Any experience w/ UTG optics?

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Hardtarget

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They're not expensive and I'm not going to war...I just want to play at the range. I'm looking at the "UTG 6.4" ITA" unit.

In your hand it looks /feels good. I would like to know how it shoots from a shooter. The guy selling them loves 'em! :rolleyes: naturally.

If you've tried one...or if you've seen a shooter at the range with one, I like to hear from you. $65.00 won't break any one, I'd rather not waste it.

Mark

I didn't say...UTG = Ultimate Tactical Gear...just info.
 
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I've had near universal good results with "cheap" tube type red dots. I have one UTG (simpler ~$45 model) on an AK side mount and so far its worked very well.

I don't want batteries in anything I had to rely on. YMMV. But he said it was for a range gun.

I always suggest an inexpensive red dot as the first one as not everyone can use them effectively. It takes some getting used to as you have to focus your vision on the target and line up the dot looking through it. Unlike all your previous training to "focus on the front sight" with irons or focus on the reticle with a scope.

Since my old eyes can rarely use irons effectively anymore (the light has to be just right), the inexpensive red dots have been a tremendous boon to my shooting fun.
 
My twin brother has had a UTG 3-9x scope (about $100) mounted on his converted Saiga 5.45's side rail for almost a year now, and put over 1500 rounds through it, a lot of them at 100-400+ yards, including 400 yards in the rain. It has never malfunctioned/broken/lost zero or failed in any way. He is absolutely happy with it.
 
WoW! I knew you guys would be right on this question. Great info!

I've always used open sights or peep sights. I only have scopes on two .22 rifles that came to me through family. I don't even shoot these rifles very much.

The AR that is coming soon has YHM peeps and I plan to use the rifle like that for a while. I am thinking about the "dot sight" as a way to change up my range time.

Thank you very much for the feed back. Exactly what I needed.

Mark
 
Yeah, they're OK optics for a .22 plinker or something. A couple of my friends have that same scope on their Ruger 10/22s. Being a short little scope, it fits the short receiver of the 10/22 well and allows for proper eye relief using the factory mount, unlike a lot of longer scopes. They don't have great glass, but they work fine for plinking at the range. That's about the only thing I would use one for though.

Another optic in the same category that is quite a bit cheaper still is this $25 one from AIM Sports: http://www.amazon.com/Sports-Compac...id=1394335564&sr=1-3&keywords=aim+sports+4x32 No illumination, but you really don't need that feature for a plinker.
 
I've tried some UTG mounts and risers and found that the tradeoff was weight/cost not durability/cost. I'd buy again. I used one American Made UTG PRo handguard for a 9mm AR project and was pretty impressed.

That said, I'm very skeptical of their optics and have not tried them.

Mike
 
I have a couple....

.........of their products. Their stuff is kinda like my FEG Hi Power. Not as refined as the real thing, made rough but works. Very heavy stuff. I've had one of the Leaper/UTG " BugBuster" for ages on a Talon SS airgun and has served me well. But no real recoil there.

One of their CQB red/green dots sits on my Saiga .410 bullpup. Only problem I had with that was the screws working loose on the mount. But to be fair, I should've tore it down, cleaned and Loctited everything. It's been on there a year and has seen a lot of use since three inch .410 was the only thing available to me for awhile there. One of their "BullDot" lasers sits on that as well (wife likes lasers, so don't bust on me!). It hasn't fallen apart yet. That Kushnapup sits upstairs with a few ten-rounders loaded with Winchester buckshot rounds in it. I have an easy six hundred rounds through this set up, so I have confidence in it.

I consider the scopes to be decent enough out to 100 yards or so. Not super clear and crisp but serviceable. Wouldn't use them for any serious distance. Traded some rimfire for one of the older Japanese made Tascos for my Marlin .22 mag. Now that is a nice piece of glass! I heard that whoever made the older Tascos also manufactured for Bushnell and Weaver (no frills, lower cost lines) years ago. Can see for miles with that thing. Or at least as far as my .22 mag will shoot ;).

I have another Bug Buster that serves as my "interim" scope. The one that serves until I get serious about getting something better. Right now it sits on a Remington 7615. Holding up OK, but honestly haven't shot it much yet. Put it on before winter. Planning on putting it on a SKS bullpup later in the spring when that project is finished. At least until I figure out what I really want on it. Noticed that that scope isn't as decently made as the first one I bought years ago. Pretty bad when cheap stuff manufacturing actually had "better" years. Way of the world I guess.

