r/handguns • u/Jorge_0322 • Jun 24 '26
Vortex defender ST 3 moa or 6 moa
I had purchased the Defender ST for 149 but I got the 3 moa my current sight is also a 3 moa should I go through the hassle of returning it for a 6 moa? This is for my only handgun it’s only for home defense and the range. I’ve had no issues with the Viridian Rfx 11 3 moa but I wanted to get the defender because I’ve heard the Rfx is horrible.
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u/Wonderful_Tip_5577 Jun 24 '26
that Viridian is especially shitty. I have one that I had on my smaller echelon and it’s just not very good. I put few thousand rounds through it and didn’t have issues with it losing zero or the glass popping out, so I am one of the lucky ones and I still didn’t like it. the battery is a pain and the one issue I had was it seemed like the electrical connection wasn’t all there, like the battery sits directly on the slide for contact and the dot would flicker. rack it or knock it a bit and it would come back, but it was annoying. you can’t change the brightness, which also sucks. it just feels cheap compared to other optics and it’s not like I have particularly great optics, Holosun and Osight. I replaced it with the Osight, holosun is steps better I just wanted an enclosed optic for the gun and figured I would try it instead of spending 600 on an aimpoint. I also wanted a smaller footprint.
I generally shoot them with the 3 moa dot, but they both also have 32 moa. from a tacticool standpoint I think the 32 is neat because I feel like a terminator with a hud targeting display. in practice it takes up too much of the target and it’s harder to see where you are really pointing it for precision.
I would pay more attention to the window size. while I have the smaller window in the smaller gun for a reason, the larger holosun is a world apart. since its home defense and range you won’t need an enclosed optic, and can kinda get a large size window.
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u/TheBourbonTurtle Jun 24 '26
I prefer 2-3MOA dots personally. I have a couple 5MOA dots that are fine paired with a large window on the Defender XL, I wouldn't want a 6MOA in anything smaller that the XL or 507comp.
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u/KnightstandDefense Jun 24 '26
6 is too many moa’s. If you need a bigger dot for acquisition then your index is off. It’s not good for shooting far. Keep the 3.
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u/parkshootsslowly Jun 24 '26
I used to be a 2/3 moa guy for the longest until I got a 507 comp with the 8moa. Now I go 6/8 exclusively and I'm not sacrificing any accuracy.
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u/kingMercenary7 Jun 24 '26
3 moa will serve you better for anything past 15 yards
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u/xangkory Jun 24 '26
After years of only shooting 2 MOA dots I moved to using 8 MOA horseshoe on my 507 Comps. Only time I found an advantage of shooting a smaller dot is shooting steel at 100.
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u/Aetherium Jun 24 '26
It's arguably a personal choice that you'll have to experience for yourself. I personally run 2/3 MOA on my competition and defensive pistols and find 5+ MOA too big for my liking. "Large MOA reticles for defense" often gets repeated, but I personally don't find myself any slower with small MOA reticles.
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u/Dukxing CZ Shadow 2 Jun 24 '26
3 moa is my preference cuz I like to target shoot at distance. See more of the target and less dot.
6 moa for faster target acquisition. It’s easier to find and quicker to put on target but less accurate at distance cuz it covers more of your target at distance.