From their humble beginnings in the early 2000s to today, Vortex Optics has built a brand around optics for every budget. New to their 2025 lineup of affordable, but rugged, small rifle optics is the Crossfire Green Dot.
Crossfire Green Dot – What Carried Over?
The Vortex Crossfire Green Dot carries over the same features that make its red-illuminated brother a solid optic at a very affordable price. Vortex designed the Crossfire to be compact and lightweight. It features a one-piece aluminum housing that has been anodized to a low-glare, matte black finish. The anodizing further adds an additional layer of scratch and corrosion resistance to the optic.
Light transmission is the name of the game when it comes to shooting optics. The higher the glass quality and the better the coatings, the cleaner the image. The Crossfire’s lenses are not Razor-clear, but they are pretty darn sharp, especially for a 1x magnification dot optic. They are parallax-free and offer very good edge-to-edge clarity. They are also finished with Vortex’s latest anti-reflective coating. This allows for high levels of light transmission, which translates to better low-light performance.
Vortex designed the electronics to be virtually shock and recoil-proof. They nitrogen-purged and completely sealed the internal housing. It’s therefore an optic that is both waterproof and fogproof.
Seeing Green
For this iteration of the Crossfire optic, Vortex went with a 2 MOA, bright green dot. The wavelength of light required for green is said to be one of the most visible colors on the light spectrum. Because of this, the dot stands out, even on the sunniest days. The side control dial allows for adjustment between 11 settings. The lowest two settings are compatible with night vision. The remainder are daylight adjustment settings. On setting 5, the CR2032 button-cell battery can power the optic for 50,000 continuous hours. Therefore, this is a great optic choice for a ready-to-go rifle setup. For my eyesight, red dots often have a bit of a blur on the edges when they are set to their brighter settings. I did not experience this flare effect with the green dot, even at maximum brightness in the daytime.
Mount Up!
In the box, all Crossfire Dots include both a lower-⅓ co-witness and low low-profile clamp-on mount that can be used on both Picatinny and Weaver-style rails. They also include the Torx wrench needed for swapping the mounts and securing the optic to your firearm’s rail. I elected to mount the Crossfire Green Dot in its lower-⅓ Co-witness mount on my MEAN Arms 9mm Bearing Delay PCC rifle. I decided to try out the Crossfire Red dot in its low-profile mount on my Ruger 10/22.
READ MORE HERE: DP Shooting Solutions Pivot Lock Pro – Game-Changer Red Dot Mount
At the Range
There are few things more fun to me than setting up steel targets and going guns ablazing at my local range. Running speed and accuracy drills, setting up courses of fire, and shooting on the move are all what get my heart going. I set up my portable AR500 rimfire & handgun-rated target plates from Caldwell Shooting in one of the bays and put the dots to the test.
Initial Zeroing was fast and easy, thanks to the adjustment tab integrated into each of the knurled elevation and windage caps. Out of the box, the Green dot on my 9mm PCC was almost perfectly zeroed at 100 yards. However, I elected to zero both the 9mm and the 10/22 at 25 yards for my tests. This was because I would be shooting on a smaller range in more of a “Steel Challenge” type of scenario, with targets at a maximum of 35 yards away.
Side By Side
Side by side, the Red and Green dots both performed exceptionally. Target acquisition was fast, thanks to the unlimited eye relief typical for dot-type optics. The 2 MOA dot was just large enough that I could pick it up fast. It was also small enough to take more precise shots on the smaller targets at a distance. I even found a few fired shotgun hulls and was able to pick them off at twenty-five yards thanks to my precise aiming points. I’m most used to red dots, as I’ve used them from various manufacturers for years now. It was a fairly quick transition to the green dot. It was bright enough even in full daylight to find against my bright yellow steel plates.
In the low-profile mount, I was able to pick up the dot quickly with a standard cheek weld on the 10/22. The lower ⅓ co-witness riser on my AR-type 9mm PCC elevated the optic enough that I could keep my head in a relaxed upright position while firing. This made for a very ergonomic and natural shooting stance. I shot a few hundred rounds through both rifles with these optics. I feel like I’m ready to take on a local IPSC or Steel Challenge match.
Final Thoughts on the Crossfire Green Dot
I’ve owned and utilized red dot optics on my rifles from a wide variety of manufacturers over the last few years. They have become my preferred optic for fast and close shooting scenarios. Until now, I had not had the opportunity to experience what the Vortex Crossfire dots were capable of. After spending a few weeks with these optics, I’m wondering why I haven’t tried them sooner. Vortex is bringing feature-packed options to the masses in the form of the Crossfire Green Dot and Crossfire Red Dot optics. They have a lightweight and compact construction. Their high-quality lenses and coatings, multiple included mounting options, and an MSRP of only $219.99 are attractive. Vortex is bringing feature-packed options to the masses. Their Crossfire Green Dot and Crossfire Red Dot optics are an excellent choice for any shooter.
You can get one here.
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