sightmark optics...?

[wolfe 21]

Hello,

My current setup is a bushnell trophy red dot with 4 reticles that I probably paid too much for and am not really happy with. It's too green, which makes low light shooting difficult at best, especially at my outdoor range. I am trying to find a value priced optic that I can co-witness with the stock iron sights, and ran across a sightmark reflex sight at my local Dunham's (chain retail sporting goods store like a Dick's or Gander Mtn) for 39.99. I don't know much about the brand, but the forum chatter on their scopes seems to be pretty good. Anybody have any experience with this optic? If this isn't recomended, I'll probaby try the TRS-25 that is recommended on another thread here.

James.

 

[scooter123]

I had a 4 reticle Sightmark (70 bucks at Gander Mountain) installed on my 617 for a while, the only problem was the offset from the barrel axis made it rather sensitive to distance. Before I put it on my 617 I had it mounted on my 10mm 610, on that gun it wouldn't hold zero. IMO it's a good sight for a 22 but not appropriate with something with much more recoil.

As for the sight itself, optically it was superb with excellent definition and clarity of the reticle. It also features 7 different illumination levels that was plenty brite for full sunlight and also excellent for low light shooting. For use on a light caliber or a bow, it's a good bargain but it does use up the batteries so keep a spare on hand.

BTW, that same Sightmark is also sold under other brands, such as Barska and others.

 

[grimreaper21]

heres a very comparable product if you want to know more options.
Firefield 1x33 Reflex Sight
you'll be hard pressed finding a perfect 'made in china' reflex sight at your $40 price point.

 

[wolfe 21]

Not really stuck on that price point or on a "made in china." As far as quality goes, the bushnell is a good piece. It's just not what I want on this gun. I was just hoping maybe I'd get lucky.
Are any of these better options:
Sightmark Micro Reflex Sight

Cabela's: Bushnell® Trophy TRS-25 Red-Dot Sight

TRUGLO Reflex Red Dot Sight Red and Green 4-Pattern Reticle (15 MOA Peep, Crosshair, 3 MOA Circle Dot, 5 MOA Dot) with Integral Weaver-Style Base Matte - MidwayUSA

 

[grimreaper21]

i honestly couldnt say one was better than the other. the best thing to do is play around with them at the store, get a feel if it is solid or not. many of them have trouble holding zero just because the mount on the bottom doesn't hold them good enough. try some googling around to get others' customer feedback on them.

in terms of quality (top to bottom), this is just an estimation:

Barska, Sightmark, Swift, Truglo

BSA, Tasco, Yukon

ATN, Leapers, NcStar

 

[Rustynail70]

Hello I have the Sight Mark on my 15-22 and it is holding zero. I have put 750 rounds through since installing it. So far I really like it. The Reticules are bright and well defined.

 

[chuck s]

Sight Mark faux M68 COO ("Aimpoint") does an excellent job on my 15-22 and mimics the real M68 on my M4 Carbine.

-- Chuck

 

[scooter123]

That Truglow reflex you linked to is obviously made by the same maker as my Sightmark, the only difference is it's 10 bucks cheaper and offers 2 colors and a slight change in reticle options.

For a 22 caliber rifle it'll work just fine, however for a 308 or something more stout I'd recomend spending the bucks for a Trijicon, Aimpoint, or Leupold.

Now, points concerning Reflex red dots in comparison to scope type red dots. IMO the scope types will prove to be a bit more resistant to damage from carry in the field, so if your going to do some brush busting after rabbits and the like, a scope may be a better choice. On the other hand I find the open frame of the reflex sights to make it vastly easier to shoot with both eyes open, so for range play or shooting games, the relex will probably be a better choice.

I'll also note that the dot size choice should be determined by the most common distance you'll be shooting at. Larger dots are easier to pick up and work well for ranges under 25 yards. However, if your shooting out to 50 or 100 yards, a sight with a 2 MOA dot is distinctly superior to a 4 or 8 MOA dot. It will be harder to pick up but long range shooting usually is done at a slower pace than close range drills so it's a worthwhile choice. That is one distinct plus for the reflex sights that offer multiple reticle features, you can set up to what you plan on doing.

