red dot sights - need some advice

[anothernewb]

I've had a number of less expensive red dots over the years- all of which have ended up being junk. Sadly - the stores here carry the $30 variety tubes - and the $400 variety - AR monster units that's it.

looking for some suggestions on some red dots for a couple of uses. something that won't break the bank as I'm going to likely buy several

going to mount them to a S&W22 victory, and a new ruger PC9, and a canik tp9sfx
probably get another one to mount to the 357 revolver in time

I do a lot of bullseye shooting indoors, but last weekend I participated in a bowling pin shoot. what a hoot that was. my best was 5 pins in 3.9 seconds with the canik and open sights. (which I was personally stoked about- but I was a full second off 1st place) all the top times were were held by the guys with red dots.

Personally I've never looked at them much. The tube style ones seem okay for bullseye type stuff, but the only ones I saw yesterday were the large rectangular window styles.
And - the MOA readings. what's good and bad. my thinking is all based on bullseye stuff. so i want the tiniest and clearest dot available - but there's not really a lot of sub moa or 1 moa dots out there...but I don't think that will translate well outside in the sun competing for speed.

the $30 ones held up ok on the 22 before, but were kinda heavy - and both of them busted within 6 rounds when mounted to the 357.

Thoughts???

 

[Tommygunn]

If you want go go "cheap" on reddots do it on rifles with low recoil like .22s. Vortex, Sig Sauer, Holosun, make good sights. Sig makes a Romeo 5 which is compact and nice. Holosun makes some that use both a CR2032 battery and have solar cell for ambient light power.

If you can't find Sig or other brands mentioned at your local store then I suggest Amazon.com. They have a lot of good ones and mid quality dots. Yea .... junk ones too.

I have a Ruger PC carbine in 9mm. which currently has a TWOD red dot I got from Amazon, and I obtained a second one for my Ruger MK IV . They use two button for intensity and can change red or green as desired. They're maybe forty bucks or so. I would not put those on my AR-10, which has a Vortex UH1 Razor. Uh .... that might be more $$$$ than you'd wanna spend.
The problem is cheap dots are cheap for a reason. They are cheap.
They might break easily .... the dot starts an eliptical orbit.... things happen.
You don't need to spend $500.oo ....... but you really need to do better than the $29.95 Tasco in the blister package from Academy Sports, if you want it to be rugged.
As I said, the Sig Romeo 5. It's small and it is a nice unit.... just sayin'.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I have an Ultradot Matchdot on my Super Redhawk 44Mag. It was about $200 several years ago, don't know what they cost now.
It has held up to many heavy 44mag loads. 4 dot sizes and 11 levels of brightness. Might be just what you want (for your 357 revolver).

 

[bassjam]

I don't know what "cheap" red dots you've tried, but in the budget world I'm a big fan of the Bushnell TRS25. I have 2 that are 8 years old and just picked up a third in 2018 for my daughter. They live on .22 rifles and .22 handguns, but I do swap one of them out occasionally and put it on an AR and a .357 Marlin for deer season. For a $50 red dot, they are hard to beat.

For just over $100, the SIG Romeo 5 is popular. I don't have one, but I do have the much more expensive Romeo 4 and often wonder if I wasted my money and should have gotten the 5 instead. Holosun also makes good stuff in the same range.

I know less about the "square" reflex sights. But the Burris Fastfire III seems to be a decent option, and Vortex makes one for just under $200 as well. I'd consider one of them for a .357 revolver.

 

[ATLDave]

If you're going to mount a dot on a reciprocating slide (like the Canik), a cheap one won't last very long. You have to understand that is a fundamentally different, more abusive/challenging use than something that rides on a non-reciprocating mount. Anything you mount on the reciprocating slide will need be "hard use" worthy... because just firing the gun is "hard use" of the sight.

