Red dot optics…..

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  • Noble Sniper

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    Feb 22, 2010
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    I’ve been looking into possibly getting a red dot optic. I don’t want Chinese made anything. I know it will be more money so…. I look at the Aimpoints, Leupold, Burris, Eotech, Trijicon…… and honestly don’t know what I’m looking for or at? It is a shoulder fired pistol caliber carbine. I’ve been a regular scope guy my whole life and want to give these things a try possibly. So…. What does a newbie need to know?
     

    Ruger_Ronin

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    A few questions to help lead:

    Budget? EOTech & Trijicon are pricey

    Intended shooting distance? Will you need/have space for a magnifier if going out further?

    Size considerations? A pic mounted RMR for a PCC may be suitable as opposed to a bulky holo sight.

    I have used EOTechs (love them) and a few others. I have 2 Sig Romeo 5's. 1 on a 10.5" AR setup, and another mounted at 45* to an LPVO scope. Those are really nice for compact setups and are great sights for the $.

    Condiser the dot size. I tend to stay around the 3moa size. Much smaller and it gets harder to pick up. Much larger and you start to get sunburst and washing effects.
     

    IsThatLegal?

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    A few questions to help lead:

    Budget? EOTech & Trijicon are pricey

    Intended shooting distance? Will you need/have space for a magnifier if going out further?

    Size considerations? A pic mounted RMR for a PCC may be suitable as opposed to a bulky holo sight.

    I have used EOTechs (love them) and a few others. I have 2 Sig Romeo 5's. 1 on a 10.5" AR setup, and another mounted at 45* to an LPVO scope. Those are really nice for compact setups and are great sights for the $.

    Condiser the dot size. I tend to stay around the 3moa size. Much smaller and it gets harder to pick up. Much larger and you start to get sunburst and washing effects.
    I generally agree with this. Try to see if you know anybody that has any of these set up so you can shoulder them and get a feel for what u think you might like, and what kind of mount you may want (if different mounts are available for the rds you want).

    I also like 3 and 3.5 moa dot sizes. Larger can block out smaller targets at distance, but older eyes tend to like larger dots for up close work.

    Is it something u are going to shoot much? For competition? Range plinking? Does weight matter much for your intended purpose?

    I have used Trijicon SRO, Leupold LCO, and Vortex UH 1, and liked all of them. Also used Trigicon MRO, but did not care it as much as the others. MRO is still good, I just liked the others better as personal preferance. Depending on what your intended purpose is, you may end up changing your mind after shooting it for awhile, so I suggest you buy quality as it will hold its value better if you want to sell it.
     

    Noble Sniper

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    Budget…. $600 or that ballpark. This will just be something I shoot recreationally. Might occasionally plink long range but generally pistol caliber ranges. Has a pic rail on it so will utilize that.Thanks fellas!!
     
    Last edited:

    bwframe

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    Budget…. $600 or that ballpark. This will just be something I shoot recreationally. Might occasionally plink long range but generally pistol caliber ranges. Has a pic rail on it so will utilize that.Thanks fellas!!

    My advice...

    Buy this one...


    Decide if you like it or not, then decide whether to keep it or throw triple/quadruple the money at one the same, but not made in china.

    FYI - you don't have to confess here or anywhere else that you "tested" a chinese made optic to determine a piece of gear's worth. You can also turn around and sell it for darn near what you paid for it, if you don't beat it up too badly. (That will not happen with the much pricier one's.)

    It's just a RDS, they are pretty much the same. I'm sure the high dollar one's have their worth, but...

    Icing on the cake with the cheap Chinese made dots. There is a huge amount of content on the web about them from setup to usage to comparisons to abuse testing. Not near as much on the pricey one's.

    My apologies, but I cannot readily find the video. A guy with a youtube series on the Romeo5 was shooting remarkably good groups at 100 yards, using his rear BUIS with the dot centered, as if it were a front sight.

    :twocents:
     
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    Hop

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    I've got cheap stuff, I have expensive stuff.
    I've killed just about everything regardless of manufacturer or price.
    The higher end stuff surprised me when it died but it was promptly repaired and returned by the manufacturer. The only one that kind rubbed me the wrong way was Holosun trying to blame me for some odd firmware glitch in their RDS.

    Nobody can tell you what it's going to look like through your eyes.
    Holographic sights look the best using mine (that reticule speckle you see is the laser light being in & out of phase with itself).
    Astigmatism wreaks havoc on my ability to see a clean round dot on anything using LED illumination.

    I'm pleasantly surprised how well my cheap Burris TRS-25 has held up. I thought it would have died by now. That's the lowest end I'd go if you want to toy around with something to see if you like it.
     

    Hookeye

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    Dec 19, 2011
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    I have a Leupold RDS. Not impressed. The mount it came with is beefy and the overall weight I didn't care for. The smaller dot on a rifle was a plus though.

    34mm tube makes moving to something else, using just a scope ring, a pain. Tried the Leupold Backcountry rings, or whatever they were. They not cut to center but past so have to snap on and scratch tube up. So....didn't use em.

    Have a reflex Chinesium on a .22 rf pistol.

    Honestly, if that stuff doesn't bother you (Chinese made), Sig Romeo 5 is small tube sight.
    If going 30mm tube, Aimpoint PRO.
    Reflex..........not sure. My Sightmark has been fine, but Id like to upgrade to non Chinese made.
     

    Hookeye

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    For the cheap tube style RDS............have been satisfied w the Bushnell TRS25. Both of ours were the older style. Still have one on a 10/22 rifle. They were a good deal at $75 IMHO.