 

[wolfe 21]

Thanks for the info. I might give the sightmark a try, just to see if I like the reflex style sights. If not, I'm not out that much... My main concern is holding zero after extensive shooting. Seems I burn up a brick at least every time I go to the range (estimating somewhere north of 5k in the time I've had mine).

James.

 

[Griffy19]

I know that myself and a bunch of other people on here have very good things to say about Primary Arms red dots. Super fast shipping and for a "knock off" I say they are great quality.

 

[scanner]

Take a look at Vortex sights

Have you looked into a Vortex Strikefire or Sparc? Vortex is a US based family owned company. They do have their products manufactured in China, but their quality is spot on. Their red dots come with a transferrable lifetime warranty. I've got a Strikefire with the AR15 high mount for absolute cowitness with my mbus sights. Took out a chew happy squirrel with it last week. So far the zero has held up to some purposeful torqueing of the sight and battery changeouts. I will be buying another Vortex red dot for my next build. I am thinking about trying the Sparc, but I really like my Strikefire.

 

[wolfe 21]

Vortex looks like good optics, but I'm not sure I want another tube style sight. I've also considered the M3 style clone from PA, especially last week when they were on sale, as well as their micro green dot. My only concern is the 5moa reticle might be too big for use past 50 yards. I'm thinking I'd like something small and light to use mostly at the range and inside 50yds (mostly bouncing cans at under 25). Maybe I'll just take optics off and go back to irons, i've noticed my ammo consumption is alot lower when I use iron sights. Undecided right now I guess...

 

[jsimmons]

I have three Primary Arms red dots on my rifles - two MicroDots ($89 each) on my big ARs, and a M3 ($49 on sale) on my 15-22. They're great, inexpensive scopes. The only things that matters on a .22-mounted red dot is battery life and a certain amount of ruggedness.

As far as dot size, consider this - a red dot sight is for close-in (0-50) yards, and is merely a faster sighting system than iron sights. The intent is NOT to provide good grouping from a bench rest. It's an "on-the-move" rapid-sighting system. A 5-MOA dot will serve just fine in a scenario like that, and will in fact be BETTER than a 2-MOA dot because you can see it better in bright sunlight.

In my opinion...

If you want accuracy, get a decent magnified optic. I've found that Mueller, Nikon, and Bushnell make decent low-cost (between $100 and $200) variable-power scopes. The only things you really need to concern yourself with are parallax, eye relief, and that the scope has target turrets instead of having something that requires a dime or screwdriver to turn.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

+1 the advantages of a red dot aren't punching paper from a rest.

Red dots also provide relief for older eyes that have difficulty keeping iron sights and the target in focus. 1x dot allows you to keep focus down range with both eyes open.

 

[wolfe 21]

I'm only 26 so it's not the focusing that presents my problem, but the ability to actually see the target at extended ranges. Anything past 25 feet starts getting blurry and shooting the 50 yard target without magnification groups like a 12ga pattern. Also I understand the idea of a red dot is to be a quick minute of man accurate aiming device, but I have gotten used to having variable reticles on my bushnell and believe that a single 5moa dot would take some getting used to. And I have considered a magnified optic, but I have a tendency to go too high for the gun I'm using (had a 6-24x on a 69A winchester .22 for a while). I really only want this gun for the fun factor, hence the dot.
Is the PA micro dot too small an optic to use alone on a flat-top type rifle?

James.

 

[whoppo]

My 15-22 changes configuration fairly often, and many of it's "suits" include a Sightmark reflex. It works very well, holds zero just fine and co-witnesses with the iron sights perfectly without a riser.

When I mount magnified optics on the top rail, I'll often offset mount the Sightmark on the right side to have a no-mag dot with just a slight twist of the gun.

