• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Rifle Scopes Red Dot Needed

fuck it, I'll be the Holosun supporter too- I've been going through my optics and flogging the ones that don't work for me: I have astigmatism too and moderate short sightedness in my dominant eye.

( for the pics or it never happened crowd- not an ad link, they're all sold
)

Had Eotechs too, of the old school 512 type- I prefer them in use over Aimpoints- I personally find them quicker to the eye- but battery life was arse and I traded them.
Tried a holosun 510 last year based upon reviews- I've since added 2 X 512's and 2X 507's - circle+ dot is very quick to find and it looks sharp, much clearer than any other red dot I've had.
I like the ability to switch to just a dot if needed, having auto or manual brightness, shake awake etc- battery life is very good, supplementary solar seems like a good idea and it seems very well built. Sure we've all seen the Sage Dynamics videos by now.
Yes it's Chinese, but if another non- Chinese company wants to make one with a competitive feature set, I'd pay a couple hundred more. I paid a shit load more for my solar Trijicon SRS and that hasn't been a great ownership experience.

I liked the ACOGs, the TA33 more than the 31, but compared to my 1-6 and 1-8 LPVO's they lost out in eyebox/ eye relief, clarity and all round versatility. They're comparatively light weight and very rugged, but I'm happy with the trade off.

There's a ton of sub $1K LPVO's that are decent. You get the benefit of clarity and a etched, always there reticle plus 6X to 8X mag. Sign up for emails from site sponsors, there some very good deals out there.
 
Last edited:
You already have an Aimpoint Comp M2 so you already know the answer...

Aimpoint Comp series. These are designed for the military SHFT moments. They are proven combat optics that take abuse, still work and hold zero. They are water proof, the glass is awesome and the red dot looks like a dot. But the main reason is the battery life 5-8 years. Never shut it off it and when you pick up the rifle again it will be on and you see the red dot, believe me I know about this one. When SHTF, batteries or turning your red dot on should be last thing on your mind. (I set a phone reminder and replace my battery every four years just in case.)

I have tried numerous other red dots but nothing is like the Aimpoint. I use to dog Aimpoints until I was issued one. CQB, no problem and 100 yards is nothing for an un-magnified red dot. Round(s) accuracy down range is controlled by the idiot person behind the gun.

Now if weight is a problem you might want something else. But I will know what I am running when the SHTF.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CrabsandFootball
If the view through your aimpoint is blue, you may have a fake.
 
I think most know that by now. The problem comes when the untrained try to focus exclusively through the sight even with both eyes open.

It is not so much that they focus "through the sight", but rather that they focus on the dot, rather than on the target. For going fast with the red dot you have to focus on the target.

ILya
 
It is not so much that they focus "through the sight", but rather that they focus on the dot, rather than on the target. For going fast with the red dot you have to focus on the target.

ILya
Agree
 
Elcan Specter DR 1.5-6X
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20200418-195838_Gallery.jpg
    Screenshot_20200418-195838_Gallery.jpg
    150.7 KB · Views: 96
  • Screenshot_20200418-195917_Gallery.jpg
    Screenshot_20200418-195917_Gallery.jpg
    211.6 KB · Views: 158
I’ve owned or own an EOTech, an Aimpoint, and multiple Holosuns. I won’t apologize for a second for recommending the Holosun.

I can actually see their circle-dot with my astigmatism and they don’t drift a foot when the temperature changes. Honestly it’s EOTech crowd that should be on the defensive not Holosun.

But if the OP wants my last EXPS2 feel free to PM me. It’s in barely used condition, ha.

EDIT: EXPS2-0 is sold.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Asiparks
Not daylight bright and one of the worst rds type optics out there.. been there done that.
 
Aimpoint T1 and T2 are the gold standards - if you have the gold. If my choice is no optic or a reasonably priced optic, Holosun has been getting my vote lately.
 
No one will doubt that Aimpoint is the king of red dots. If you want something ultra-reliable, durable, with long battery it's the best option. And with Aimpoint Pro's selling in the $300 range used they are very good options.

With that said I think those dogging the Holosuns are not giving them a fair review and their opinions may be outdated, as mine were until very recently. I gave Holosun a chance early on around 2015 or 2016. I had a slight battery tray problem with mine and they replaced it ASAP, free shipping both ways. Say what one will but Holosun's customer service is top notch. I've had that replacement Holosun on my .22 and 9mm range rifles but never anything serious. I never bought another Holosun after that because I considered them cheap and poorly suited for real use.

