Viper: Similarities
These two sights sport many similarities aside from being from the same manufacturer, and that’s why it has been so challenging to choose one from the two. Before we look at their differences, it would be helpful to see how they are similar.
Both the sights have similar prices, which means you can easily get any of the two if you happen to change your mind. They are also lightweight scopes, each weighing around 1.1 ounces. Viper and venom sights also share the same Armotek lens cover.
Both viper and venom sights have similar battery life in identical settings. They are also both shockproof and waterproof as their durability is not in question. How about the unconditional lifetime warranty they both share? Vortex Venom and Viper have the same warranty for their sights.
Red dot sights are subjected to some of the harshest conditions when shooting, including accidental bumps against hard surfaces, which is why durability is essential. Vortex Venom is a one-piece housing design made with aircraft-grade aluminum. The material ensures that the sight is not damaged easily even when it bumps against hard surfaces. The lenses are also multi-coated to protect the lenses and prevent scratches. It is shockproof and fog proof, and then its anodized matte finishing ensures you get a durable sight.
Vortex Venom vs Viper: Differences
Outside the pockets of similarities, Vortex Venom and Viper are inherently different, with many differentiating features that make them work differently and for varying purposes. Even though they are both red dot sights used for short distances, they have more specific use cases from the features we’ll be looking at shortly.
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#1. MOA Dot
The size of the red dot you see matters a lot as it determines how far you can aim, your accuracy, and your speed of shooting. MOA stands for a minute of angle, and it is the unit of the angular measurement of a circle. A smaller dot size will typically cover less area on the target than a larger one. This means that the larger dot size would be more effective at a closer distance, while the smaller dot size shines farther away.
Vortex Venom uses dual dot options, the 3 MOA and 6 MOA dot sizes. This gives you the option of choosing a dot size for different distances. 3 MOA dot size is perfect for shooting from 50 yards to 100 yards, while 6 MOA dot size will make your shooting between 25 and 50 yards brilliant. On the other hand, Viper uses only the 6 MOA dot size. This means the Viper is better suited to short-distance shooting while Venom can be varied.
#2. Size
Size matters in many things but even more for sights and other gadgets that’ll be fitted on a gun. And if you don’t consider the size of your optic, then you’d be left with very little space in your backpack to carry other gadgets. Or might even make your weapon too heavy to carry around.
Even though these two sights are mini red dot sights – the Viper is compact and smaller. With its power-packed features, the sight uses less space and is also slightly lighter at 1.03 ounces and 1.8 inches long. On the other hand, Venom is 1.9 inches long and 1.1 ounces. The Venom has a width of 1.1 inches, while the Viper is 1.06 wide.
#3. Battery
Even though the two red dot sights have the same battery life when used in the same conditions, they use different battery types and different battery locations. The two batteries can give up to 150 hours in the brightest settings and 30,000 hours in the lowest settings. However, Venom uses a CR 1632 battery. This battery is not so common, so it may be a hassle changing it. On the other hand, Viper uses the more popular CR 2032 battery.
The battery compartment for the venom sight is located at the top, so you don’t have to remove the sight from the gun to change the battery. However, the battery compartment for the Viper is located under it, which forces you to remove the sight from the weapon before you can replace the battery.
Vortex Venom vs Viper: Which is the Best?
Remember the question at the top of this article asking you to make a decision? Well, here we are again. But this time, more information will help you make the right choice. Bear in mind that the “right” choice is not universal and varies depending on factors like aiming distance and others as well. This is why instead of answering which is better in general, we’ll be answering which is better in specific scenarios.
When it comes to dot sizes, Vortex Venom is the overwhelming winner here as it has two dot size options; 3 and 6 MOA. This allows you to choose the dot size sight that best suits your shooting distance. Viper only has one dot size; 6 MOA. The dot size is suitable for distances between 25 yards and 50 yards.
If you’re looking for a compact sight, Vortex Viper is the winner here as although they are both mini red dot sight – Vortex Viper is compact and smaller. It means you’ll have more room in your backpack and on your weapon to co-witness with other sights.
When it comes to the ease of getting a battery replacement, the Viper stands out as its battery is typical. But that’s about it for comfort as the battery compartment is located under the sight, which means you have to remove it before replacing the battery.
Conclusion
Vortex Viper and Venom share a couple of differences. One of the most significant is the two MOA size options – available in the Venom and only one available in the Viper. They also share similarities like their price range, build, and durability. If you’re looking to buy any of the two, the best way to get the most suitable sight for you is to consider which values are most important. And choose the sight that satisfies those values the most.
