Unboxing
After much sleuthing, I recently purchased a Vortex Crossfire® HD 1.5-5.5 Scout Scope as I appreciate the added magnification when shooting beyond 100 yards. In the box was the optic, lens cloth, sunshade, battery cap tool, and a nice neoprene cover. A quick inspection verified that everything was working order.
Initial Thoughts
The glass appeared clear and the reticle sharp. The eye relief is adequate, though not ideal and the eye box is unforgiving at higher magnification. Shooting modified weaver stance, I’m only able keep a full field of view from 1.5x through about 3.75x magnification. Bringing the gun closer remedies this at full magnification though the eye box gets quite finicky. I should note, I have a 76” wingspan so others may be able to maintain the full field of view throughout the magnification range.
The reticle of this optic has a 2 MOA illuminated center dot with BDC hash marks for windage and elevation. I prefer a reticle devoid of the larger center dot in a magnified optic to maintain a precise hold on targets at longer range.
The capped turrets had sufficiently audible and tactile ¼ MOA clicks. Though they didn’t line up perfectly with the hash marks on the turret, adjustments tracked well when zeroing. The illumination dial features 6 brightness settings with an intermediate off position between each setting, a feature I greatly appreciate. This dial also houses the included CR 2032 battery.
Mounting
Mounting the optic in the rings provided from Ruger with the Super Redhawk, required me to remove the rear sight to allow clearance over the frame. Even with the sights removed, the large magnification ring barely cleared the frame of the gun.
Zeroing
Once mounted, I mechanically zeroed the scope before firing. Vortex claims 100 MOA of total vertical and horizontal adjustment. I counted approximately 110 MOA (440 clicks). I set the magnification at 3x as this allows good eye relief at my arm length. The mechanical zero proved very true in my application as the first round fell dead center at 25 yards. A few clicks up and the gun was zeroed to my liking for the load used.
Closing thoughts
There is currently a vanishingly small number of options for magnified optics featuring extended eye relief on the market. This fact necessitates that we look outside what some would normally consider as their first choice.
This optic is Chinese made, a fact that I do not relish. However, the street price of about $190 offers excellent value for a sound optic to those looking to add a magnified scope to their firearm. I’ve fired about 150 rounds so far with this optic on the 44 and have seen no issues. Others have fired many rounds under extreme recoil with no ill effect thus far. It’s compact design certainly lends to its ability to resist flex and withstand recoil. I hope the track record of accuracy and reliability continues for this little scope and it may be worth a look for you.