New Vortex Defender ST enclosed (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 9/28/2025 5:58:39 PM EDT
[Last Edit: kevinRR][Edited]
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I've picked this up from my local gun store yesterday. Got it mounted and sighted it in. It comes with a bunch of screws, pic mount and Glock MOS plate which is really nice. The glass quality is about the same as the Defender ST and XL. Window size look about the same as the regular ST. I have it mounted on a Glock 47 with the Ameriglo XL. And I'm able to use the irons if the dot was to go out. It is multi-reticle circle, circle dot and dot. Honestly I just used the single dot. I'm going to list my pros and cons down below. Not much cons since I just got it. This is my carry optic gun for USPSA so it will get some use. Vortex also release a $200 dollar enclosed option the Venom enclosed. I've made a short YouTube video next to the regular ST. Pros Price $379.99+ tax Good glass Button feels great Super bright lower deck height than the ST Cons: none so far  New Vortex Defender ST enclosed on a Glock 47 |
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New Vortex Defender ST enclosed on a Glock 47 |
| Thanks for sharing that I wasn't aware that was even out. Vortex might have to move the price down to compete with Osight. |
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” President Gerald Ford
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Originally Posted By 6731HBAR: Thanks for sharing that I wasn't aware that was even out. Vortex might have to move the price down to compete with Osight. Originally Posted By 6731HBAR: Thanks for sharing that I wasn't aware that was even out. Vortex might have to move the price down to compete with Osight. They also have the enclosed Venom which is $199 before tax. This one has the 3 MOA and 6 MOA version. It just doesn't have the solar. Here a link to the Venom. Vortex Venom Enclosed Originally Posted By DVCER: Take the shorts/ out of the link and it’ll work. Thanks, I was wondering why it didn't show up. |
Joel Park (instructor) has a quick video mentioning the enclosed Vernon and Defender ST. New Vortex Venom Enclosed Emitter Red Dot |
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Originally Posted By 6731HBAR: Thanks for sharing that I wasn't aware that was even out. Vortex might have to move the price down to compete with Osight. Lmaooo Vortex’s reputation and quality is miles ahead of O Light. They absolutely do not need to lower their price point at all. |
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Originally Posted By SpankMonkey: Hahaha ignorance is bliss. hahaha Originally Posted By SpankMonkey: Originally Posted By TactiCoolBro: Lmaooo Vortex's reputation and quality is miles ahead of O Light. They absolutely do not need to lower their price point at all. Hahaha ignorance is bliss. hahaha We get it, you're one of the resident fanbois. But olight still has a shitty reputation to overcome. They would have been better off coming up with a completely different name for the company and not tying them together. |
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Originally Posted By TactiCoolBro: No one takes your obvious shilling seriously bro. Sorry. Everyone knows O Light is not to be taken seriously in any way/shape/form. As I said ignorance is bliss. Can't understand guys who knock on new products they have not seen , shot or handled. It's just ignorance. The pure definition of ignorance. If you had, you would not be knocking their optics. They have their shit together. It's to bad you can't see it. |
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Originally Posted By SpankMonkey: As I said ignorance is bliss. Can't understand guys who knock on new products they have not seen , shot or handled. It's just ignorance. The pure definition of ignorance. If you had, you would not be knocking their optics. They have their shit together. It's to bad you can't see it. If they want to give me a hand full of free optics I’ll be happy to say the same thing on the internet too. |
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Originally Posted By TactiCoolBro: If they want to give me a hand full of free optics I’ll be happy to say the same thing on the internet too. You called me a shill earlier don't know why. I have purchased four Osights now off amazon at full retail price. I'm a furniture maker (fulltime job) who used to carry a gun professionally. I don't know any youtubers or people who work in the optic industry. I'm just a shooter who rolls his own ammo and shoots on my own square range. You might buy one and look for yourself. The quality is really there. It's impressed the shit out of me and I've been shooting for 40 plus years. |
