Vortex Micro 3x magnifier

[maximus83]

Fair enough--sounds like too many unknowns to make it worth trying even for recreational shooting.

[RHINOWSO]

Yeah, that is wack. It's meant for use behind a RDS.

[maximus83]

Yeah, that is wack. It's meant for use behind a RDS.

Yep, seems risky trying to adapt to using it with a prism sight, despite PA's comments in their write-up.

As for RDS use, I think this magnifier is supposed to sit in front.

[Wake27]

As for RDS use, I think this magnifier is supposed to sit in front.

What? I don't think so...

[VortexOptics]

Yep, seems risky trying to adapt to using it with a prism sight, despite PA's comments in their write-up.

As for RDS use, I think this magnifier is supposed to sit in front.

"Front" and "Back" is sometimes mixed up for people. Usually people refer to the "Front" of the gun and any accessory on it as being towards the end of the barrel and "Back" as being towards the shooter and the end of the buttstock. With that being the standard, this magnifier is absolutely supposed to sit *Behind* the red dot.

[maximus83]

"Front" and "Back" is sometimes mixed up for people. Usually people refer to the "Front" of the gun and any accessory on it as being towards the end of the barrel and "Back" as being towards the shooter and the end of the buttstock. With that being the standard, this magnifier is absolutely supposed to sit *Behind* the red dot.

Ah you're right--I stand corrected. Was seeing your site pics and thinking of position relative to the RDS sight, rather than the front/rear of the rifle.

[maximus83]

double-tap

[arptsprt]

I picked up my Vortex Micro3X today. Wanted to share some initial thoughts after opening the package and mounting the unit.

First, I have never used a RDS magnifier. I am putting this behind an EoTech EXPS2 mounted on a factory Colt 14.5 SOCOM. Concurrently, I am trying to transition to LPVO for specific reasons on a few other carbines, and I do like my LPVOs but, that said, I still love the EoTech and/or my Aimpoints for many reasons. Kind of looking for the best of both worlds here.

Overall, positive impression out of the box and I like the unit. Nice and compact, and relatively lightweight and it seems well made (does say made in China). The glass is clear and the unit focuses well, and wow, does it clear up the reticle with my astigmatism. The mount seems well made and the hinge strong and positive. I used the included spacer mount for the 1/3 cowitness. I was hoping the eye relief would be a little better but it's not horrible and it's inline with what I have gotten used to with my LPVO.

About eye relief. I originally had a Scalarworks Peak rear BUIS on the gun. That will not work with this setup. Stands up too high and you cannot rotate the unit into position behind the EoTech. (note - I have the EoTech mounted fully on the upper receiver rail - I do not like or want it forward and locking on any part of my RAS rail). So, I tried a Magpul MBUS. And while the magnifier clears, the MBUS is too long and requires the mount to be attached too far forward on the rail (T5) resulting in too long of eye relief for my liking. I tried a Magpul MBUS Pro and that is what I settled in with. I can attach at the T4 slot vs the T5 slot with the polymer MBUS. Not huge movement, but enough to make the eye relief decent for me.

The one noticeable thing about the mount is, when I decided where I would mount the unit on the rail and adjusted the "elevation" and "windage" to center the EoTech reticle, the mount is very finicky about "returning to zero" if the unit is taken off and reinstalled. I thought the rail clamps were grabbing the same way each time, but when I'd look through the unit, the reticle location kept changing. I finally found that if I help back pressure so the mount crossbar was held back against the rail groove, it was more consistent in going back to center. I fully realize it is not an optic and the users manual clearly states the reticle does not need to be center in the magnifier to work. To me, it just feels and looks better.

VortexOptics Rep; one small critique on the details with the mount screws. The box includes an allen wrench and four screws - two are used and which ones depend on if you use the spacer or not. The directions state no more than 20 in lbs of torque. Ok, got it. But it seems the screw bit size is metric so I was not able to use my torque wrench as I did not have any bits that were the appropriate hole size. I ended up hand tightening the screws using the included allen wrench not a big deal but I could not find a bit of the appropriate size, and I have a lot of them.

I looking forward to hitting the range tomorrow and seeing how it shoots.

[1168]

Thanks for the review.

[maximus83]

Good tip on the sights mounting, if I get one of these to go with my Aimpoint. Ironically, I had just bought a set of Magpul MBUS Pros, so now I know I can make that work--thanks to your write-up.

I'm seriously thinking about this on my LW rifle, instead of an LPVO. Even with a higher quality LPVO light such as the Vortex Razor 1-6, it's 21oz (optic) plus a minimum of 8 - 9 oz if I go with a QD mount, which I usually do. So a minimum of 1.75 pounds for optic + mount on a LW rifle that I wanted to keep kind of nimble and quick-handling.

The alternative is: this magnifier + mount is 6.9oz. My Aimpoint + AD mount is 7oz, so 14oz total vs at least 28-29oz for an LPVO, if I get the one I planned to. So it's nearly a 1 lb difference.