    My ol lady has astigmatism yet says her dot doesn't flare. She prefers it over a reg rifle scope.
    Its a clay pigeon (on the backstop) killin machine.

    Think it's 3 moa dot.
    My Aimpoint clone (Primary Arms) was also a 3 moa.

    Honestly, I like my Leupold 1 MOA dot. But I'm a hunter.
    The biggest dot size I'll tolerate on anything now is 2 moa.

    3 moa is a deal breaker for me on anything shoulder fired.
     

    bwframe

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    But I'm a hunter.
    The biggest dot size I'll tolerate on anything now is 2 moa.

    3 moa is a deal breaker for me on anything shoulder fired.
    Shooting pistol caliber carbine in USPSA, I found that moving to a 6 MOA dot was required to go as fast as possible on pistol range targets.

    The 3 MOA worked fine, but my middle aged eyes could not pick it up as fast as the bigger dot.

    I was shooting Vortex Vipers on the PCC. In the middle of the day bright sunshine.
     
    Last edited:

    indysims

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    Best for bang for your budget non-china red dot would be Trijicon MRO or Aimpoint Pro. This puts you in the $350-$450 range with quality, durable products made by well established and tested manufacturers.

    For a rifle, I would suggest 2MOA dot, you can turn up or down the intensity if you need to, allowing you to refine how the dot looks for your application. Up close with a brighter dot is faster to pick up, shooting 100 yards dial it down so it doesn't obscure your target as much.
     

    JEBland

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    Oct 24, 2020
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    I'm in a similar boat of wanting to try stuff out but also wanting to avoid chinese-made optics. This is where I'm at on it.

    With an astigmatism, I get star bursting on red dots and even on my Vortex UH-1 (mostly US made but with UK made hologram, picked up in the classifieds here). My sister-in-law liked it enough that shooting my AR with it mounted she went from "Why does anyone need that gun" to "Can we get one?". The UH-1 is usable with my left eye, but pretty bad streaking with my right eye.

    With that I decided to try out a discontinued, but afaik China-made, Vortex prism optic (ordered today, so we'll see how that goes): https://www.eurooptic.com/vortex-spitfire-1x-prism-scope-with-drt-reticle-moa-spr-1301.aspx
    My plan for it is that I can try out both red and green options so you can see what color you like before upgrading to an ACOG or other fancy optic. The mount riser may also be removed for a lower position of the optic.

    Can find Steiner prisms for a little above/below your $600 if you are okay with the jump in price and want magnification. Two places that have them in stock
    https://www.eurooptic.com/search.aspx?keyword=steiner+prism

    ACOGs and Browe BCOs are about $850 the cheapest I've occasionally seen them. I'd at least like to know if I prefer red or green in applications before breaking open my piggy bank for one.
     

    BR8818

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    Nov 20, 2018
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    I'm in a similar boat of wanting to try stuff out but also wanting to avoid chinese-made optics. This is where I'm at on it.

    With an astigmatism, I get star bursting on red dots and even on my Vortex UH-1 (mostly US made but with UK made hologram, picked up in the classifieds here). My sister-in-law liked it enough that shooting my AR with it mounted she went from "Why does anyone need that gun" to "Can we get one?". The UH-1 is usable with my left eye, but pretty bad streaking with my right eye.

    With that I decided to try out a discontinued, but afaik China-made, Vortex prism optic (ordered today, so we'll see how that goes): https://www.eurooptic.com/vortex-spitfire-1x-prism-scope-with-drt-reticle-moa-spr-1301.aspx
    My plan for it is that I can try out both red and green options so you can see what color you like before upgrading to an ACOG or other fancy optic. The mount riser may also be removed for a lower position of the optic.

    Can find Steiner prisms for a little above/below your $600 if you are okay with the jump in price and want magnification. Two places that have them in stock
    https://www.eurooptic.com/search.aspx?keyword=steiner+prism

    ACOGs and Browe BCOs are about $850 the cheapest I've occasionally seen them. I'd at least like to know if I prefer red or green in applications before breaking open my piggy bank for one.
    Have you tried an Eotech? I also have a bad astigmatism all red dots look like a slash or comma for me. The Eotech looks about 80% better to me and is actually usable at distance. I still use red dots on close range guns. My 10.5 has an aimpoint m4 on it at 100yds I average 8" groups when I put my Eotech on it my groups are cut in half.
     

    JEBland

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    Oct 24, 2020
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    Have you tried an Eotech? I also have a bad astigmatism all red dots look like a slash or comma for me. The Eotech looks about 80% better to me and is actually usable at distance. I still use red dots on close range guns. My 10.5 has an aimpoint m4 on it at 100yds I average 8" groups when I put my Eotech on it my groups are cut in half.
    I'd like to try out an Eotech if I ever get some range time with someone who owns one. From what I've read, red dots work for people who don't have astigmatism, holographics work for about 50% of people with astigmatism, and prisms just work irrespective of astigmatism.

    I got a decent deal o the UH-1 to try since it's a new technology for me. The Huey is usable with my stronger, lefthand eye, but the optic is currently on a RH ejecting semi auto that I don't love shooting lefty. I could swap it around onto my LH guns, but I'm curious about prism optics and would like to try them out. Worst case is they end up for plinking fun or sold to someone who wants an affordable optic.
     

    Noble Sniper

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    Feb 22, 2010
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    Looking more into this one. Now I’ve shot behind Vortex scopes and they are a decent scope I can’t complain. The chinese thing I’m finding out is not their whole lineup….. and this one is made in the US and has my attention:
     
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