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Originally Posted By kevinRR: They also have the enclosed Venom which is $199 before tax. This one has the 3 MOA and 6 MOA version. It just doesn't have the solar. Here a link to the Venom. Vortex Venom Enclosed Thanks, I was wondering why it didn't show up. Using Govx the Defender ST enclosed runs about $240 and they had an extra $15 off. I couldn’t pass it up. |
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Originally Posted By SpankMonkey: You called me a shill earlier don't know why. I have purchased four Osights now off amazon at full retail price. I'm a furniture maker (fulltime job) who used to carry a gun professionally. I don't know any youtubers or people who work in the optic industry. I'm just a shooter who rolls his own ammo and shoots on my own square range. You might buy one and look for yourself. The quality is really there. It's impressed the shit out of me and I've been shooting for 40 plus years. I've not been shooting for 40 years and I thought it was junk and resold it. |
"Some people have issues. Sounds like he signed up for an entire subscription." ~Brohawk
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Originally Posted By SpankMonkey: You called me a shill earlier don't know why. I have purchased four Osights now off amazon at full retail price. I'm a furniture maker (fulltime job) who used to carry a gun professionally. I don't know any youtubers or people who work in the optic industry. I'm just a shooter who rolls his own ammo and shoots on my own square range. You might buy one and look for yourself. The quality is really there. It's impressed the shit out of me and I've been shooting for 40 plus years. My bank auto declines O Light purchases. |
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Originally Posted By DavidY: We get it, you're one of the resident fanbois. But olight still has a shitty reputation to overcome. They would have been better off coming up with a completely different name for the company and not tying them together. I just picked up an Osight K series, it looks good. I'm going to throw it on a shockwave with some slugs though. If it lasts I am convinced. Initially I purchased it for a 22lr slide. Currently have 2x Vortex defenders Riton Tactic Enclosed Optic A Holosun 407k A Holosun 507C I have an Ameriglo Haven, but that optic sucks not going to lie. OLight stuff is decent if you don't buy the recharging models imo. Just more shit to go wrong. |
| I have a 1st gen Venom on my G34 right now with an EGW mounting plate. I just don't like how high it sits. I've been debating which footprint to get the slide milled for, and the enclosed Venom with the Deltapoint footprint may be the way to go - especially at only $200. |
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Originally Posted By TactiCoolBro: …what are you going on about? His olight as the best red dot out there....and he's been shooting for 40 years so that makes him an expert according to his post. |
"Some people have issues. Sounds like he signed up for an entire subscription." ~Brohawk
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Originally Posted By d16man: His olight as the best red dot out there....and he's been shooting for 40 years so that makes him an expert according to his post. I never said I was an expert on anything. I was giving my opinion on a new optic that's a great value for the money and got attacked. Yes! I do have a fuck ton of experience. But that does not make me an expert. But you guys do you. I'll keep sharing my Osight experience. |
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Originally Posted By AKoch31: Using Govx the Defender ST enclosed runs about $240 and they had an extra $15 off. I couldn’t pass it up. That’s awesome! This is the 2nd enclosed optic I’ve owned beside the Acro P2. I’m liking the bigger window on the Defender. Did you just order it or do you have it already? |
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Originally Posted By TactiCoolBro: I’m getting close to wanting to grab one of these. Not sure if I should let it bake a little longer for some reviews with higher round counts on them. Originally Posted By TactiCoolBro: I’m getting close to wanting to grab one of these. Not sure if I should let it bake a little longer for some reviews with higher round counts on them. This guy have 5k rounds through it. I think he has 2 videos on it now.  5000+ Rounds on Vortex Defender ST Enclosed Originally Posted By dogtired: I will try one when the get a 5 or 6 moa dot. I hope they release a bigger dot in green. |
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It looks like I succumbed to a new optic sooner than I thought. Cabela's had a Vortex Venom Enclosed 3 MOA optic on sale. Initial price was $199 with a 15% discount and some Cabelas bucks I am into one for about $100. I will keep you informed. My RXM is the only gun I have with DPP mounting options so there it goes. Out of the box looks slightly smaller than the comp dot. 
