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Nick W.'s Red-dot Sight Guide
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Table of Contents |
[This guide was sent to me by the author - I can't take credit for
this fine piece of work. -Rob-]
Nick's Red Dot Sight - Shopping Guide
Specs, Prices, Sources, Reviews, Links
Probably anyone who has ever used a red dot sight has said, "I've
got to have one." This page was created to assist you in finding
the dot sight that is best for you and your budget.
Red dot sights can be used on pistols, rifles or shotguns. They are
recommended for close to intermediate range and within that limitation,
they can be used for virtually any type of shooting from bullseye competition
to police and military operations.
Only dot sights having NO optical power and using an illuminated dot
as the sight point are included on this page. There are red dot scopes
that have optical power, as in traditional riflescopes, and use a red
dot or illuminated crosshairs as a sight point. These are not included
in this guide.
Now, before going any further, I would like to refer you to a web
page for some important information. This will only take a few minutes
to read. To learn how red dot sights work and to understand parallax error,
go to…
Read "Facts and Figures about Dot Sights" (once you are
on the home page of bullseyepistol.com, scroll down to "Tools of
the Trade" then look for "Facts and Figures about Dot Sights"
and click on it)
Now, that was interesting reading, wasn't it? What he had to say about
UltraDot sights was especially interesting. No doubt they would be one
of the best, if not THE best, values in red dot sights. You can get an
UltraDot for $115, however, perhaps you have needs that are not met by
the UltraDot.
Changeable reticle: The sight may be used with any of several reticles
that are purchased separately but one must be removed before another can
be installed.
Variable reticle: One of several reticles may be used and can be changed
simply by turning a knob.
HUD style: Unlike the more common tube style sight, it more closely
resembles the Heads-Up-Display in aircraft. There is only one glass element,
no tube. These designs offer a better view of everything around the sight
area, which is especially good in a police or combat type environment
but since there is no tube to reference the dot position, it makes finding
the dot a more difficult task.
Things to Consider Battery life: Most of the red dot sights use a 2032 type, 3volt, lithium
battery that is inexpensive and lasts for a reasonable amount of time.
However, there are some notable exceptions. The Bushnell HOLOsight uses
an "N" style alkaline battery and has an "average"
battery life of 40-70 hours. Just because two different sights use the
same type of battery does not mean they will operate for the same length
of time. Differences exist due to the efficiency of the electrical circuit.
The Trijicon is the only dot sight that does not use batteries at all.
Incidently, the Trijicon has an amber dot.
Dot size: Dot size is rated in M.O.A. (minutes of angle). One M.O.A.
is equivalent to 1 inch at 100 yards, so if you have a 4 m.o.a. dot, it
will cover a four inch circle at 100 yards. It will cover half that size
at half that distance, so it will cover 2 inches at 50 yards or 1inch
at 25 yards. At 200 yards it will cover 8 inches and 400 yards it will
cover 16 inches. You can see how this can affect hunting or sniping at
a distance. For close range in a combat situation a larger dot can be
picked up faster for quicker response. There have been reports that manufacturers
may claim that their dot is smaller than it actually is.
Mounting: How will the sight be mounted on the gun? There are two
basic configurations. Some sights come with a standard Weaver type mount
built right on them. Others use traditional rings and these are often
included when you buy the sight. Still others, like Trijicon, sell the
sight and the base seperately and offer several types for different types
of weapons.
Use: What is the primary use for the sight? Combat, bullseye and hunting
will all have their own priorities. Weight will have little bearing on
a rifle but may need to be considered on a pistol. If rapid sight acquisition
is a priority, a larger diameter tube will make it easier.
Finish: Most sights come in a black finish and may also be available
in a silver finish. One sight, Leupold (LG series) is available in two-tone,
black and silver. These can go on any gun whether it is a blued finish
or stainless and would look great on a two-tone gun.
Brightness: The cheapest dot sights have only one or two levels of
brightness, these are for BB, pellet or paintball guns. Sights for firearms
usually have from seven to eleven levels of brightness. Manufacturers
vary on how they report this. They may say eleven levels and one of those
may be "off", but not always. There is at least one sight that
has a stepless intensity control, C-More. Actually, you can get the C-More
with either stepless or stepped intensity controls, so you can choose
whichever you want.
