The Crossfire II riflescope series is the entry-level line from Vortex Optics. As the ‘II’ (or ‘2’ as it’s oftentimes written) indicates, it’s the second generation of these scopes.
The Vortex Crossfire II scopes are entry-level hunting optics. Nonetheless, they are constructed from solid materials and to the highest standards.
Review of the Vortex Crossfire 2 Rifle Scope
The gun optics in the Vortex Crossfire 2 lineup come in a variety of models ranging from one-inch to 30 mm tubes. The magnifications range from 1-4x24mm to 6-24x50mm.
All models with a 1-inch tube offer a 3x zoom range (2-7, 3-9, 4-12, 6-18) while all scopes with a 30mm tube have a 4x zoom (1-4, 3-12, 4-16, 6-24). The objective lens diameters range from 24 mm to 56 mm.
The line also features three different reticles where most are available for each scope. The second focal plane reticles to choose from are
- Standard Duplex type (V-Plex)
- Duplex with bullet drop compensation (BDC) having hash marks on the reticle (Dead-Hold BDC)
- Duplex with an illuminated red dot (V-Brite)
There should be no shooting and hunting situation, irrelevant of the range, that wouldn’t be covered by one of those scopes. The most common reticle for the Vortex Optics Crossfire II is overall the Dead-Hold BDC reticle. It’s easy to use and provides good BDC guidance.
As already mentioned, these scopes are the entry-level line from Vortex and as such are affordable in price. Yet, they’re not made or designed cheap so you can rest assured that you get a good deal for your money.
Illuminated Reticle Battery Life
The illuminated reticle choice for the Vortex Crossfire 2 is powered by a CR2032 battery. These batteries are available in every supermarket and you can easily carry a spare or two with you as they are small and light.
The battery life on the V-Brite reticle on the Vortex Crossfire II will vary depending on your brightness settings. Should you run out of battery then it’s honestly not a big deal as the only thing you end up missing is the small center red dot. Under normal lighting conditions, you’ll still be able to acquire a target without much difficulty. In low light environments and in some cases shooting longer range, you might miss the illuminated reticle dot though.
On to the Review!
We’re having a closer look at the Vortex Crossfire II 4-12x44mm scope in this review. At the end of this review, we’ll list all scopes with their technical specifications in case you want to consider another scope out of the Crossfire II lineup. Now, let’s have a closer look at the optic in our Vortex Crossfire II review!
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Features
- Multicoated lenses to increase light transmission while reducing light reflection
- The reticle on the second focal plane
- Single piece main tube from aircraft-grade aluminum
- Shockproof
- Nitrogen filled for fog proofing
- O-ring sealed to be waterproof and keep out dust and dirt
- Hard anodized black finish in matte for low-glare
- Fast focus eyepiece
- Capped turrets with zero-reset
Capabilities
The Vortex Crossfire II series has a matching scope for pretty much every situation. They are the entry-level scopes from Vortex that are affordable yet offer high-quality design and materials.
The main tube features one inch in diameter as most scopes in that price range offer. As mentioned, other scopes in this series have a 30mm tube.
The scope tube of the Vortex Optics Crossfire II is made from aircraft-grade aluminum. The main tube hard anodized in a matte black to prevent glare and light reflecting off of it.
On top, the tube is filled with nitrogen to prevent any kind of fogging on the inside. It’s also sealed with O-rings to keep water, dirt, and dust out.
Optics on the Crossfire II Scope
The glass lenses of the Vortex Crossfire II are fully multi-coated to provide maximum light transmission. The coatings also reduce the reflection of light on all surfaces that get in contact with air. This improves low-light visibility while also making sure that you’ll get a great image in bright sunlight.
Objective Lens Sizes and Reticles
You can get this scope with either the V-Plex or the Dead-Hold BDC reticle. The reticle is on the second focal plane. You might be better off with the BDC reticle for long-range shooting, but it does end up being personal preference and what you are used to.