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Originally Posted By kevinRR: This guy have 5k rounds through it. I think he has 2 videos on it now.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HiWfCXjkxEI hope they release a bigger dot in green. Ended up with my third Defender XL. IMO they’re the king of import optics right now. Quality in hand over the others is night and day and guys like Ben Stoeger, Joel Park, etc are putting 50k+ rounds a year on Defender XL’s with no issues. I think Vortex has finally hit a home run with their pistol optics. I will absolutely try an enclosed Defender at some point. Just want to see some people beat em up more and get some high round counts on them like the non enclosed Defender line. |
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Originally Posted By dogtired: Out of the box looks slightly smaller than the comp dot. https://i.postimg.cc/8cfWc33n/IMG-4103.jpg Looks awesome. Keep us updated after you get some rounds through it. |
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Originally Posted By AKoch31: Using Govx the Defender ST enclosed runs about $240 and they had an extra $15 off. I couldn’t pass it up. I just checked, GOVX did not list the Vortex Defender ST enclosed, just the Venom version. |
I support World Peace......One carefully placed round at a time.
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Europtic has it for $317.99 (with the veterans discount) with free shipping. My local Scheels matched the price but had to order it in, which was nice since I had a bunch of Scheels gift cards to use towards it. GOVX email showed up in my inbox today. They are now showing the Vortex Defender ST Enclosed in stock for $317. |
I support World Peace......One carefully placed round at a time.
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Originally Posted By TactiCoolBro: Ended up with my third Defender XL. IMO they’re the king of import optics right now. Quality in hand over the others is night and day and guys like Ben Stoeger, Joel Park, etc are putting 50k+ rounds a year on Defender XL’s with no issues. I think Vortex has finally hit a home run with their pistol optics. I will absolutely try an enclosed Defender at some point. Just want to see some people beat em up more and get some high round counts on them like the non enclosed Defender line. "High end optics enjoyer" once again shilling for budget Chinese optics. Dude you are a joke, you just all for your favorite brand of cheap junk while pretending to have standards. Please show some integrity. You offer no objective input, every post you make is basically "my cheap chinese junk good, yours bad". |
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Originally Posted By Firedude: Europtic has it for $317.99 (with the veterans discount) with free shipping. My local Scheels matched the price but had to order it in, which was nice since I had a bunch of Scheels gift cards to use towards it. GOVX email showed up in my inbox today. They are now showing the Vortex Defender ST Enclosed in stock for $317. They’re available on ExpertVoice if you have an account there. We’re starting to get some in the shop from customers for slide milling and they’re super nice. I think I’m going to stop holding out and buy one. One of our gunsmiths is a huge Holosun fanboy and he’s already looking to buy a Defender CCW enclosed lol. Compared to my RCR it sure is hard to justify the massive price difference. Main advantages to the RCR is the glass might be ever so slightly more clear and to me the dot looks a little better. Which doesn’t mean much because my eyes are dumb and only EoTech’s have a clear reticle to me. |
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Originally Posted By PRYDE: "High end optics enjoyer" once again shilling for budget Chinese optics. Dude you are a joke, you just all for your favorite brand of cheap junk while pretending to have standards. Please show some integrity. You offer no objective input, every post you make is basically "my cheap chinese junk good, yours bad". LOL - where's the "old man yells at clouds" meme when you need it? |
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Originally Posted By Piratepast40: LOL - where's the "old man yells at clouds" meme when you need it? That just seems to be what he does in all the threads he posts. He’s very, very upset that I run Trijicon and Aimpoint on serious use guns but that my opinion is that the Vortex Defender line is the best of the budget/import optics. Someone finding a use case for both ends seems to be something that defies what his comprehension is capable of understanding. I think he might legitimately have something wrong with him so I’m trying to ignore him and not reply to his nonsense. |