Weight: Reported sight weight may or may not include mounting hardware
and almost certainly does not include battery weight. Some sights have
integral mounts that are automatically included in the weight, e.g. the
Bushnell HOLOsight, C-More, some Tasco sights and others. There was a
review of two or three sights by one author who weighed the sights and
reported that the sights weighed more than the company specs would show.
So, not only have they underreported the weight of the sight but also
have not included the weight of the rings nor the battery. Use caution
when comparing sights by weight. Manufacturer's specs are shown below.
Windage and Elevation: Most sights have windage and elevation adjustment
with clicks at 0.5 m.o.a. Some sights have 0.25 clicks and some have 0.33
and others, 0.75 increments. C-More is the only sight that has clickless
adjustment. This could be a good thing for accuracy, as in target shooting,
and a bad thing in combat type situations if you need to make on-the-fly
adjustments.
Parallax Error: I did not discuss the parallax error of each sight
because I don't have that information. However, Aimpoint is supposed to
have a special "double lens" system that totally eliminates
parallax error. You can see a graph of the parallax error of the UltraDot
on the bullseyepistol.com link that I gave. Tasco's lower models have
parallax adjusted to 100 yards and it says so on the spec sheet for each
individual sight. Tasco says that their higher-priced sights are parallax
free (also noted specifically on each sight). My guess is that just like
Tasco, cheaper sights will suffer more parallax error than higher-priced
sights and at some particular range (perhaps somewhere between 25 and
100 yards) will be virtually parallax free. More expensive sights are
likely to have less parallax error. I am not sure that any sight is 100%
parallax free, though it may be close enough for all practical purposes.
Key to Specs
Notes
* Diameter may be objective lens diameter or tube diameter, companies
are not consistent on this. Some quote both.
** Some companies do not provide certain specs such as battery life
or field of view
*** Street price can be quite variable
The first three models (Imp, HotShot and Champ) are best suited to
airguns or paint ball use
Finish: black (some in nickel)
Battery: 3volt Lithium 2032
Mount: Weaver style 3/8" groove (denoted *), all others use 30mm
rings
Warranty: 1-5 years, Hot Shot - 2 years, Vantage - 5 years, Ranger,
Sportsman, Competitior, Eclipse, Magnum, Trident
Aimpoint The "Comp" is compact for smaller arms, e.g. pistols and
carbines, the "7000" is for long guns
The M2 models are heavy-duty versions of the CompC built for extreme
conditions and water-tight to 75'
Brightness level 10 is "extra bright"
Housing: extruded aluminum
Finish: black or silver metallic (for example, CompC SM, though not
shown, is CompC in silver metallic)
Battery: 3 volt Litium (Duracell DL1/3N)(Energizer 2L76)
Mount: Comp models (1 ring, 30mm), 7000 models (2 rings, 30mm)
Warranty: 2 years for professional or competition use; 10 years for
personal use
ATN The ATN looks very much like a C-More sight, that is, it is a single
optical element fashioned as a HUD (Heads-up-display). It is one of only
a few sights that have different reticles built-in. You can choose between
four different reticles with a rotary knob (dot, circle with dot, cross
hair, open cross hair with dot).
The ATN is made of machined aluminum, the C-More is made of polymer.
Housing: machined aluminum
Finish: black
Battery: Lithium
Mount: 7/8" Weaver style base
Warranty: 2 years
BSA RD models utilize an 11-positon dial. PB models utilize a push button
control for 11 brightness levels
The RD models are 0.8" longer to accommodate the rotary dial.
Housing: aluminum
Finish: matte black anodized or bonded black rubber
Battery: probably a 2032 but not for sure
Mount: dovetail
Burris Available in two variations, one with a 3 moa dot and the other with
an 11 moa dot.
