New Product Highlight: Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Red Dot

Do you still run a bead sight on your home defense shotgun? Are you gearing up for spring turkey season? We have great news for you!

The new Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Red Dot will mount to any drilled and tapped receiver – no Picatinny rail, adapter plates, or custom work required.

And it’s got a doozy of a reticle.

Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Red Dot Specs & Features

Specs

• Magnification: 1x
• Reticle: 3-MOA dot, multi-reticle (3-MOA dot / 32-MOA ring / 65-MOA ring)
• Eye Relief: Unlimited
• Adjustment: 1-MOA
• Battery: CR2032
• Weight: 2.1 oz
• MSRP: $299 (3-MOA), $349 (multi-reticle)

Features

• Mounts to any drilled and tapped receiver
• Optional multi-reticle
• Enclosed emitter for durability in the field

If you have an old shotgun with screws in the top of the receiver, you can mount the Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Red Dot in seconds. It sits about as low as an optic can get without milling the steel.

You’ll need to line it up with two holes (three is better, four will make the engineers happy). As expected, Vortex provides multiple screw sets with blue thread locker already applied and a guide so you know which ones fit your specific shotgun. 

And torque values are printed on the optic so you don’t strip threads – one of the more underrated Vortex features, if you ask me.

Once it’s attached and the battery is installed, the shake-awake function will bring the optic to life and put it to sleep after 10 minutes of sitting still. Vortex lists battery run time at 50,000 hours. If all you do is hunt a few times a year, this is basically a lifetime battery.

The standard Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Red Dot comes with a 3-MOA red dot reticle. You can also opt for a multi-reticle that includes the 3-MOA dot, a 32-MOA ring, and a 65-MOA ring. Choose any combination you want. Both versions have 12 brightness settings, including two that are compatible with night vision (those are for home defense, not hunting — don’t get any wild ideas).

Of course, you’ll need to pattern your shotgun. Pro tip: play around with distances and loads so you know that, at a given distance, all pieces shot will land in the small ring; at a further distance, they’ll all land in the large ring.

I got my hands on one of these early and came away impressed. It’s going to be magic come turkey season. It’s a game-changer for home-defense shotguns. It’s also positively rad on a Marlin .45-70 lever gun.

Vortex lists a starting MSRP of $299 for the Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Red Dot. The multi-reticle version has an MSRP of $349.

But wait! The AR crowd didn’t get left out. This comes hot on the heels of another Vortex release: new Crossfire red dots. 

Vortex Crossfire Red/Greed Dot Specs & Features

Specs

• Magnification: 1x
• Reticle: 2-MOA red dot, 2-MOA green dot
• Eye Relief: Unlimited
• Adjustment: 1 MOA
• Battery: CR2032
• Weight: 4.6 oz
• MSRP: $219

Features

• Choose from black or tan housings
• Red and green dots now available
• 50,000-hour battery run time

In addition to the black optic with a 2-MOA red dot, you can now get a black optic with a 2-MOA green dot or an FDE optic with a 2-MOA red dot. Choices, choices.

Both colors have two night vision compatible brightness settings and nine daylight brightness settings.

The tan housing might be cosmetic, but the green dot is a functional addition. Maybe you have astigmatism, or maybe you live in the desert where red dots blend in with the landscape – either way, it’s good to have options.

Vortex lists an MSRP of $219 for the new Crossfire optics and we’ve seen street prices that are considerably lower.

What do you think of the new Vortex Viper Shotgun Enclosed Micro Red Dot and Crossfire optics? Let us know below. For more scattergun accessories, check out our guide to the Best Shotgun Sights.