Vortex SPARC AR Tabletop Review

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01-04-17, 10:31
sidewaysil80

Vortex SPARC AR Tabletop Review

I was patiently waiting for the Vortex AMG Holo but its final size and bulk turned me away from it. I was leaning towards a Trijicon MRO but after browsing the Vortex site I discovered the SPARC AR. Many of the reviews are for the other SPARC models so I figured I'd post a table top and some pictures in case anyone was interested in picking one of these up.

First, I'd like to briefly explain my previous red dot/mid-range optic experience. Our work rifles have Aimpoint T2's, I have owned the Aimpoint Comp M2 and Aimpoint PRO for a while now. I have previously owned an Eotech EXPS3 and used the Trijicon ACOG for 8 years in the Marine Corps. I have a lot of rounds through all of those optics, some more than others, but enough to feel comfortable comparing other optics to them. Lastly, I spent about a week with the Trijicon MRO and various RMR's as we T&E'd them for duty on the department's new duty rifles. We put around 10k rounds through 4 rifles wearing these and did so in various weather and lighting conditions.

Now, onto the SPARC...

I had previously mounted, zeroed, and shot a Gen 1 SPARC on a buddies rifle and was pleasantly surprised with it. I was a fan of Vortex's warranty and customer service, as well as the value that the SPARC offered. At the time the blueish tint was pretty obvious and very distracting, other than that, no real complaints. Fast forward a couple of years and I read a very interesting torture test in Recoil Magazine with the SPARC II. They beat the HELL out of this optic and I couldn't believe how well it held up. It continued to function even after fire, microwave, water, etc. (http://www.recoilweb.com/vortex-spar...die-67267.html). I was intrigued with this optic but was hesitant after the blue tint experience on the SPARC I mounted, as well as others I came across since then.

While browsing the Vortex website I was intrigued by the SPARC AR. It uses standard/common AAA batteries which is a positive in my book and Vortex redesigned the body to encapsulate all of the controls, another positive feature. While the SPARC II was plenty durable from what I've read and heard, this new design just enhanced it further. Vortex offers a VERY generous and greatly appreciated Mil/LEO discount so I decided to just purchase the SPARC AR for shits and giggles and see how it compared.

Packaging/Contents:
I was pleased with the Vortex packaging as the SPARC AR is secure as are the extras. Included are very thorough instructions, the SPARC AR, 1/3 co-witness adaptor, screws, alan key, and a premium Duracell AAA battery. The battery was a pleasant surprise and it's nice that they didn't just throw in some junk no name one.
http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5rkzoh2x.jpg

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...psabjnd8cg.jpg

First Impressions:
The first thing that jumped out at me was the inclusion of a cover/lens cap on the SPARC AR. This is very similar to the Tangodown Aimpoint Micro cover, the Vortex cover's caps even snap into each other so they are out of the way. Comparing this to the Tangodown cover, especially after taking it off the SPARC, I didn't notice any differences in terms of quality or material. Not to say none do not exist, but they weren't apparent and it was another nice touch by Vortex.

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...ps96han0zo.jpg

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...ps02bs1esy.jpg

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...psadjzvplo.jpg

Body:
Once the cover was removed I was surprised to see a nice etching/engraving of the Vortex logo into the body of the SPARC. It feels like a very solid optic and the once piece body, as opposed to side mounted controls, is a welcomed improvement. The integral mount has the ability to run with an absolute co-witness, or with a supplied adaptor installed at the bottom between the optic and mount with a lower 1/3 co-witness. Another nice feature was the use of a torx head bolt for mounting the base to the receiver. Alan keys are prone to stripping fairly easily, while this use is likely not going to see significant amounts of force, it was another very nice touch that showed they weren't cutting corners. The only gripe I had was with the supplied screws to mount the base to the body. They do not come with torque specs/instructions which may seem superficial, but they are rather snug when installing and I was nervous they would strip the threads on the body. Fortunately, I used a VERY little amount of loctite and tightened them sequentially with a little more pressure each pass. This ensured they mount seated evenly and that one individual screw wasn't bearing the brunt of tightening duty. I went a 1/4 turn past "pretty tight" and the mount is still very secure.

