Vortex Crossfire II Solar Green Dot — 2 MOA

There is a real reason to pick green, and it is physiology rather than fashion. Human photopic vision peaks in the green part of the spectrum, around 555 nanometres, and falls away towards red. Put a red and a green emitter side by side at matched output and most people will call the green one brighter. On an optic that is partly powered by whatever light is falling on it, getting more apparent brightness per milliwatt is worth having.

Where it earns its keep is woodland. A red dot against a sunlit birch trunk or a bracken bank can wash into the background, because the backdrop itself is warm and broken. Green separates from brown and tan far more cleanly. The trade runs the other way against spring foliage, where a green dot on a green leaf is the harder sight picture — which is why plenty of players end up owning one of each rather than declaring a winner.

Mechanically nothing changes. Ten brightness steps with the lowest two night-vision capable, 2 MOA of dot, half-minute turret clicks, 100 MOA of travel per axis, motion activation with a ten-minute shutoff, and the Auto D-TEC circuit splitting the load between panel and cell. Red-dot shooters sometimes report a slight starburst on green emitters with astigmatism; if that affects you, the red version of this sight is the safer buy.

Specifications

Good to know

Is green always easier to see? Not always. It wins against brown, tan and grey backdrops and in low light; it loses against bright green vegetation. Think about the sites you actually play before choosing.

I have astigmatism — does that matter? It can. Some shooters see a cleaner point of light from red emitters and a flare or comet shape from green ones, and it is individual enough that the only honest advice is to look through one first.

Does the green emitter cost battery life? Vortex quote the same 50,000 hours on the cell and 150,000 hours with solar for both colours.