Burris is nitrogen-filled, so it is waterproof and fogproof
Housing: probably extruded aluminum
Finish: black
Battery: 2032 (200+ hours at maxium britghtness)
Mount: rings (included w/sight, weight of rings 2.7 oz)
Warranty: "Forever" even if you are not the original owner
Bushnell Unlike other Red Dot sights, the HOLOsight works with an internal
laser.
Current HOLOsight model is denoted as 500 series. It is significantly
different from older 400 series.
HOLOsights come with one reticle of your choice. They have changeable
reticles available in a variety of dot sizes and even different patterns,
like 65 moa circles and triangles
Another unique feature, HOLOsight automatically shuts itself off after
8 hours or 2 hours if you choose. There is also a low battery warning
light.
Waterproof and fogproof
Finish: black
Battery = Type N 1.5v. Alkaline (40 - 70 hours of operation), auto
shutoff after 8 hrs. or 2 hrs., low battery warning
Mount: dovetail
I cannot find the Trophy model on the Bushnell web site, it was found
in the Midsouth catalog.
The Sportview can be found on the Bushnell web site with great effort.
Price is from Midsouth.
Housing: probably extruded aluminum
Finish: black
Battery: probably a 2032 but not for sure
Mount: rings included for Weaver style base
C-More Primary use is for handgun competition or AR15
Modular design, made of plastic
C-More sights are modular in that the sighting screen is separate
from the electronics "diode module". Changing dot size is accomplished
by swapping diode modules. Available dot sizes are 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and
16 m.o.a. Standard dot supplied with each sight is noted on the chart.
C-More's philosophy on windage and elevation adjustment is to avoid
the use of click-stops. They feel that eliminating clicks allows you to
adjust in the smallest increments for the greatest accuracy.
Brightness: you have a choice between two types of brightness controls.
One type has click setting with discrete steps and the other is a rheostat,
which continuously varies the intensity. Below, you will see prices such
as $240/300. This is $240 for the stepless rheostat model and $300 for
the click switch model.
Finish: black, gray, radical red, bodacious blue, olive drab green
(not all models available in all colors)
Battery: Duracell DL1/3N or Energizer2L76 (300 to 1500 coninuous hours
of use)
Mounts: C-More is unique in that most other Red Dot sights use a fairly
universal mounting system, either rings or dovetail mounts. C-More offers
several models of essentially the same sight with different mounting shcemes.
See below.
C-More sights are waterproof to 200 meters
Serendipity: (1911 & clones/select frames, drill & tap) Designed
around the 1911 frame and competition race guns. Requires a gunsmith to
drill & tap six holes in your guns frame, three on each side.
Railway (Weaver & Picatinny clamp): Used for shotguns, rifles,
handguns, revolvers, crossbows, paint ball guns, etc.
Slide Ride (direct mounting, drill & tap): The Slide Ride was
originally designed to mount directly to the slide of Glock handguns but
the Slide Ride can be attached to any flat surface. This enables the sight
to be mounted directly to the firearm or a custom made mount, allowing
the sight to be applied to applications that may not provide standard
mounting options.
Scout (fixed carry handle upper receivers): for all Colt M-16 / AR-15
rifles and carbines that utilize a fixed carry handle upper receiver.
The Scout also enables you to retain the use of your iron sights as a
back up system and for longer yardage shots.
Tactical (flattop upper receivers): The C-MORE Tactical sight mounts
to all Colt M-16 / AR-15 rifles and carbines, including the M-4, that
utilize a flat top upper receiver. By directly attaching to the upper
receivers picatinny rail, the Tactical sight replaces the removable carry
handle (if applicable) and also provides a replacement A-3 style rear
aperture sight. The Tactical enables you to retain the use of your iron
sights as a back up system and for longer yardage shots.
TAC II (flattop upper receivers): The C-MORE TAC II sight mounts to
all Colt M-16 / AR-15 rifles and carbines, including the M-4, that utilize
a flat top upper receiver. By directly attaching to the upper receivers
picatinny rail, the TAC II sight replaces the removable carry handle (if
applicable) and also provides a "Flip-up" rear aperture sight
which can be folded down flat to provide an unobstructed view of the red
dot sight. The TAC II enables you to retain the use of your iron sights
as a back up system and for longer yardage shots
Housing: polymer
Finish: color-impregnated polymer
Battery: see above
Mount: see above
Warranty: ?
