Recently picked up my S&W M&P Sport 2 AR-15. Looking to add a scope. Will I need a riser? Looking for both red & green dot. Green dot seems better for daylight visibility. Didn't want to spend more than $150. Barska has one in Red dot, Not sure about green for app $100. So many out there it's difficult to decide which is the best bang for the buck. Doesn't mention if a riser is needed or not for the model. Any suggestions are appreciated. I am new to scopes but not the AR15/16 which I fired years back in the military.

Are you talking about scopes as in magnified optics or red dots? Big difference between the two.

Basically Red dot/ Green dot scopes. Barska has one on EBay with 8 different site pictures, 4 red dot 4 green dot for app $100. Not sure if I'll need a riser as it really doesn't state one way or the other. I am new to scopes so any positive feedback is appreciated.

You might want to check out Primary Arms. They have a number of red dots, and you'll find users reviews. Also, if you search through the forum, you'll find a number of threads about red dot sights members have used.

Going with the idea the OP is refering to a red( or green) dot optic, rather than an a actual scope.

Yes , some sort of raising is needed in general. Some optics may have height built-in. Some may come with w riser included in the box. Or , all the makers AR acessories w also make optic mounts. A top name quick detach mount can cost as much as your budget by itself.

There are lots of very inexpensive red dots on the market. Most of them are junk. In your stated price range, the frequent recomendations will be Bushnell and Primary Arms. Raise the budget to $200, and also look at Vortex Sparx .

Barska is junk... do not waste your money.

Bushnell TRS-25 was the defacto standard of inexpensive red dots, but I have read that they have recently changed and not for the better. If you go with one of these, make sure that the emitter for the red dot is at the 4 o'clock position, not 6 o'clock.

Primary Arms is also good for inexpensive red dots. Many to choose from, and you can call them and they will tell you exactly what mounts and risers you need for the set up.

Risers will depend on a couple of things, the build of the optic and how you want it set up.

Thanks for the replies guys. After more research I am going to go with the Vortex Opmod strikerfire II. Pretty straight forward. No riser needed. Has both Red/Green dot. Has favorable reviews and is priced app $179.00. Looks like it will fit my needs fine. A magnifier can also be added for this particular Optic should I decide on one down the road.

I bought a Vortex Strikefire 11 with Cantilever mount for $199. Gives you absolute Co Witness and moves the sight forward to allow for a magnifier in the future. Very happy with it!

Hands down best bang for the buck is the Lucid HD7. No riser needed, plug and play. Holds Zero with the best of them. All for under $200. Hard to find a better Red dot. Just my 2 cents..

SouthernArmsCompany.com

The hands down best bang for the buck over a lifetime of enjoying the shooting sports is an Aimpoint. You may switch rifles, but you'll always keep an Aimpoint.

IMO, no point in buying Lucid, Vortex, or any of the ilk. You want a good budget dot made in China just like the rest? Buy a Primary Arms. At least you're not paying a premium for a brand name that isn't really that worthwhile.

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-John

I am not sure this is true. If you are looking for something that is rugged and you can bet your life on I agree it is hard to beat the Aimpoint line. The Aimpoint Pro can be had for as low as $380-$400 on sale and for the money is excellent.

Not everyone is looking for an optic to for TEOTWAWKI or civil unrest where reliability and rugged construction can win the day. If you are looking for a quality optic for plinking steel or killing paper targets on the weekend I recommend the Vortex line. You can get a Vortex Sparc II or Sparc AR for $200 everyday and sometimes as low as $160ish. What you get at that price is decent battery life, clear glass, 2 MOA dot in a light package similar to a H1,H2,T1 or T2 in the Aimpoint line for about 1/4 of the price. The other thing you get with Vortex is a 100% no BS guarantee that follows the optic not just to the first purchaser.

I have in the past purchased Vortex optics on sale when I did not have the coin for Aimpoint. I take good care of the optic and when I have saved enough for the Aimpoint minus what I can sell the like new Vortex for I sell the Vortex and get the Aimpoint. This allows me to shoot on the cheap for the entire time. Primary Arms red dots are decent too and have a good warranty but they do not have the same name recognition that Vortex does. IMHO

I can only vouch for the vortex SPARC AR. Picked one up recently and am very happy with my choice.


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I think so.

I put red dots in two categories.
A. Duty worthy
B. Recreational worthy.

I've had a couple sub $100 Primary Arms MicroDots for several years that have given great service. There's years of endless positive reviews on the Net along with endless praise for Marshall Lerner, operator of Primary Arms. So... I don't see much value in paying more for some other label which is still a B.

Perhaps there's underlying wishful thinking that if you pay $200 then you get a kinda-sorta A. It's still a B.

For the record, I love my Primary Arms micro dot, a total bargain for about $100.

__________________
Still carrying my S&W 642

Sums it up.........

Aimpoint....... is my choice in.......... A

Several older Bushnell TRS-25s....... serves my needs in .......B..... and I will admit on my "crossover" Beretta CX-4; about the only thing that size at the time (2003/4) and it just keeps hanging in there!!!

Right. Aimpont is my "A".

Considering all the issues with EOTech and the new Trijcon MRO getting surprisingly poor marks, there really isn't much choice.

They are good budget recreational dots but these days only one of the is under $100 and the mount sucks and the dot is not as clear as the Vortex IMHO. The mounts for the Vortex line are better and include low and 1/3 mount spacers. They are not Aimpoimt or LaRue but they are better then the generic one that comes on the Primary arms.

I agree that under $200 you are looking at recreational red dots but if you know what you are getting and buy properly then they can serve you well if you fully understand going in what you are buying.

