Vortex Strikefire: a Review.
I picked on of these up and thought I would try it out on my 9mm Carbine. I also figured I would share my experiences with you all. This testing was not scientific and probably would not pass muster with most people but hey, it is better than nothing right!
First thing I did was check over the construction of the optic.
The first thing that is very obvious is that it shares a lot of design ideas with an Aimpoint. However where you normally have on and brightness controls there is instead a battery compartment that takes a single CR2 battery. I see this as bit of an issue personally. Most devices take 123 batteries and using a different battery means that people will have to keep spares of a different type now. Not the end of the world by any means but a bit on an annoyance.
The actual controls for the Strikefire are on the left side of the tube. They are mounted on a rubberized extension from the tube that presents the brightness controls towards the shooter and leaves the on/off switch facing to the left. I can see a potential problem with this layout since it present the possibility of turning the sight on or off accidentally.
Windage and elevation adjustments are in the same place as an Aimpoint and should be familiar to anyone who has used them.
The provided mount is essentially just a hi-rise 30mm Scope mount but any mount made for the Aimpoint should work fine with this sight.
Overall construction seems solid with no defects that I could see. One concern I have is the front glass. It appears to have an almost mirror finish. I will never be taking this into combat so it won't be an issue, but I can see it reflecting light very easily.
Finally they have also included a 2X magnifier that screws into the back of the optic. A nice feature but we will see how it works in practice.
Now onto the operations of the controls themselves. Pressing the power button provides a very crisp red dot. It seemed to be about 3-4MOA from my testing and checking the specs confirmed that it was indeed 4MOA. Pressing the Power button a second time changes the dot to green and pressing it once again will turn the optic off. I am not sure there is much reason for the different color dots on one device but it is a nice feature non the less. I would still prefer a knob for on/off or at least a more recessed button like on the EoTech.
Adjustment of the brightness is simple and straightforward with plenty of levels of adjustment for different environments. Also included is a button to set the device for Night Vision use. I do now own any NV equipment so I was unable to test this. If anyone wants to send me a nice NV device that would work with this then feel free.
First thing I did after mounting the device was get it sighted in. This was surprisingly easy. Two click right and 1 down had me in the 10 Ring! Not bad for right out of the box.
Something I am always concerned about on a sight or any type is durability. So I wanted to see if this thing would hold Zero or even survive a fall. I removed the Strikefire and dropped it onto packed dirt 3 times. About as unscientific as you can get but I wanted to see if it would survive a 5 foot drop. It did. Not only that but upon remounting it to the gun it was still right on target.
About 300 rounds later it was still shooting great and I decided to try out the magnifier. Installing the magnifier was easy. Even with the Aimpoint style flip up covers installed it screwed right in. Your field of view is more restricted but this is to be expected with a magnifier. I was impressed with the magnifier, more so than I thought I would be. there is some very slight distortion around the outer edges but it is almost unnoticeable. Overall I had no problems with the magnifier and put another 200 rounds though it with this installed.
Another interesting fact is that I am able to use my MBUS with the magnifier installed. The FSB is still easily visible and usable. My Arms 40 sits a bit to far forward and won't flip all the way up with the Magnifier, but the MBUS sits a bit further back when deployed and work just fine.
I purchased this sight for 150 bucks. It is well worth it. There are those that will say it is no Aimpoint, and they are correct. However for a person like myself who will (hopefully) never be in combat, it is an inexpensive and reliable alternative to an Aimpoint. I went through a hard shot case of 9mm and had no problems with POI changing, etc as we often see in cheap optics. My complaints were relatively minor although I do still have some concern about the location of the On/Off switch and I encourage Cortex to review this and consider a location change in the next revision of this product. Even rotating it 90 degree down up or down would make a huge difference since it would no longer accidentally hit the user and turn on or off.
Other than that I would suggest switching to 123 Style batteries and putting an anti Glare coating on the front glass.
Overall I am very happy with this optic especially considering the cost. It was reliable and surprisingly durable.
I will post some photos later.
Edit:
Yikes. I just saw these guys were site sponsors! Glad I didn't speak badly of it LOL!
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Originally Posted by CaptainDooley
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