Vortex Strikefire Gen I

[LBDamned]

Thanks for the advice, for the few people who offered advice.. For the others, I spoke with Vortex today and with the VIP Unconditional Lifetime warranty, I don't need a reason to send the Gen I to them for a warranty claim. They will switch it out if I am unhappy for whatever reason.

that makes no sense... so you're telling us that if there was no such thing as a Gen 2, that you could send in the Strikefire and say I want a different one and you think they'll send a different one? I doubt it. They will examine it and send it back to you saying there is nothing wrong with it. So why would they do it differently with an upgraded unit? That would mean every person that sends in their old Strikefire will get the new version - I find it hard to believe Vortex is willing to do this.

I think you misunderstood them.

[SBsasquatch]

I call b.s.!

I just sent my gen1 back for a warranty claim. On/off toggle failed.

You send it in with a form you print & fill out. Their policy is written in plain english-contrary to what OP is posting

[JMP]

OP, the value of the warranty is put into the price of the scope. If everyone sent back his scope for no good reason, the future prices would rise on next lines or it would be eliminated altogether. You'll notice that the higher end optics tend to not have such an unconditional lifetime warranty as they actually operate on smaller percent profit margins and they generally do not break other than an occasional kink in the early life, which is covered.

The reason that Vortex has such a strong warranty is that they started as a low end make and had the goal of stepping into the big leagues. They needed this feature for folks to take a chance and buy their scopes as they moved up the ranks. Now that they ARE in the big leagues, the unconditional warranty, at least one the Razors, will probably eventually go away over time because of people like you.

[BarrettM99]

^^^well said. But as long as there is an opportunity, a dishonest person will try to get something for nothing.

[departsguy]

Strikefire Vortex Gen 1

I have no complaints..Nice and bright with clear optics....Enjoy

[Sapperforward]

OP you know they don't just throw out all of the inventory of parts because of a new version. In fact I'm fairly certain they probably produced a decent stock of repair parts for warranty issues. For all we know many of the internals for either optic might be interchangeable to a certain degree.

Not a chance in hell that you ship them a working gen 1 with a note attached saying "Nope, don't like it any more, send me a free gen 2 now!" and they just ship it. They would be out of business almost immediately.

As for the optic itself I looked at both versions, than I bought the Sparc II. The 4MOA red dot on the strikefire was was too big for me to use if I wanted to engage targets at longer distances. I couldn't see most of my target at 150+ yards because of the huge red dot. The Sparc is 2MOA which was much better for my intended uses. I plan on adding a 3x magnifier in the very near future for my 100+ yard shots. Just a preference.

I will say I thought the strikefire was well built and worth its price. Can't beat a lifetime warranty.

[edmonsom]

OP you know they don't just throw out all of the inventory of parts because of a new version. In fact I'm fairly certain they probably produced a decent stock of repair parts for warranty issues. For all we know many of the internals for either optic might be interchangeable to a certain degree.

Not a chance in hell that you ship them a working gen 1 with a note attached saying "Nope, don't like it any more, send me a free gen 2 now!" and they just ship it. They would be out of business almost immediately.

As for the optic itself I looked at both versions, than I bought the Sparc II. The 4MOA red dot on the strikefire was was too big for me to use if I wanted to engage targets at longer distances. I couldn't see most of my target at 150+ yards because of the huge red dot. The Sparc is 2MOA which was much better for my intended uses. I plan on adding a 3x magnifier in the very near future for my 100+ yard shots. Just a preference.

I will say I thought the strikefire was well built and worth its price. Can't beat a lifetime warranty.

Any thoughts or experience with the new Spitfire Prism scope which just came out? I see they have the 1x and the 3x available for it. I'm just looking for something to throw on a 10" 9mm AR Pistol for a quick acquisition shot. Have the sig brace and don't really want to drop more than $200 on the optic.

[Sapperforward]

I looked at them both. I decided against the fixed 3x because It can be difficult to use fixed 3x magnification for quick acquisition of close targets. I liked the 1x especially the etched in reticule. However, I couldn't live with not having a magnifier as an option. The spitfire 1x even states in the description that it is not compatible with the 3x magnifier "Prism Scopes are not compatible with the VMX-3T Magnifier". Now I'm not sure if it is just the vortex magnifier that won't work or all magnifiers. I'm pretty sure it's all though because the spitfire is something like 4" long so it takes up a lot of rail space.

I ended up using the Sparc II and than adding an Eotech 3x magnifier behind it when I want magnification. I would have bought the vortex 3x magnifier but I didn't like the idea of flipping the mount to make it flip to the right instead of left, and leaving the flip plunger on the forward front of the magnifier instead of the rear as well as forcing me to remove my firing hand to operate it. Also I got a good price on a used eotech magnifier that cost me roughly the same a vortex 3x magnifier and a proper larue mount for it.

For you, with the 10" 9mm I would assume most/the bulk of your shooting will be short range under 100 yards. If this is the case than I would suggest the strikefire with it's 4moa red dot. The price point is right where you want it, it comes with a lifetime warranty and 4moa at close range works great. Optics planet has a discount of some kind floating around here for 10% off. I'm sure someone can link you to it.
If you ever plan on adding a magnifier , I would suggest the Sparc II which is still (barely) in your allotted budget.