It's kinda sorta wrong to believe that every one can afford a H2 or T2 and to tell people anything but that is inferior is wrong. Most people asking these questions have very limited needs. They are not going to war with their rifle. It is not a duty weapon. It is a recreational gun so why not get a recreational dot.

I really like the Aimpoint Pro for recreational Shooter's if they can afford it. It can be had for right around $300 and it can do anything you want it to do but it is big and heavy. It makes a lot more sense to recommend it than the H2 or T2 which costs more than the Sport II that they are putting it on. The unfortunately reality is that many people cannot afford the extra over a Primary Arms or Vortex.

You don't see value in the Vortex but I and many others do. I can buy one at a good price shoot it recreationally and then sell it for 90% of what I have in it. Can't say that about the Primary Arms product.

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Yes I believe that the coating is better. As far as the mount I prefer mounts which allow you to mount the optic 1/3 co-witness or absolute co-witness which optics like the Sparc II and Sparc AR come with. The PA Dots do not. You can use other mounts but they are not included. PA and Vortex both occasionally suffer from unround dots but then again so does Aimpoint under certain conditions for some shooters.

If you look around on AR focused sights like Ar15.com you will see Sparc ARs and Sparc IIs selling for $160 used all the time. You can buy those optics delivered for $168 -$180 on sale. The PA dots sell for about $60. Still not bad but not the same and that is within a community that considers them a good optic. Put it on your avg gun board not an AR board and it will languish even at $60. The Vortex will sell faster. I know I have done it and will most likely do it again. The name has more recognition and the lifetime warranty helps them sell for more.

I find that parallax is extremely subjective. All dots have some amount of parallax anyone who says there isn't is lying. How much and does it bother you personally is a subjective thing. parallax is one of the biggest complaints on the new Trijicon MRO but many people don't see it.

I am not saying its not there I am just saying that it is subjective. Take one optic and hand it to one shooter and they will have issues another will not. One person saying that they could not shot the Vortex Sparc does not mean all Sparcs have a parallax problem. All poodles are dogs not all dogs are poodles.

In the end I think that if you know what you are getting there are a few low priced red dots that are worth what they cost that do not say Aimpoint on them. Some of them don't even say Primary Arms on them either. LOL

Rastoff was comparing vids I posted demonstrating parallax on one of my PAs, he wasn't subjectively dreaming up something in regards to comparison to his Vortex.

As far as the LED being round, they all are unless there is some QC defect. Here is a pic of one of my old PA MicroDots. I took the pic to settle the debate over the notion that lower end red dots are somehow less round.

I am not sure we are on the same page here. All red dots suffer from parallax but have different systems to correct for the parallax. Some people's eyes do not play well with some companies system to remove the parallax and therefore see it more than others. This is why some people complain that the new MRO from Trijicon is unshootable and others claim it is good to go. It is like the DLP effect on TVs. Some people see it some people don't. It is a subjective compatibility issue. It is not a universal truth. Taking a picture of your dot does not tell the whole story IMHO. Showing one example vs another single example does not make it a universal truth. With the Vortex Sparc II parallax gets better moving it further down the rail. Many people who report issues have the optic setup like a BUIS and have their nose on it. If you move it out a bit the Vortex parallax system works better in my experience.

In the end the PAs are a decent optic low end optic and PA stands behind it. There have been changes to the optic over the years some of them not so good. People report the "newer" ones are not as bright and wash out in sunlight more than the older ones. You clearly like them. I like them to I just see more value in Vortex for the reasons I have posted.

I am glad I do not spend your money and you don't spend mine so I am free to choose what I think is best. I am just trying to give an alternative view to the status quo so often stated here. Alternative opinions are a good thing right?

So the folks are buying SPARC II new for $168 delivered then selling them used to ARF dwellers for $160?

Is there something in the Vortex water?

Sometimes... that is what is happening. Lots of people only look at major retailers like Amazon, Cabela, MidwayUSA etc... and do not shop other places and find deals. It has nothing to do with water. LOL

The majority of people buying Sparc ARs and Sparc IIs are paying $200 so selling a LNIB used one for $160 is reasonable.

Its like when I used to be able to buy Colt 1911s from a dealer at great prices. I could buy a Colt shoot 2000 rounds out of it and people at the range would still offer me more than I had it in because they were used to paying full boat on Colts.

Its like if you bought a Sport II for $499, what they should be selling for, and shot a few thousand rounds for it people would pay you $500 for it all day long right now.

We're not on the same page at all.

The issues reported with the MRO isn't about significant parallax. it's about the optic not being 1x. Image shift due to magnification and parallax are two different issues, not to be confused with each other.

As far as the Vortex, the only thing I have seen so far is that you can play with a spacer for an extra $100. Nice. Well... that and NV. But if you spend $5k on decent NV equipment I'm guessing that budget optics aren't so much part of the equation.

Yes it has a slight fishbowl effect for some people that and parallax issues are the reasons it is not selling well. If you have shot one and have no issues you can get some killer deals on it right now. Rumor has it that they are going to be releasing and updated version.

Where we are really not on the same page is that parallax is a subjective and relative issue not a universal condition. It is variable based on the person, their eyes, the placement of the optic and the interaction of all those factors. Static pictures do not tell the whole story. You chose not to address this part of my post and instead are focusing on the MRO which was used as an illustration. Seems like a bit of a strawman to me but what do I know.

In the end you choose to ignore the other points because you do not agree with others viewpoints. You do not see value in things that others do and therefore dismiss them which is fine but it does not make your opinion universal truth. Nice.

Anyway thanks for the discussion it was sort of interesting.

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Had the SPARC and didn't like it. The Strikefire with the cantilever mount would be my 1st choice.ke