The field of view at 100 yards is 24.7 feet with a 4x magnification. At the maximum magnification of 12x, the FOV at 100 yards is 8.4 feet. In comparison, the Vortex Crossfire II 3-9×50 has an FoV that ranges from 32 to 12.9 feet.
The objective lens diameter is 44 mm, which provides enough space to let a lot of light into the scope. The sharpness of the lens is good and falls off at the edges. As you’re not targeting at the edges but in the center, this is not an issue when you’re aiming.
The scopes in the Crossfire II series that aim for long-range shooting come with 50 mm objective lenses. This improves the light transmission which is essential when shooting long-range.
Eyepiece and Exit Pupil
The eyepiece is designed to allow for fast focus and target acquisition. This allows for fast switching from one target to the next. In combination with the sharp image, you’ll have no problem aiming quickly for shots with great accuracy. All Crossfire II scopes come with a fast-focus eyepiece allowing you, the hunter, to rapidly aim.
The exit pupil ranges from 3.67 mm up to 11 mm. That allows for a lot of light to hit your eye under any lighting circumstance and magnification.
It’s hard to find a scope in this price range that would be able to beat the Crossfire II. Have a look at it and you’ll know that you get great value and high quality. You won’t be disappointed!
Find out whether the Crossfire II is the best scope for Marlin 336!
Turrets and Adjustments
The turrets on all Crossfire II scopes are capped and feature a zero-reset making it easy to return to zero after adjusting the scope to 100 yd zero (or other required ranges). Adjustments are ¼ MOA per click. A full rotation adjusts by 15 MOA.
Windage and Elevation adjustments
The maximum elevation and windage adjustments are 50 MOA. Both Windage and Elevation adjustment range depending on the model you pick. The minimum elevation and windage adjustment are 40 MOA for the 6-24×50 AO model. The Vortex Crossfire II 3-12×56 AO version provides 60 MOA of windage and elevation adjustment, while the 1-4×24 has a 100 MOA range.
The parallax settings on this Vortex scope are fixed at 100 yards. In the AO models, the parallax is adjustable to provide an even sharper image.
Sizable Eye Relief
The eye relief on the Crossfire II 4-12x44mm is 3.9 inches. That eye relief is sufficient for most rifles for hunting. Most other scopes in the series have an eye relief that is also around 4 inches. You can see the details in the table below. The Scout variant has a long eye relief of 9.45 inches which lets you position the scope towards the front of the rifle.
The adjustments are very accurate. Probably more so than what you’d expect for a scope in this price range.
Field of View
The Vortex Optics Crossfire II scopes come with reasonable field of view at 100 yards that’ll make it straightforward for a hunter to pick up game even at higher magnification settings. If you for example take the Vortex Crossfire II 3-9×40 then the field of view at 100 yards ranges between 34.1 feet to 12.6 feet.
Accordingly, the Vortex Optics Crossfire II 3-9×50 has a larger field of view between 32 feet at the 3x and 12.9 feet at 9x. The larger objective lens allows the slightly larger field of view at 9x compared to the 40mm lens of the Vortex Crossfire II 3-9×40.
Pros and Cons of the Crossfire II Scope
The Vortex Crossfire II line of scopes offers a great compromise between affordability and features. A large number of different scopes in this family will make sure that you find a great hunting optic for your needs.
The quality is great. The scopes are sturdy and hold zero well even with strong recoil. The optics do not let you down while you certainly have to consider that you get higher glass quality in higher-end scopes.
The turrets on the Crossfire II are easy to use and sturdy. Many other scopes in that price range offer lower quality turrets and overall scopes.
Where to buy?
You’ll find the Vortex Crossfire II scopes with many retailers. You can get them online or at specialty retail outlets. Usually, you will find the most models and best availability by getting them from Amazon.com.
