Ok so as the title suggests, I’m just wondering what you guys have & how you rate them. I’m finding myself getting into them a bit now & it’s time to order some more. So looking forward to opinions & reviews.
At the moment I’ve got or had.
Aimpoint micro H2 (2moa dot) - It’s been good, I’ve never had an issue with it, clear glass and dot, and it’s easy to pick up the dot, it’s been on a shotgun and Ruger 9mm charger and I like it.
Leupold Delta point Pro (2.5 moa dot) - Had one on a few pistols & one’s currently on my MOS Shadow 2 & again can’t fault it, the glass is big and the colour & clarity is great, and the dot is sharp. It’s been faultless.
Sig Romeo5 2moa (Chinezium Aliexpress model) - Looks good so far but hasn’t had a workout yet, Glass is clear with no distortions and the dot is clear. It should get a good beating in two weeks on the shotty so if it dies I’ll let you know lol.
Vector Optics Frenzy (3moa Dot, 40moa circle) - Little cheapy to try and I have to say for the money (under $250) I like it so far, I like adding the 40moa with the dot for really fast acquisition now & then as I reckon I’m still really a beginner with dots, the dot’s reasonably sharp and the glass is ok, not Leupold good, but good for it’s price point. I don’t like the fact that you have to take it off to replace the battery though.
Trijicon RMR - I don’t have one anymore but didn’t mind the one I had, although I thought the glass was a bit small but then it was my first dot & never really used it enough for an honest review.
Cool, I like the looks of the Holosuns too, I’ll be keen to hear what you think of it. A Holosun 507k which is a compact model was the runner up for the RomeoX compact I’m waiting on now. I’m also liking the Idea of straight fits without adaptors, which is how I’m trying to go from now on if i can. Buy a dot to fit the gun or gun to match the dot.
I assume you are talking reflex sights specifically…
It depends! $$$ I am convinced that below $600 mark everything is the same! The dot looks like a little red jizz. Which is fine on some things… But not others. I have a few Vortex Venom reflex sights and at the $230 price they were hard to pass on. Not a super sharp dot, but good enough and has a nice form factor. Form factor I think is a huge deal, they are all more or less the same, purely depends on what’s pleasing to your eye.
Above 6hundyskipyroos you get a very sharp dot. I run (HS507C X2) Holosun (2MOA dot) and I am pretty happy with that too, that’s really the starting/bottom bracket where that sharp dot quality starts. There are 2 modes. Dot alone, which is fine and dot+circle which is very sharp. Although to be perfectly honest, the type of dynamic shooting I do with it - sharp or not sharp, it’s all pretty much the same. Point and click at under 25m Whatever looks best on the gun.
I also use this: Vector Optics V3 1x17x26 Red Dot Sight - 3.5MOA (Vector Optics V3 1x17x26 Red Dot Sight - 3.5moa Dot Size With 6 Levels Red Dot Intensity #Rdsl25 | C). Albeit this lives on some rifles, not handguns. Feels a little too chunky for handguns, but a very nice dot for the money, like super nice actually. One lived on IPSC shotgun and survived just fine (unlike Bushnell that cracked on recoil when I moved to 1400fps shells).
Things to look out for:
battery change - some are side/top. Others are from the bottom.
For the bottom battery compartment - you will need to take the dot off and probably rezero. Although the number of hours they run for, you will be rezeroing 100 times for every other reason before you exhaust the battery. They don’t just screw in either, there are spigots/pins that they sit on, so I doubt that you would even need to rezero. I haven’t had to yet.
Size of the actual dot. Personally, 2MOA for handguns is my preference.
The rule of cool, if it looks good, it’s 98% there.
Positive clicks. On the cheaper dots the adjustment is very “mushy”, you can’t feel the clicks, so it takes a little longer to zero. Known brands or higher $ gets you very positive click-feedback.
Mounting hardware. Cheaper dot gets you mystery-Chinisium-alloy bolts that are super easy to strip. I use a torque wrench because I now have a PhD in drilling screws out on mounted optics! Since I stopped pretending to be a gorilla and started using a torque wrench the problem went away.
That’s really it… I mean, it’s a dot, it shines and shit. If it looks nice to you and suits the gun, it’s probably the right dot for you
Brands tested so far, like proper used and abused:
Vortex (very good for a budget dot. They are still budget hardware, but premium $, so I am going to say no here)
Holosun (very good)
Vector (very good for a budget dot)
Bushnell (they can fuck right off, never again - no dots and no scopes!)
Honourable mention:
Aimpoint (pretty sure it’s Acro). Do not own but use from time to time on mate’s gun at the range. Rate highly. Shoots as much as me, also used and abused, still going I would say many thousands rounds later.
In terms of a “traditional” tube enclosed red dot - I have Vortex Crossfire red dot, from back when they were also budget… It’s not bad. It’s the only one in this style I own. Takes shotgun abuse like a champ. But I am not a fan of that overall design (not Vortex, the actual style/construction), so I tend to go for reflex type sights.
Coincidentally, I just ordered Vector Micro Prism Scope (x3) - I will report on that when I get it. I played with Vortex one today at a comp and I liked it. I also like Vector in general, everything of theirs I have used or seen I have been impressed with, like proper impressed above Vortex and I own a bit of Vortex gear. But at almost half the price and 3min from my place, I thought - nah, I will click&collect and see how we go. Absolute wort case scenario I have enough funs to give it a home TBest case, I will order another one.
On that note, I am not sure how much of it is true, but something I found on a forum while researching tonight:
“Vector is the front end brand of the company that makes a lot of the Chinese optics. PA, Vortex, Sig, they’re all coming from these guys.”
So there’s that, is it true? NFI, but certainly within realms of possibility.
That’s lookin sexy @Mullmans, it really is a perfect fit, I like how low it’s sitting & being able to co-witness with the std sights. On Thursday I was told my little Sig optic is in customs right now so should be in my hands shortly.
Volquartsen are like the rich kids that think they are better than everyone else, and sort of are, but we still call them wankers but secretly want to be one.
Volquartsen are the T of the LGBTHDTV4k’s which means they’re despised by the other letters. But they just don’t care, they’re the loudest, most obnoxious, and definitely the most brightly coloured of all.
Also they don’t like how they were created and refuse to admit that under all the bling and aftermarket bits they’re actually Rugers, and they’ll huff & puff and jam & misfire if you label them so.
But they do add a lot of colour to the dungeon so each to their own.
