I have a bit of free time so I thought I would do a short write up of the Vortex Sparc.
http://youtu.be/16ZB4itTusM is a pretty good review and I thought I would add my thoughts on the Vortex Sparc set up.
The lens cap covers are connected together by glorified oversize hard rubber straps that broke the first day. I removed the straps by cutting and now the soft rubber caps work and seem to stay on. You would think a better lens cap would have been supplied or made available.
There has always been a possible problem with the Vortex red dots power on switch being bumped and turning the system on w/o you noticing. Has not been a problem for me but if the rifle is placed in a tight case I could see it happening. One bump "on" and about 3 to 5 seconds pushing the rubberized switch to shut the unit off.
The scope does come with a good solid mount with an extra 2 shims for height adjustment. A nice touch IMO were the screws provided to attach the scope to the provided mounts. They were pre-blue-loctited; anyone with large hands and fingers will appreciate this. The mount looks like a solid block, holds via one tighten down Allen headed screw. The 2x magnifier was not used or tested.
I placed this scope on a CMMG .22 upper without any shims and it co-witnessed perfectly. All controls are easily identified and are mostly on the left side of the scope barrel. Actually kinda cheated for I got the dot on target then moved the rear sight to the dot and turned the front sight down almost one full turn to make the co-witness.
The elevation and windage adjustment provided positive feed back in the form of both aural and tactile clicks. The protective covers are well made and there is a rubberized seal that should keep the water out.
The reticule is 2 MOA and the brightness level of the Sparc is more than I can imagine anyone ever needing.
To zero in I had a lead sled and got on paper at 25 yards. Simple to do with the sled. I shot one round aiming at the center of the target. The round impacted approx 3" high and 1.5" off center. I knew the sight would be close because I had eyed down the barrel and sight before I left the house. I moved the dot to where the bullet impacted and then shot for the center of the target again. The impact was 1/2" to the left and approx 1/2 low of my aim point. Reset the dot to POI and fired 3 rounds for center. Two rounds were 3/8 seperation and one was approx 6/8" from the first round shot. Barrel seemed to have decent consistancy for a .22 not even broken in yet?
I then changed over to the 55 yard target set up and shot 3 rounds. All three were approx 2.5" high but pretty much center of aim point; approx 2.5" spread. Moved the dot to center of impact zone and shot 3 more rounds. All rounds impacted in the center of target with about a 2.0" spread. At this point I cleaned the barrel.
I had shot 10 rounds before I started sighting in the scope to insure the new upper would function properly.
After cleaning the barrel I went back and shot 3 more rounds and again they were about the same spread of MOA. This was all done with Federal (brick) ammo. I plan on shooting CCI or Remington 22 vipers in these uppers but had mags loaded with the federal bulk so that is what I sighted in with.
I have always had good luck with Vortex ( Viper scope and Strikefire red dot) and am not really worried about this scope not holding zero. I will be looking for some flip up lens caps for the Sparc and that should make everything the way I like it.
As with many (all?) cheaper red dots parallax can be a problem. The Sparc is parallax free
past 50 yards according to their book. Up close if you move your head off center the dot will move. Again I knew this before the purchase of the Sparc and do not intend mounting it on a pistol. With your cheek weld and normal shooting position the little scope works as expected. I do like the 2 MOA dot much better than a 3 or 4 MOA dot.
Red Dots are really not for super precision shooting or said another way, "you are not going to shoot the eye out of a small critter at 50+ yards unless you are lucky lucky. I usually shoot irons better than I do red dots; BUT a red dot will get you on target for a snap shot very quickly with both eyes open and if you are hunting in brush for some of the faster moving varmints or pigs they work very well; especially in dusk or dawn dim lighting.
Hope this helps if you are thinking about a Sparc.