Crusader Arms Crusader 9 Dual Caliber Combo 9mm/5.56mm - Images and 900/500 Round Review

[u/MacPapRonin]

Crusader 9 Sentinel 5.56mm right side

Crusader 9 Sentinel 5.56mm left side

Right side detail and optics mounting - Burris RT-6 1-6x24 LPVO on Burris PEPR and Fast Fire 3 MRDS on TruGlo 45 offset mount

Left side detail, showing bolt catch release lever (above safety)

Optics detail, with chamber locked open and cartridge deflector visible.

Another view, just for variety

Crusader 9 Liberator 9mm upper with SGM 10/33 magazine, right side

Crusader 9 Liberator 9mm upper, left side

Magazine swapped to Glock OEM Gen 4 10 round magazine, Primary Arms SLx MD-25 with ACSS reticle red dot, clone G33 3x magnifier

[u/WAHLY-_-]

How do you like the Burris LVPO with the Fastfire. I’ve been looking at them for my X95.

[u/MacPapRonin → u/WAHLY-_-]

I compared the Burris RT-6 and the Vortex Strike Eagle in 1-6x24 magnifications and I found I preferred the sight picture and eye relief of the Burris, personally, but they are very close. I like the sight picture (it feels more generous) and the reticle (less busy). To me, the eye box of the RT-6 feels more forgiving.

Minor quibbles with the RT-6 - the illumination, even at max brightness, is not really enough for outdoor shooting. It's fine for indoors, but it's not really any help in bright light outside. That said, since it's an etched reticle, if you're shooting in bright light you don't really need it illuminated anyway. The magnification dial is a touch stiff for my liking, but maybe that will get "broken in" over time. The battery compartment is a little bit hard to open, but not nearly as difficult as some online reviews make it out to be. Finally, I wish it had an auto-off/shake on option like some newer optics. The way the brightness dial is positioned, it's actually easy to accidentally turn it on when moving it around, and I've killed a battery once with an accidental turn-on, and once from leaving it on accidentally. Accuracy wise, the dials are 0.5 MoA and are very intuitive to dial in. The optic is very easy to zero.

The Fast Fire is nice - there are three settings for brightness - auto-brightness, bright and dim. I sort of wish there was an intermediate range - the auto-brightness setting isn't always enough, the dim mode is almost always too dim, and the bright mode is often too bright. I like it a lot otherwise, as it does have an auto-off function. Sight picture makes it easy to acquire at CQB distances and it works well on the offset mount as I've set up. I tried mounting it on top of the LPVO, but I found it generated such height over bore, especially with the Crusader 9's already somewhat higher than usual height over bore, that I preferred the offset mount.

Overall, I'm pleased with the RT-6 with FF3 combination, and it's a great bargain when you can get it as a combo kit on sale - you save almost $200 CAD over buying the components separately. It's great value for money, if still clearly a mid-to-low range budget option.

[u/WAHLY-_- → u/MacPapRonin]

Hey man, I appreciate the write up. This was more in-depth than some of the reviews I’ve seen. But I think you sold me on the Burris. The vortex was the other LVPO I was looking at, but it would come out the same as the Burris combo once I buy a mount.

Thanks 👍

[u/MacPapRonin → u/WAHLY-_-]

You're welcome! I do recommend actually looking at them in person, if you are able, at a friendly local gun store. I looked at both before buying one. I was actually leaning toward the Vortex Strike Eagle until I used it in person.

My shooting buddy went the other way and bought the 1-8x24 Strike Eagle, so I think they're very close, the Vortex is probably a safer bet but I'm happy with the Burris so far.

[u/DrApprochMeNot → u/WAHLY-_-]

I bought the RT-6 for my X95 and I love it.