Vortex Spitfire/Prism sight question

[Balrog]

The Vortex Spitfire has been recommended as an alternative to my current Aimpoint T1 because astigmatism is making the red dot of the Aimpoint more of a blob.

Does anyone have much experience with the Vortex? What is vortex quality like compared to Aimpoint?

How does this sight work? I have read about it but don't understand how a prism red dot works.

 

[Klint Beastwood]

http://www.vortexoptics.com/uploads/web_manual_spitfire_3x_prism-scope_13a.pdf

If you are at a shop, ask to look through one. the only way to say for sure if its something YOU are interested in. There are more alternative prims then just aimpoint or this vortex.

 

[Klint Beastwood]

 

[chicharrones]

How does this sight work? I have read about it but don't understand how a prism red dot works.

From what I understand, a prismatic scope works like a set of roof prism binoculars. Compare modern binoculars length (eyepiece to objective) to an old telescope. Speaking of telescopes, that is essentially what a rifle scope is, if it isn't a prismatic scope.

So for a given power, a prismatic scope is shorter than a regular rifle scope. In the case of the Vortex 1x in question, it could be compared to a 1x rifle scope that some muzzle loaders use. What you gain with either of these systems is the possibility to have an eye piece focus adjustment. Although, military type prism scopes don't normally have that adjustment.

Back to the Vortex and others like it, you get the benefit of a lit reticle (or dot) rifle scope in a shorter package. Not necessarily lighter in weight though.

Does anyone have much experience with the Vortex? What is vortex quality like compared to Aimpoint?

For military grade prism scopes, I think you'll have to move up to at least a Trijicon ACOG or the like.

 

[briansmithwins]

A 1x alternative to the Aimpoint type sights is the Meprolight M21. I've got astigmatism and for me, the projected reticle of the M21 has less astigmatism artifacts than the Aimpoint.

Another alternative is to find one of the older 4MOA dot Aimpoints, those also cause less problem for me.

BSW

 

[MCMXI]

The Vortex Spitfire has been recommended as an alternative to my current Aimpoint T1 because astigmatism is making the red dot of the Aimpoint more of a blob.

Does anyone have much experience with the Vortex? What is vortex quality like compared to Aimpoint?

How does this sight work? I have read about it but don't understand how a prism red dot works.

I have quite a bit of experience with Vortex products. I have three of the Viper PST scopes (the first generation) which are great value and feature packed for the money and I have a pair of Vortex RAZOR binoculars, also very good for the money. I have both the Spitfire 1X and 3X and I also have an Aimpoint CompM4s as a point of reference. I only recently purchased the Spitfire 3X so don't have much experience with it but have used both the 1X and M4s a lot on semi-auto ARs and more recently on full-auto ARs. The 1X has been fine thus far and I consider Vortex in general to offer good performance at a reasonable price. The M4s has been perfect too so it's hard to compare Vortex and Aimpoint and you might not see any tangible differences until you start pushing them to the extremes i.e. hard use. I'm not about to drop my optics off a building for the sake of an internet post but intuitively I would expect Aimpoint products to hold up to more abuse. The M4s certainly appears to be more rugged that the Vortex prism scopes or red dots and I can't stand the stupid captive wire that Vortex uses for the adjustment dust caps. It looks like they're trying too hard to make the product look like it's intended for hard use which I don't think it is to be honest.

The prism scopes are very different animals compared to red dots. The reticle is etched onto a lens or similar rather than projected, eye relief isn't unlimited and parallax can be a problem. The main advantages of prism scopes are that the reticle is visible without batter power, it can be focused just like the reticle in a standard scope, for those that suffer from astigmatism you don't get that annoying comma or blob effect with red dots, particularly as the intensity is increased, and the scopes are compact. I have a red dot on order from Vortex for use on my MPX SBR which will be my first from them. Overall I consider Vortex to be a decent solution to a problem but not top tier by any stretch.