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...pskhax6lxq.jpg

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...psvkkutt0w.jpg

Function:
The controls on the SPARC II are very simple. You press the up arrow to turn the unit on and hold the down arrow to turn it off. Obviously, you press the up/down arrows to cycle through brightness settings. When turned back on the SPARC AR will return to its last setting before being turned off. The best part of the SPARC however was how little blue tint there is. The tint is way less apparent than it was on the SPARC/SPARC II and I feel confident in saying there is less than an Aimpoint T1. The 2moa dot looks great in the picture, but apparently I have an astigmatism as it looks a little deformed to my naked eye. I would say it's no worse than any of the other Aimpoint I have used. I will say the RMR and the MRO had the least distortion of the red dots I have used, but the SPARC II at its highest setting has more even/consistent bloom compared to its competitors. The reason I point that out is 2moa dots are great for accuracy, but in close quarters I like to crank the brightness up and use the bloom to essentially enlarge the dot.

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...pscioclzka.jpg

(mounting was simple enough, I applied forward pressure and tightened with the supply alan key)
http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...psssy4odqg.jpg

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...psd8otwsy3.jpg

Range Test:
I zeroed at 50yds and the SPARC held a consistent zero. Adjustments via turret were pretty firm and not mushy at all. Once I target I ran a bunch of different drills and the SPARC did not hinder anything. It was very quick on multiples and transitions and accurate enough on its mid/low setting to hold impressive groups from a bench. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a pic of the targets so I'm going to speculate as to group size. But at 100yds I was very confident in it's accuracy.

(here are a couple pictures showing it mounted to illustrate its overall size and footprint)
http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...pssailtra8.jpg

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/...psexbwuheb.jpg

Overall I'm happy with this purchase. Vortex enhanced the already great reliability and durability and significantly reduced the blue tint issue. This optic did what it was supposed to do and I experienced zero issues. I get that Aimpoints are "better", but aside from battery life I really see no real world or applicable difference that would justify me spending several hundred dollars more on one. Of course I'm not planning on swapping an issued T1 with one, but if I'm buying then I'm choosing the SPARC AR.
02-01-17, 20:39
Sierra

Thanks for the review.
02-12-17, 09:36
INMY01TA

So does the Sparc AR still have the blue tint to the glass?
02-12-17, 09:51
CJFirefly

Quote:

Originally Posted by INMY01TA

So does the Sparc AR still have the blue tint to the glass?

He said that to him there is very little, less than a T1.
02-12-17, 10:06
sidewaysil80

2 Attachment(s)

For reference. None of my pictures were edited or anything and were taken from my iPhone SE. Below are some pics I pulled from another sites review of the T1. These T1 photos are consistent with my previously owned T1 as well our work ones as far as tint goes.

Aimpoint T1
Attachment 43964

Attachment 43965
02-12-17, 10:45
TacticalFun

I use one of these almost daily. Have had it since last august. It has been rained on, covered in mud, dropped etc. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...324d73e360.jpg

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
02-12-17, 12:19
opngrnd

Great deal. I'm considering grabbing one of these to be my sacrificial training optic so I can leave my AimPoint on my go-to rifle.
03-14-17, 10:06
abt1974

I also picked up one of the Sparc AR optics for my rifle. (Custom build on a Ruger lower) I like the overall package. If I am not being presumptuous, I will add my thoughts to this review.

First, let me start with the rifle. It is a custom build I did with the primary intention of using it for competition and secondarily for defense/survival. This is relevant to my review, so it bears stating.

My first impression on taking this optic out of the box was that it seemed to be well made and ruggedly designed as has been my (admittedly limited) experience with Vortex.