Fast forward to now. Sage Dynamics has given glowing reviews about their micro pistol-mounted dots lately, comparing them favorably to Trijicon RMRs. Even Warrior Poet Society gave a great review just recently on Youtube. These are serious shooters who see all manners of dots throughout their careers and current jobs and put what they have through hard-use. You'll find many others have similar experiences. I took the advice from one of the commenters above and Googled "Holosun Fail" and most articles and reviews were from the 2015-2016 time frame with a few in 2017. I'm sure some people will still have issues but I'd bet none more than other companies, things just happen. My friend put a new Holosun HS503R on his home defense rifle and picked it up for $195 on the forums. Insane battery life, small, lightweight, and great dots and glass. Looking through his new-production Holosun and comparing to my 2015/16 one, the new one has significantly less blue tint and less distortion. I think Holosun has made real advancements in their sights and while I still don't think they're going to be as durable as an Aimpoint, I do believe they are probably suited for 95% of what people are going to put them through and dare I say "duty" use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Asiparks
I think it's really hard to argue against the quality of the HS510/512 and the HS507. They're just REALLY good reflex sights and seem to be extremely durable. If you want sights that have similar features, Sig has their own variants assembled in the USA, just at a higher price. I assume Holosun provides some of the parts, but I don't know exactly which ones. I've used the 4M and 6T, and both are phenomenal sights that are as good as the Aimpoints and Eotechs I've used (probably better than the Eotech, honestly).

The Mepro RDS is a pretty great sight as well if you like a big window. Unfortunately, the good old days where you could get them for ~$300 are long gone.
 
I vote a T2 Aimpoint for your purposes. Compact, bright in any light, and years worth of battery life. I vehemently recommend against a holosun. Chinese products are difficult to avoid in much of life; but these kinds of purchases are discretionary and I see no reason to support them.
 
I like the Vortex Spitfire I just bought. Best part to me is that it has a constant black reticle (double circle with center dot) and takes a single AAA battery so I can run rechargeables. Has a 5.56 calibrated turret too. Pretty slick.

My brother just got Sig Romeo8 for his 4.5" MPX. It's also a nice little red dot. Cool feature it has is the auto turn on when you lift it.
 
Not daylight bright and one of the worst rds type optics out there.. been there done that.
Are you talking about the meprolight m21 that the guy above you was talking about?

It was mentioned here so I figured I would ask here rather than start a new thread. I'm curious about the meprolight, but I just learned of it. Anyone else have any feedback on it either?
 
Are you talking about the meprolight m21 that the guy above you was talking about?

It was mentioned here so I figured I would ask here rather than start a new thread. I'm curious about the meprolight, but I just learned of it. Anyone else have any feedback on it either?
Yes. It’s janky as fuck, the mount system looks like it was cobbled together from the Home Depot hardware section, the dot is not bright,etc. this is the metro rds. The m21 is a poor rip off of the rx30 trijicon. Both are 25 year old tech.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HMRamateur
I’ve owned or own an EOTech, an Aimpoint, and multiple Holosuns. I won’t apologize for a second for recommending the Holosun.

I can actually see their circle-dot with my astigmatism and they don’t drift a foot when the temperature changes. Honestly it’s EOTech crowd that should be on the defensive not Holosun.

But if the OP wants my last EXPS2 feel free to PM me. It’s in barely used condition, ha.

EDIT: EXPS2-0 is sold.
Eotechs never drifted a foot unless you are jumping out of a 130 degree plane into the arctic. It was an overblown issue that didn’t affect anyone, other than the contracting folks.

SOCOM continued to use the eotech, even after the bulliton because it’s the fastest cqb optic there is, period.

you think jsoc would use optics they didn’t trust and were proven, when they can literally buy anything they want COTS? Rofl

L3 also gave full refunds at msrp so you had ur chance to dump it if u hate it. BoughtA bunch of used optics and sold them back for. $300+ profit, was a good year. Still have a g33 from one of the kits.

now that l3 sold eotech to a venture cap for,, they will go to shit. Sell while you can unless you need a clone build.

other than that eotechs especially the xps/exps are good to go.

holosun is Chinese garbage, you should feel bad.
 
Eotechs never drifted a foot unless you are jumping out of a 130 degree plane into the arctic. It was an overblown issue that didn’t affect anyone, other than the contracting folks.

