dot sight for AR15

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flexible

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Hi, I have my first AR15 - a S&W M&P15. I have already installed a Geissele SSA-E trigger and now want to get a dot sight. I'm 65 and the iron sights are challenging. I'm seriously thinking of a Aimpoint Micro H-1, I know they're a little steep but I can afford it.
what do you think? Are there cheaper but good alternatives?
thanks
flexible
 
dot sight

I am 72 and I understand where you are.
I have AR and AK rifles that I have Eotech sights on them.
Old eyes are just harder to see through and takes longer
to acquire a target.
I have been very happy with the Eotechs. Well pleased with them
 
Bushnell TRS-25 is a great red dot. I installed one on an AK and couldn't be happier. I forgot to turn the sight off two weeks ago and pulled it out for a weekend trip and it was still good to go. If you read the reviews they rate quite high with gun owners. Alot of value for the money.
 
I use the Burris FastFire III -- light, compact, fast/easy on/off/adjust, all you need and nothing you don't. I also like the Eotechs, but they're way bulkier and pricier.
 
I've gone to the Burris 332, it gives all the advantages of a red dot and works without batteries. The 3 power makes it usable out to 400 yards for me.
 
I'm an EOTech fan...I have the older 512 which uses AA batteries

I like the EOTech's reticule better than the Aimpoint's dot as I find that the large ring draws my eye better. I accept that the Aimpoint's battery life is much longer and is faster to acquire...you can just leave it on for years...but how often are you going to take advantage of that as opposed to changing batteries before you go out
 
If home defense is a potential use, the H1 is superior IMO as it can just be left on. My first H1 battery lasted 3 years always on. When it starts to go it doesn't shut off, you'll notice it seems dimmer than you remembered and want to up it a setting, that is when it is time to change the battery.
 
I have an ultradot 6 on my ar and many ultradots on my pistols. The ultradot is a step up from any of the chinese dots and I would say slightly better than the burris or other units. lifetime warranty. Not as good as aimpoint or trijicon or eotech but not as expensive either.
 
flexible Hi, I have my first AR15 - a S&W M&P15. I have already installed a Geissele SSA-E trigger and now want to get a dot sight. I'm 65 and the iron sights are challenging. I'm seriously thinking of a Aimpoint Micro H-1, I know they're a little steep but I can afford it.
what do you think? Are there cheaper but good alternatives?
thanks
flexible
Click to expand...
Aimpoint PRO.............runs $375 delivered.
Turn it on today, turn it off when you replace the battery in 2017.
 
I've tried some of the budget (under $100) units and consider them a waste of money. I tried a Vortex SPARC at around $200 and found it acceptable. I also have a Burris which is at least as good as the Vortex. Never tried any of the higher end units.

And won't. After using a dot sight for a while I've decided there are better options. Even the good dot sights have a couple of quirks I don't care for. Compared to a scope, or even quality irons they will never be as accurate. The dots can be a little hard to see in bright light. You can see the dot just fine in low light, but the optics are no where near as good as a conventional scope so you can't see the target.

I've found a low powered conventional scope to work better. This 1-4X20 Leupold only weighs 8 oz. Not much more than many dot sights. On 1X it is incredibly fast on target. Much better than irons, and at least as fast as a dot. On 4X it is minute of Coyote out to at least 200 yards and probably good for 400 yard shots on bigger targets. The glass works better than irons or dots in low light, and the 250 lumen light mounted on the forend makes it like daylight for 50-75 yards for night use. If I need to shoot farther I have a 1000 lumen light that can go on there.

nm048_zps896f31f8.jpg

I have a 2-8X32 on this one. 2X is not quite as fast up close, but it'll but 3 rounds into 2" at 300 yards on 8X. You can see the light better in this photo.

nm047_zps26f06323.jpg
 
flexible said:
Hi, I have my first AR15 - a S&W M&P15. I have already installed a Geissele SSA-E trigger and now want to get a dot sight. I'm 65 and the iron sights are challenging. I'm seriously thinking of a Aimpoint Micro H-1, I know they're a little steep but I can afford it.
what do you think? Are there cheaper but good alternatives?
thanks
flexible
Click to expand...
I use a Vortex Sparc and it's been great. It runs about $200 and is waterproof, has an unconditional lifetime warranty, is NVG compatible and comes with a multi-height mount system. The Aimpoint H1 won't come with a mount so you have to factor that into your budget as well. For me I didn't see the real benefit of spending around $300 more for an Aimpoint and a further $100 or so on a mount. For what I wanted out of it, a Vortex works fine for me.

