"cheap" red dot for my m&p 15 sport Options

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newguy07

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Just ordered my first AR, the M&P15 Sport, and need advice for my first red dot. I need to stay under 120$. I would like something that can be set up for co-witness ( not sure if absolute or lower 1/3). What models do you recommend? This weapon system and red dots are all new to me so if i need to buy amount as weak please clarify.

Primarily a range toy and for shooting varmints. Back up HD behind the shotgun. And if zombies start attacking I'll be busting out my entire arsenal. So I want something decent but really can't see spending more than $120 absolute max.
 
I'm with the Sarge. Have not tried the Bushnell. :)

Caveat - my Primary Arms is on my S&W M&P 15-22. Over two years, 3.5k rounds and still on the same battery.
 
Under $120 I'd get the Primary Arms.

If you can scrape up $150 I would get the Vortex Strikefire, red-only AR15 version. Not a lot different but lifetime warranty and probably somewhat better quality.
 
I think the Bushnell is made in mexico... PA is from china. I'd opt for mexican parts over chinese stuff.

I was also on a tight budget when looking for my sight. I wound up picking up a used bushnell holosight (eotech type) for about $120 off of ar15.com.
 
The PA units are Chinese made, but the importer will replace them if they fail. I stripped a screw in mine and I got a new one shipped free.

BSW
 
I have an ATN Ultra Sight I will sell you for half that price PM me if you are interested.
 
Cheap is kind of a misnomer. Once you buy enough of them trying to find one that will work and hold up, they end up not being so "cheap".

If I had back the money I wasted on "cheap" dot sights, Id have another Aimpoint and a good mount.

I have Aimpoint M2/ML2's on my guns that have red dots. These days, they are "old", but Ive had them since they were current, and a couple have been on multiple guns, including full autos. I have yet to have one fail or be a problem. I leave them on 24/7365 and change the batteries once a year (like I said, they're old and short lived :)).

This one, in a LaRue cantilever mount, is on my M&P......

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Primary, Vortex, Lucid, Eotech, and Aimpoint all have components made in the same plant in China. The first three are completely assembled there, nobody will say about the last two. Under the Berry Compliance law, they must be Made In The USA for government contracts. That means nothing for civilian sales, tho, but the politics keep them quiet. And they've never addressed it.

Primary and Vortex have great customer service, but you just might need it. Lucid is out of the price range, but nobody is complaining on the net about the optic or needing CS. Aimpoint and Eotech are by reputation good optics, will fail anyway under harsh combat conditions, and have excellent CS.

The real issue for a lot of us is why a red dot optic is so expensive. It's a cast aluminum or extruded tube, with coated flat lenses, and a battery powered LED or laser. That just described a 130 Lumen flashlight for $20, or a pair of roof prism binoculars with mulitiple coated lenses that move and focus. You can get Steiner issue binoculars for the price of an Aimpoint, with two sets of coated lenses that focus and have a ranging reticle etched on them. Twice the working optic just in one tube, and the two work together flawlessly.

Yeah, I'm looking at the lower priced optics, too. For good reason.
 
The real issue for a lot of us is why a red dot optic is so expensive.
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I think that should read "why a quality red dot optic is so expensive". From personal experience, its because they work in the real world.

Ive owned "cheap" red dots that really werent all that "cheap". Bushnell, Tasco, BSA, Hakko, and a few others, and everyone of them took a dump with just moderate use/abuse. Some didnt work at all, some worked intermittently, some wouldnt hold zero, etc. Battery life on all of them was very short, and if left on, they were usually dead the next time the gun was used, even within the next day or so.

The Aimpoints Ive owned, have been totally different critters. Ive owned them (the same units) for quite a few years now, and even with fairly heavy use/abuse, they havent skipped a beat.

The battery life on them is also a big issue, and actually, its a non issue. I dont need to worry about leaving them on, because they are always on. The M2's are basically "old school", and they have a battery life of over a year, constantly on at a medium setting. The newer units run from 5-9 years now. Thats just one battery.


Now if youre looking for a range toy, that really isnt going to get used a lot, then maybe the cheaper ones will be fine for you. If you plan on using this on a gun that may be used a little more vigorously, in all kinds of weather and conditions, and youre the least bit forgetful about shutting it off, then you may want to think about spending the extra.
 
Field reports on the issue optics show that glass lenses will fail regardless of who makes them. What's left are the electronics.

Since the issue optics are required to be made using US labor, the overhead costs are substantially higher. That includes all the mandatory reporting requirements and benefits, too.

Other manufacturers have been successful in using offshore labor to make high quality products in other countries. What hasn't changed is using that as a excuse to charge high prices based on the Branding of the product here in the US.

One of the optics in question was specifically designed to get the Defense contract - it's not junk either, but because they didn't, they are lumped in with all the others because the street price isn't supported with "issued to Navy SEALS." Considering the premium involved, it's about 50%. That's what happens when you get an NSN.

Case in point, Colt's last bid for an M4 type contract, which FOIA states was about $500, not the $1100 everyone likes to cherry pick as an example of "quality." Price actually is no guarantee of quality. The only ones to believe that shop exclusively at the Mall.
 
Price actually is no guarantee of quality.
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True, but generally, you do get what you pay for here. If that werent the case, then all those $1-200 red dots I bought before would probably still be working. Although Id have probably still paid for a new Aimpoint in what I spent on batteries.
 
Aimpoints are made in Sweden, according to Aimpoint.

Aimpoint sights are manufactured in accordance with ISO 9001:2008 and meet the highest standards of quality. Each sight is hand-built at our state of the art facilities in Sweden, assigned an individual identification number, and subjected to rigorous testing and numerous quality control checks during the manufacturing process.
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From: http://www.aimpoint.com/fileadmin/u...ial_Market/2011_Commercial_English_M01126.pdf

Quality optics coast more. Lenses with good light transmission and coating coast more, selective band gap filters cost more, quality electronics cost more, quality machining and metal coating coast more.

If your life is going to depend on a optic working right that's probably not the peice of equipment to cheap out on.

BSW
 
Out of experience, Millet red dot sights are the best ones in the $100 range. They hold up pretty well from what I have seen and experienced. I have a TruGlo which is alright, but the quality is shoddy and I would really only use it if it was a for once a year shooting.
 
I've had my share of cheap scopes and red dots on my fun guns and have had a number of failures. Stay away from all the $50 stuff on anything but a 22lr.

The secret of using inexpensive optics such as these is to purchase them at a local retail store i.e. Cabela's, Walmart etc where they have a good return policy (so you don't need to ship back to an etailer) save your packaging. Hit the range right away and test everything out if you aren't happy or if you have a failure return the item to the store and exchange it for something else or upgrade.

Right now the only "cheap" red dot I have mounted is the Barska 1x20 micro red dot. I had one on a AK I sold this year and another on my AR - with no issues. I have a couple of Tru Glo red dots in a box because they became too clunky (but held up) compared to the 1x20 micro dot. Nothing else in the $50-$100 range that I tried held up and was returned. Buddy has a Tasco pro point that has worked well and I've heard good things about the Vortex strike fire and Primary Arms stuff. Otherwise it's a crap shoot.

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