Monstrum Banshee vs Vortex Viper PST

Vortex was one of the first optics companies to roll out true “daylight bright” illumination on their LPVOs; bright enough to be seen outdoors in daylight sun. Monstrum recently released their first LPVO with a reticle that claims to be “daylight bright”.

Monstrum sent me a sample of their newest Banshee with a new BDC-C1 fiber optic reticle. They also sent along a brand new Vortex PST Gen2 and asked me to test and compare them. Both are 1-6x SFP LPVO’s with 30mm tubes so it would make for a fair apples-to-apples comparison.

Monstrum sponsored two of my previous head-to-head comparison in videos: Monstrum Banshee vs SIG Tango 1-10x and Monstrum Panzer vs Vortex Razor HD 1-10x FFP. As with those videos, I agreed to conduct the tests with the understanding that I would post my real findings; however they turned out.

Both LPVOs looked broadly similar. The Viper has larger diameter turrets and some small details in its construction that cue anybody who has milled metal that it’s a higher value scope. Both have 30mm tubes but the Viper manages to offer more than twice the range of adjustments of the Banshee’s 70MOA.

Both have illuminator rheostat that offer an ‘off’ setting between its numerical intensity levels. The Viper offers 10 levels whilst the Banshee offers 6; and unlike the other Banshee models, only in the color red. The Vipers rheostat dial had an annoying slop that made me turn past and accidentally turn the unit off when changing intensity levels.

Both have capped turrets with 1/2 MOA adjustments per click; which were clear and loud. The Monstrum’s turrets were mildely tactile positive with a fair bit of slop between clicks. The Viper’s turrets were crisp, tactile clicks with very little slop. I didn’t bother with tracking tests as capped LPVOs, the designs intent wasn’t for futzing during use. These turrets were meant for zeroing the reticle and then shot adjustments should be made by the user using the reticle’s sub tensions.

The Viper had a smoothly turning power ring but was stiff enough that I would have wanted a throw lever that the Viper’s retail package lacks. It did come with a 2″ sun shade which none of the Monstrum LPVOs include in their package. The Banshee’s power ring was stiffer and not as smooth but compensates for it with a built in fin-style throw lever.

Looking through each scopes, the Viper had a brighter view. But both appeared crisp and sharp at 1x. The Vortex had very, very, slight fish eye curve at the outer edge of the view. In most other ways, the LPVOs were evenly matched. Only at the covered range did the Vortex show a clearly greater sharpness and brightness offering 3 levels of resolution better than the Banshee and less chromatic aberration.

The reticles were also very similar looking semi t-style; the Viper having MOA sub tensions whilst the Banshee has bullet drop calibrated sub tensions. Both have a bright central point which illuminates creating a red-dot like focus point. Comparing both at their brightest settings, both were similarly daylight bright and visible even when aimed into the sky near the sun.

At this point there really wasn’t much else to test. While the Viper at 11 may be a bit brighter than Monstrum’s new BDC-C1 Banshee at 6, both are truly is daylight bright. How much brighter do you need?

At the range, I could quickly and accurately aim and hit my targets. Like so many of their features, I found the eye boxes to be effectively identical. Because these scopes were short-term loaners, I wasn’t able to test durability or ruggedness but both held their zero during my day at the range on my 5.56 AR.

Both scopes come with lifetime warranties on workmanship but the Viper comes with Vortex’s no-fault policy, covering accidental damage and user error. Recently Monstrum revised their warranty to cover accidents but their fine print requires a receipt and I haven’t had any feedback with ease of returns. Vortex seems to have an easier return policy but recently has a reputation for sloppy QC.

By far the biggest difference between the Banshee and the Viper is their price. The Viper is one of Vortex mid-range models and sells for $599 on Amazon, which is 4 times the price of the Banshee ($149). Moreover, the Banshee includes a quality offset mount. The Viper does not include a mount and the Vortex Sports mount costs an additional $100.

Comparing the Monstrum Panzer vs Vortex Razor HD 1-10x FFP the differences in the quality of the scopes was significant. But comparing the Banshee to the Viper, the differences were harder to find. Certainly the Viper was sharper, brighter, had more range of adjustments and a better warranty. But if I had to the choice to buy either of these scopes, I think I’d choose the Banshee because its a better value.

These optics are available on Amazon through these affiliate links which support my channel:

Banshee https://amzn.to/424Kfwz

Viper PST Gen2: https://amzn.to/48DwR4X