| I just got one in from Amazon a few days ago. It shipped from Optics planet. The plan was to mount it to my G41. So I tried to power it up with the battery supplied. And it would not work and I did take the protective wrap off the battery. So I tried a new battery I had on hand. And it still would not power up. Then I took a battery out of one of my other optics to try. Still a no go on powering up. Amazon would not let me return it, but did refund my purchase price. I sent a email to Vortex to see if I am just an incompetent. I had planned to buy 2 more of these if I liked it. Kinda pissed as this was my first red dot for a pistol. I own 6 different Vortex optics and like the products. |
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Originally Posted By SHOOTER: I just got one in from Amazon a few days ago. It shipped from Optics planet. The plan was to mount it to my G41. So I tried to power it up with the battery supplied. And it would not work and I did take the protective wrap off the battery. So I tried a new battery I had on hand. And it still would not power up. Then I took a battery out of one of my other optics to try. Still a no go on powering up. Amazon would not let me return it, but did refund my purchase price. I sent a email to Vortex to see if I am just an incompetent. I had planned to buy 2 more of these if I liked it. Kinda pissed as this was my first red dot for a pistol. I own 6 different Vortex optics and like the products. Does it do anything if the solar panel is exposed to bright light? With no battery in it? What if you press and hold the + button for 3 seconds? Last stupid question, do you have the smooth + side facing out (toward the cap) and the cap tightened all the way? |
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Originally Posted By SHOOTER: I just got one in from Amazon a few days ago. It shipped from Optics planet. The plan was to mount it to my G41. So I tried to power it up with the battery supplied. And it would not work and I did take the protective wrap off the battery. So I tried a new battery I had on hand. And it still would not power up. Then I took a battery out of one of my other optics to try. Still a no go on powering up. Amazon would not let me return it, but did refund my purchase price. I sent a email to Vortex to see if I am just an incompetent. I had planned to buy 2 more of these if I liked it. Kinda pissed as this was my first red dot for a pistol. I own 6 different Vortex optics and like the products. I'm not surprised to hear this. I bought a Vortex Razor red dot several years ago and it's by far the worst red dot I've owned. I've had multiple problems. Vortex is great at replacing it, but it's a pain to take it off, send it in for a replacement, etc. I'm halfway tempted by of these closed emitter Defenders, but that Razor is so bad that it makes me scared to try another Vortex. |
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Originally Posted By slowr1der: I'm not surprised to hear this. I bought a Vortex Razor red dot several years ago and it's by far the worst red dot I've owned. I've had multiple problems. Vortex is great at replacing it, but it's a pain to take it off, send it in for a replacement, etc. I'm halfway tempted by of these closed emitter Defenders, but that Razor is so bad that it makes me scared to try another Vortex. We sold (and unfortunately had to hear about) tons and tons of Razors, Vipers, etc years ago. The new Defender line is a massive departure from all those old dots. Early Defenders had battery contact issues and low refresh on the emitter, but they’ve fixed that for a while now. They’re very, very solid now and definitely worth giving a look! |
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I've been running a pair of them very hard on my duty handgun and my carry handgun. I've been very pleased. No performance issues to speak of. In this optic I wanted a 509T replacement from Vortex and I feel that they delivered on that. There are two areas that I prefer the 509T over the Defender: 1.) Clear glass vs. Blue tint. I understand notch filter, I didn't care for it in my Type 2 RMRs either. But its a preference, under use I don't notice it. 2.) Thinner walls on the 509T I have used both Vortex and Holosun's warranty in the past and have never been let down by either. Very glad Vortex went 2032 batt over the 1632s Holosun ran. End of the day, I'm not upset to run either. If I had to buy another Optic tomorrow, it would be another Defender Enclosed. I give a nod to Vortex on their customer service and the battery simplifies my supply chain a bit. |
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Very interesting. I just bought a Holosun for my last optic-cut pistol, but I have a couple of slides I may get milled for dots. I'm still trying to decide which cut to use. |
The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.