Vortex Venom Issue:

citoriguy

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I'm about ready to smash mine into a bajillion pieces. I recently picked up a Venom after reading about it's features, warranty, and customer service. I purchased a new unit about a month ago to put on a G19 Gen 5 MOS and was hoping to take it to the range this weekend.

I spent over an hour yesterday trying to seat the dot just above the front iron sight, and the MOA dot will not go down whatsoever. Left and right work as one would expect, but the vertical adjustments just don't work. I have their Strikefire II and love it, so I'm surprised the Venom is doing this.

I'll be sending the unit in for repair, but wanted to see if there were any other items I can/should try before shipping it off. I did take the battery out and that didn't seem to do much (I was expecting it to reset to factory specs, but it didn't). Has anyone experienced this with any other red dot?

Thanks in advance,

CG
 
I'm about ready to smash mine into a bajillion pieces. I recently picked up a Venom after reading about it's features, warranty, and customer service. I purchased a new unit about a month ago to put on a G19 Gen 5 MOS and was hoping to take it to the range this weekend.

I spent over an hour yesterday trying to seat the dot just above the front iron sight, and the MOA dot will not go down whatsoever. Left and right work as one would expect, but the vertical adjustments just don't work. I have their Strikefire II and love it, so I'm surprised the Venom is doing this.

I'll be sending the unit in for repair, but wanted to see if there were any other items I can/should try before shipping it off. I did take the battery out and that didn't seem to do much (I was expecting it to reset to factory specs, but it didn't). Has anyone experienced this with any other red dot?

Thanks in advance,

CG

I had this happen to me on a Venom mounted on a Mark IV, in my case the dot would illuminate but I couldn’t make any adjustments. If you have a volt meter check the battery. Mine was getting very low and a new battery fixed it. I have to say the Venom has not been my favorite optic. I don’t think it’s one of their better products.
 
I went with the rmr for my gen5 19. I could have gotten the vortex for substantially cheap with discounts but went with rmr.

This is the right thing, get an RMR or a Leupold Delta Point. It seemed silly to put a nice optic on a 22 I beat the shit out of. I thought I would save some money and I got exactly what I paid for.
 
It actually came down to the Delta Point Pro, RMR, and the Venom. Based on the reviews, the larger window, lower price, and Vortex's warranty/customer service, I went the Vortex route and now I'm kicking myself.
 
I had this happen to me on a Venom mounted on a Mark IV, in my case the dot would illuminate but I couldn’t make any adjustments. If you have a volt meter check the battery. Mine was getting very low and a new battery fixed it. I have to say the Venom has not been my favorite optic. I don’t think it’s one of their better products.

When you pulled the battery, did the Venom hold your zero or did it reset to factory position?
 
When you pulled the battery, did the Venom hold your zero or did it reset to factory position?

It did not but the battery was not dead dead. I swapped it quickly. I'm not sure if it would reset if the battery is left out for an extended period. Seems it would tho.
 
I have not played with a vortex venom, but I have used a variety of other small red dot sights. As far as I know, on most of these sights, the adjustments are mechanical. So changing the battery will not affect the zero of the sight, and this is exactly what you want. Batteries die, and you don't want to have to re-zero every time you change the battery.

Am I missing something here? Are there some sights where the adjustments are all digital, and are lost if the electronics lose charge?
 
I have not played with a vortex venom, but I have used a variety of other small red dot sights. As far as I know, on most of these sights, the adjustments are mechanical. So changing the battery will not affect the zero of the sight, and this is exactly what you want. Batteries die, and you don't want to have to re-zero every time you change the battery.

Am I missing something here? Are there some sights where the adjustments are all digital, and are lost if the electronics lose charge?

That was my initial thought as well, but I didn’t know for sure. The other consideration is there are maximums for both vertical and horizontal, in both directions each, so it makes sense it would be mechanical. However, the dot itself isn’t so I’m curious if there’s a possibility of a disconnect between the two.
 
The vertical and windage adjustments are mechanical, They move the diode in the back. They won't reset to anything when you take the battery out. Take the sight off your gun. lay it flat on a table. turn the vertical adjustment all the way in both directions and look to see if the dot moves. If it moves, make sure you are not at the end of the mechanical range when trying to adjust it lower on the gun.
 
For some reason I always believed the small red dots were not mechanical. I have the new battery out and ready for a speed change. All to keep from losing something that can’t be lost.
 
People would say you had to check your zero on red dot where the battery was on the bottom and the whole sight needed to be removed to change out the battery
 
The vertical and windage adjustments are mechanical, They move the diode in the back. They won't reset to anything when you take the battery out. Take the sight off your gun. lay it flat on a table. turn the vertical adjustment all the way in both directions and look to see if the dot moves. If it moves, make sure you are not at the end of the mechanical range when trying to adjust it lower on the gun.

Ok - thanks for that. I knew that needed to be done, but was hoping to avoid it somehow. I’ll report back when I do that at some point this week.
 
As far as I know, on most of these sights, the adjustments are mechanical. So changing the battery will not affect the zero of the sight, and this is exactly what you want. Batteries die, and you don't want to have to re-zero every time you change the battery.
Sorry, but this reminds me of the ham(s) who have literally burnt up their radios
(smoke comes out of the box), and then posted on the Intarwebs inquiring about
the undocumented Total Factory Reset three-finger-salute from the service manual
that will make the radio work again.

No, really. I actually read this at least once.


Anyhow, I'm sure there's parallel universes where red dot scopes
are implemented in software and the zero resets upon power fail.
But I don't think we live in one of those universes.


The incredibly cheap-ass reflex red/green 4-reticle sight that I bought online in 2014
41zsb+7vPaL.jpg

has an unlabeled (and undocumented?) hex screw
on the LH side of the quick-disconnect mount that turned out to
be a lockscrew for the elevation adjustment.

