To be honest, I was never a fan of Vortex’s CCW-Defender. It was a good optic, but it wasn’t good enough. The automatic shutoff required an insane 14 hours of quiescence before shutting off automatically. The refresh rate left a lot to be desired, and the battery life was terrible. It held zero, was very bright, and acted as a red dot, but I walked away unimpressed. Vortex recently released a full-size dot as part of their Defender series. Is the new Defender-ST better than the Defender-CCW?
Live stock price checker
Let’s start by addressing one of my biggest complaints about Defender-CCW: the shaking when you wake up. Why does a gun have to sit still for 14 hours before automatically turning off? Fortunately, the Defender-ST has done away with 14 hours in favor of a more conservative 10 minutes. If the weapon is left completely still for 10 minutes, the optics will turn off. If you move even a single hair, it will ignite again.
Vortex heard that criticism loud and clear, and I’ve heard it’s the same with Defender-XL. Defender-ST uses the Leupold DPP footprint. Like the DPP, it is a large optic designed for full-size handguns. It comes with a window that is 23mm wide and 20mm high. The 6 or 3 MOA red dot is in the center of that window.
The optic is 1.83 inches long and weighs 1.48 ounces. The Defender-ST features the same diamond-shaped texture on the front of the optic as the Defender-CCW. It is textured and designed to allow you to rack your gun from a wall, table, boot, etc. A polymer insert is installed inside the optic. These provide an internal flex to keep the optic working and prevent it from becoming too violent.
Inside the Defender-ST
The battery is replaced from the top of the optic. Battery life will be 25,000 hours. Although this is lower than most on the market, Shake Awake can help extend battery life. The optics have 10 brightness settings, divided into 8 daylight and 2 night vision.
This Vortex Defender-ST uses a smaller 3MOA dot. Larger dots are better for eye-catching close-range use, while smaller dots are more accurate. For larger handguns, I prefer smaller dots. Speaking of which, I installed the Defender-ST on my Glock 17. The Defender-ST has everything you need to attach to almost any weapon with a DPP footprint.
The Vortex Defender-ST comes with different sized screws for different guns, a handy little tool, and a Glock MOS plate. I strapped the Defender-ST onto my Glock 17 without any drama and was impressed with how Vortex included all the various screws in the optic. It also includes a Picatinny rail adapter for working the optic with long guns.
On target
The Defender-ST features a 1MOA adjustment scale, and the turret feedback provides a warm and fluffy feel. You can hear and feel the click. This feedback allows you to easily zero out range when wearing the Ear Pro and having others shooting around you. I focused my optics after just a few shots and walked away pleasantly surprised. I like that there is very little drama when zeroing the optic.
The optics were zeroed and withstood the fire test. Shooting meant throwing large amounts of lead at targets near, far, and everything in between. I paid close attention to that and worked on various drills. I wanted to see if the refresh rate of the dot was maxed out. The Defender-CCW trailed behind, moving between targets and experiencing noticeable blur as it progressed through draws and presentations.
Defender-ST didn’t have those problems. Driving the gun between multiple targets was easy. The dots are not blurred and remain a consistent small 3 MOA circle. I even tried using my phone to see if it was blinking, but it wasn’t there at all. Vortex fixes the refresh rate and the optics work fine. Vortex improved upon the Mini Red Dot, and the Defender-ST is the product of many refinements and reconfigurations.
More than a first impression
Beyond the basics, you get a viable red dot. Defender-ST works very well. I was able to push it all the way to the red line and fire off long bursts. The goal is to keep the dot moving and never let it settle. A good dot will not flash between shots. A good marksman’s goal is to make sure the dot remains blurred.
I’m good at shooting, so I left the dots blurred. There were no flickers or malfunctions. The dot movement made tracking shots easy and allowed me to call shots even if they were a little too fast for my skill level.
The large window made it easier to spot oddly positioned dots, and the large window made it somewhat more forgiving. The view from the window is a little bluish. The notch filter is noticeable, but not obtrusive. The little red dot itself is very sophisticated and easy to see. It’s almost a perfect circle. It’s large and easy to see at close range, and sleek and easy to use at long range.
Have you ever hit a 10-inch gong consistently at 50 yards? With proper fundamentals and a good red point, it’s surprisingly easy. I accomplished that with Defender-ST and was very proud of myself.
Please stabilize
If you told me I could texture the front of the optic and use it for a gun rack, I would do that. I slammed this mom truck driver against a range table, a saw, and the mock “cover” they use at the range. This makes the fact that I used the optic as a charging handle almost trivial.
I hope that a few drops and drops from chest height are not trivial. I dropped both sides and the top of the optic several times. However, despite such abuse, the optics remained zero. Speaking of Zero, there were no problems with the optics.
At the end of the day, the Defender-ST isn’t doing anything new or super innovative, but it’s a solid optic overall. The MSRP is $469.99, but the MSRP is not the actual retail price. Vortex Defender-ST often sells for less than $350. At that price point, you don’t need anything innovative. I need competent people, and Defender-ST is competent. It is reliable, easy to use and durable enough.
About Travis Pike
Travis Pike is a former Marine machine gunner, lifelong firearms enthusiast, and now just a regular guy who loves shooting, writing, and finding ways to combine the two. He is NRA certified as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is the safest firearms instructor in the world.