I run a Vortex Strikefire II on my other AR and have had very good experience with it so I decided to try out the Sparc AR. I wanted to have the finer dot to work with as well as the smaller overall package to reduce the signature on the rifle. The Sparc AR does this very well. I found the controls to be well thought out and easy to work with. I would have preferred to have a way to disable the auto off feature though. Being powered by a AAA battery makes batteries easy to come by and carry spares of, so this is a feature that would have made sense in my opinion.

Compared side by side on the range on a sunny day, I felt the dot on the Strikefire II appeared crisper to my eye. I do run that optic on the green dot setting, so that may play a part in that. The dot was easy to pick up and I never approached the higher settings, usually staying on the lower two non-nv settings.

Zeroing the optic was simple and only took a few minutes. The adjustment clicks are 1 moa which surprised me as I would have expected (and preferred) 1/2 moa on an optic of this type. It didn't seem to limit the ability to zero the optic, though, so I guess it works.

I had read one review that complained of a "black blob of apparent adhesive visible in the optic". When I looked the optic over, it was easy to see what the reviewer had been referring to. The emitter is at the 5 o'clock position in the rear of the optic's internals and seems to be larger than I would have expected to find in an optic like this. I didn't find that it interfered with my sighting using the optic, so non issue there. I did, however, run into an issue when the mount was changed out. (More on that later.)

I didn't care for the lens covers being attached to the rubber cover, so i removed them. It was very simple to do and they still stay on the optic when applied with no issues to this point.

The mount that is included with the optic seems solid and was easy to attach and lock down. The supplied torx key was flimsy, though, and is now pretty much useless (mounting the optic to the base and then the rifle and then removing and disassembling the mount/optic combo). Hey, they make optics and not tools. I had a nicer one in my tools, so only a very minor complaint.

I wanted to mount this optic with a QD mount so that I could interchange it with a magnified optic as the situation called for. I contacted Vortex by email and they promptly replied. Their suggestion was Midwest Industries, so I picked up their QD mount that is designed for this optic. The directions were well written and easy to follow and installation was a snap. The mount provides a decent lower 1/3 cowitness with my Troy Battle Sights that isn't too low for my taste. This was where the emitter showed its downside, though. When sighting the iron sights through the optic, the emitter impedes the view at the 5 o'clock portion of the sight picture. This is only a small blockage, but I still find it distracting. This was NOT an issue using the factory Vortex mount without the spacer.

Overall, I am pleased with this optic. There are a couple of things that I would have liked to see done differently, but those are personal preference.

My search for a full cowitness QD mount continues and if I find one I will report that here as well.

Happy shooting, y'all!

ABT
03-14-17, 11:17
wildcard600

Quote:

Originally Posted by abt1974

I wanted to mount this optic with a QD mount so that I could interchange it with a magnified optic as the situation called for. I contacted Vortex by email and they promptly replied. Their suggestion was Midwest Industries, so I picked up their QD mount that is designed for this optic. The directions were well written and easy to follow and installation was a snap. The mount provides a decent lower 1/3 cowitness with my Troy Battle Sights that isn't too low for my taste. This was where the emitter showed its downside, though. When sighting the iron sights through the optic, the emitter impedes the view at the 5 o'clock portion of the sight picture. This is only a small blockage, but I still find it distracting. This was NOT an issue using the factory Vortex mount without the spacer.

Overall, I am pleased with this optic. There are a couple of things that I would have liked to see done differently, but those are personal preference.

My search for a full cowitness QD mount continues and if I find one I will report that here as well.

Happy shooting, y'all!

ABT

The midwest industries mount sits lower than the factory mount ? Did you try it with the spacer ? Thats a shame, I was looking at one of those but don't want to lose any height as I use a lower 1/3 cowitness.
03-14-17, 18:05
abt1974

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildcard600

The midwest industries mount sits lower than the factory mount ? Did you try it with the spacer ? Thats a shame, I was looking at one of those but don't want to lose any height as I use a lower 1/3 cowitness.

The MI mount sits slightly HIGHER than the factory mounts. I'll try to get a pic of the irons through the optic and get it up for y'all.

