Vortex Strikefire <OR> Bushnell Trophy MP

[SoDak]

Roger that. Consider also the Burris SpeedDot 135 and the Millett Zoom Dot. You may want to look into the Pride & Fowler Spec Ops 33mm RDS as well. It's a little more pricy but it's NV capable. For me it was a pretty tough and durable optic that survived a tour in the GWOT getting the hell beat out of it in a Humvee for 12hrs a day. Get the "Tall mount" for it, though. The Burris and the Millett will run $200.00 to $250.00 each and will include a mounting ring of some sort.

Didn't you have a zoom dot at one point or am I thinking of another member?

[davekd7ds]

I just got a Strikefire, and I'm very pleased with it for casual shooting/targets, etc. AND...their customer service is the BEST!!!! Great folks and very helpful.

[LettersFromEarth]

Didn't you have a zoom dot at one point or am I thinking of another member?

Yes, I had ZD and it went to Iraq as well. At some point a powder like substance appeared inside of the optic. The powder ended up being some sort of "disk", thats no longer installed by Millett, would turn a color if the optic became compromised in some fashion. This disk dried up and broke apart at somepoint while I was deployed but by that time I was using mostly an ACOG and my teammate was using my PF. When I returned I sent it back to Millett and they replaced same and I ended up trading it off for something not long after.

[SoDak]

Yes, I had ZD and it went to Iraq as well. At some point a powder like substance appeared inside of the optic. The powder ended up being some sort of "disk", thats no longer installed by Millett, would turn a color if the optic became compromised in some fashion. This disk dried up and broke apart at somepoint while I was deployed but by that time I was using mostly an ACOG and my teammate was using my PF. When I returned I sent it back to Millett and they replaced same and I ended up trading it off for something not long after.

Outside of the funny disc thing failing, did you like the zoom dot?

[LettersFromEarth]

The ZD wasn't a bad optic. It had a blue tint to the glass that kind of sucked but it's pretty over built and can take a beating as well as anything else I guess. What I didn't like the big honking knob sticking out on the right side. As a lefty I found it to be in the way and blocked a part of my FOV. I think It helped that I ran it in the LaRue M68 mount that is designed for use with a magnifier (forgot the mod number of the mount), though.

I at first thought the ability to "zoom" to be slightly on the side of cheese but the more I used it the better I thought of it. Also, The ZD's Auto brightness feature was, for the most part, spot on. It was only in total darkness that it ran into problems and would gas the reticle a bit too much. The Pride & Fowler also has an Auto mode but it's better at dealing with lighting conditions and can be bypassed and ignored allowing you to adjust the reticle brightness with a knob a bit like Aimpoints T1/H1 series.

[SoDak]

Thanks for the insight on the zoom dot. One final question. Did you ever play with the replaceable electronics module(or whatever its called)? It seems like an interesting idea, but I haven't been able to figure out if this prevents the optics from being sealed to prevent fogging.

[LettersFromEarth]

No problems with the ZD fogging. The replaceable electronics was nothing more than waffer of circuts that sat in a plastic basket the clipped into a small recess. Once it's clipped in the battery sat on top of it and then the cap (on/off/brightness control) was screwed on and secured. The chip makes contact with a pad (in the optic that is sealed), the battery makes contact with the chip, and the cap makes contact with the battery completing the circut. That's about it.

[SoDak]

No problems with the ZD fogging. The replaceable electronics was nothing more than waffer of circuts that sat in a plastic basket the clipped into a small recess. Once it's clipped in the battery sat on top of it and then the cap (on/off/brightness control) was screwed on and secured. The chip makes contact with a pad (in the optic that is sealed), the battery makes contact with the chip, and the cap makes contact with the battery completing the circut. That's about it.

I see. Thanks.

[jmp45]

I decided on the Strikefire also. I was going to spring for a c3 from Grant and maybe will at some point later or an m3. If so, I'll put this one on an m&p15-22 I'm hoping to purchase sometime this year. It was a quality / price decision here. I'm not military or leo, I have pistols for home defense, this is for a range toy, m&p15. Of the 4 acog copy bushnells that I looked at the T dot was skewed by 2-3 degrees, 3 right, one left. That and the weight soured me. The strikefire is light. There is an issue with brightness but if you set it green on 10 it's totally usable.

[remoc8116]

I chose the Strikefire over an EoTech and have not regretted it yet, Don't let the price fool you their are a few diamonds in the rough out there, Lucid LD7, Barska 3-9x42(excellent scope)....The high price does not always mean better.