#DefenderXL

Pistol red dots are a fairly common thing these days. We’ve come a long way since the early days of mounting gigantic optics like the early Aimpoint and Tasco red dots to the frames of 1911s. We can now mount some excellent optics, directly on our pistol slides, and the options at this point are virtually endless - it just depends on what you want to do with it. Vortex has been putting in a lot of work lately to expand its pistol and rifle optics line to be as comprehensive as possible. Standard RMR-type designs were some of their first ventures into the pistol-mounted optics category, but Vortex quickly upped the game by putting in their bid to the “large window” pistol red dot category. Primarily intended for competition shooters who value a large viewing window, the Vortex Defender XL is the company’s equivalent of Trijicon’s RMR HD, Holosuns 507COMP, or Shield’s RMSX. Today we’re going to check out what it offers, how it’s priced for its specific sector of the pistol optics market, and some of my thoughts on my experiences with it over the last 9 months.