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So I have been having my AR for a few months and xmas is coming up so I think it is time I put an optic on it. Currently it has a Magpul rear sight and an A2 front sight.

I am looking for a red dot in the sub 250-275 range. I am not ready to spend the money on an Aimpoint or something like that. I have been looking at a primary arms red dot, vortex strikefire, and holosun/primary arms red dot with ACSS reticle. Anyone have experience with these sights and want to tell me the good and bad about them? Also add your suggestion for other sights to look at in this price range.

Right now I am leaning toward the Holosun because I like the chevron/ring sight. But I am planing to sight the rifle in at 50 yards so I would have to work out what the BDC ranges are if I ever wanted to use them (but likely will never use them).

Holosun
http://www.primaryarms.com/holosun-para ... s503g-acss

Vortex
http://www.primaryarms.com/vortex-strik ... -sf-rg-501

Primary Arms
http://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms ... ife-md-ads

I have to Primary Red Dots. One is on my 300 blackout and it gets the most shooting. I have had it about two years and have had zero problems. The other one is on a 5.56 and I have had it about two years and no problems with it either.

If you're going to sight in at 50 yards, set it to hit about .75" below your point of aim. That will put you almost dead on at 100 yards.

carlson1 wrote:I have to Primary Red Dots. One is on my 300 blackout and it gets the most shooting. I have had it about two years and have had zero problems. The other one is on a 5.56 and I have had it about two years and no problems with it either.

Thanks, nice to see they have lasted for you. I am always weary of reviews that people give right out the box because they haven't used the product much and some people are not likely to come back and review a product after a few years unless they are really unhappy about it.

I have the Vortex Spark II. It was 199 at Academy regular price. No issues with it after a year. It has two different mounting height options and I use the lower third cowitness with the same sight configuration that you have. It's worth checking out, maybe watch some reviews of it, etc.

Pawpaw wrote:If you're going to sight in at 50 yards, set it to hit about .75" below your point of aim. That will put you almost dead on at 100 yards.

I was thinking just zero on 50 even though the ACSS is made for 100 yards and if I wanted to use the the other dots in the future just do the math on what range they should be and test that out.

I've run PA micro dots for several years with no issues. My next one will be the Holosun/PA collaboration. PA is the best bang for the buck in the optics market, IMO.

Wag2323 wrote:I was thinking just zero on 50 even though the ACSS is made for 100 yards and if I wanted to use the the other dots in the future just do the math on what range they should be and test that out.

I understand that, but the question is, "Why?" A 3/4" miss at 50 yards is as good as a bullseye for any practical purpose other than target shooting.

Do it whatever way you want. It's your rifle and you're the one that has to like it. Just think though, if the stuff hits the fan, you may not have time or even remember to do the math.

While I phrased it poorly, all I'm doing is offering is advice.

If you buy the PA Red Dot and want a PA magnifier let me know I have one I will sale. Used a couple of times and has the swing out mount.

I had thought about getting a Sightmark Ultra Shot M-Spec Reflex setup. My other option is a Holosun unit.

My department issued AR has a Eotech which works great, but I can't justify that much money for my personal AR.

Pawpaw wrote: I understand that, but the question is, "Why?" A 3/4" miss at 50 yards is as good as a bullseye for any practical purpose other than target shooting.

Do it whatever way you want. It's your rifle and you're the one that has to like it. Just think though, if the stuff hits the fan, you may not have time or even remember to do the math.

While I phrased it poorly, all I'm doing is offering is advice.

I see what your saying and it is a good point.

I wanted to post an update to this:

I bought the Holosun with the ACSS last week and hopefully will get to shoot it this weekend.

With my whole idea of sighting it in at a different zero than 100 it seems my lack of any experience with red dot sights (never used any but a 3x9 hunting scopes before this) had me thinking the red dots would be a little bigger than they are. Clearly after mounting this sight I can see that with it's size and my average shooting skills if they are even average I am going to see no difference in POI at 50 yard if I zero it at 100 like they suggest, unless I have some really rock solid rest.


Also not sure what I was thinking saying I could do the math for a different closer zero because if I zero it closer the other dots become useless since they will all be for something way farther than 400-600 with the bullet path. Not that I would ever actually shoot this gun past 100 anyways.

The math I did do though is that for a 100 yard zero, a 25 yard hold would be the between the bottom of the chevron and the first dot so that might be useful maybe or just a fun thing to know.

I put an inexpensive ($35-45) Sightmark reflex sight on my M4 for about a year to see if I liked that kind of thing. It worked fine the entire time and still does on my daughter's M&P 15-22. I got one of those horrible EoTech things and haven't had any trouble with it either.

My next adventure in this area might be an ACOG type something to see if I'd like that kind before spending the dinero on one of those bad boys. I would like to because of the battery issue, but just not sure yet.

With optics you get what you pay for.

I consider all of my firearms as firearms I might have to depend on to save my life or somebody else's life someday. They will not wear cheap optics.

Aimpoint, Trijicon, and Meprolight are three examples of red dots/unmagnified optics I would stake my life on. I like the Trijicon and Meprolights with the Tritium elements more because they don't need batteries.

I will shoot open sights before using bargain basement optics. Stop drinking Starbucks, eat Ramen for a month whatever, but more expensive optics are generally worth it. Buy Once, Cry Once.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr