- Joined
- Jul 15, 2005
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- 477
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I have been intrigued by the Traditions Vortek Strikerfire for a while, so on a whim, I purchased one to try out. I got the regular Vortek Strikerfire, not an Ultralight or LDR model, and I got the lowest priced model with a black stock and cerakoted barrel and receiver . My first thoughts are that it is pretty nice looking for a plastic stocked rifle with very good fit and finish. The sticky rubber inserts on the stock grip and forearm are a nice touch but overall, I don't think it is as nice as the CVA Accura rifles with the tacky finish on the whole stock and forearm. The stock feels good when I shoulder it and is quite well balanced. The LOP seems to be right around 14". The first thing I noticed is how light it is. It is substantially lighter than my Accura V2 and this was apparent with more felt recoil when I shot it. The rifle does have an excellent recoil pad and the felt recoil is certainly not uncomfortable but it is noticeably more than the heavier Accura V2. The break action lever is nicely placed and works smoothly. The Strikerfire mechanism is very easy to use and the trigger block safety is nice to have, although mine is a bit stiff. Maybe it will loosen up with use, although I'm not sure how much I will actually use it. The 2 stage trigger is going to take some getting used to as I am not at all accustomed to having to take up so much trigger travel before getting to the point the trigger will break. However, once the travel is taken up, the trigger is very light and breaks very cleanly.
I purchased it as a package with the Traditions 3x9x40 scope which is quite clear but the crosshairs are a bit thick and with the extra BDC crosshairs, the scope view is a bit cluttered for my taste and the crosshairs block quite a bit of your view of the target. This might have to be changed but I'm going to give it a chance and shoot it for a while before I do. As is usually the case, the scope base mounting screws are not lock-tited from the factory and weren't really very tight either. The scope was apparently not bore sighted because the first shot at 50 yds was 20" right and 15" high. I was only able to get about 15 rounds though the rifle before i got rained out but that was enough to get the scope adjusted to where it was centered on the horizontal and about 4" high. My next session with it, I'll move back to 100 yds, fine tune the scope and loads and then check accuracy. I used Hornady FTX 265 gr .430 bullets in Harvester smooth green sabots over 100 gr BH209 and with a CCI magnum primer because this is an extremely accurate load out of my Accura V2. They loaded with about the same amount of pressure as with the CVA but as I said earlier, the recoil was more noticeable because of the lighter weight of the rifle.
Obviously, I haven't shot enough to determine how this rifle will group, but with the light trigger and build quality of the rifle, I see nothing to suggest that it will not shoot very well. One thing which was very noticeable is that there was absolutely zero blow back around the CCI primers. I only fired 15 shots but every primer came out as clean as it was when it went into the breech plug and the inside of the receiver was completely clean. The Accelerator breech plug works as advertised and in the 15 shots I fired with BH209, I had no failures to fire. It comes out easily with just 2 fingers and has coarser threads than the CVA so it only takes about three turns to remove it. The o ring on the bore end seals out any blow back around the threads and they were completely clean when they came out.
Overall, with the limited time I have had with the Vortek Strikerfire. it appears to be a very well built and well performing rifle. I will post updates on accuracy and my best performing loads after I get the opportunity to shoot it more, as well as any additional observations and thoughts that I have after spending more time with it.
I purchased it as a package with the Traditions 3x9x40 scope which is quite clear but the crosshairs are a bit thick and with the extra BDC crosshairs, the scope view is a bit cluttered for my taste and the crosshairs block quite a bit of your view of the target. This might have to be changed but I'm going to give it a chance and shoot it for a while before I do. As is usually the case, the scope base mounting screws are not lock-tited from the factory and weren't really very tight either. The scope was apparently not bore sighted because the first shot at 50 yds was 20" right and 15" high. I was only able to get about 15 rounds though the rifle before i got rained out but that was enough to get the scope adjusted to where it was centered on the horizontal and about 4" high. My next session with it, I'll move back to 100 yds, fine tune the scope and loads and then check accuracy. I used Hornady FTX 265 gr .430 bullets in Harvester smooth green sabots over 100 gr BH209 and with a CCI magnum primer because this is an extremely accurate load out of my Accura V2. They loaded with about the same amount of pressure as with the CVA but as I said earlier, the recoil was more noticeable because of the lighter weight of the rifle.
Obviously, I haven't shot enough to determine how this rifle will group, but with the light trigger and build quality of the rifle, I see nothing to suggest that it will not shoot very well. One thing which was very noticeable is that there was absolutely zero blow back around the CCI primers. I only fired 15 shots but every primer came out as clean as it was when it went into the breech plug and the inside of the receiver was completely clean. The Accelerator breech plug works as advertised and in the 15 shots I fired with BH209, I had no failures to fire. It comes out easily with just 2 fingers and has coarser threads than the CVA so it only takes about three turns to remove it. The o ring on the bore end seals out any blow back around the threads and they were completely clean when they came out.
Overall, with the limited time I have had with the Vortek Strikerfire. it appears to be a very well built and well performing rifle. I will post updates on accuracy and my best performing loads after I get the opportunity to shoot it more, as well as any additional observations and thoughts that I have after spending more time with it.