Budget AR red dot optics

hv55maxx said:
Forget the optic. Get rid of the polymer lower
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No, No, No...this was an 80% lower that turned out exceptionally well. Put a Bravo Company blemished M4 profile upper/barrel I got for $310 and the rest of the stuff came out of my spare parts box. Never used a carbine length gas system before. Very pleased with the results. Was just a "to see what happened" build that turned out to be a super accurate with iron sights little rifle. Just want a low cost red dot so the end cost doesn't got over 1k. Have $457 into it now. Was a neat project. Found a machinist in work who as it turned out is a gun guy and he hogged out the lower for me. He did a super job since he knew exactly what they were talking about in the damn instruction sheet. Maybe someone is interested, I'll post a pic sometime.
 
Another vote for Primary Arms or a Bushnell TRS-25. I have both and both are excellent red dots for the money.

As an FYI, woot.com is having a deal on NcStar Tactical 2-7x32 Mark III Compact Riflescopes for $49.99 (link http://sport.woot.com/offers/ncstar-tactical-2-7x32-mark-iii-riflescope?ref=cnt_dly_tl)
 
dcostant said:
Another vote for Primary Arms or a Bushnell TRS-25. I have both and both are excellent red dots for the money.

As an FYI, woot.com is having a deal on NcStar Tactical 2-7x32 Mark III Compact Riflescopes for $49.99 (link http://sport.woot.com/offers/ncstar-tactical-2-7x32-mark-iii-riflescope?ref=cnt_dly_tl)
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that seems like a nice little scope for the money!
 
Serapis said:
Any opinions on the Lucid HD7?
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I loved my HD7. I say loved because i had an issue with the battery. It opened up and corroded the battery well, I got it out and tried a new battery but nothing. Jason has said the repair success rate is only 10%. It kills me to loose this optic cause again I loved it. It held zero well and was a clean sight picture.
 
primary arms probably makes a ripoff of whatever aim point you have that, until it breaks, will work just about exactly the same lol, i have one on an AK

trs25's from bushnell are supposedly good.
 
dcostant said:
Another vote for Primary Arms or a Bushnell TRS-25. I have both and both are excellent red dots for the money.

As an FYI, woot.com is having a deal on NcStar Tactical 2-7x32 Mark III Compact Riflescopes for $49.99 (link http://sport.woot.com/offers/ncstar-tactical-2-7x32-mark-iii-riflescope?ref=cnt_dly_tl)
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I have this scope, holds zero and is calibrated from 100. 200 and 300 yards with FMJ ammo trajectories. It was a lot more when I bought it a few years ago too. the red illumination works great, the green can be intermittent.
Holds zero when removed and re-installed as well. Troy battlesight fits under it
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a70eeda39b1253828ad6439a850f61b1.jpg
 
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CMEBoston said:
I have this scope, holds zero and is calibrated from 100. 200 and 300 yards with FMJ ammo trajectories. It was a lot more when I bought it a few years ago too. the red illumination works great, the green can be intermittent.
Holds zero when removed and re-installed as well. Troy battlesight fits under it
e3ae692bde1923be00886b239340395c.jpg
a70eeda39b1253828ad6439a850f61b1.jpg
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Which scope? The quoted text lists three...
 
I was happy with my primary arms for a while then it started malfunctioning. Dot would get dimmer and brighter as I shot. Sometimes it would disappear completely. I'd fire another shot and it would come back. I sent it back to them and got a new one and after about 2-300 rounds this one is doing the same thing and I need to send it back also. Just a data point.
 
You can get a Aimpoint PRO for under $400 now. I can't justify spending less on an optic that is severely questionable when it comes to durability.

American Weapon Systems had a PRO at the pumpkin shoot for $390. You can buy that optic and use it the rest of your life.
 
xtry51 said:
You can get a Aimpoint PRO for under $400 now. I can't justify spending less on an optic that is severely questionable when it comes to durability.

American Weapon Systems had a PRO at the pumpkin shoot for $390. You can buy that optic and use it the rest of your life.
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This. I'd take a used comp m4 over the nicest Bushnell/PA there is
 
I like the Vortex Spitfire. Not a Red dot.. It's a prism.. 3x. And $350. Very sharp for folks with astigmatisms. Red and green adjustable illumination. And it's pretty light.

Also, vortex has unlimited lifetime on both the optic and the electronics.
 
An Aimpoint Pro for $390? Damn sad I missed that. I can't find Aimpoint on American Weapon Systems' website at all. I wonder if they still have them?
 
Cheapest I've seen the pro right now is 419.99. I have 2, they are good, aimpoints, but after a while, if you're not a professional operator, you question the expense. I like the vortex line, works for my application.
 
greencobra said:
Cheapest I've seen the pro right now is 419.99. I have 2, they are good, aimpoints, but after a while, if you're not a professional operator, you question the expense. I like the vortex line, works for my application.
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A couple places have it for $416. I put that and the Vortex Sparc on my Xmas list, figured I would give her a choice since I would probably be happy with either.
 
greencobra said:
I think a lot of people feel this way.
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I definitely do. I have an Eotech that I like a lot, but have seriously considered trading or selling it to fund other stuff since I'm so happy with the PA micro dots that I have on other rifles, and I could buy 4, or more of those for the cost of the Eotech or a PRO.
 
greencobra said:
Cheapest I've seen the pro right now is 419.99. I have 2, they are good, aimpoints, but after a while, if you're not a professional operator, you question the expense. I like the vortex line, works for my application.
Click to expand...

If you go to slickguns.com and search on aimpoint every few days, you can find it for well under $400.

I saw it for as low as $330 last year. It didn't last long at that price, but it did happen.

Here's a $399 deal:
http://www.slickguns.com/product/im...-optic-2-moa-red-dot-sight-399-add-cart-price

Here is an expired deal from a month ago for $353 shipped!!!

http://www.slickguns.com/product/ai...c-plus-free-shipping-35359-coupon-code-fall15
 
I am gonna do a SBR and will prob put my Lucid on that when I get it back and a scope on my 16" barrel that the red dot came off of
 
I keep ending up mentioning this, so slap me if you are tired of hearing it.

I've pretty much taken all my dot scopes off of my ARs and have replaced them with magnified scopes with a range of magnification of 1-4. They are about the same weight as a PRO or similar large bodied aluminum dot scope, with the added advantage of magnification when you need it.

I've done a couple of carbine classes with these on the top of my AR and they work great. Pretty much just as fast, but more versatile. Definitely not as durable as a real aimpoint, but they run without batteries, which is nice.

I've got a few as I've experimented.

1) Leupold 1" tube. its meant for ARs. Its got mill has reticle and mil graduated turrets with a red dot that you can use if you'd like. From a features perspective its all you would ever need. And its very light. The glass is not great though, at least not in comparison to the other 2 Nikons I have

2) 3 year old 1" nikon. plain heavy cross hair. pretty light. much better glass than the Leupold, but no guidance for really long shots. Which isn't really much of a loss in my mind.

3) Nikon Monarch African 30 mm scope. This scope has the nicest glass I've ever looked through short of some high end european makes. It is absolutely fantastic and is very very fast when dialed down to 1x, allowing 2 eye open shooting pretty easily. This was originally a $1000 scope intended for african big game rifles. But nikon screwed up. it doesn't have enough eye relief for the huge recoiling african calibers. So they discontinued it. Its got plenty of eye relief for normal calibers and was available for $450ish when you could find them.

I bought 2.

Don
 

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