SOCOM continued to use the eotech, even after the bulliton because it’s the fastest cqb optic there is, period.

you think jsoc would use optics they didn’t trust and were proven, when they can literally buy anything they want COTS? Rofl

L3 also gave full refunds at msrp so you had ur chance to dump it if u hate it. BoughtA bunch of used optics and sold them back for. $300+ profit, was a good year. Still have a g33 from one of the kits.

now that l3 sold eotech to a venture cap for,, they will go to shit. Sell while you can unless you need a clone build.

other than that eotechs especially the xps/exps are good to go.

holosun is Chinese garbage, you should feel bad.
Mostly right, right, right, speculation, right, mostly right.
 
MRO is probably the worst pick of all these options OP. Besides what has already been mentioned, its parallax is significantly worse than the other options.
 
Just get an aimpoint pro and be done with it. Can be had for $425 shipped from a few vendors and comes with a serviceable mount.
 
This. It's the same as the original aimpoint (which you could not see through, it was just a closed tube with a dot in it). You look at the target with your non-shooting eye, and your brain superimposes the dot from your dominant eye over the target you non-shooting eye sees. Your FOV in the tube is irrelevant.
Correct, but glass surface area matters as that is more real estate for the reticle to come into view. Additionally, if your optic is good at thwarting parallax you can crack the shot sooner since your reticle will appear at the edge of the window when a smaller tube like window would not yet have the dot visible at all. Technically speaking, properly used, they would all have an unlimited field of view. In actual use the larger window proves the quickest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CrabsandFootball
holosun is Chinese garbage, you should feel bad.

I’ve owned or own an EOTech, an Aimpoint, and multiple Holosuns. I won’t apologize for a second for recommending the Holosun.

Still won't. Try pissing up a different rope sweetheart.


L3 also gave full refunds at msrp so you had ur chance to dump it if u hate it...now that l3 sold eotech to a venture cap for,, they will go to shit. Sell while you can unless you need a clone build.

It's oddly refreshing to find someone so sure of everything when they CAN'T EVEN READ:
EDIT: EXPS2-0 is sold.

:rolleyes:
 
  • Haha
Reactions: 308pirate
I used to run MROs but now I use a T1 on a unity mount on my work gun. I like it significantly more than my MROs I’ve had. But I never had any issues with those either... I don’t develop a passionate hate for most things unless they blatantly fail or betray me 😂 I can’t speak for holosun... but I’d definitely choose aimpoint before anything else.
 
This. It's the same as the original aimpoint (which you could not see through, it was just a closed tube with a dot in it). You look at the target with your non-shooting eye, and your brain superimposes the dot from your dominant eye over the target you non-shooting eye sees. Your FOV in the tube is irrelevant.

At work, we use T2s. At home, every rifle has an MRO on it. For me, its not a question of "field of view" through the optic, but rather the ability to find the dot on initial presentation. The narrower tube of the T2 required more practice for me to be able to acquire the dot immediately, whereas with the MRO, my eye picks up the dot while the rifle is "on its way up" and I have a sight picture immediately.

I find the MRO's larger objective more forgiving than the T2's.
 
I pre-ordered a Vortex Razor UH-1 Gen 2 it is made almost entirely in the USA.
 
At work, we use T2s. At home, every rifle has an MRO on it. For me, its not a question of "field of view" through the optic, but rather the ability to find the dot on initial presentation. The narrower tube of the T2 required more practice for me to be able to acquire the dot immediately, whereas with the MRO, my eye picks up the dot while the rifle is "on its way up" and I have a sight picture immediately.

I find the MRO's larger objective more forgiving than the T2's.
Ditch the MRO and T1/2 and go to the PRO. Its a faster optic.
 
Ditch the MRO and T1/2 and go to the PRO. Its a faster optic.

Not sure what you mean by "faster" but in my experience, the tubing/shadow box effect is always a negative attribute as far as I'm concerned. The PRO looks to be "sensitive" to the alignment of the eye and the optic, which, IMO, defeats the purpose of a single plane sighting system.

Why do you say it's "faster"?
 
Not sure what you mean by "faster" but in my experience, the tubing/shadow box effect is always a negative attribute as far as I'm concerned. The PRO looks to be "sensitive" to the alignment of the eye and the optic, which, IMO, defeats the purpose of a single plane sighting system.

Why do you say it's "faster"?