Vortex VIP Warranty
One item to consider is that the Vortex Crossfire II comes with a fantastic lifetime warranty. Vortex calls this lifetime warranty their VIP Warranty. VIP in this context stands for Very Important Promise.
It basically states that for the duration of the lifetime warranty you will not be charged for any repair due to a defect or damage. If within the terms of the lifetime warranty the scope cannot be repaired then they will replace your Vortex Crossfire II with another working one.
Customer Reviews
Seeing that these rifle scopes are very affordable, you will find a lot of customer reviews online. The amazing thing is that you will basically not find any bad reviews.
You can check out the reviews on Amazon. These are people that bought and use the scope that is quite happy with it.
Consider in any case though that these scopes are entry-level and low in price. You do get good quality and performance for your money!
Other Vortex Crossfire 2 Scopes
Vortex offers a large variety of scopes within the Crossfire II lineup. The table below shows all of the available models. You can check the current availability and find the current price.
To make it easier to read the table, we assigned the following numbers to the different reticles that are available on the Crossfire II scopes:
- V-Plex: 1
- Dead-Hold BDC Reticle: 2
- V-Brite Reticle with Illumination: 3
| Model (magnification range x objective lens diameter) | Reticle Options | FoV (ft @ 100 yards) | Eye Relief | Tube Diameter | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1×24 Muzzleloader | 1 | 95.0′ | 3.8″ | 1 inch | 8.9″ |
| 2-7×32 Rimfire | 1 (Rimfire) | 42′ – 12.6′ | 3.9″ – 4.7″ | 1 inch | 11.3″ |
| 2-7×32 Scout Scope | 1 | 18.3′ – 5.2′ | 9.45″ | 1 inch | 10.5″ |
| 2-7×32 | 1, 2 | 42′ – 12.6′ | 3.9″ – 4.7″ | 1 inch | 11.3″ |
| 3-9×40 | 1, 2, 3 | 34.1′ – 12.6′ | 3.8″ – 4.4″ | 1 inch | 12″ |
| 3-9×50 | 1, 2, 3 | 32′ – 12.9′ | 3.8″ – 4.4″ | 1 inch | 12.7″ |
| 4-12×44 | 1, 2 | 24.7′ – 8.4′ | 3.9″ – 4.4″ | 1 inch | 13.1″ |
| 4-12×40 AO | 1, 2 | 24.7′ – 8.4′ | 3.9″ – 4.4″ | 1 inch | 13.6″ |
| 4-12×50 AO | 1, 2 | 25.7′ – 8.4′ | 3.9″ – 4.4″ | 1 inch | 14.2″ |
| 6-18×44 AO | 1, 2, 3 | 15.2′ – 5.3′ | 3.7″ – 4.3″ | 1 inch | 13.5″ |
| 1-4×24 | 1 | 96.1′ – 24.1′ | 4.0″ | 30 mm | 9.8″ |
| 3-12×56 AO Hog Hunter | 3 | 36.7′ – 9.2′ | 3.5″ | 30 mm | 14.3″ |
| 4-16×50 AO | 1, 2 | 25.3′ – 7.0′ | 3.7″ | 30 mm | 14.2″ |
| 6-24×50 AO | 1, 2 | 17.3′ – 4.4′ | 4.0″ | 30 mm | 14.5″ |
Vortex Crossfire II vs Diamondback Scopes – Hunting Scope Comparison
Conclusion
The Vortex Crossfire 2 scopes are a great choice. They are designed as your all-around scope for short to medium to long ranges. All of the different models provide excellent value for the price you pay. You definitely are getting a scope that is worth your money.
There’s nothing much bad to find or say about these scopes. They are robust, easy to use, and will not let you down. Sure, there are better scopes out there with better optics but they certainly do cost you a lot more.
Vortex Crossfire II or Nikon Buckmaster II?
The price point puts the scope square against the Nikon Buckmaster II series. The Vortex might be slightly better in our opinion though. We hope you found our Vortex Crossfire 2 review helpful!
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