Best bang for my buck Red Dot sight

[fyroc]

I have the same Aimpoint M2 that I used in Iraq and it still runs great. That was almost 10 years ago. It looks ugly but I've trusted my life with it, so why stop now? If you're worried about batteries than co-witness a fixed BUIS. Electronics fail, batteries go bad, EMPs exists, you just cant deny that irons at the most reliable.

 

[boss_hawg]

I've had Lucids, Sparcs, Muellers, and a couple of other Chinese cheapos. I got rid of them.

I only buy four types of non-magnified sights now depending on usage and budget: PA basic RDS (Chinese cheapos but a good one), Aimpoint PRO, Aimpoint T1, or irons.

 

[Leshaire]

I read that the MRO had very slight magnification that messed with some people. Have you experienced that at all?

It is true. It is like 1.05x magnification. But lots of red dots are slightly over 1x

 

[Leshaire]

I'd also look at the Vortex Strikefire, you can find them for $100.00 bucks from time to time, I think of it as the poor mans M68 CCO.

Seems pretty decent as well, a little added weight over the sparc ar but more battery life.

Only downfall is the dot is 4moa. Kinda big id think. Idk ive never messed with one over 2 moa

 

[Leshaire]

I have the same Aimpoint M2 that I used in Iraq and it still runs great. That was almost 10 years ago. It looks ugly but I've trusted my life with it, so why stop now? If you're worried about batteries than co-witness a fixed BUIS. Electronics fail, batteries go bad, EMPs exists, you just cant deny that irons at the most reliable.

Yeah but arent those like 800+ dollars? I will be running irons as backup for sure.

 

[Leshaire]

I've had Lucids, Sparcs, Muellers, and a couple of other Chinese cheapos. I got rid of them.

I only buy four types of non-magnified sights now depending on usage and budget: PA basic RDS (Chinese cheapos but a good one), Aimpoint PRO, Aimpoint T1, or irons.

The T1 is where its at. Or really the H1 considering the only differences are entirely nominal, like a few more meters of waterproofness and stupid shit like that. Easy hundred in cash saved over the T1.

 

[EugenFJR]

Seems pretty decent as well, a little added weight over the sparc ar but more battery life.

Only downfall is the dot is 4moa. Kinda big id think. Idk ive never messed with one over 2 moa

If your going to do a budget build for your girlfriends rifle, I think it would be a pretty good choice. I ran one in a 3 gun comp. awhile back, and it did just fine.

 

[Leshaire]

If your going to do a budget build for your girlfriends rifle, I think it would be a pretty good choice. I ran one in a 3 gun comp. awhile back, and it did just fine.

Whatever I buy I will buy two of. Theyre both technically my rifles its just in the very slight chance of ever actually having to pick up a rifle and USE it, one of the two will go in her hands. The third is for a new AK of mine with nothing but irons, which blow as you know lol.

 

[freedom]

Seems pretty decent as well, a little added weight over the sparc ar but more battery life.

Only downfall is the dot is 4moa. Kinda big id think. Idk ive never messed with one over 2 moa

Red dots aren't that great for precision, more for quickness.

While 4moa doesn't sound that good, it is once you take the rifle off the bench. You can still pretty much shoot the group size you and the rifle are capable of if you can repeat the same sight picture on every shot, it will just obscure 4 times as much as a 2moa dot. The 4moa may also be better for acquisition.

 

[Leshaire]

Red dots aren't that great for precision, more for quickness.

While 4moa doesn't sound that good, it is once you take the rifle off the bench. You can still pretty much shoot the group size you and the rifle are capable of if you can repeat the same sight picture on every shot, it will just obscure 4 times as much as a 2moa dot. The 4moa may also be better for acquisition.

Yeah I was thinking acquisition would be better but Id have to play with one. Might be worth the $100 to test one out and just resell if I dont like it. Although the Romeo comes to mind since you can change the reticle from a 2 MOA dot to include or not include a 65 MOA ring around it similar to that of the eotechs. Its pretty sweet. I played with one in person. Thats really the best of acquisition and precision in my opinion. But screw eotech lol.

