Vortex Optics Crossfire Gen II Red Dot Sights

I help with the custom building of sporting and personal defense rifles. The competition of Vortex charges more than 3 times what the StrikeFire 2 usually goes for and sometimes much, much more! I was so pleasantly surprised by the build quality of these that I could not believe my eyes at first. These things are so well built that I'm still scratching my head as to why I've taken so long to get onboard with Vortex. For the foreseeable future I will be going with Vortex almost exclusively. In the space of a few weeks I've ordered several of these for custom jobs. Now for the list as to why this is or isn't a great product.Pros:-Super well built. Solid construction including the rigid cantilever mount.- Stays zeroed even after numerous range sessions.- Easy to use controls for intensity and switch from red to green and back.- I love the auto shutoff. I've had too many trips to the range to find a dead red dot atop my rifle.- Great battery life. The batteries are also the same type as my preferred tac light from Streamlight.- It comes with flip up optic covers!- The warranty is LIFETIME! Can't beat that!- Oh...the glass is also very clear and with the cantilever setup it co-witnesses perfectly with the front post.UPDATE: - Recently I took this out in the heavy rain (Washington State weekend where raining is the law) because I needed to sight in a new build. I was none too happy about the weather BUT it needed to be done. The time outside got the rifle and the Strikefire 2 REALLY REALLY wet and yet it functioned without an issue. I dumbly (very dumbly) used my muddy thumb to clear away a speck of dust on the rear objective and I feared scratching the glass with the fine grains of sand in the mud. I sprayed a bit of water from my bottle on the objective and wiped the runny much away. No scratches. This sight is fantastic! Very happy with this product.UPDATE #2: Recently added the Vortex 3x magnifier. The glass is great for the price and when added to the Strikefire 2 the accuracy capable of this sight is outstanding. I have aimpoint and eotech etc. and can say without a doubt that the Strikefire 2 and 3x magnifier combo is near heaven and at near 1/3 of the cost meaning I can get 3 of these setups for the price of one aimpoint/eotech.Cons:- This ones on me...for waiting so long to try these out.I've followed Vortex for awhile now but finally I pulled the trigger in trying it out. So happy I did. Sure there are lemons out here (I've seen a couple bad reviews posted here and there) but with the lifetime warranty I'm confident I'll be happy for years to come. Plus these are affordable enough that you can have a spare, pick up the magnifier, AND still spend less than getting one single sight from the competition.

This was a great purchase for me. I mounted it on my AR-15 and I noticed right away it looked pretty cool. I was trying to decide which optic to put on my rifle. It was actually a very difficult choice. I was going back and forth so I did what anyone else would do..... I turned to youtube. I saw several videos that gave the Sparc II high praise and then I came across the video that made the decision for me. It was a guy that had his zeroed at 50 yards. He fired a few shots in a very tight pattern then took his rifle and started dropping in on the ground and tossing it. After it took a few tumbles he picked the rifle back up and it held zero at 50 yards. I was impressed. So I ordered it. I finally get to the indoor range ( I live in NC and there is hardly anywhere in driving distance to a good outdoor range) to zero my optic. I was thinking its only yards but when I got there I was like dang that's 75 feet. I looked up online to see where I should be shooting to be close to zero at 100 yards and I found that an inch and a half low from point of aim should be close. So moment of truth. It was the first time firing my new rifle. So I rested across a table and fired 5 shots at the center of the target. I hit thee inches low and windage was dead center. So I brought the dot up three clicks and fired 5 more shots. I was an inch and a half low and a grouping the size of a quarter. I said ok that works for me. The things I like most about the optic is the size of the dot. Its a 2MOA. For me that is perfect. The glass is very clear and doesn't color what your looking at. I have read some reviews that you can see the dot emitter in the bottom of the glass. You can but barely. And I've read that the dot isn't a perfect circle. Well the dot is good enough for me. It is just a tiny bit star bursty but all in all it is perfect. And I have read that if you have astigmatism then the dot will be a little blurry. That might warrant a trip to the eye doctor for me. All in all I will have to say that I don't see the price difference between the Sparc II and the Aimpoint Pro. If I had the money for the Aimpoint and could buy again I would still buy the Sparc II.