MolonFrikenLabe
Member
So I purchased a StrikeFire after taking a look through a few pieces of glass side by side. I noticed no real difference in quality between a Leopold 4-12x40 and a Vortex 4-12x40, not an authority by any means and not sure it was an apples to apples test but I was impressed.
I was in need of a red dot and frustrated at the lack of anything midrange in price, $150.00 - $250.00 for me, and high in quality. Knowing the reputation Vortex has for customer support, excellent by any standards with their no nonsense warrantee, I figured what the heck. I needed this piece for an AR-15, an RRA Varmint rifle with a 24" barrel. It has been a very accurate rifle for me, especially for an autoloader, consistently ringing out sub M.O.A. groups as far as 300 yards, I haven’t really shot it beyond that as of yet. I have a Nikon Buckmaster on it now and the StrikeFire is to compliment it at shorter ranges. The rifle is, eventually, going to be my rifle for shooting Three Gun.
I will start with the cons of this scope. First off it is made in China, as is most of the stuff sold in this country but as a patriot I would not have made this purchase had I known this and have called their customer service and advised them I would have been willing to pay more had it been made by an American.
Secondly the power button is way sensitive and in a very sensitive location. I rests on the left side of the scope and is susceptible to being activated by anything that looks at it funny. I carry the rifle in a soft case with storage compartments basically right above the scope. I cannot manipulate any gear in these compartments without activating/deactivating the scope. It is not really an issue once the rifle is out of the bag but I have yet to retrieve the rifle from the bag without the scope already being on and I find myself thankful for the auto shut off feature.
Third, the dots could be brighter. I like that they offer both red and green but unlike 5mw lasers in red and green, the red and green here are indistinguishable in terms of their visibility against a neutral background. Mayhap if one found themselves in a green forest the red would be nice and I am sure there would be just as likely a situation where one could use the green with greater success but neither is overly bright. Now I will say that they do not wash out completely, even in this sunny desert, but they could stand just another click of brightness. To be fair here a friends Aimpoint washes out nearly completely out here on its brightest setting.
Now for the pros
For the price, about $150.00 (the same price as the stinking mount for the Aimpoint!), you really do get a lot. The functionality of the circuitry is very cool, the mount is very sturdy and with their warrantee you can likely send them a bag of bits and they will send you a new scope!
Now I have read a ton of reviews on this product and most of this, and most anything beyond it, is ground well covered. I have however not found much info on one subject concerning this scope: Parallax shift, if that is the correct term. Namely how well can I shoot with this scope when the dot is off center so far as to be near the edge of the scope.
I add this in the Pros section as I, for one, was impressed, again for the price.
I am uploading an image of an IPSC target with four 1" bulls eyes on it. The target was engaged at 50 yards from a bench, bipod for the Nikon and a simple rest for the StrikeFire as it is off center from the bipod, and with Ultramax remanufactured ammo (not sure of the weight).
The top left bullseye was engaged with my Nikon scope to show a baseline for what the rifle and I are capable of. It shows about a half inch group and is a bit wide for this rifle but what the heck. The top right bullseye was what I was sighting in on and I started out way low and left so any rounds outside of the yellow circles (Minus the two .40 cal you see toward the bottom) were from the sighting in process.
The bottom two bullseyes were engaged with the StrikeFire. The right was with the dot relatively centered for all five shots and shows an approximate 1.5" group, I blame myself for the shot well to the right and if it weren’t for that we would have a good 1" group.
The left group is by far the largest. The shot closest to center is shot with the dot in the center and the other four were fired with the dot in the top, bottom, left and right of the viewing area. All in all it shows a 3" group and I will leave it to the reader as to the quality of this scope based on that.
All in all I am very happy so far, about 25 shots in.
If there are any questions not answered here please let me know.
I was in need of a red dot and frustrated at the lack of anything midrange in price, $150.00 - $250.00 for me, and high in quality. Knowing the reputation Vortex has for customer support, excellent by any standards with their no nonsense warrantee, I figured what the heck. I needed this piece for an AR-15, an RRA Varmint rifle with a 24" barrel. It has been a very accurate rifle for me, especially for an autoloader, consistently ringing out sub M.O.A. groups as far as 300 yards, I haven’t really shot it beyond that as of yet. I have a Nikon Buckmaster on it now and the StrikeFire is to compliment it at shorter ranges. The rifle is, eventually, going to be my rifle for shooting Three Gun.
I will start with the cons of this scope. First off it is made in China, as is most of the stuff sold in this country but as a patriot I would not have made this purchase had I known this and have called their customer service and advised them I would have been willing to pay more had it been made by an American.
Secondly the power button is way sensitive and in a very sensitive location. I rests on the left side of the scope and is susceptible to being activated by anything that looks at it funny. I carry the rifle in a soft case with storage compartments basically right above the scope. I cannot manipulate any gear in these compartments without activating/deactivating the scope. It is not really an issue once the rifle is out of the bag but I have yet to retrieve the rifle from the bag without the scope already being on and I find myself thankful for the auto shut off feature.
Third, the dots could be brighter. I like that they offer both red and green but unlike 5mw lasers in red and green, the red and green here are indistinguishable in terms of their visibility against a neutral background. Mayhap if one found themselves in a green forest the red would be nice and I am sure there would be just as likely a situation where one could use the green with greater success but neither is overly bright. Now I will say that they do not wash out completely, even in this sunny desert, but they could stand just another click of brightness. To be fair here a friends Aimpoint washes out nearly completely out here on its brightest setting.
Now for the pros
For the price, about $150.00 (the same price as the stinking mount for the Aimpoint!), you really do get a lot. The functionality of the circuitry is very cool, the mount is very sturdy and with their warrantee you can likely send them a bag of bits and they will send you a new scope!
Now I have read a ton of reviews on this product and most of this, and most anything beyond it, is ground well covered. I have however not found much info on one subject concerning this scope: Parallax shift, if that is the correct term. Namely how well can I shoot with this scope when the dot is off center so far as to be near the edge of the scope.
I add this in the Pros section as I, for one, was impressed, again for the price.
I am uploading an image of an IPSC target with four 1" bulls eyes on it. The target was engaged at 50 yards from a bench, bipod for the Nikon and a simple rest for the StrikeFire as it is off center from the bipod, and with Ultramax remanufactured ammo (not sure of the weight).
The top left bullseye was engaged with my Nikon scope to show a baseline for what the rifle and I are capable of. It shows about a half inch group and is a bit wide for this rifle but what the heck. The top right bullseye was what I was sighting in on and I started out way low and left so any rounds outside of the yellow circles (Minus the two .40 cal you see toward the bottom) were from the sighting in process.
The bottom two bullseyes were engaged with the StrikeFire. The right was with the dot relatively centered for all five shots and shows an approximate 1.5" group, I blame myself for the shot well to the right and if it weren’t for that we would have a good 1" group.
The left group is by far the largest. The shot closest to center is shot with the dot in the center and the other four were fired with the dot in the top, bottom, left and right of the viewing area. All in all it shows a 3" group and I will leave it to the reader as to the quality of this scope based on that.
All in all I am very happy so far, about 25 shots in.
If there are any questions not answered here please let me know.
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