Josh from United States, AZ Public Profile

My first impressions with the 2-16x version of this scope was so mediocre that I actually exchanged the first one thinking that it had to be defective (the shipping box arrived utterly mangled, so I presumed it may have been damaged). However, upon receiving the replacement, it was identical to the first in every way.

First, the good: Mechanically superb and excellent user-interface. Build quality feels great. I love the feel, grippiness, and and light / smooth turning of the rubberized magnification ring. The turrets are perfectly sized and textured, and feel and sound excellent. The finish is very good, and the size and weight are both quite reasonable for this type of scope. It seems to have very acceptable light transmission for an 8:1 zoom with a modest objective diameter. Field of view seems on-par with similar optics in this category.

The mediocre: The turret markings don't line up well with the markings on the body, almost 1/4 turn off on elevation and slightly less on windage. I'm able to overlook this, but it's annoying. The flip caps are trash... the ocular lens cover doesn't even stay on right out of the box, and pops off the moment you try to open it. The eyebox is acceptable, but not great. The image is reasonably flat, but there is some distortion.

Finally, the ugly: Optical performance is deal-breaking. Both of these scopes exhibited poor color fidelity and mild discoloration, with a noticeable yellowish-orange tint on lighter-colored objects, and a subtly

I have two of these belts, one black and one gray, that I've been using every day for over 2 years. They are very comfortable and yet vertically rigid enough for carrying a pistol and magazine carrier(s). They do not stretch, sag or take on a U-shape over time like my leather belts, and the holes have not wallowed out. It blends in extremely well with anything from jeans to dress slacks with the traditional-style buckle and in no way screams "tactical" which is exactly what I wanted. I can't think of anything negative to say at all... they are waterproof, the buckles don't squeak or rust, and they seem to last forever. I'm definitely buying more.

I was very excited about getting this to upgrade from an aging Burris 4.5-14x on an intermediate range .308 precision rifle. To start off, the reticle is nice, and the turrets are fantastic. Eye relief is generous, and it feels well built. Unfortunately, I find the glass to be completely underwhelming, and the eyebox at 16x very unforgiving. I don't find it to be particularly sharp, bright or clear, even at this price point. I'm unable to make out .30 caliber holes on white paper even at 100 yards, there is some edge distortion, and heat mirage was an issue on a relatively cool 94° Arizona day. To me, the glass in this $570 Vortex is no better than the $400 Burris it replaced, it is vastly superior in most other ways. I just feel let down by the mediocre optical performance, and will be soon stepping up to something better... again. In my opinion based on a lot of experience, this is an upper middle class scope mechanically, but an upper low-end scope optically.

I've found the Strike Eagle to be durable and reliable and the BDC to be accurate, but I'm not a fan of the overall reticle design, relatively weak illumination and cloudy glass compared to many others.

While not the brightest compact pistol light on the market, I like the controls and form factor of the APLc the best out of all I have tried including the Surefire XC1B. Nicer hotspot and color temperature than the XC1 also. Plenty of candela for just about any indoor / close-range PID as far as I'm concerned. The paddles feel great and work intuitively. I don't mind pressing in vs. up or down like most Streamlights and Surefires. I've had mine for well over a year and have had zero durability issues. It has been beaten up, fired underwater, dropped, knocked into barricades, holstered and unholstered a million times, and has never missed a beat. Great runtime on a single CR123A. Easy battery replacement. Solid mounting interface. Aluminum bezel. Easy to clean carbon from the lens. No wider or longer than the G19 itself.

Great sights and for the price they are unbeatable! I like the low profile of these and the rounded edges of the rear sight compared to the Trijicon HDs. The HDs I have on another gun really tear up my side wearing IWB because the ledges on the Trijicons are so sharp. I have no problems with the UCs. I had switched almost entirely to the Ameriglo Spartan Operator sights but really prefer a U-notch rear, so I was excited when Ameriglo came out with these. And because there's no tritium in the rear, they're very inexpensive. Hard to go wrong. I do wish the front post was a little narrower but that's my only critique.

TL;DR: This is the best low/mid power optic for a lightweight build I've ever found. It's excellent, but not perfect.

I like keeping things simple, compact and lightweight. The Mark AR is all of those things. My favorite rifle wears the SPR reticle version of this scope in an Aero Precision Ultralight SPR mount, a 14.5" lightweight barrel, and a 12" lightweight rail. It has the weight and quick, handy feel of a pistol or SBR, without the limitations. As long as you can reach 3,100 fps with 55gr. pills out of the barrel you're using, this scope eliminates the guesswork out to 650 yards, which is probably about the maximum effective range of that cartridge, anyways. The aforementioned scope and mount combo weighs exactly 13.01oz. Some red dots weigh more than that with a mount. The weight is really impressive.

The good: Glass is clear, eye relief is crazy, eyebox is forgiving, the illumination and controls are good, the turrets are excellent, and the glass is in a league above others in this price bracket. The reticle is simple and intuitive, and it's very bright for its size in low light. The magnification adjustment ring is the best I have used and is super fast and easy to turn without being too loose. I have not had any mechanical or electronic issues whatsoever and battery life has exceeded expectations, so I can say with certainty it is rugged enough for field use. It is a Leupold, after all.

The not so good: The magnification range is quite limited compared to similar

First of all, this is a typical Vortex-quality scope. It is affordable and has great glass for the money. I like the reticle, and I would like to love the scope as a whole, but unfortunately it is not what I was looking for. Personally, I am not a fan of the size and location of the rheostat (it should sit lower on the ocular bell, or be located on the scope body at 9 o'clock) and most importantly, I was very disappointed that the illumination was not even close to daylight visible. By 7am on the first range day it had completely washed out in the Arizona sun. It really is a shame to have pretty close to a true 1x variable powered optic with great glass and a clean, simple, precise reticle and ruin that with inferior brightness output. This is a good optic that had potential to be a great one, but the illumination falls way short of being useful for a tactical shooter.

These are bar none the best sights on the market for a carry gun. Durable, bright in all lighting conditions, and very fast. However! These are significantly taller than the factory Glock sights - make sure you either have the necessary clearance for them with your current holsters or plan on having new ones made to accommodate. They aren't quite "suppressor height" but they are by my estimation about 50% taller than the originals.

I have several of these. There is nothing special about them unless you're a serious ounce-counter or just appreciate silence and simplicity. Bottom line: you can not get a lighter, quieter sling with webbing as comfortable as this for any price, let alone twelve bucks.

The Brute swivels on here are just about as quiet as you can get and are a third of the weight of steel 2-piece swivels. They are some kind of nylon construction and yes, I have had them break in the past, but even cracked they are serviceable until you get out of the field (I have never had one completely fail). They are not QD and the sling itself does not have a quick adjustment feature, but I find the webbing the perfect length to set-and-forget with no adjustment needed to go from over the shoulder carry to slung up for a shot with my arm through the loop, so in my case there's no need for a quick adjust or quick detach feature on this sling.

Even with 1.25" webbing, the Express 2 weighs in at 2.47 ounces... Compared to a VTAC 2-point sling it is almost five ounces lighter. The next closest lightweight sling I have is an S.O.Tech Cheetah with 1" webbing and even it weighs 3.96oz with Titan swivels and that sling makes more noise and cuts into my shoulder more quickly than this one.