I was recommended the Vortex over the aimpoint because of the great pricing and good quality quality by the smith at my LGS. They could have sold me a $600 aimpoint setup but he has always had good luck with the Vortex sights and uses a couple of them himself so I took his advice and went with it. He did say that the aimpoint would likely be more durable but for the average shooter in just about every condition(i.e not military or similar operation) they wouldn't necessarily need that type of durability.

In terms of a scope vs a red dot, it depends on the usage. If your intent is precision shooting a scope is better. If you just want to punch paper from shorter distances and have it for a defensive role should the need ever arise I think a red dot or eotech is going to be better because of the FOV allowing you to see your peripherals and the unlimited eye relief. Being able to cowitness the iron sights is a benefit as well but it depends on what you want to do with it in the end.

o7CeuMO.jpg
 
What dogtown said. I have a PRO on my AR and I love it. The dot isn't quite as sharp as the M68 CCO (Comp 2) I had on my M4 in the sandbox, but it works more than good enough for me
 
9mmepiphany said:
...I accept that the Aimpoint's battery life is much longer and is faster to acquire...you can just leave it on for years...but how often are you going to take advantage of that as opposed to changing batteries before you go out
Click to expand...

Every time I use my carbine to for dry fire practice or to go shooting. The biggest reason it too me so long to get a RDS is because of battery life. The batteries in the H1 have lasted me more than two years. I replaced them recently because I felt it would be better to do so before I needed to.

flexible you've got the right idea getting the H1. It's well worth the investment and if it turns out it doesn't suit you it will be easy to sell and get your money back. Or do as dogtown tom suggests get the PRO.

Don't sweat getting the 4 MOA dot. The 2 MOA dot is smaller but 4 MOA is smaller than the front sight post is wide
 
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I'm a big fan of 1x4x scopes as well. The one I have is a lot heavier than my red dots. However I think it's far more versatile and just about as fast as a red dot at close range.

If you go with a 1x4, and you figure on using it with both eyes open, then absolutely go for as close to a true 1x as possible. Even a little bit over that 1X mark and it can mess with your binocular vision a lot. You need real adaptive eyes to use even a 1.1X with the same speed as a red dot.

I also have a SPARC and a Bushnell TRS25 and they are great, inexpensive optics. The SPARC has had the crap kicked out of it for four or five years now and it's never missed a beat. I think it has two downsides. First, it's large for a red dot and using a both eyes open sighting, I think it slightly obscures left side vision. Second, it takes an odd sized battery that I can't find locally.

The TRS25 is a new addition and it's nice and it's small, but I don't know about it's durability yet.

You can turn the brightness up a lot on both and the dot does get bigger as it gets brighter, and a bit fuzzier too. No problems viewing either in bright sun.
 
HJ857 said:
I'm a big fan of 1x4x scopes as well. The one I have is a lot heavier than my red dots. However I think it's far more versatile and just about as fast as a red dot at close range.

If you go with a 1x4, and you figure on using it with both eyes open, then absolutely go for as close to a true 1x as possible. Even a little bit over that 1X mark and it can mess with your binocular vision a lot. You need real adaptive eyes to use even a 1.1X with the same speed as a red dot.

I also have a SPARC and a Bushnell TRS25 and they are great, inexpensive optics. The SPARC has had the crap kicked out of it for four or five years now and it's never missed a beat. I think it has two downsides. First, it's large for a red dot and using a both eyes open sighting, I think it slightly obscures left side vision. Second, it takes an odd sized battery that I can't find locally.

The TRS25 is a new addition and it's nice and it's small, but I don't know about it's durability yet.

You can turn the brightness up a lot on both and the dot does get bigger as it gets brighter, and a bit fuzzier too. No problems viewing either in bright sun.
Click to expand...
The newer Sparc II uses a different battery(CR2032 vs CR2354), but I think is the same size body.
 
I have an AimPoint PRO and and EoTech 552.A65. I honestly can't make up my mind which one I like better. The EoTech retical is superior, but the AimPoint feels more "natural" for whatever reason. Either way, both have provided a major assist for my eyes (bifocals now...).
 
Just like wojownik, I had both an EoTech and an Aimpoint Pro. In my case I preferred the Pro, as the smaller 1 MOA red dot looks more precise than the EoTech reticle (to me). I traded my EoTech for an Aimpoint Pro, with a friend of mine who thought the opposite! It's kind of a personal thing.

Consider the Aimpoint Pro though - it's still a very, very nice red dot, it's 1 MOA, and it's a reasonable price.
 
FYI: With an astygmatism, you will need corrective lenses.

I like Eotech for sight picture.
 
I have mild astigmatism and I can shoot a red dot just fine without my lenses being specifically designed to correct for it. I guess it depends on how bad it is.
 
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