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Vortex Strike Fire Red Dot |
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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Posted: October/11/2008 at 15:55 |
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Well I walked into my local gun shop today who sells Vortex optics and
low and behold they had a strike fire sitting on the shelf. I have
been waiting for one so I grabbed it up. http://vortexoptics.com/riflescopes/view/vortex-strikefire-red-dot-riflescope
They retail for $160, I got it for $130. So it fits right in with all
the Vortex lines, which is nitched for a quality product but priced to
the medium to lower end price tag.
I have not shot it yet but a couple initial observations. It comes with a set of really nice scope caps already on it. Glass is pretty clear, but it has a slight red tint to it. Not really in the same league as my IOR 4x but it is not bad. It seems like the Aimpoint has a red tint as well, it has been about a year since I used one of those so I can't remember for sure. The buttons are rubber coated and do have a slight click to them, but you don't notice it unless you are really paying attention. I would rather have them more noticeable. It has both red and green illumination. The illumination seems a little dim to me even on the highest setting. I took it outside on my AR and while I could see it all the time, when I moved the gun quickly from target to target it seemed as though it would be a little faster if it was brighter. When you first turn it on it goes to the color you had it set to last. You then have to push the button again to get the other color. I think that is a nice feature. The ring that goes with it is very heavy duty looking. It is aluminum and it looks a lot like the burris xtreme rings to me. It does not co-witness with iron sights, they sit a little lower in the scope. Some will like that others will not. Supposedly Vortex is going to make a slightly lower rings for those who want a true co-witness. It also comes with a 2x magnifier that screws onto the eye piece end of the scope. When I first put it on I noticed that it takes away atleast half of the field of view. That seemed to be a big turn off to me. After I took it outside and looked at targets that were 100yards and beyond away it was not so bad. My IOR fixed 4x has at least twice the field of view as this Vortex with the 2x magnifier on it. Of course the closer you get the objective to your eye the bigger it gets. If a person planned on using a flip down rear sight the scope would need to be mounted pretty far forward so you could flip it up and still have the scope mounted. So if you put the magnifier on with the sight flipped down it would be pretty far from your eye. So a person would probably not want to use it much for moving targets. But for precision medium range shots I can see how it would help. Vortex is also talking of making a 4x magnifier for it. I really hope they do something with the field of view if they do or 4x will not even be usable. The finnish seems to be the same matte that is on their regular rifle scopes. Nothing super special but I am sure it will be suffiecent. It takes a lithium 3v CR2 battery. It has an automatic shut off after 4 hours on, so that is a nice feature for those of us who forget to turn them off. I will probably sight it in today and then put it through some of my torture test. Which include using if for varmint hunting. We always go on our wheelers and the gun is put in the handle bar gun rack. So it will see an aweful lot of bouncing around and some rough treatment. I have broke several lesser scopes hauling them that way so it should be a good test for it. I will also mount it on my benelli m4 and see how it holds up on it. So this will be a running review that I will add to as it is used. |
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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Keep us posted I am wanting to pick up a couple of red dots but have been thinking about this one.
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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cheaptrick
MODERATOR Joined: September/27/2004 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 20844 |
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Tagged for AAR.
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cyborg
Optics God Gaseous Clay Joined: August/24/2007 Location: North Georgia Status: Offline Points: 12288 |
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Wes this is a little gem here.
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With Freedom comes great responsibility, you cannot have one without the other
An armed public are citizens. A disarmed public are subjects. OATH KEEPER #8233 Support us, and join our cause. Cyborg |
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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As of right now with the little I have used it I am very disappointed in
how bright the dot is or should I say how bright the dot is not. I
have been using it in the snow and I can barely see the dot in either
red or green. I find myself just using my back up irons through the
otpic as much as I use the dot. I called Vortex on this and they said
yes it is not as bright as the Aimpoint. So they know it and it seems
to be fine with them. Maybe if it is not used in the snow it will be
better, but I am doubting it.
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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koshkin
MODERATOR Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13182 |
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I have talked to Vortex guys and they will send me a Strikefire for review. I should have it in a few days, I think. I do not have an Aimpoint on hand to compare it to, but I do have a Millett ZoomDot (which I previously compared to an Aimpoint), shich should provide some reasonable comparison.
ILya |
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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I will be at a two day rifle class this weekend. It should give me a good idea of how well I am going to like it.
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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Well I took it to my class and tried to use it but it did not turn out so well. It was to dim for me to be able to use at all. Trying to get on target quickly was impossible, I took it off after 1/2 a day and just used my iron sights.
I called Vortex and they want me to send it back and they will take a look at it. I surely hope it is just mine that is this way and that is not the way they are. Another really odd thing about it is the only battery that will work in it is the one that came with it. I bought 4 brand new batters to try in it and non of them will work. I can pop them in my range finder and they work just fine, but when I put them in the red dot it will not even turn on. Ohh well, I am not much for battery operated only optics anyway. I will follow up again when I get it back. |
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Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.
"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own." |
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Dogger
Optics Jedi Master Joined: January/02/2007 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 8916 |
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Had one of those Billy and it worked OK but had to take it off my rifle because it had a blueish tint to the class that really screwed me up in heavy bush/overcast days. Gave it to a younger guy with better eyes than mine and he likes it fine but just too dark for me.
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God save the Empire!
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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firemedic
Optics GrassHopper Joined: January/08/2010 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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If you compare the quality of the Vortex it is above the average quality of the lower and mid prices scopes. They are being used by numerous police departments around the country. They also have the best warranty of any optics that I have ever seen.
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rem
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