There's my four cents worth, kinda lengthy. Take it for what it's worth and do with it what you will.
 
I have a UTG red dot on a magnum springer and it has held up for 1500 shots or more battery life not that good but ok. You can take a 1000 dollar rifle scope put it on a magnum springer and it will fall apart. UTG scopes have a true strength platform and it will hold up to anything. Glass is ok but the clearest I saw was on their 1x4 AR type scope it was crystal clear
 
I have a UTG red dot with the their 3x multiplier on a M4. It actually works very well and no problems. I haven't been rough on it so I can't say how rugged it is. Just because it's made in China doesn't mean its crap. Almost every sight and scope out there is made in China.
 
Ironically, a cheap, low-power Chinese optic (say, a 4x power) might work well on a full automatic gun, where you have a built-in dispersion factor anyway. I wouldn't put them on anything where you need long-range precision.
 
I put a UTG 1-4X scope on my Saiga 5.45. Seemed pretty heavy duty, and the optics are clear. I think I fired about 200rds with it on the rifle. Adjustments seemed pretty repeatable, and they held once zeroed.
No complaints. Not using it currently, as I went to a Bushnell TRS25.
 
One thing about cheaper optics is that in very bright sunlight the dot is not bright enough. I bought a sig st-081 when I first got my rifle. They run about 170 dollars. I was very upset when I was trying to shoot it at 80 yds and couldn't see the dot. I had to go by where I thought the dot was at and hope I was right or I was just a wasted round. Bought an aimpoint pro and haven't looked back since. There were a couple other red dots all had one shortcoming or another. By the time I bought them and lost money getting rid of them it would have been better to just get the aimpoint first. Plus a good optic will always hold its value.
 
Primary Arms is totally chicom but they are better quality. I don't know if they get there by inspection or by keeping a QA guy at the Chinese factory.

PA will take care of you too. I stripped out a screw on one of their optic mounts, which was my fault. They sent me a new mount w/o any drama.

BSW
 
They are cheap China optics/accessories. They may work for a plinker, but I'd never use one for anything I had to rely on.

One specific plant in China makes parts and assemblies for Aimpoint, Eotec, Lucid, and quite a few budget red dots.

China will make products with the quality as good as you want it. Just don't expect the Chinese Aimpoint parts to be installed into a GI contract unit, that can't happen under the law. But a civilian model, who knows?

A red dot is just an emitter and a few flat coated lenses, with battery power and zeroing adjustments. A set of binoculars in the exact same price range is two sets of collated prisms and focusing lenses with an indexing mechanism to focus them simultaneously.

So, why the same price for less than 30% of the lenses, which aren't even ground to a power, with 25% of the casting to house them, and very little in the way of a circuit to power it? I've been asking this question on forums for over five years and nobody has an answer. Yet the chest beating about high priced red dots goes on.

If it's got glass lenses they will break. If it's got an aluminum billet or cast housing it will deform. If it uses batteries they will leak acid and destroy the circuits. If it's dropped on pavement, run over by a truck, or hit by a bullet, it will stop working. So will an expensive 3x9 scope. I like red dots, and I've had one since Aimpoint offered their first one, which I still have. But I cannot justify the extremely high prices - nearly the cost of the firearm in some cases. All for a couple of flat glass lenses and what amounts to an LED flashlight inside.

Buy quality, but don't let the China bashers get on your nerves about it. The don't have all the facts, the makers don't like to talk about it much.
 
What Tirod said about Chinese quality being as good as a company wants it to be (and will ensure). The PA unit is better due to better QA even though it also comes from China. I wouldn't trust my life to it either, but for only a skosh more $, makes a better value for a range gun.
 
I've compared the PA red dots side by side wth the Bushnell TRS-25 and came out in favor of the latter due to lower weight and profile. That said they are so obviously made in the same place by the same folks.

Mike
 
i built a upper for one of my colt ar,s and wanted a scope to target shoot and plink with, i bought this aim sports 1.5x4 with 30mm tube,locking target turrets and special lighted retical scope made in china for a 100.00 with discount. it has worked with out any problems for over two years and several thousand rounds. would i use it on my self defence rifles,ar,s or m1a, probley not. but for the price i am happy with it so far. eastbank.
 
here are pictures of the rifle with the aim scope on it. eastbank.
 

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