If you prefer a lower 1/3, you'll be fine with the MI mount.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
03-14-17, 20:02
wildcard600

Quote:

Originally Posted by abt1974

The MI mount sits slightly HIGHER than the factory mounts. I'll try to get a pic of the irons through the optic and get it up for y'all.

If you prefer a lower 1/3, you'll be fine with the MI mount.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Sorry, I'm an idiot. Makes sense since the emitter would have to sit higher in order impede an absolute co-witness setup instead of lower.

If you can get pictures I would be much appreciative. Sounds like it is what i need.

thanks.
03-14-17, 20:24
abt1974

Getting ready for work tonight I snapped this picture of the mounts. I didn't have time to get a shot through the optic. The factory absolute cowitness height mount is on the left with the MI mount on the right. To be clear, the emitter is more visible in the lower 1/3 arrangement. It doesn't block any of the sight picture. It shows up as a small tab at 5 o'clock.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps4nmu8psk.jpg

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
03-15-17, 06:24
abt1974

DISCLAIMER-PLEASE READ:
I was working with my phone camera and couldn't get the front sight focus you'd have in real life. I feel that the phone camera SIGNIFICANTLY EXAGGERATED the amount of blind spot compared to what I see actually looking through the sights.

That said, here you go. MI Sparc AR specific QD mount installed using the backup sights through the optic.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps4vyvraex.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...psbr3awgcu.jpg

ABT

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
03-15-17, 15:37
wildcard600

Thanks for the pictures, really helpful. I appreciate it.
03-15-17, 16:21
Gunnar da Wolf

Thanks for the write ups and pix gentlemen. Great job!

I take that you both would agree that the Sparc AR would be a good stand in for an Aimpoint Micro sight on a training/non critical AR?
03-15-17, 20:00
abt1974

Let's keep a few things in mind.

First, I do not now nor have I ever shot for a living. I shoot competition and try to set up my guns so I could fight with them if I had to.

Second, I have extremely limited experience with higher end optics like Aimpoint. Others that shoot with them regularly have made comments suggesting they found my Vortex sights quite pleasantly surprising.

Third, for the emitter to actually be anything more than a cosmetic/personal preference issue with the QD mount in place don't forget we are talking about an EXTREME situation. You would have to be fighting for your life, have your optic fail (I've fallen on my Vortex equipped main match gun hard enough to almost knock myself out on it and had no issue and I weigh in at 250) and have time to deploy your backup sights but NOT to flip off the QD mounted optic.

For me, the optic and mount represents a sizeable purchase. I don't buy twice from companies I'm not completely happy with. This is not my first Vortex optic and will not be my last. I'm just also very product improvement oriented from years of manufacturing employment so I see every little thing that could be better.

Gunner, as I've said I have zero experience shooting for a living. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up the rifle wearing this optic to defend myself with. From talking with Vortex, they are selling a lot of these optics to law enforcement agencies. To me, that says a lot more than anything I could say.

ABT out.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
03-16-17, 00:40
abt1974

I really hope that doesn't read grouchy to everybody else like it did to me. If it does, please accept my apologies. I typed it up in a hurry earlier.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
03-16-17, 07:06
Gunnar da Wolf

Quote:

Originally Posted by abt1974

I really hope that doesn't read grouchy to everybody else like it did to me. If it does, please accept my apologies. I typed it up in a hurry earlier.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Not a problem. Thanks for the input.
04-24-17, 18:11
hdrolling

Old thread but I wanted to share that PSA have the SPARC AR on sale, using the code "SPARC" gets the price down to $139 shipped. I just ordered one and figured if anyone was on the fence that it might be a good time to save $60 off their normal price.
07-05-19, 12:08
Harv

Bumping this thread to see how the SPARC AR is holding up. I just ordered one from PSA on there 4th of July one day say, got it for the same low $139 price... getting it for a Poormans URG-I I just put together. Not looking to drop another $500 plus on a T-1/T-2. This looks like a good alternative. Will eventually pick up QD mount.