There is a consensus among rifle owners that shooting at short to medium-range targets can be challenging. You may encounter problems using high-caliber AR rifles at short to medium distances, especially when speed is of utmost importance to you. Buy not to worry though, Vortex’s spitfire 3x scope is just what you need.
Vortex is a reputable optics brand known for its great optics and durable products. This American company has spent the last decade or two producing optics to match up with others from other top brands.
Vortex Spitfire, 3x prism scope is Vortex’s way of serving the high caliber weapon market, struggling to find a scope that fits and is short to medium distance focused. The challenges of shooting these weapons in short distances in a fast-paced environment and several targets are eliminated with vortex spitfire 3x.
Vortex Spitfire 3x prism scope was explicitly made for mid-range shooting and weapons that use 5.56 caliber bullets. These weapons include AR rifles, sporting rifles, bolt action rifles, 5.56×45mm, and 5.56×54mm rifles. It will also work for semi-automatic weapons with high recoil.
If you’ve been struggling with mid-range shooting, you’ll love this vortex spitfire 3x scope as it puts to bed your challenges while bringing precision and comfort to the fore. In this guide, you’ll see everything about the vortex spitfire 3x prism scope, its pros, cons, features, and a general vortex spitfire 3x review that will make your buying decision easier.
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Vortex Spitfire 3x Review
Even though Vortex just started producing optics products in 2002, they have built a huge reputation in that period that has put them among the top brands. The vortex spitfire 3x prism scope was made with mid-ranges in mind.
It comes with an Enhanced Battle Reticle (EBR-556B) calibrated for weapons that use 5.56 caliber cartridges; you get a specialized 3x magnification scope that will make shooting mid-ranges seamless and accurate as possible.
This scope is a prism scope, and you would be forgiven if you don’t know what this is, seeing that the concept of prism scope is new. Prism scope seeks to combine the effect of the red dot and that of regular optics. This way, you’re enjoying a two-in-one scope. The fast targeting of the red dot brings to the table and several adjustments and magnifications available on normal scopes.
Components of Vortex Spitfire 3x
What components of this scope make it capable of serving 5.56 caliber rifles in mid-range shooting? You’ll see what makes this scope stand out in this section.
Magnification Range
The vortex spitfire 3x prism scope has a fixed magnification of 3x. You can magnify a target 3 times at this magnification, allowing you to aim properly and release accurate shots.
Many people may frown at its fixed magnification range. Still, this scope was made specifically for short to medium-distance shooting. Its magnification is just right for this distance. You can easily cover objects below 500 yards without issues.
The fixed magnification of 3x matches the range needed by its users. Vortex has done the calculations for you with this scope. It gives you just the right magnification to cover your short to medium-distance shooting.
Reticle
Vortex Spitfire 3x is fitted with the Enhanced Battle Reticle (EBR-556B). This reticle is made specifically for weapons using high caliber 5.56 cartridges.
What this reticle brings is a weapons-specific reticle that matches the .55 5.56×54mm cartridges. This reticle is etched with several markers for different ranges from 0-500 yards. This means all your short distances and medium-distance shooting are covered. You can quickly aim and take accurate shots with this reticle. The etched markers draw your eyes quickly to the target.
You’ll also enjoy the fact these markets will still be visible even when you have run out of battery power, and the illumination has gone off. This way, you can still use your scope when your battery dies.
The type of reticle a scope has a huge role to play in the quality of images it produces and the ease of use. The vortex spitfire 3x prism scope reticle allows you to enjoy fast and accurate shooting through the help of its focus which helps in targeting.
There are 5 illumination intensities available to choose from. These illumination levels will fit whatever light condition you’re working with. Another good news is that the reticle is etched on prism optics to ensure it is not affected by a change in illumination.
Do you know you can also switch between a red or green dot color? These colors have their most effective time of the day when you can use them for easy detection.
Image Quality
The reticle brings us straight to the image quality. They are all intertwined, as earlier stated. The type of reticle a scope has will affect the quality of the image it can produce. But there’s more to image quality than just a reticle. Other things can also affect the quality of the image you can see in a scope.
Even though you’ll mostly be shooting short to medium distances when using the vortex spitfire 3x prism scope, image quality is still important. Now, let’s look at those things and how they work together in this scope.
The scope only has a 3x fixed magnification and an objective lens of 21mm. Even though this objective lens is small, it can let in enough light into the scope to produce crisp and clear images because of the small magnification range. This prism optics allows you to have sharp image quality better than what is obtainable from normal optics.
Scopes with higher magnification ranges will require an even wider objective lens. It’ll require more light in the scope to produce clear images at a higher magnification. But seeing that this scope’s magnification is only 3x and fixed, a 21mm objective lens is more than enough to let in light needed to improve the image quality at this range.
The optical glass is also multi-coated to stop the sun’s glare from bouncing off the lens surface, affecting the quality of the image you can see.
Zeroing
How easy is it to zero with the vortex spitfire 3x prism scope? This question should be asked, as zeroing is one of the most important things you can do to improve accuracy and precision when shooting. It can move you from an average shooter to a top marksman or woman.
To zero a scope is to adjust the scope until the bullet hits exactly where you’re looking at through the scope lens. Normally, this is not so as the bullet does not move in a straight line but rather in a parabolic motion. There is also wind and other external effects acting on the bullet to skew its direction away from the target.
