My Quickie Review of the Vortex Crossfire I Won on This Forum.
After winning the Crossfire red dot in the thread of the year contest ( https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...ad+of+the+year ), I thought it was only right I give a quickie assessment of it.
Here's a write-up from an internet source:
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...sfire-red-dot/
Since the red dot was mine for free, I decided to try a couple of different mounting options. I have AR's with fixed carry handles and 1913 rails, so I wanted to see how it worked on both. It's important to remember that mounts made for the Aimpoint H1/T1 most likely will fit the Vortex Crossfire just fine. YMMV
First mount I tried was the Kley-Zion carry handle mount:
https://www.botach.com/kley-zion-car...point-holosun/
For twenty bucks it mounts the optic at a very usable height on the carry handle. You don't get quite the good cheek weld as you would on a flat top AR, but it's good enough to be usable. Warning though: The mount is metal and will distress the finish on the carry handle groove as you snap it into place. It's also best to use with a fixed carry handle because the opening on a removable carry handle isn't quite big enough to install as easily. You have to half-ass get it in the groove, get the nut started, then push it all the way down.
Next, I installed the American Defense quick detach mount (1/3 cowitness) for the Aimpoint T1:
https://www.americandefensemanufactu...w/product/209/
(I think you can find better pricing for that one, though). The mount fit perfectly and lets the optic sit at the perfect height.
The third product I tried out was the TangoDown I/O cover for the Aimpoint T1:
https://tangodown.com/io-cover-for-aimpoint-t-1/
Although the cover fits properly enough to allow removing and replacing the windage and elevation adjustment turret covers, the indicator notch allowing you to see what setting the red dot is on was slightly misaligned on mine. That's a minor criticism but I thought I'd mention it. Other than that it's entirely functional on the Vortex Crossfire.
At the range, the Crossfire had a nice clear window and a crisp dot. To my astigmatic eye, I think it might be just a tad clearer than my favorite optic, the Trijicon MRO. I emphasize "might". The two are neck-and-neck in dot clarity and it might have just been the lighting conditions or other factors on that particular day. The point is that the Crossfire dot is just as usable as a higher end optic.
The red dot zeroed easily.
Is a $150 optic as good as a $400 MRO or an $800 Aimpoint T1? Most likely not. I don't intend to abuse this one or take it into "combat", so as a budget optic as long as it performs without losing zero, quitting early, or exhibiting some other issue one would expect with a "cheap" optic it will be GTG for its role as a range-grade optic.
Thanks to the generosity of the appropriate people on this forum who sent me this optic for FREE-NINETY-NINE. :dance3:
I will revisit this thread if I encounter a major problem.
