Burris and Vortex Optics are two of the leaders in the firearms optics market, known for making some of the best optics available.
I’ve also had the pleasure of using a product from each of them: Vortex Venom and the Burris Fastfire 3.
With these two sights competing neck to neck, which is better?
Let’s find out.
Contents
Overview of the Burris Fastfire 3 Red Dot Sight
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Specifications:
- Objective Lens Size :21 x 15 mm
- Length: 1.9 inches
- Weight: 0.9 oz
- Reticle: 3 MOA dot or 8 MOA dot
Burris Optics is a well-established, highly trusted brand for quality firearms sights and attachments.
One of their bestsellers is the Burris Fastfire 3, a small red dot sight for pistols, rifles, and shotguns.
I’ve even mounted it on top of larger sights!
With its lightweight design and low profile, I can sight easily without the added weight on my firearm!
While this works with a Weaver or Picatinny mount, it is also compatible with other custom mounts, such as the Glock MOS system.
Special Features:
- Automatic brightness sensor: The intensity of the red dot automatically adjusts with the lighting conditions you’re shooting in.
- Automatic time out feature: Automatically shuts down the sight after 8 hours of idle time
- Choice of 2 dot sizes: You can choose between a 3 MOA dot for precise shots at longer ranges or an 8 MOA dot for rapid target acquisition at close range.
- Lightweight
- Easy battery replacement
- Fast target acquisition
- Clear glass
- Parallax free
- Auto-brightness control
- Small viewing window
- Limited manual intensity settings
Overview of the Vortex Venom Red Dot Sight
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Specifications:
- Objective Lens Size: 26.5 mm
- Length: 1.9 inches
- Weight: 1.1 oz
- Reticle: 3 MOA dot or 6 MOA dot
Vortex Optics is one of the leading producers of firearms optics with their Venom red dot sight being one of my favorites to use!
This lightweight single-piece chassis can be used with a Weaver or Picatinny mount.
I’ve found it to be VERSATILE and reliable regardless of what gun you use it with.
With clear glass and a multi-coated lens that will enable you with quick target acquisition, this is a quality red dot sight for your money.
Special Features:
- Widefield lens: One of the widest lenses available for a clear picture
- Automatic brightness sensor: Automatically adjusts the intensity of the red dot depending on your shooting conditions
- Auto shut down: The red dot sight automatically shuts down after 14 hours of idle time
- Choice of 2 reticles: You can choose between a 3 MOA dot for precise shots at longer ranges or a 6 MOA dot for rapid target acquisition at close range.
- Lightweight
- Low profile housing
- Great glass
- Broader field of view
- Exceptional battery life
- Variety of dot intensity settings
- It may be too low to co-witness with some sights
- Larger body
Burris Fastfire 3 vs Vortex Venom: The Similarities
The Burris Fastfire III and the Vortex Venom are two of the BEST red dots.
Despite being two very distinct products from two amazing optics manufacturers, they are surprisingly similar in many aspects.
For one, I can confidently use both of them on my rifles AND pistols. I think that says a lot about their versatility.
They can serve as either a primary sight or work with an existing sight. I’ve found them to rest easily on top of primary scopes like the Trijicon ACOG.
They also come with a choice of 2 sizes of a bright red dot for more versatility, one of those being a 3 MOA dot.
Here are some of their similarities at a glance:
- Dot color: Red
- Magnification: 1x
- Length: 1.9 inches
- Battery: CR1632
- Mounting: Picatinny/Weav