 

[freedom]

Yeah I was thinking acquisition would be better but Id have to play with one. Might be worth the $100 to test one out and just resell if I dont like it. Although the Romeo comes to mind since you can change the reticle from a 2 MOA dot to include or not include a 65 MOA ring around it similar to that of the eotechs. Its pretty sweet. I played with one in person. Thats really the best of acquisition and precision in my opinion. But screw eotech lol.

I think the PA dots I have are 4moa, maybe I'm wrong. I also have a decent astigmatism and I've never looked through a dot that appeared crisp.

They also seem to get smaller the lower the power is. If you wanted more accuracy you can turn it down as far as you're able and shoot through the dot. I've also seen people sight the dot in for a 6oclock hold. For quick it's close enough.

 

[Mac11FA]

How does
Dagger DefenseDD119 Red Dot Reflex sight

Rate?

 

[ReservoirDawg10]

If truly going onto a go-to gun, price shouldn't be up there as a leading contributor to your mathematical approach. You are also not accounting for reliability/durability, ability to hold zero, parallax, etc. Granted, those are relative and subjective to a degree as well.

If looking for more "budget friendly" options, there are a few more popular choices to add (of course prices can vary, especially given sales):
- Vortex Strikefire ($100)
- Vortex Strikfie II ($150)
- Bushnell TRS-25 ($75)
- Aimpoint CompM2 - the PRO replaced it, I picked a couple up for around $220.

Seems like a lot of work to come up with a list of "winners" that aren't based on anything more than what is printed on a box.

 

[Leshaire]

If truly going onto a go-to gun, price shouldn't be up there as a leading contributor to your mathematical approach. You are also not accounting for reliability/durability, ability to hold zero, parallax, etc. Granted, those are relative and subjective to a degree as well.

If looking for more "budget friendly" options, there are a few more popular choices to add (of course prices can vary, especially given sales):
- Vortex Strikefire ($100)
- Vortex Strikfie II ($150)
- Bushnell TRS-25 ($75)
- Aimpoint CompM2 - the PRO replaced it, I picked a couple up for around $220.

Seems like a lot of work to come up with a list of "winners" that aren't based on anything more than what is printed on a box.

But price is important to me. I didn't just throw those numbers out there but rather played with them and changed it up a few times before I felt comfortable with the weights. I don't feel too much of a need to account for reliability and such since I am expecting them to work in the first place, and if they don't, they will be returned or exchanged. This is why I didnt include bushnells and what not. This is also why I weighed in warranty. I do however have reviews and such weighing in the back of my mind. Basically anything that isnt Aimpoint or Trijicon has horror story type reviews online of them being pieces of shit. So I may not have represented it great here but its still weighing on me.

I thought the ACO replaced the PRO, not a comp? Which one do you have and how do you like it??

It wasnt a lot of work at all. Half an hour of research and a few minutes in excel. I started my first hand testing this weekend. I played with the MRO which I LOVE, but didnt buy any yet as I really wanna play with a few more in person before making a decision. On top of that, its not just "whats printed on a box" but rather actual specs that simply cannot be discounted.

 

[ReservoirDawg10]

I have had a PRO and 2 Comp M2's. Also had an H1 for a bit, but personally felt that I had too much money tied up in it and traded with some cash into another scope for a different rifle. Both are Aimpoints, so no issues.

From your list of what I have/had have:

Have had multiple Strikefires - never an issue
Strikfire 2 - no issues
Bushnell TRS 25 - no issues, but didn't shoot it much either before trading the rifle it was on.
Primary Arms (aimpoint knock-off) - no issues, but it stays on a shorty 22 upper, so no hard use either. Don't really trust it though, hence being on a 22
EOTech 552 and an XPS2 - I couldn't stand the graininess of the reticle, otherwise, both were fine. The XPS2 was my second try with EOTechs
Vortex Sparc - no issue. Preference to these over the Strikefires, but I keep getting good deals on Strikefires
Trijicon RX34 - did not like it one bit. dot washed out in bright light, esspecially if I was under shade