It's not expensive, but it's not junk

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Wolf21,

"I'm only 26 so it's not the focusing that presents my problem, but the ability to actually see the target at extended ranges. Anything past 25 feet starts getting blurry and shooting the 50 yard target without magnification groups like a 12ga pattern."

I'm not an optometrist, but you might consider getting a second opinion on the above.


"Also I understand the idea of a red dot is to be a quick minute of man accurate aiming device, but I have gotten used to having variable reticles on my bushnell and believe that a single 5moa dot would take some getting used to. And I have considered a magnified optic, but I have a tendency to go too high for the gun I'm using (had a 6-24x on a 69A winchester .22 for a while). I really only want this gun for the fun factor, hence the dot.
Is the PA micro dot too small an optic to use alone on a flat-top type rifle"

I use a 1x red dot for bouncing shotgun shells and soda cans around. A magnified optic much over 3-4x isn't well suited for that because you'll spend all day just trying to find em.

I wanted a 1x red dot that was small and light, and didn't require a generic make-fit riser. PA Micro Dot works well for me. If you're wondering what it will look like here are some pics.

 

[hairtumor]

Wolf21,

"I'm only 26 so it's not the focusing that presents my problem, but the ability to actually see the target at extended ranges. Anything past 25 feet starts getting blurry and shooting the 50 yard target without magnification groups like a 12ga pattern."

I'm not an optometrist, but you might consider getting a second opinion on the above.


"Also I understand the idea of a red dot is to be a quick minute of man accurate aiming device, but I have gotten used to having variable reticles on my bushnell and believe that a single 5moa dot would take some getting used to. And I have considered a magnified optic, but I have a tendency to go too high for the gun I'm using (had a 6-24x on a 69A winchester .22 for a while). I really only want this gun for the fun factor, hence the dot.
Is the PA micro dot too small an optic to use alone on a flat-top type rifle"

I use a 1x red dot for bouncing shotgun shells and soda cans around. A magnified optic much over 3-4x isn't well suited for that because you'll spend all day just trying to find em.

I wanted a 1x red dot that was small and light, and didn't require a generic make-fit riser. PA Micro Dot works well for me. If you're wondering what it will look like here are some pics.

I love the look of that set-up. Is that a laser/light combo in front, what type is it?

 

[Nachtjager]

I have the Barska version of the reflex sight and I have looked at the true glo, sightmark, BSA and others and they all seem to me to be made by the same mfg. in China, they appear identical in every aspect just different names on the side.

I really haven't had any problems with mine (I bought it at a Dick's) other than it was a little difficult to get sighted in at first but it seems okay now and shoots a pretty tight group. I do co-witness it with the front sight to make sure I have the rifle lined up straight.

The advantage of these is you don't have to look down a tube and you can use them very easily with both eyes open. They do not obstruct your view at all so they are easy to use and for moving targets would be easy to acquire the target.

I also have a quick release NcStar scope as well and I change between the two depending on what type of shooting I will be doing. The scope works great for targets over 50yds as the red dot sights tend to block out the center of the target at a range over 50yds. So for short range of 50yds and under the red dot reflex works great and for 50 yds and over I use the scope for getting tight shot groups and for being able to see the target and target center at longer distances

here is the reflex mounted on my rifle

this is the sighting in process at 50yds, using the reflex and CCI ammo, the black stick on circle has a 1 inch center circle and it is 1 1/2 inches from center to outside ring. This was the sighting in process, it started hitting high to the right and I adjusted it into the center area and got a pretty tight shot group

this was 14 rapid fire shots at 50 yds with the reflex sight and CCI ammo, the black circle is 3 inches across

I also use this quick release NcStar 2-7xc32 and I also like this scope which also shoots pretty tight groups with CCI ammo

this is the shot group with the NcStar scope at 50yds shooting pretty rapidly, The Black circle is 3 inches across with a 1 inch center circle

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Steve,

It's a K-15 Laserlyte Green laser.