You want to ensure zeroing is easy and accurate with any scope you’re purchasing, and the Vortex Spitfire 3x is no different. How does zeroing work for this scope?
This scope has both the elevation and windage turrets available for adjusting your aiming and shooting accuracy.
The elevation turret at the top helps to adjust the vertical direction of the bullet caused by bullet drop in respect to your target. While the windage Turret is on the right side of the scope and adjusts the horizontal difference of the target to the bullet usually caused by wind.
The turrets are capped and tool adjustable, which means the cap will protect your adjustments to prevent them from resetting. Being tool adjustable means, you’ll need some tools like screwdrivers or coins to adjust this scope. This may make it quite challenging and reduce your aiming speed if you do not have matching tools. The turrets are set at ½ MOA adjustments per click.
Build and Design
Vortex Spitfire 3x prism scope is a compact scope small enough to fit into your backpack or being held while moving around rough terrains, which is typical when shooting. Whether for tactical shooting or hunting.
At just 5.5 inches long, you’re getting a small scope compared to other scopes with close functions. The weight of this scope with its battery attached is just 12.2 ounces. Further bolstering its compact nature, but don’t let this deceive you, it may be compact, but it does not lack in features.
It uses a 3 volts lithium CR2032 battery to illuminate the scope and allow you to use it in varying light conditions.
It also comes with two flip covers covering the front and back lenses. It is made with an aluminum alloy chassis and has a black finish. The prism layout of this scope helps it to stay compact without affecting its quality.
It is designed in such a way mounting can be done easily and quickly. You can quickly switch your weapon in the field when you want to use this scope on another weapon. This is because it comes with a mounting system with 30mm and 40mm height adjustments. The Picatinny rails also add auxiliary reflex accessories to the scope.
Alongside the vortex spitfire 3x prism scope, you’ll also get a 3-volt lithium CR2032 battery, flip covers for the rear and front lens, 2 Picatinny rails, 2mm hex wrench, and T-20 Torx wrench.
Durability
The build of the vortex spitfire leads us to its durability. How a scope is built will determine how durable the scope will be. This is especially important for a scope used on rifles with high recoil intensity like the vortex spitfire 3x prism scope.
So is this scope durable? Would you need to replace it after using it only a couple of times? What has the manufacturer put in place to ensure this scope lasts its user for a long time? These are what will be answered here.
The type of material scope is made up of will determine the amount of force it can take before it breaks down. While we shouldn’t be careless to keep letting the scope fall to the ground, this may happen a couple of times. Even if this doesn’t happen, the high-caliber bullets will continue to cause high recoils, which will shock the scope placed on them. Without a durable scope, you’ll be back in the market in a short while.
This scope is made of a single-piece aluminum alloy chassis that keeps it lightweight but doesn’t reduce its durability and ability to withstand the shock from the gun’s recoil and from external forces like falling to the ground.
It is also O-ring sealed and nitrogen-purged to keep dust, moisture, and fog from entering the scope. This way, you can use it in harsh weather conditions and even in wet environments without getting damaged or suffering poor vision due to fog obstructing your vision.
It also comes with powerful 3 volts lithium CR2032 batteries that can last 250 to 3000 hours across its lifespan. But this depends on the brightness you use, with lower brightness able to increase the battery’s life span by a couple of more hours.
Eye Relief
What sought eye relief does this scope have? Would you be able to use this scope comfortably without being “scope-kissed? Especially as the weapons use high caliber bullets, which in turn causes high recoils.
Vortex Spitfire 3x prism scope has an eye relief of 2.8 and a 31.5ft field of view at 100 yards.
Warranty
Like all vortex optics products, the vortex spitfire 3x prism scope is covered under the lifetime vortex warranty. Because of the belief vortex has on its products, they have provided a lifetime warranty to repair your damaged scope.
This warranty does not expire and is transferable as no receipt is needed to access the warranty. The warranty, however, does not cover damage by the user on purpose, including theft and any damage that does not affect its performance, like bodily scratches.
Price
At just $300-$350 for this scope, it is comfortably priced in the budget range and highly affordable.
But its affordability is not even its greatest price pull. It is the fact that its features far outweigh the price. You get so much value for money with this scope.
Compare this with the ACOG optics, which vortex spitfire 3x was made as a close substitute, and you’ll see the massive value it gives. The ACOG optics goes for close to $1000. See the amount of money you’ll be saving by buying this scope instead.
Some Drawbacks of Vortex Spitfire 3x
As much as this scope has so many admirable features you’ll enjoy, there are still a couple of things that are limiting you should know about. This will better guide your judgment and give you a clearer picture to know if this is the scope for you.
- The reticle size may make it difficult for the older generation to use as it may appear thinner than it is.
- The optics glass is also too thick, which reduces the light that can pass through into the scope.
- Many people will find the fixed magnification limiting as you cannot increase or reduce it when faced with a different situation.
- The scope is also not compatible with the VMX-3T magnifier.
Verdict
While these drawbacks can be limiting and annoying sometimes, you’ll have a great scope for short and medium distances for 5.56 caliber weapons if you can look past them.
All its features and prices trump the cons it may have. The vortex spitfire 3x prism scope is one amazing scope you should be adding to your gadgets.
