Affordable Red Dot Sight: Vortex StrikeFire

[MilitaryArms]

Perhaps you have a secondary weapon you train with or perhaps you're on a tight budget... not all of us can afford Aimpoints and EOTech sights. If that's the case, you might want to look into the Vortex StrikeFire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDp-EvgnC94

Questions and comments are welcome.

[HES]

Interesting. If it proves to be a reliable optic this should at the least put some pressure on the market.

EDIT: Ok I watched the video and the website. On first look it appears to be a value optic for a lot of people. This is neither bad nor good. I appears to have a 6 hour battery shut off timer. For some that will work out just fine. For others that will be a deal killer. Battery life isn't too much to crow about either. However I believe that for quite a few out there this will do as an initial optic. One question is reliability. There needs to be build survivability testing. By this I am indeed talking about throwing it, hitting it with a bat, etc... That isn't for dick waving, its meant to test the reliability of the build. Of course this shouldn't be done with a sample of one.
Now for those that are in LE / MIL / competitive / active shooter I don't know if this will be a good choice. However for a lot of other folks this will be at the least better than the Chicom crap that is floating out there and a good mid level choice for many. I'm talking about people like by B-I-L who uses his AR for hunting only.

Please keep in mind that my opinions are based on the limited data I have available. I do not play an optics professional on TV and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night either.

[Dave_M]

I had one and didn't even find it suitable for my .22lr training analog. Washed out in bright sunlight and lights glared terribly off of the lenses (like, couldn't shoot with the sun at my back).

[MilitaryArms]

Dave,

It sounds like you had a first generation StrikeFire. They've since come out with a second generation that is brighter. Also, they now have a red dot only version that's even brighter yet. The dual dot (red/green) I have doesn't have an issue with washing out, at least not in my use thus far.

[cgcorrea]

Nice video. Keep em comin' bro. Definately worth giving one a try if I can get my hands on one to test out. HES brings up some really good points though.

[jmp45]

I had a Strikefire and sold to help pay for an Aimpoint. I have nothing but good to say about the Strikefire. I went through a few low price rds early on before settling on the Strikefire. It was the only one that held zero and some that had reticules were canted a couple degrees clockwise and counterclockwise. Strikefire glass is clear, mine had no aberrations at all in the optics. I particularly liked the green dot, pops easier for my old eyes. Only a few times did I run into a situation where I would have liked it a little brighter, range in the winter, snow, full sun for one. For a lower cost rds, it would be my first choice again. If I had another rifle in need of an rds, I would have kept the Strikefire. Good review.

[usmcvet]

Sounds like it might be good for a 15-22.

[CarbonCycles]

HES, I am going to second your comments. I haven't watched the video review, but the comments bother me.

I would argue that the user should very much evaluate their needs before purchasing this optic. I have a Primary Arms on my 15-22, and I did that intentionally. PA does not recommend their optics for anything other than recreational use...I would be very hard pressed to believe that the Vortex is anything more than a recreational red dot. Also, the PA seem to have better specs than the Vortex. My "hard-use" ARs have Aimpoints on them.

YMMV and these are just my comments.

[RUSKI]

I love mine. I have had her for almost 3 years, mounted on 1 AR, a Sig556, and now on my 7.62 AK's gas block. She has never given me trouble. I have yet to adjust the zero since she has been on the AK (well over a year, and prob close to 1k rounds shot). For less than $150 you simply cant go wrong with the Strikefire.

[SA80Dan]

The strikefire is alright, but I think the newer Vortex Sparc is a better bet, IMHO. The sparc addresses many of the issues with the strikefire (inc. general robustness, glass, brightness of dot and size of dot), and also comes with a neat stackable mount for mounting however you want, and a 2x screw in magnifier. Sure the sparc costs a bit more but for what you get, its the better deal IMO.

Either way though, I will say that Vortex is an awesome company with the best lifetime no fault warranty and most efficient and responsive customer service out there.

ETA: Liked your vids for both this and the sparc, nicely done. Perhaps you could do some longer term updates/robustness testing as time goes by?

[aaron_c]

I'm currently an Aimpoint owner but I have to say I have a ton of respect for the Strikefire and wouldn't "look down" on anyone for buying/using it. I've heard from multiple sources that the Chicago PD issues these- yeah, often times that may not mean much (if you don't know how government budgeting works, here's the quick and dirty version). Sometimes government entities spend a ton of money, even if they know they may not benefit from the extra expenditures, to use up all their funds and keep from taking a budget hit for the next year (it's always going to be a percentage of what they spent last year). Other times, they may be low on funds when they feel they 'need' something like red dot sights for their issued rifles, and spend less than they should.

Anyway, the Strikefire has a lifetime no-questions-asked warranty, just like every Vortex product does I believe. Throw it off a cliff in 5 years and break it, just send it back to them. Hard to argue with that for under $200.