Review of SCRD-66 Frenzy-S 1x19x28 GenII

2024-09-24

They’re here! Finally, the second-generation Frenzy-S red dots!! Let’s have a look...

We have two new models to evaluate, one smaller, lightweight version and one with a wide window. I’ll split this into two separate posts with some points being similar or the same, but I’ll point out the differences between the two, I’ll link the other post below so you’ll find them easier!

This review will be on the SCRD-66 Frenzy-S 1x19x28 GenII, the wide window one!

The glass

This new Fenzy-S Gen II red dot has a WIDE window taking inspiration from the Shield RMSx, the window measures 28mm wide X 19mm in height. A little bit of personal opinion warning, I’m not a fan of the new trend that all red dots must be wide and not tall, this just tells me that these are being designed by people who don’t actually shoot a lot, and just think that when you get a bigger monitor it’s wider or look at a big TV it’s wider than taller right? That means it must be better to have more width to think you have a bigger red dot, but in real life with recoil and fast shooting the height is far more important because when the pistol starts to return from recoil it's easier to get the red dot faster back on the window, some open class pistols with recoil mitigation (ports, red dot off the slide, etc) can make it so that if the window is tall enough you don’t even lose the dot at all when shooting, wideness would do nothing at this. Now there are some cases where the window wideness is useful, but the negatives outweigh the positives. Negatives are more weight, wider dot to get tangled on gear, less height, and most of the window useless for actual shooting, positives the only one I’ve found so far is easier to find the don’t when shooting weak hand only in some cases.

But I’m willing to learn why the wide window red dots are being offered to the market (not just by Vector Optics), if you prefer the wide window, tell me in the comments and please specify why and what advantages shooting this gives you? And how much and what you shoot. Me and my team mate’s qualifications are sport shooting above 10k pistol rounds a year and I or anyone I’ve interviewed haven’t found any good arguments for it. But I’m willing to learn.

Housing

Now made with 7075-T6 aluminum, this is nearly double as strong as the previous Gen I that was made from 6061-T6. All of the Frenzy-S uses the Shield RMS / SMS footprint so you can mount it directly to anything that takes that footprint.

Key features

The battery has its own compartment on the side, this is the only way to go forward, gone are the days where you’d have to remove the red dot to change the battery, meaning you’d need proper tools to remove the thread locked screws, change the battery, clean the screw threads, re-apply thread lock, mount it, wait 12 to 24 hours for the thread locker to fully cure, re-zero the dot. None of this could be done on the fly, now you just open two screws, change the battery and screw it back and you’re done, literally done in minutes. YES! It uses a CR1632 battery, but the battery life doesn’t matter as the change is minutes and you can have spare batteries with you easily, but with the shake awake you won’t waste battery when the red dot is not moved.

BIG buttons, this is awesome, no more fumbling trying to find the tiny buttons, these are easy to find and give good feedback when pressed. The dot blinks when you reach full brightness, which is the next good thing compared to the Gen I, brighter enough for sunny days, but not completely bright if the sun is directly in front and low on the horizon.

CLICK CLICK, is the sound the adjustment wheels now make, the good thing is they are big anda slot, so you can even use any small flat screwdriver, or in a pinch you can use a key or any flat small object, no more trying to find 1.5mm hex key to make adjustments, these are good upgrades.

The dot is precise, good size and to my eye feels slightly bigger than the previous 3MOA, but that could be just me and the new brighter dot, I feel I can find the dot easier and be more precise so this is something that is welcomed.

Last words

As I’m not the biggest fan of the wide red dots this won’t go on my competition guns, but I really like the new features so it’ll live on my backup gun! So far haven’t found fans for the wide version, but don’t read this wrong, it’s not a bad red dot, it’s an awesome red dot, I’m just not a fan of the wideness, if you are that is fine and this will work perfectly for you!

I’m still waiting for the last new Frenzy-s, the completely sealed one, this should come very soon so I’ll post first impressions as soon as I have a sample for review.

Plusses

+ Battery compartment on the side

+ 7075-T6 Aluminium

+ Shake awake

+ Aspheric Lens

+ Big buttons

+ Easy to adjust

+ Click adjustments

+ Bright dot

+ Waterproof IP67

Minuses

-Wide window adds weight with little to no advantages