By Jason Mosher

Like them or not, red dot sights have undeniably transformed the shooting landscape. I remember when they were a niche product, primarily for competition or tactical use. But over the years, they've exploded in popularity across all firearm platforms. Vortex’s new Viper shotgun enclosed red dot sight is something we haven’t seen from them before.

To wit, a micro-sized enclosed emitter red dot. Even though this one is designed specifically for shotguns, my big question is when will they develop one for pistols? I have a trip planned to visit the guys at Vortex next week so maybe I can get them drop some clues…we shall see.

For today, though, we're looking at the micro enclosed emitter optic designed specifically to mount directly on a shotgun receiver.

Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Red Dot

While it shares a similar compact size with many other pistol-sized enclosed emitter red dots, the Viper's uniqueness lies in the integrated mounting system. The bottom part of the frame on the Viper is engineered to directly interface with various screw patterns found on drilled and tapped shotgun receivers.

The buttons on top of the Viper shotgun optic are large so they are easy to use while shooting.

The first time I tried mounting an optic on a shotgun, I had to mount a Picatinny rail first. Not that it didn’t work, but it adds (a little) weight to the gun and (a little) height to the sight.

I know some guys like to have their optics sitting high on their gun, but on shotguns, I like to keep my aiming system as close to the original bead height as possible. It just feels more natural to me.

The Vortex Viper shotgun enclosed emitter red dot sight

The Viper Shotgun Red Dot has an enclosed aluminum housing that protects the emitter from dirt, debris and moisture. It runs on a common CR2032 battery and has an estimated life of up to 50,000 hours on the medium brightness setting.

The optic includes motion activation, which automatically turns the sight on when movement is detected, and a 10-minute auto-shutoff feature to conserve battery life.

The buttons for the brightness settings are on the top of the optic which I like. They're larger, making them easy to push when you’re handling a shotgun.

I like all the reticle options that Vortex included with the Viper Shotgun optic.

One of my favorite things about the Viper is the reticle options. There are a whopping seven different reticles to choose from. They range from a 3 MOA dot to a 32 or even a 65 MOA circle. You can also choose from other combinations like dot with a circle, dot with two circles, two circles only, etc. Vortex included these options to approximate shot patterns for different chokes.

Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Red Dot Specs:

• Weight: 2.14 ounces
• Reticle: 3 MOA Dot or Multi-Reticle (3 MOA Dot, 32 MOA Circle, 65 MOA Circle)
• Brightness Settings: 12 (10 daylight, 2 night-vision compatible)
• Battery: CR2032
• Advertised Battery Life: 50,000 hours (single dot, setting #6)
• Mounting System: Integrated Universal Mount for drilled and tapped shotgun receivers
• Features: Motion Activation with 10-Minute Auto-Shutoff, Enclosed Aluminum Housing, Aspherical Lens, Parallax Free, Unlimited Eye Relief, Side Load Battery, Waterproof, Fogproof, Shockproof.
• MSRP: $429.99 (about $300 retail)

Mounting the Viper Shotgun Enclosed Red Dot

Mounting the Viper is pretty straightforward. Your shotgun will need at least two drilled and tapped screw holes in the top of the receiver. Most newer shotguns have four, and I’ve seen a few with three.

Because the mounting system is universal, you can align any of the screw holes with the groove on the front and one or two with the holes on the back of the mounting plate. My Mossberg 500 has four holes drilled and tapped and I was able to get two in the rear and one in the front to line up.

The first optic I tried on my Mossberg 500 required mounting a Picatinny rail.

The screws should be torqued to 12 inch-pounds and Vortex provides three bags of screws. I ended up using the longest screws provided and added a small amount of blue Loctite to them. It only took about five minutes to remove the Picatinny rail and install the Viper red dot.

The Viper uses a universal mounting system that will line up with most drilled and tapped holes.

A small multi-tool comes in the box that allows you to open the battery compartment, install or remove the mounting screws, or adjust the optics MOA.

Why use a red dot on a shotgun?

The first time I ever saw a red dot mounted on a shotgun, I wondered why you'd need that. Shotguns are pretty forgiving when it comes to hitting a target right? Depending on the loads and chokes, it can almost be an almost point-and-shoot system. Right?

The reality is, a red dot offers some advantages for shotgun performance depending on the application. I was surprised to see it made clay pigeon shooting much easier. With the reticle set to the larger 65 MOA dot, you just put the circle over the clay and pull the trigger. It's faster than lining up the front bead.

Even though I'm used to using the front bead on a shotgun, the Vortex Viper micro red dot is growing on me.

Improved accuracy for slugs is another benefit. Even though you don’t tend to shoot very far with slugs, you’re still firing a large, single, projectile. I found the single dot with a circle around it the perfect setting for slugs. But even for 00 Buck, I found the red dot made target acquisition a little faster.

Bead or micro red dot?

I grew up shooting my grandpa’s old shotguns so using a single front bead is just what feels normal to me. I can’t say I've gotten entirely used to the idea of a red dot mounted on a shotgun, but it's growing on me. We use optics on just about every other platform now, so it only makes sense, I guess, to add them to shotguns as well, especially if they improve results.

After using the Viper on my Mossberg 500 for the past few months, I’ll admit that I kind of like it. Having said that, it’s probably not for everyone and there’s nothing wrong with that either. For me, it's a tool that can be beneficial in many cases. Whether or not you want a red dot mounted on your shotgun is a personal preference.

For those who use red dots on shotguns, the Vortex Viper comes with the V.I.P warranty so you will never have to worry about it breaking or being damaged. If anything goes wrong, regardless of the reason, they will repair it or replace it.