That douchebag has been banned, thankfully

He's full of shit half the time but hearing her talk you thought he was the god of all shooting and firearms related everything

I have had an Aimpoint PRO, still have a CompC (same body as the PRO) and also a SIG Romeo5 (cheapo with the same form factor as the T1/T2). There is no fucking way in hell the big, bulky old school Aimpoint design is as fast as the nearly invisible micros. With the Romeo5, the body of the sight almost disappears and the ability to move the eyes around it and still see the dot in your fov is superior to the bulkier older Aimpoints.
 
I just got back into uspsa after a pretty good time out to shoot long range. A lot of things have changed, and the pcc game is really coming along. I picked up two rifles and did a lot of match research on what people are running. These are rifles that get run hard week after week, including practice sessions. The two that kept coming up were the Holosun, and the good old fashioned Cmore. Scoff if you want, but I picked up one each, mounted them up and have started running them. I already have an Aimpoint and an Eotech. Not super impressed with either of them. Not bad, but not good enough to keep me from looking elsewhere. Honestly, I don’t like that the Holosun is made in China. Pretty pissed at them right now. That said, I have been impressed with the 510. Long battery life with the solar panel, and the shake awake feature. Put it up and it shuts off after 10 mins, pick it up later, and the dot is instantly on. Very cool feature. I don’t think the Cmore will take as much abuse, but I’m going to run it and run it hard. I don’t intentionally run my optics into barricades and stuff, but it does occasionally happen, and when it does, we just keep rolling, it’s part of the game. Hopefully it will hold up. So, after all of this blabbering, my point is, uspsa shooters run their shit hard, and a large number of them are running Cmores and Holosun. They wouldn’t be as popular if they didn’t work and broke all of the time. Uspsa shooters will NOT tolerate shit that leaves them hanging. I would give the 510 a hard look, too many good features, I just wish it were made here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stilesg57
That douchebag has been banned, thankfully

He's full of shit half the time but hearing her talk you thought he was the god of all shooting and firearms related everything
:ROFLMAO:

I have had an Aimpoint PRO, still have a CompC (same body as the PRO) and also a SIG Romeo5 (cheapo with the same form factor as the T1/T2). There is no fucking way in hell the big, bulky old school Aimpoint design is as fast as the nearly invisible micros. With the Romeo5, the body of the sight almost disappears and the ability to move the eyes around it and still see the dot in your fov is superior to the bulkier older Aimpoints.

Yeah, an LEO friend of mine says he really likes the SIG red dots. I haven't tried them, though.

Been curious about an EoTech, myself.
 
I just got back into uspsa after a pretty good time out to shoot long range. A lot of things have changed, and the pcc game is really coming along. I picked up two rifles and did a lot of match research on what people are running. These are rifles that get run hard week after week, including practice sessions. The two that kept coming up were the Holosun, and the good old fashioned Cmore. Scoff if you want, but I picked up one each, mounted them up and have started running them. I already have an Aimpoint and an Eotech. Not super impressed with either of them. Not bad, but not good enough to keep me from looking elsewhere. Honestly, I don’t like that the Holosun is made in China. Pretty pissed at them right now. That said, I have been impressed with the 510. Long battery life with the solar panel, and the shake awake feature. Put it up and it shuts off after 10 mins, pick it up later, and the dot is instantly on. Very cool feature. I don’t think the Cmore will take as much abuse, but I’m going to run it and run it hard. I don’t intentionally run my optics into barricades and stuff, but it does occasionally happen, and when it does, we just keep rolling, it’s part of the game. Hopefully it will hold up. So, after all of this blabbering, my point is, uspsa shooters run their shit hard, and a large number of them are running Cmores and Holosun. They wouldn’t be as popular if they didn’t work and broke all of the time. Uspsa shooters will NOT tolerate shit that leaves them hanging. I would give the 510 a hard look, too many good features, I just wish it were made here.

All this time, I thought Holosun was a Chinese company. Even if they aren't, haven't they always been made in China?
 
I really wanted a romeo5 for my ruger pc carbine, but I just can't get over the fact its made in China. Other than that, I've heard great things about it. Will just save a bit more for an aimpoint
 
That douchebag has been banned, thankfully

He's full of shit half the time but hearing her talk you thought he was the god of all shooting and firearms related everything

I have had an Aimpoint PRO, still have a CompC (same body as the PRO) and also a SIG Romeo5 (cheapo with the same form factor as the T1/T2). There is no fucking way in hell the big, bulky old school Aimpoint design is as fast as the nearly invisible micros. With the Romeo5, the body of the sight almost disappears and the ability to move the eyes around it and still see the dot in your fov is superior to the bulkier older Aimpoints.