Don't know whether it arrived loose from the factory,
but the garbage sight never kept zero because I wasn't locking it;
or I was ruining the elevation adjustment because I was changing it
without loosening the lockscrew. But it works a little better
once I realized that it existed.


The Venom has no documented (or visible) lockscrews
in the PDF I just whiffread.

OTOH, the Viper does have documented lockscrews in the illustration I saw.


I would examine your whole Venom very carefully
using a magnifying glass and strong light
(and RTFM) to be absolutely sure
you weren't forgetting to loosen a lockscrew.

(But dear God don't start unscrewing unlabeled screws
and have the whole thing fall apart in your lap).
 
Well - I think I got it to work. I put a more pressure on the vertical screw than I was on the horizontal adjustment and could clearly feel a difference. I could feel the engagement as I moved from line to line. I called Vortex, explained the situation, and as soon as they have my current model, they’re going to send me a new one. Awesome customer service for sure.

That didn’t stop me from ordering a Leupold Deltapoint Pro though! I plan on picking up something else to use the Venom on. I really like my Strikefire II on top of my AR, so I know Vortex makes good stuff. Maybe I just got one of the oddball ones.
 
I've got a Venom on my shadow 2 and one on my Ruger Mark III competition and have had zero problems with them.
Great red dots for the price.
I will eventually get a delta point pro at some point but for now, I've got no complaints.
 
My Venom should be back in the next week or so. Vortex's customer service is no joke. I did get the Deltapoint Pro, but haven't mounted it yet. Maybe this weekend.
 
My Venom should be back in the next week or so. Vortex's customer service is no joke. I did get the Deltapoint Pro, but haven't mounted it yet. Maybe this weekend.

Did you get it back and is it better ? Bought one but I think I may have issues too
 
It actually came down to the Delta Point Pro, RMR, and the Venom. Based on the reviews, the larger window, lower price, and Vortex's warranty/customer service, I went the Vortex route and now I'm kicking myself.
well dont discount it yet, IF vortex does not hold up the CS and warranty Then kick yourself.
 
So I actually did get it back and it was fine, but I liked the DPP more so sold the Vortex. Then I tried the SRO and ended up selling the DPP.

Vortex’s customer service is fantastic and I was very happy with them. I just preferred the SRO’s sight plane more. I would easily buy another Vortex if the need arose.
 
I had a similar issue with a venom. Called Vortex and they send me a RMA plus a return shipping label. Got a new one within a week or so. There customer service (at least for me) was great. Best of luck, hopefully things work out.
 
I just pulled the trigger on one of these to replace the $90 Primary Arms red dot I have on my Dan Wesson 357 mag revolver. Fingers crossed it can hold up to the recoil.
 
Okay am I retarded?? This might be the most poorly designed battery cover I’ve seen. I feel like I’m going to cross thread and/or break the cover trying to install it. I have to press down VERY hard to engage the threads. But I think they’re still out of whack. Hmmm
 
Okay am I retarded?? This might be the poorly designed battery cover I’ve seen. I feel like I’m going to cross thread and/or break the cover trying to install it. I have to press down VERY hard to engage the threads. But I think they’re still out of whack. Hmmm

Don't break the DW dude!
 
Okay am I retarded?? This might be the most poorly designed battery cover I’ve seen. I feel like I’m going to cross thread and/or break the cover trying to install it. I have to press down VERY hard to engage the threads. But I think they’re still out of whack. Hmmm
Why do you think you keep breaking shit!
 
Okay am I retarded?? This might be the most poorly designed battery cover I’ve seen. I feel like I’m going to cross thread and/or break the cover trying to install it. I have to press down VERY hard to engage the threads. But I think they’re still out of whack. Hmmm

They’re not that bad - once you figure it out it’s second nature, but I do remember the first time I WTF’d for a minute or two.
 
I'm about ready to smash mine into a bajillion pieces. I recently picked up a Venom after reading about it's features, warranty, and customer service. I purchased a new unit about a month ago to put on a G19 Gen 5 MOS and was hoping to take it to the range this weekend.

I spent over an hour yesterday trying to seat the dot just above the front iron sight, and the MOA dot will not go down whatsoever. Left and right work as one would expect, but the vertical adjustments just don't work. I have their Strikefire II and love it, so I'm surprised the Venom is doing this.

I'll be sending the unit in for repair, but wanted to see if there were any other items I can/should try before shipping it off. I did take the battery out and that didn't seem to do much (I was expecting it to reset to factory specs, but it didn't). Has anyone experienced this with any other red dot?

Thanks in advance,

CG
Yup! I had the exact same problem at the Range yesterday. I've owned the Trijicon MRO (Ar-15) & RMR (Pistol); Aimpoint Pro on my AR-15 and Now the Leupold Firedot 1-4x 20mm (ITS THE BEST). I purchased the Venom because I wanted a unit that I could change the battery without removing like the RMR - And for a change.

All but the Vortex Venom - Worked Flawlessly; Accurately; and Durably. On the surface the Venom seemed great - I mounted it on my new Glock 41 MOS. However - Given all my past experience - And my retired Army Buddy - We could not get that dam thing to adjust. We hardly hit cardboard ... ONCE. After about 50 Rounds of .45 - I took it off and shot 100 rounds of very accurate shooting - The old fashioned way.

I have returned the unit - Don't even want to try another at this point. And a part of me is wondering if I even need it on a pistol anymore. I have a TlR-7a Tactical Light and I thinking a Red Dot may be a frivolous expense. Not sure which way I will go next. Not RMR for sure - Although it worked great.
 
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