Docter This is the smallest and lightest red dot sight available at this
time. It is also the only sight that you could use and still holster a
pistol with it. The only problem here is mounting.
Finish: black
Battery: CR 2032, 3 volt, lithium
Mount:
Warranty:
Leupold Leupold is nitrogen filled and therefore, waterproof and fogproof.
Housing: extruded aluminum
Finish: two-tone (black/silver) or all black (higher price)
Battery: probably a 2032 but not for sure
Mount: includes rings for standard Weaver mounts (special rings for
Hammerli .22 are available upon request but you will not see this written
anywhere but here)
Warranty: 2 years
Millet Waterproof and shockproof. According to the Millet FAQ page, their
"scopes" are nitrogen-filled but they did not say their red
dots are. I am thinking that because they said their red dots are waterproof,
they are probably nitrogen-filled. Millet says their sights are parallax
free.
Housing: probably extruded aluminum
Finish: matte black or silver
Battery: probably a 2032 but not for sure
"The estimated life of the battery is 40 hours of continuous
operation in normal use. Cold temperatures and or high intensity settings
will shorten the life of the battery." - Millet FAQ page
Mount: included with sight, "vertical split scope rings, Weaver-style"
Warranty: ?
OKO Made in Czechoslovakia. Distributed by Dillon and perhaps others.
Comes with 4, 6, or 8 m.o.a. dot but Dillon only shows the 4 m.o.a. in
their catalog. The only mount Dillon shows is an AR-15 handle mount. The
Czech website says mounts are available for CZ 75/85 and clones, CZ 97,
as well as 1911 and clones
Finish: black
Battery: CR2032 (150 - 1500 hours of operation)
Mount: ?
Redfield Cannot find this model on the Redfield website. Had to e-mail Redfield.
They sent a jpeg spec sheet on it.
Finish: all models available in black or silver
Battery:
Mount: rings
Simmons Good luck finding these on the Simmons web site. They are, however,
in the Midsouth catalog. Not much info though.
Finish: Master (black or silver), Blazer (black)
Battery:
Mount: Master (rings), Blazer (Weaver)
Tasco BKRD models are labeled Red Dot. PDP models are labeled Pro Point.
Finish: MiniMag and BKRD, black only; PDP's are all available in black,
some in silver
Battery:
Mount: some 30mm rings, others 5/8" dovetail (BKRD 30-22 has
3/8" dovetail for .22 caliber guns)
Trijicon Trijicon is the only dot sight that does not rely on batteries. It
uses two systems: fluorescent fiber optics for gathering ambient light
when there is ambient light and Tritium (glow in the dark stuff) for times
when there is no ambient light. Therefore, there are no batteries and
no switches. Unfortunately, if you are not happy with the dot brightness,
there is nothing you can do. Trijicon has an Amber colored dot.
There are several bases available so the sight is usually priced without
a base. I priced this one with a Weaver base for more convenient comparison
to other sights. The Weaver base is $70 retail, around $50 - $60 on the
street.
"The Reflex II has a new clearer color lens (reds are more red
instead a brownish color); it features a triangle reticle 12.5 MOA tall;
and comes standard with the polarizing filter and rubber caps. The original
Reflex has the reticle options of a 6.5 or 4 MOA dot. No accessories come
with this Reflex." - Trijicon FAQ page
Finish: black
Battery: NONE
Mount: various
UltraDot If you read "Facts and Figures About Dot Sights" as recommended,
you will know that the UltraDot has quite a reputation and may well be
the best value available. If it suites your needs, you must do yourself
a favor and take a look at it.
Finish: black or silver
Battery: DL2032
Mount: comes with rings for Weaver style base
Warranty: lifetime
Special Features Here, the sights are grouped together based on special attributes.
