It’s become more common to find affordable first focal plane (FFP) variable optics scopes. But it’s rare to find one that’s 4-16x that’s less than 10.5″ long. The Texas Precision Optics Sniper VT 4-16×44 MFFP First Focal Plane (FFP) Scope is that unicorn.

Any scope with the brand name “Sniper” leaves many a tad dubious. But my review of Sniper ZT 5-25×50 left with with a positive impression, especially with the high quality accessories that came with the package. I opened the box more hopeful than skeptical.

Reflective of the lower price point, the VT comes with far fewer accessories than the ZT. The box like the scope was unexpectedly small containing the scope, flip-up lens covers, CR1620 button batteries, an Allen key, cleaning cloth, and a scope mount. The scope came pre-mounted on a skeletonized cantilever mount.

I’ve never seen a scope mount design quite as squared off as this one but it appeared well made and strong enough to handle full-sized rifle cartridge recoil; though the cross bolts were rounded and lacked any lugs or stop blocks.

One glaring issue with the mount is that the locking screws are the right-hand side (as installed). The mount designers made a confounding decision to place the screws where they did and I suspect were not avid shooters. This puts the screws in the way of many rifle bolt lever or charging handles.

More than once I banged a knuckle while working the action of my Ruger 10/22. I had to take off the scope and reverse the direction of the mount which worked on my 10/22 rail but may not work for other rifle setups. I would recommend Texas Precision Optics change the position of the screw bolts or request the factory to reverse the direction of the scope when installing it.

I found some minor issues with the scope and turrets. The etching of the numbers and lettering along with the metallic gold point used to highlight it, made it annoyingly hard to read some of the numbers on the turrets. The turrets had some slop and weren’t as tactical or audible as the ZT. In fact the first sample Texas Precision Optics sent me had some tracking issues but their customer service quickly sent me a replacement and return label without issue.

The optics quality were underwhelming; not very bright and with noticeable chromatic aberration at its highest power setting. About on par to a similarly sized UTG Bugbuster in terms of clarity though with higher magnification. Where it did exceed the Bugbuster was the VT’s more detailed first focal plane reticle, which has MIL hashmarks and a LPVO style central dot and horse shoe design.

Regarding the aforementioned UTG 3-9×32 scope, the VT is essentially a better Bugbuster. The VT is 1.5″ longer but still short enough to fit inside a Ruger 10/22 Takedown case. It has a better illuminated reticle and higher magnification power which makes it far more usable at ranges of 100 yards or more. And while I would like a scope with better optics than the VT, in the case of my 10/22 Takedown, size matters.

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RESOLUTION
Group: -2
Element: 6

SPECS
MAGNIFICATION: 4x-16x
RETICLE : Mil dot
WEIGHT/OZ : 20.2
LENGTH: 10.4
TUBE SIZE: 30
EYE RELIEF: 3.6~4.1
EXIT PUPIL/MM: 14.7~3.7
FIELD OF VIEW@100YARDS: 34.3~9.6
CLICK IN@100YARDS: 1/4”
ADJUSTMENT RANG: ±30
Fog Proof: YES
Shock Proof: YES
Water Proof: YES
Battery: CR1620

The Sniper ZT was sent to me by Texas Precision Optics of Dallas, TX which markets the brand. Any scope with the brand name “Sniper” either has the stones to actually live up to the name or just a poseur brand. With a price just under $300 for a 5-25x first focal plane, I suspected the later.

The ZT comes with a wealth of accessories in the box including a parallax focus wheel, sun shade tube, anti-flash filter, and heavy duty scope mount. In general, a budget scope that is loaded with this many accessories is a huge red flag that the product is pig in makeup. The scope and the accessories did appear well constructed but I was still not convinced.

The scope has an integrated throw lever of sorts, in the form of a raised skeletonize fin on the magnification ring. It features a red and a green reticle illuminator with 5-intensity settings. While almost daylight bright, it illuminates only the center T-shape of the reticle.

The First Focal Plane, reticle is configured in a german-stye ‘T’ with 1 and 0.5 MOA sub-tension hash marks for precision shooting. At 5x it appears very fine and light which may be hard to use in a hunting application as it is easily lost in the background, but the thinness is ideal for precision shooting, especially for rimfire. But for rimfire precision, I would have wanted the center ‘T’ to have had a gap for better target placement.

The eye-relief was more than fair at 3.7″ with a decent eye-box that did become a bit unforgiving at 25x. The image quality was somewhat typical for a budget scope: milky, with low contrast and detail, and chromatic aberrations. But what did surprise me was that scope had exceptionally good resolving power beating both my Athlon Helos and Vortex Diamondback Tactical in this regard (though the later has a brighter and cleaner image).

All in all, the Sniper ZT was a surprisingly good scope for a street price under $280. Its turrets tracked and returned to zero. The optics are a mixed bag with very noticeable chromatic aberration. As to it’s durability and reliability, that I’ll need to discover over time.

This scope is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3up8K6V

Learn more at Texas Precision Optics: ZT 5-25×50 FFP First Focal Plane (FFP) Scope

USAF OPTICAL RESOLUTION PERFORMANCE
Group -1 : Element 4

SPECS
MODEL: ZT5-25x50FFP

MAGNIFICATION: 5X-25X

WEIGHT/OZ: 27.2

MODEL: ZT5-25x50FFP

MAGNIFICATION: 5X-25X

WEIGHT/OZ: 27.2

LENGTH: 14.4

TUBE SIZE: 30

EYE RELIEF: 3.8~3.7

EXIT PUPIL/MM: 8.3~2.1

FIELD OF VIEW@100YARDS: 16~4

CLICK IN@100YARDS: 1/4 MOA

ADJUSTMENT RANGE: ±30

PARALLAX SETTING: 10 yd.- infinity

OPTICS COATING: Fully-multi coat

Fog PROOF: Yes

Shock PROOF: Yes

Water PROOF: Yes