I know this optic has been discussed plenty on here but I thought I would post my long term review of it.

I bought the optic when they were first released. I called Sam at Vortex and discussed the optic at length with him before deciding to give it a shot.

I got the optic and mounted it up with the provided mount (absolute co-witnessed). The mount provided seemed adequate for most purposes but not exceptional. The opric was left in the factory mount for about a year. During that time it was used as a range toy and deer rifle. I live in northern WI and the optic performed perfectly in the WI winter. I never had any issues with fogging or the cold killing the battery.

When mounted the optic was quick to zero and has held zero since with no shift. I did have doubts about the mount returning to zero if it was removed so it was replaced with an Aimpoint QRP mount. Works perfectly and returns to zero.

I then took the rifle to  our departments carbine/rifle course. The optic again worked flawlessly. Mine is the red/green model. The red dot did get a little faint when used in the bright sunlight on a white target. Not faint enough to cause misses or slow hits however. That said if I was to reorder I would get the brighter red only model.

At the end of the class I did notice the rubber cover for the switch body was beginning to separate from the optic. A quick call to Vortex and they said to simply send it out and they would repair/replace it ASAP (no surprise however, they are known for their customer service).

I think the separation was caused by the rifle hanging from a single point sling and swinging back and forth across my chest rig.

I was able to super glue the cover back in place just to get me through the work week until I can get it mailed in.

I also think it is worth noting I am on my second battery. I do make sure to turn the optic off when I am not on line rather then just leaving it on all day. i am sure that has helped with the battery life.

I will admit I had doubts regarding the optic before the class and was thinking "I will just get through with it and then replace it". Those doubts were dispelled however. At this time I really see no need to replace the optic. While the battery life is nowhere near that of an Aimpoint the batteries are cheap enough I will just toss a new one in once a month and not worry about it.

If I had it to do all over again I would buy the red only.

Hope that helps people who are on the fence. For the money I am more then happy with how it has performed and it will stay on my rifle while on patrol as well.

Let me know if you have any questions or if I missed anything.

Rhoades

Thanks. I am planning on ordering one next week!

I also got the StrikeFire shortly after they were released. It is a fine optic for the price. About 6 months ago I had a problem with the sight not shutting off, when I contacted Vortex they emailed me a shipping label to return the optic to them. When I asked about getting a red only version the customer service person said that it would be no problem to ship me the red only in lieu of the red/green. Now that is customer service. The red only is very bright and I love the site.

I bought one when right about they first came out as well... put it on a MAX-11 9mm SMG.
Been holding zero ever since.