Lol what he get banned for?
 
All this time, I thought Holosun was a Chinese company. Even if they aren't, haven't they always been made in China?
I don't know if Holosun is a Chinese or American company but their products are definitely chink.

They seem to be of above average quality, but I won't be buying any more of them.
 
  • Angry
Reactions: granth3w
Holosun is a Chinese company, but they do have an office in the US, somewhere to the east of LA downtown, I think.

They are a part of a larger semiconductor company, so they can do their own LED and laser development. That is one of the reasons they have a bit of a tech advantage over many other players.

ILya
 
  • Like
Reactions: 502Chevelle
I really wanted a romeo5 for my ruger pc carbine, but I just can't get over the fact its made in China. Other than that, I've heard great things about it. Will just save a bit more for an aimpoint
I don't know if Holosun is a Chinese or American company but their products are definitely chink.

They seem to be of above average quality, but I won't be buying any more of them.

I feel the same. If there is a US-made product that meets my specs, I will try to buy it (save up extra, even). If not, I will only buy from companies that don't use slave labor. I feel wrong about buying freedom dispensers (firearms, and their accessories) from companies that use slave labor. It's just too ironic for me.
 
After a few weeks of research I just bought a SIG Romeo5 XDR from @gr8fuldoug at Camera Land. Very few companies have stock.
Why I went with the 5 XDR: SIG warranty, motion activation, 65/2 moa dot options, AAA battery, two co-witness heights, clean exterior lines, bikini lens caps, flush windage/elevation adjusters, IXP-7 waterproof rating...... and Camera Land of course. Feature for feature and dollar for dollar the Romeo5 XDR appeared to be a solid choice.

It's going on a multipurpose AR carbine I just put together.
 
The guys on our department SWAT team run Aimpoint Pros. They have mixed feelings about them due to the "tube" like effect of the optic. However, they all agree they are durable, affordable, and get the job done. I also have used this on a patrol style rifle and feel the same way, it has a bluish tint to it and does appear to have a tube effect compared to the T2 or the EoTech sights.

They used to run EoTechs and liked them a lot more besides the lower battery life.

I owned both an EoTech EXPS2-0 and a Trijicon MRO (higher serial number) and really liked both of them. The EoTech's reticle was awesome and easy to pick up and make more precise shots at distance. The MRO was a great, affordable, and durable little red dot. It was ugly but did well haha.

I currently run an Aimpoint T2 on a Scalarworks mount and love it! I shot a steel plate that was roughly 100yds away with no issues. The 2 MOA dot does cover a lot of the target up at distance but if this is for home defense then a human is going to be bigger than the plate I was shooting at.

I have experience with the Vortex Razor Gen II E 1-6x24x and loved it! It works well as a red dot and gives you some magnification for more precise shots and target identification. I sold it off to try something new and miss it dearly haha! It would be good for an all around rifle though. So just an idea though.

Ummm that is all I can think of for now lol!
 
Being a know-it-all asshole with little to no productive content is my guess
He gets out of jail Saturday IIRC. Basically, he got banned a week, for acting like a douche nozzle. I watched his posts, but held off until no less than 3 people reported his antics, and then let the ban hammer fall for a week.

If there's a next time, it'll be permanent.
 
I left my aimpoint m4s switched on last time I took it to the range, this was back in oh, 2014 or so. Took it out of the case about 3 months ago, optic still on. Popped a new battery in it and put it away. Not sure if I switched it off, but I have peace of mind it will be on next time I run it.
 
He gets out of jail Saturday IIRC. Basically, he got banned a week, for acting like a douche nozzle. I watched his posts, but held off until no less than 3 people reported his antics, and then let the ban hammer fall for a week.

If there's a next time, it'll be permanent.

Anyone taking bets on how long that will take?

I've got a twenty on eight minutes.

ILya
 
Putting together another ar— and trying to decide which red dot is going on this one.

Although I thoroughly expect this to only get used at the range, I would like to think I have a solid system in place in case SHTF.

Family and I live in the city, so I’m assuming set up should target 0 to 100+ yrds.

Rifle will be 14.5” and chambered in .223 wylde.

I have an Aimpoint Comp M2 and an Eotech XPS2 on other carbines and like them both for different reasons, but I’m hoping to hear from those who have had some real world experience working with their red dots.

ACOGs, Eotech, Aimpoint, Elcan? What would you put on your gun in my situation and why?

appreciate any advice provided.

Have a Docter I am selling. Let me know if you want the particulars.