http://www.vortexoptics.com/

 

I've been looking at their Sparc and Razor for a shotgun build and I was wondering if their worth the money. Are they in the same class as Burris or Bushnell or in the lower class like Truglo/Simmons and the other Chinese knock-offs?

They work fine, although I have ergonomic dislikes for them, like the controls on the Spark being on your field of view. On the other hand keep in mind the Burris/Bushnell/Truglo/Simmons/PA and the Vortex red dots are ALL made in China. China can produce quality at the price you are willing to pay, and a lot of the optics made there are decent if not world class.

Vortex customer service and warrantee is top-notch as well, I shipped a strikefire for service, they replaced with brand new-back in my hands within one week

200 bucks for the vortex is hard to beat. I wonder if the Bushnell version is better.

You've seen my SPARC, no?

Of all the more budget minded optics, i think the Burris and the Primary arms stand out above the bushnell and similar clones. I'm sure the bushnell is fine for a rimfire, not sure of its reputation on larger arms. Also, for the price, you start to encroach on other optics that start to provide even more features for your money.

 

I have a sparc and a primary arms. If you game the system or find a sale, the sparc can be had for well under $200. Its nice that it comes with several different risers so you can flush mount it on a shotgun, AK or 22 or have stand high to co-witness with irons on an AR. It has the screw in magnifier as well which although not speedy to deploy, is an extra. None of the risers are QD though if thats needed for your application. IT does use a less common button battery that i had to get online (not even radio shack had them). I;ve been using mine heavily for a several years now on my 10/22 that i use very frequently for plinking and steel challenge. Did replace the battery once preventatively but otherwise no issues for me. Of course its not subjected to heavy recoil, but lots of duty cycles of on/off/brightness and such.

 

For about the same money though, you can get a PA micro dot with a quality AD QD mount (or get one with no extra mount for even less). These use a very common button battery and are known to be quite reliable for the money. Folks commonly use these on AR's and similar so they can take the abuse. They have several variations on thier website with subtle feature differences so you have to choose the one that fits your needs.

For about the same money though, you can get a PA micro dot with a quality AD QD mount (or get one with no extra mount for even less). These use a very common button battery and are known to be quite reliable for the money. Folks commonly use these on AR's and similar so they can take the abuse. They have several variations on thier website with subtle feature differences so you have to choose the one that fits your needs.

 

x2, I bought the Primary Arms micro dot with the ADM qd mount and Im very happy with it. I also like it better than the Sparc because like Vlad said the controls on the Sparc cut down on my field of view, and you dont have that problem with the PA micro.

In the context of this conversation, I too would recommend a Primary Arms dot-- top notch stuff, and great company they have there (I've been a customer of theirs for over four years now, and only had great experiences).

 

With that said, Vortex makes some nice stuff. I have the Viper PST, and its great, clear glass.

 

 

:- /

PM sent

 

 

Pm replied........ LOL

Sorry to derail your thread RayRay,

but you suck Nickjc!

(I'm a very sensitive lad)

Quick detach would be a necessity as its going on a shotgun.

 

Thanks guys.

 

It would be something that I must be able to trust my life on though.

i got a discount code for the SPARC

Thanks Alex, i'm gonna wait on this though. It's just an idea for my build.