The Vortex Venom is a compact, value-priced, lightweight red dot from Vortex made in the Philippines. I bought this one for use on a rifle, but these compact red dots are most commonly used on optics-ready pistols. Sometimes they’re mounted on a 45 degree offset mount as a second optic on a rifle. Venoms are right around $350 in Canada and $250 in the US.
Vortex Venom Features & Specifications
- 3 or 6 MOA red dot (this one is 3 MOA)
- About $350
- 10 brightness levels
- Auto brightness mode
- Auto shutoff after 14 hours
- 150 hours of battery life on highest setting, 30,000 on lowest
- 1.1 oz (31.2 grams)
- Very compact
- Comes with picatinny rail mount
- CR1632 coin battery powered
Compared with other red dots, the Vortex Venom is very compact and very lightweight. Its features are a bit basic compared with some red dots out there. There’s no “instant on”, shake awake, or way to turn the dot on other than hitting the very tiny ^ button on the side.
Vortex Viper vs Venom
The Vortex Venom is VERY similar to the Viper in price and size, but there are a few key differences when comparing the two. The Viper is only available with a 6 MOA dot, while the Venom is available in 3 and 6 MOA varieties. The battery is accessible from the top for the Venom, while you have to remove the Viper from its plate to replace its battery. Neither red dot offers spectacular battery life unless you run them on very low brightness settings. The Venom has an auto-brightness feature while the Viper does not.
The Venom has slightly more elevation adjustment, and slightly less windage adjustment, but this shouldn’t really matter because if your mount is 100MOA off, you have other problems to deal with.
Conclusion
The only reasons I bought this red dot are: Vortex has a lifetime warranty and slide mounted red dots seem to die from prolonged use, and Vortex does a bangup job of supporting the shooting sports. The price is good, but Holosun delivers far more features and better battery life. BUT, Holosun doesn’t have as good a warranty, and I haven’t seen them sponsoring any 3 gun matches lately.