 

[Alte Schule]

I have a Burris Fastfire III on my PMR 30 .22 Mag and a Vortex Viper on one of my 9mm carbines. They are more than adequate for my needs and both can be had on Amazon for under $200.
My LEO son and all off the other deputies in his department have the Sig Romeo 5 mounted on their PSA AR-15 pistols in .300 AAC. I believe the Sig Romeo is around $130 at Palmetto State Armory.

 

[Duster340]

I have TRS-25's on my 20" barrelef 12 ga Mossy 500 Turkey gun. Bubba'd 303 Brit w/17" barrel and sporter K31 7.5x55 Swiss. All see high round counts and have been reliable in some extreme weather conditions during hunting seasons. In my opinion, it's a heck of a good low priced high value Red Dot.

 

[DoubleMag]

Another vote for Romeo5

Catching them on sale and a shipping code can net them for low teens $115+-, such as Brownells

I THINK PSA has it w/ MBUIS sight set as a package deal.

 

[alfsauve]

I've got Burris FastFire III on my 10/22 and 22/45 and a Romeo 5 on my AR. I like them both.

 

[anothernewb]

well. after comparing the FFIII and the vortex reviews. I picked up the following

Vortex venom for the canik
bushnell trs25 for the smith (or buckmark - depending on how I feel when I do it)
primary arms microdot for the pc9- but will try it on the GP100 for a few rounds first

 

[wally]

My experience is the Burris FastFire is the cheapest that will hold up on a hand gun slide. I've five of them. They replaced my two oldest honoring their "No Weasel Words Warranty", Seems they've improved them internally as the replacements and three newer models all are doing fine.

 

[FL-NC]

Vortex. PSA frequently has them on sale.

 

[Slamfire]

The Bullseye shooters around me told me to buy an Ultra Dot, so that is what I am using on my optically sighted pistols.





Note, I electro penciled which direction a clock wise movement of the windage knob would do on target. The font size on the adjustment disc is too small to see without a magnifying lens. You know, this bothers some people, my club President for some reason, and it is not worth the psychoanalysis time to figure out what specific demons are bothering him. I paint the knobs on scopes and sights so I can see what direction I am moving the group.



I had an expensive AR 15 flat top optical sight on my MKII and it was a bad choice. You have to center the dot in the middle of the field of view and the wide screen display on the AR sight did not allow the sort of precision I was looking for. I recall being down at CMP Talladega and the range master claiming a factory group had come out with their AR15 big screen sights, (on rifles) and they could not hold the black at 300 yards, and after enough hits to the target frames at 600 yards, the CMP stopped them from shooting at that distance. I was surprised to hear that, but I can say, once I put on the 24mm tube and worked on keeping the dot in the middle, my scores improved.

 

[brunowbe]

A Bushnell TRS25 has lived on my Ultimak rail on a converted Saiga (7.62x39) since 2012 or 2013. It’s held up great and has held zero the entire time.That rifle goes with me on about every range trip, so I have no idea what the round count is. It’s got some scrapes and minor dents on the tubing, has had to deal with a lot of heat off the Ultimak, and still keeps going. I keep thinking I’m going to replace it, but why bother?

 

[michaelc246]

I'd go with a Sig Romeo 5. I've had mine for about a year now, and I've been really impressed with the quality level. It not too expensive either.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I've had a Bushnell TRS-25, and a Vortex Venom on my Ruger Mark IV Lite that I use for steel challenges. The tube was too small on the TRS-25, though I had used it for several weeks, losing the dot, and so I opted for the Venom. First time out with the Venom, I did a 3.25. It went down from there, continuously. I believe, with my cross-dominance, I was losing the dot with the tube being so tiny on the TRS, and the window-frame on the Venom was much the same. I recently opted for a cheap optic that has 4 different reticles, and 2 different colors. It's called Tacticon Predator V2. Looks clumsy and heavy, but it's rather light and the window is far larger than a Venom. Far easier to raise, both eyes open, and see a larger field of view, dropping my times again. Back into the 3s again, for 40 bucks.