FRC64 2 Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 (edited) I saw first hand the new(?) Vortex Optics SPARC Red Dot sight at the range last Saturday and was impressed by what I saw. A friend had one mounted on his Benelli M4 and one on his AR. It was his first trip to the range with this set up, so he knew very little about performance and function. Looked like it might be a nice sight for a Saiga-12. Compact, nice and light and about 3" long. Seemed very well made, clear optics and image, aluminum body, etc... The unit came with different size mounting towers and that made having them co-witness on both the Benelli and AR possible. I looked around and they seem to be going for around $199. They even make a 3x magnifier for it ($159) and I'm thinking of putting the sight and magnifier on a AK-74 to see how it holds up. Would be a much lighter, compact set-up than the Eotech/magnifier unit and cheaper. I might order two and put one (without magnifier) on my newest Saiga-12. It would be nice to have the same sight on both my primary and shotgun (same batteries, familiarize with one sight picture, etc...) Webpage: <Link Removed> I'll get another chance to use it this weekend, but I was wondering if anyone here has tried one. Edited May 27, 2010 by Nailbomb Non-Buisness Member Link Removed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mav 459 Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 (edited) Looks interesting, please keep us informed if you get one (or two). EDIT: I contacted Vortex via email, to find out where the emitter is, it is at 6 o'clock position, not a good place for co-witness. Edited May 27, 2010 by mav Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 What is the battery life on it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FRC64 2 Posted May 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mav 459 Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 Looks interesting, please keep us informed if you get one (or two). EDIT: I contacted Vortex via email, to find out where the emitter is, it is at 6 o'clock position, not a good place for co-witness. The Vortex SPARC co-witnessed nicely on the AR that we had to test but I didn't get a chance to really look closely at the Benelli set-up. I'll probably know more after this weekend. Yes, but as it applies to an AK with an Ultimak, the sights are much closer to the rail height than an AR and exp has shown us that 6 o'clock emitters often disrupt co-witness, hopefully that wont be the case with the Vortex. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
USP40 1 Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 I have mine on Sig556 . It's seem to be a good scope. I also have a Konus Atomic on an AK47. The Konus is cheaper and the red dot are nice and round even at the highest setting. I am not impressed with the SPARC dot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
USP40 1 Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 here is the Konus dot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FRC64 2 Posted May 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 I've decided to wait a bit on purchasing my own Vortex SPARC sights. For now, I'll just abuse my friends sights and get some more feedback. I was generally impressed by them last weekend though. The two Vortex units he has are believe it or not, replacements for the Konus (Atom) units that he had picked up from one of those discount catalogs several months ago. We got one to fail on a Benelli Nova after about 100 rounds and one is still going on a beater 7.62x39 AK. The overall build quality is a bit better on the Vortex, but I agree on the clarity of the dot. The Vortex does have good adjustment on the intensity and you can clear up the dot a bit. The glass/lens quality is terrible on those Konus units though. When it comes to the actual lens, you certainly get what you pay for in optics. One of my suppliers (a good friend of mine) is always stuffing something in my orders to try out and I've been through quite a bit of different red dot sights. At $200 and up I really have never found any major dissapointments. At $100 and down, nothing that I would ever rely on. Between $100-$200 I call the crapshoot bracket. You generally get what you pay for in the red dot market. Like I said earlier, I'll keep an eye on the two Vortex SPARCs that I have access to and can already see myself trying out a set on a Saiga-12 and a AK-74. Unfortunately, as of yet, my supplier does not have them in stock and I'll actually have to spend my own money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
corbin 621 Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 (edited) That looks really close to the T-1 Aimpoint. I like the rubber controls on the side. Might be low enough to co-witness, even with the 6 o'clock emitter. It'd be close though. The 2 MOA dot will be half the size of the Aimpoint, but will be nice for precision shots at longer ranges with the magnifier, assuming that'll still fit on an Ultimak. Here's the 4 MOA dot: Corbin Edited May 28, 2010 by Corbin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
USP40 1 Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Don't get me wrong the SPARC is a lot of dot scope for the money and I am keeping mine. The only thing I have to bitch about is the dot. It's more like a star burst even at the lowest setting. All and all It's good enough for me , after all I am only a mall ninja anyway. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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