Vortex Viper Shotgun Red Dot Review: Finally, A Purpose-Built Optic for Shotguns

Shotgun dedicated red dots just don’t exist.

Seriously, how often have you seen a shotgun-dedicated red dot? Most of the time, we are adapting red dots from rifles and handguns.

Vortex’s new Viper is not only the first red dot dedicated shotgun sight, but it’s also the first universal shotgun sight.

It’s kind of shocking that it took this long for a red dot to come out swinging for shotguns. Shotguns and red dots are natural companions. The red dot provides you with the speed of a bead combined with the precision of a ghost ring sight.

Red dots work perfectly with shotguns, and it’s about time we got our hands on a dedicated shotgun red dot.

Mounting The Viper

Shotgun sights work best when they sit low on the gun. Anytime we have to add a rail to the gun and a Picatinny mount to the optic, we are raising the optic higher. This takes away from our cheek weld and starts stacking tolerances.

Plenty of optics mount companies have introduced mounting systems to eliminate rails and position the optic as low as possible. The Vortex Viper has made the dot part of the mount and introduced a universal mounting system that positions the optic incredibly low.

The Vortex Viper shotgun enclosed red dot uses a neat little mount system that uses a long slot that’s textured to engage with various screws and allows the optic to align with several different shotguns. Many shotguns are designed to accept an optics mount, but each pattern is unique.

The Vortex Viper functions with the vast majority of these mounting patterns. According to Vortex, the Viper Enclosed works with too many shotguns to list, but you can find the full list here. It does work with shotguns from the following companies:

• Benelli
• Beretta
• Browning
• Franchi
• Ithaca
• Mossberg
• Remington
• Retay
• Savage
• Stoeger
• TriStar
• Weatherby
• Winchester

The Vortex Viper comes with a ton of screws so it can direct attach out of the box to a wide variety of shotguns. Beyond shotguns, Vortex maintains a list of rifles it will fit as well, which is neat. It will drop right onto my Henry Homesteader and Ruger 10/22, which is neat. Heck, it even fits on the Ruger Mk 4 22/45.

More Than Universal

The Vortex Viper shotgun optic is also an enclosed optic. Enclosed optics increase the reliability of the optic and ensure rain, snow, dirt, and whatever doesn’t get between the emitter and the lens. It’s the direction modern red dots are moving towards.

The battery mounts to the side, which also helps keep the optic sitting low. The buttons are positioned on top of the optic. It’s an interesting placement, but it works just fine and keeps the buttons from leaning against the shooter while the gun’s carried.

There are two models, one with a standard 3 MOA red dot and the multi-reticle option. As a shotgunner, I’m going to suggest you purchase the multi-reticle option. The multi-reticle design comes with seven different reticle combinations.’=

These combinations are made up of an ever-changing combo of a 3 MOA dot, a 32 MOA circle, and a 65 MOA circle. A smart shotgunner can pattern his buckshot into these circles and know at what distances the pattern will stay inside the circle.

For example, with Federal Flitecontrol, I know that my pattern will stay inside the 32 MOA circle within 15 yards or so. The 65 MOA circle allows me to pattern my shotgun out even further and have total pellet accountability.

Additionally, in terms of speed, all I need to do is fill the 65 MOA circle with my target and let loose. If I pattern smartly, I can use these reticles for hunting, home defense, and multi-shot use.

At the Range

I mounted the Viper to three different shotguns and got some range time in. First, it mounted to the Nova 3, a shotgun not listed on the list, then the new 990 firearm, and finally a Mossberg 590. It performed best on stocked shotguns, but that’s to be expected and ultimately what it’s designed for.

On stockless firearms, it sits low, and you don’t have a cheek weld to properly get behind the very low optic. While it works, and works well, you’ll get the most benefit with this optic on a stocked shotgun.

The reticle is amazingly clear and crisp without a hint of refresh rate issues. When mounting the gun, the dot just appears in my vision and allows for rapid target engagement. Seriously, just fill the big reticle with target and go.

Going Fast

On a three-target transition drill, the optic’s design showed its strengths. I could engage three targets placed seven yards from each other in 2.45 seconds with full power buckshot. Just swing the big and bright reticles from target to target and go!

It feels like a shotgun cheat code.

I fired several hundred rounds between each gun and had no optical problems. Re-zeroing was never an issue, although the changes were always very minor between guns. While most of my shooting was bird and buckshot, I did do some precision slug work.

I zeroed the 3 MOA dot to slugs and made easy hits out to 100 yards. Slugs through a smoothbore tactical shotgun aren’t known for their tight groups, but I could keep them inside of the C Zone of an IPSC target. The dot provides a precision aiming point for those slugs, while the circle provides a fast aiming point for regular shot.

Brightness isn’t an issue, and the clarity is impressive. There is a slight blue tint, but it’s nothing to worry about as a whole. The Vortex Viper is a well-put-together shotgun optic.

The New Generation

If your shotgun isn’t optics-ready out of the box, I have to ask why? Remington, that means you need to go back to the drawing board with the 870 and make it drilled and tapped as a standard feature. Red dots are the future of shotguns, and we’ll drag shotgunners in kicking and screaming.

Optics like the Vortex Viper shotgun optic are the way to go. It makes mounting easy, eliminates tolerance stacking, and provides reticles friendly to shotgun use. What more could a shotgunner want?

Specifications

Star Ratings (Out of 5) 

Overall – ****(and a half)

I adore the optic, and most of it is absolutely perfect. However, I do wish Vortex would either provide specific waterproof/shockproof settings or build them to an established spec. 

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