I officially bought my first AR15 yesterday. It came with no sights. Unfortunately I spent quite a penny on the AR. My question is does anyone have any cheeper yet feasible sight recommendations to give me? I am open to any sights (optical, red dot, magpul regular sights, combo). I know I am going to have to upgrade if needed at a future time. The AR will be used for target shooting (fun) and home defense as I see it now. I probably have 300.00 (don't laugh please) to spend. New to the AR realm so not familiar with sights. Thanks

I like an AR to have iron sights for general plinking and defense situations (close, fast). A simple red dot is also fast and fun.

IMHO, many people put huge sniper scopes on an AR, which in its basic form is a 300yd service rifle, which huge scopes are not needed and not all that useful.
YMMV. Your rifle, your choice.

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Science plus Art

Your budget of $300 can get you the Strike fire 2 and a set of Mag pul sights..

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US Army 71-73 USMC 75-78

What AR15 did you buy? Did it come with an A2 front post and a rear BUIS or any other form of iron sights? If you need to get a basic set of BUIS I recommend Magpul BUIS if you are not going to shoot them much. If you are going to shoot them on a regular then consider a set like the Aero HK style sights but your price will jump up from the Magpul BUIS.

On the sight side stretch the budget just a little bit. You can get a LNIB Aimpoint Pro with mount for $350. They are duty ready and will serve you well. 0-300 yards. At 300 any red dot is not going to give you a great sight picture but it will work.

Aimpoint - PRO



If you do not have the extra $50 you can get a LNIB Aimpoint ACO for $300.

Aimpoint - ACO



Buying these used is not an issue IMHO if you buy LNIB. They are built like tanks and will take a lot of abuse that most people never inflict.

If you go lower I recommend Primary Arms Micro Dots which range from $100 to $169 or Vortex Sparc AR or Sparc IIs which run about $170 but these are not duty ready IMHO. They are great for range guns and light use for home defense.

PM me if you want to know where to get a Aimpoint Pro used LNIB for $350 or an ACO for $300. I do not want to post a link to another forum. LOL

What model AR did you buy? Mike G's recommendation is decent for your budget, as long as you aren't trying to put the polymer Magpul front sight on a railed gas block...

Since you said "home defense" many are going to recommend an Aimpoint Pro or Aimpoint ACO for a lower priced "duty" level optic, but it is above your budget.

Few of you have asked what AR did I buy so I posted a pic. I know a little extreme for my first, but I don't plan on buying another. As you can see...no sights. Any more sight comments appreciated.

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Yeah, well, I think the pix just blew your "budget plea."
That thing screams "aimpoint pro and be done."

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Science plus Art

Good advice above. I second the suggestion of iron sights. IMHO, everybody needs to know irons. But if you're set on an optic, you won't go wrong with the Aimpoint. The Aimpoint Pro is perhaps the best deal going. A great optic and it comes with a mount. Mounts aren't cheap. You won't need to upgrade it later. It's not usually a good idea to buy cheap with the thought of upgrading later. Buy once, cry once. You may decide you don't like a red dot, but that's a different issue.

What rifle is that? I would choose a black finish personally, but the skeletonized upper is awesome. How much does it weigh? Really like those MFT BMS' too, got them on several of my rifles.

If it were me I would get a set of these. Aero HK style BUIS. $114 Shipped!

APRH100703 Aero Precision Flip Up Sight Set - APRH100702 - APRH100701



I have run Magpul BUIS, plastic, Magpul Pros, metal, and these and for pure sight picture these are superior. The only downside is their width profile. Shoot about 1000 rounds with your irons and get to the point where you can hit a man sized target standing 9 out of 10 times at 100 to 200 yards and then get a red dot when you have more coin.

Those look like nice sights. Are they the same plane as the A2 front sight?

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

Thanks WVSig. I think I might take you up on your suggestion.

AR15 Flip-Up Sight Set | Aero Precision

Front Flip-Up Sight Features:

Hooded HK-style design
Uses standard A2 front sight post

Rear Flip-Up Sight Features:

Dual rear apertures
Mil-Spec height for flat top AR15/M4 upper receivers

Here they are mounted on an 18" PSA build.... I ended up moving the rear further back after my first range session. Not sure why I mounted them too far forward. I guess I thought it was going to interfere with the charging handle for some reason but with the larger latch on the BCM charging handle it was not an issue.

Iron sights are great and everyone should have a set IMO. But with the amount you have budgeted I would seriously consider saving a little more and getting an Aimpoint. They are the sight to have for a duty weapon. There are several advantages they have over lesser sights with maybe the most important is you can leave the sight on all the time. The battery will last a very long time.

There are lots of lesser quality sights that are still good. They're just not as good as an Aimpoint. I actually bought a Strikefire 2 because I had a budget constraint that wasn't really under my control. It was a birthday present and in my family we give each other money and we expect people to buy themselves something they want with that money. Adding money to it makes the family members think they went cheap on your present. It's a complicated setup I guess but it beats getting 30 sweaters for Christmas when you haven't worn a sweater in 30 years.

Sorry for the tangent. I went there to try to explain why I settled for a Strikefire II. It's a decent sight. It just isn't an Aimpoint. And eventually I'll probably sell my Strikefire and get an Aimpoint. But one thing at a time. I'm not exactly locked in to using my AR for HD anyway. I've been using other firearms for that job for a long time (yes that means I'm old ).

We shouldn't forget what the primary design of the AR is all about. It's about having a high capacity rifle that will throw lots of lead down range and do it accurately. But volume > accuracy in the AR world IMO. Not everyone will agree but they aren't built to be target rifles. There are other rifles that do that job much better. They are hard core SD weapons that most likely will never need to be used for their primary purpose. Beyond that they are just fun as heck to shoot. If the "fun as heck" part is what motivated you to buy an AR the Strikefire II will make a fine sight for you. But I wouldn't go with a high powered scope or anything. The rifles aren't geared for that. YMMV as always.

WVSig, do you know if I will have a problem or if these will co witness (absolute) with a Vortex Sparc II. Researching sights I learned that all will not co witness due to being to low. Still learning so don't know if I am correct. Thanks

What rifle is that? Don't keep us hanging, aweome looking.

They are millspec flattop height, so I'm not sure what mount comes on the Sparc but it won't be too hard to get them co-witnessed even if the Sparc mount isn't the correct height.

Oh, and consider some paracord on that MFT stock, stops snags. I did it to mine and love it.

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Still carrying my S&W 642

I got this red dot sight for $29.99 (plus $9.99 shipping and tax) from CDNN SPORTS - CDNN Sports - Huge Savings on Guns and Magazines

I have it mounted on a Savage Axis .223 Bolt action rifle. It took a while to get it sighted in so be patient with its somewhat fidgety adjustments. Where I shoot, the open areas are less than 225 yards, so that is as far as I shoot. That means I can't say anything about long distance performance, but so far at 200 yards or less - mostly around 100 yards - it has performed far beyond anything I would have expected from a $40 sight.

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