red dot question

Primary Arms has their brand and also carries other brands with long battery life. https://www.primaryarms.com/MCatego...+Dots&utm_campaign=20_01_Ad_14_Flashsale_Cali

My Vortex StrikeFire turns itself off after 6 hours. My Sig Romeo5 turns itself off after 2 minutes, turns itself back on if moved, and has an advertised 50,000 hour battery life. Either can be had for around $125 right now.

Make them change the batteries and have them pay for it too. So much of shooting is memorized training. Do you let your kids shoot without hearing protection or eye protection? Do they walk around carrying the gun with their finger on the trigger? Force them to make it a habit to turn the darn thing off when they are finished just like they need to make sure the gun is unloaded before putting it away.

CR3023 coin cell batteries are cheap. You can get a 50 pack for $18 on ebay. They may not be top shelf quality, but how many do you need?

The red dot on my SW22-A1 cost me $18 and the battery has lasted several years.

Red dots require that the spot be projected onto glass in order to form an image that requires you to line it up in an exact location. If you simply painted a red dot onto a piece of glass, it would be worthless because the line between your eye, the dot and the target has nothing to do with the alignment of the dot with respect to the gun barrel. I doubt there is a red dot that used ambient light to project the dot onto the front screen because it would not work very well in the shade and would not work at all in dim light.

Sig Romeo5 - excellent battery life & 2 MOA dot.
I have two and may get more.
One is on a 12 ga 3" mag & holding zero just fine.

Plenty of red dots with extended battery life. Part of your responsibility to the kids should be to instill in them marksmanship, safety, and maintenance at a level commensurate with their age; on/off for example.

I would also recommend the SIG Romeo 5. The MOTAC motion-detection, instant-on feature works very well and turns the optic back on at the last intensity setting so you don't have to dial the intensity back up. The Romeo 5 comes with riser mounts of two different heights. For the 10/22 you would want the low riser which will give just about the same mounting height as a Bushnell TRS-25. I think you will also find the dot on the Romeo 5 to be a bit crisper than that of the TRS-25, especially at higher intensity settings, and it is a bit smaller at 2 MOA whereas the Bushnell is more like 3-4 MOA.

Holosun makes some very good red dot sights that have the motion detection feature and are very similar. In fact, many say that Holosun makes the Romeo sight for SIG, or that the same manufacturer produces sights for both Holosun and SIG. But I have never been able to find comparable Holosun models at as low a price as the SIG Romeo 5. Holosun also makes a solar-powered RDS that is very similar in size, but significantly more expensive, that also has the "shake-awake" feature, the HS403C. I have never used one so I don't know how much ambient light there has to be for that unit to not consume any battery power.

Question..... would being carried around in a vehicle's weapons rack activate that motion sensing romeo?

lemaymiami said:

Question..... would being carried around in a vehicle's weapons rack activate that motion sensing romeo?

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Yes. Jumping on the floor beside my gun cabinet will turn it on, verified with a mirror to prevent disturbing the rifle.

Looks like you're trying to get a red dot that is foolproof.
Like they say, as soon as you make it foolproof, someone will invent a better fool.

Not wanting "fool proof" since I can usually be counted on to do the foolish thing... What I was considering is a red dot on a light carbine for vehicle defense (hopefully never needed...). Having a carbine in hand wouldn't be so great if I chose one that allowed it's motion sensing switch cycle it on while riding so that the battery wasn't usable when needed at a later date... Unless, of course, you had the ability to turn it off when not wanted so that the batteries kept their charge. I'm probably competent enough to turn on a switch even when in a very bad spot...

I'll be glad to listen to any suggestions if the Romeo 5 does not have this capability.

lemaymiami said:

I'll be glad to listen to any suggestions if the Romeo 5 does not have this capability.

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Hold either brightness button down for a few seconds, and the Romeo5 turns off completely until turned on again by the same action.

That’s what I was hoping to hear... Don’t know if a purchase is in my future but that one factor makes it much more likely...
Thanks for the info.

I'd check out the Sig Romeo 5. The battery life is super long, and it has an auto on/ auto off feature that helps save the battery. It's only a little over 100 bucks too.

The are two red dots sights below Aimpoint money worth consideration- the Primary Arms Micro Advanced and the Sig Romeo 5. Both are rugged enough for everyday use, will hold zero and have a battery life of at last one year of continuous use. We have both.

The Micro Advanced can be had with either buttons or a rotary dial for adjusting dot illumination. I prefer the rotary dial. The Advanced does not come with a mount but any mount that fits an Aimpoint Micro will fit the PA Micro Advanced.

The Sig Romeo 5 only comes with push buttons for controlling dot illumination and two mounts. One is of the absolute co-witness height for ARs and the other move lower, suitable for mounting on a rifle like a 10/22. I find the glass of the Romeo to be a bit brighter than the PA. The Romeo costs a couple of bucks less and comes with a mount, making it the better value.

I have only seen the PA Advanced available online. The Romeo is available in almost anywhere firearms accessories are sold.

After using both, my preference is for the Romeo, but both are the top choices in the price range.