Changeable reticle
Bushnell HOLOsight
Discontinued Sights
Tasco Optima 2000
Weaver Qwik Point
Extreme Duty (there may be others)
Aimpoint M2 XD
Aimpoint ML2 XD
Trijicon
HUD style
ATN Ultra Sight
Bushnell HOLOsight
C-More
OK Target
Multi-size dot with twist of a knob
Adco Trident
Millet SP30
Redfield ESD
Tasco PDP5 CMP
UltraDot4
Night vision compatible
Aimpoint
C-More
HOLOsight
Red/Green dot (selectable)
Adco Sportsman
Adco Competitor
Two-tone Finish
Leupold LG
Variable reticle
ATN Ultra Sight
Redfield ESD
Tasco PDP5 VR
Links to Manufacturers Aimpoint - http://www.aimpoint.com/
ATN - http://www.atncorp.com/
Burris - http://www.burrisoptics.com/
C-More - http://www.cmore.com/products.html
Docter (German site) - http://www.waffenmarkt.ch/seiten/doctersi.htm
Docter (American distributor) - http://www.ccfa.com/reflex.htm
This link is to Capital City Firearms, an American distributor of
the German "Docter" sight.
The Docter appears to be a glass lens and metal bodied rendition of
the plastic lens and plastic bodied Tasco Optima 2000 which was actually
made by a British company and marked with the Tasco name but is now discontinued.
The design is very interesting. It is a HUD style and it is the smallest
red dot sight available. Since the manufacturer's site is in German, I
am giving the distributor of the sight.
Leupold-Gilmore - http://www.gilmoresports.com/Red-Dot-Sights.htm
OKO - http://www.oktarget.cz/
Redfield - http://www.redfieldoptics.com/
Good luck finding the red dot on this website
Simmons - http://www.simmonsoptics.com/
Good luck finding the red dot on this website
Tasco - http://www.tascosales.com/
Trijicon - http://www.trijicon-inc.com/
UltraDot - http://www.ultradotwest.com/index.html
Links to Reviews & Comparisons Aimpoint Comp M & ML
Aimpoint Comp XD-M
Bushnell HOLOsight
C-More Colt Tactical
Colt Carry Handle
Elcan C79
Trijicon ACOG TA01-NSN
Trijicon Reflex RX01NSN
Aimpoint Comp (old model)
Bushnell HOLOsight
C-More
Tasco Propoint III
Tasco PDP3
Tasco PDP5
More of an advertisement than a real comparison. Compares the Bushnell
HOLOsight to the following,
Aimpoint Comp M & ML
C-More Tactical
Trijicon Reflex
Other Red Dot Specs/Comparison
Quality Since I have not been able to handle most of these sights, I can only
guess at quality from the reviews and comparisons that are listed above.
However, someone may be interested in knowing what I think after accumulating
all of this information. So, here it is.
First, even a cheap red dot sight can offer fairly good performance.
I had an inexpensive red dot sight made in China. It did have a little
parallax error but if I was careful to keep the dot more or less centered
in the lens, it was very adequate. I did not own it for very long, so
longevity may be another thing that you give up with a cheaper sight.
I think the lower-end on this list would include BSA, Simmons and
Tasco. Personally, I would buy them only if I were restricted by budget.
Still, I have heard many good reports from users of various Tasco models.
The Tasco PDP5 CMP body looks very much like the BSA RD's and the Simmons
Blazer. I would not be surprised if the same manufacturer made them. However,
I have actually seen the BSA and Tasco. The Tasco lenses were as clear
as window glass, while the BSA had a blueish tint. Many red dot sights,
even expensive ones, have a blue tint when you look through them. This
is due to the lens coating that is used to make the dot more visible.
This tint could be a drawback if you are shooting in subdued light, shadows,
etc. If I bought a sight from this group, I would go with Tasco.
I think most of the other sights on this list are at least one notch
above the BSA, Simmons and Tasco. I would be purely fantasizing to put
them in any kind of order. However, I am inclined to believe that any
tube style sight, which is nitrogen-filled, is the crème-de-la-crème.
Good luck in finding the right sight for you. I hope this page will
be of assistance.
Nick W.
Las Vegas, NV, USA
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