Rifle Red Dots

[WyldeShot]

I am looking for a another red dot for a rifle. I have a Vortex Strike Fire I and a Sig Romeo 5. I really like the size of the Romeo 5 and the shake awake feature. I know Vortex has the new Crossfire red not but I am leaning more towards the Romeo 5. I also know Holosun is a popular too.

With the above being said, I have interest in an Aimpoint Pro. I know the Aimpoint and the above red dots are completely different price points. I have also seen where some people have switched form the Aimpont Pro to the Romeo 5, mostly for size.

The rifle will be used for range time, maybe close range coyotes and hopefully not, personal protection. I am looking for thoughts and opinions? I don't know that I want to spent more than $450. The rifle has a 10.5 barrel if that matters at all.

 

[gregkl]

Joining this thread.

I am in the process of updating my rifle more as a SHTF rifle. It currently has a 1-4 LPVO on it but I'm thinking I might be better served with a red dot.

Interested in what posters will post.

 

[traderjoe]

I've picked up a couple of used Trijicon MRO's recently for under $350. Put them on PCC's. Been really happy

 

[WyldeShot]

I've picked up a couple of used Trijicon MRO's recently for under $350. Put them on PCC's. Been really happy

Nice. Where are you locating them?

 

[profjeremy]

At one point, I had an Aimpoint PRO and a Sig Romeo5XDR, each on a PCC. I didn't think there was any benefit in performance with the Aimpoint PRO, plus I liked the shake-awake feature of the Sig and its reticle options of the dot with the circle or without. The flip up caps of the Aimpoint PRO also annoyed me, plus there is obviously a huge price difference. I also have a slight astigmatism and I felt like the Sig dot was clearer for me than the Aimpoint (not sure why). Anyway, I ended up selling the Aimpoint PRO and buying another Romeo5XDR, plus had a lot of money left for ammo! In my opinion, save your money and stick with the Sig.

 

[MCgrease08]

Based on your use case, you will be well served with the Sig Romeo. If you have the money to spend on the Aimpoint Pro, then that's a good choice too.

I have a Romeo 5 on my main rifle and I have no complaints at all. Lightweight and a small footprint.

Funny that I'm in the opposite boat as gregkl. I currently have a red dot, which works great, but I am strongly thinking about moving to a 1x6 LPVO. With an illuminated reticle, it basically works as a red dot at low magnification, but can dialed up for longer shots.

 

[WyldeShot]

Based on your use case, you will be well served with the Sig Romeo. If you have the money to spend on the Aimpoint Pro, then that's a good choice too.

I have a Romeo 5 on my main rifle and I have no complaints at all. Lightweight and a small footprint.

Funny that I'm in the opposite boat as gregkl. I currently have a red dot, which works great, but I am strongly thinking about moving to a 1x6 LPVO. With an illuminated reticle, it basically works as a red dot at low magnification, but can dialed up for longer shots.

Thanks! I currently have a StrikeEagle on my 300 BO. I think I'm going to move it to another rifle since I don't shoot the 300 much.

 

[gregkl]

Funny that I'm in the opposite boat as gregkl. I currently have a red dot, which works great, but I am strongly thinking about moving to a 1x6 LPVO. With an illuminated reticle, it basically works as a red dot at low magnification, but can dialed up for longer shots.

I'm not fully decided to make the switch so I could easily be convinced to leave it as is. Mine is also illuminated so like you say, we have the best of two worlds.

With the exception of having to look down the tube and thinking I might be a little faster with a pure dot, I really don't need to change.

I am going to sell my Holosun HS407C that I have on a pistol. I even thought if I can't sell it, I would look at putting it on the rifle as offset back ups. I might be able to train to use those for quick, up close stuff and the LPVO for everything else.

 

[2A-Hoosier23]

Have a Romeo 5, a Holosun 403, and a Trijicon MRO. The MRO cost over double what the Romeo5 and Holosun did -- MRO was $350ish and the other two were less than $150 each.

The MRO is the biggest/heaviest one out of the three. Also the MRO didn't come with a mount, whereas the Romeo5 and Holosun both came with mounts from the factory. I shelled out like $100 on a Geissele super precision MRO mount which has worked fine. Wish I would've gone for a quick-detach mount, but the Geissele seems extremely rock solid so I guess that's a plus. (Haven't had any issues at all with the mounts that came with the Romeo5 or Holosun though)

All 3 hold zero perfectly well, all 3 have good adjustment systems. The shake-awake features on the MRO and Holosun have never failed. The Holosun has been on for over 3 years, MRO and Romeo5 have been on for over 2 years, each with Panasonic Cr123 batteries bought dirt-cheap from Amazon. (Now that I think about it, I should probably change these batteries out soon.)


None of these three optics have been babied, but none have been necessarily "tortured" either. The Romeo 5 and the MRO have held up just fine through high-round count carbine classes and standard practice. Holosun has held up fine through standard use too.

The one gripe I have with any of these three red dots is the battery panel location on the Holosun requires removing the optic from the rifle to change the battery. Other than that, I like all of them.

Now-- The Holosun was the first one I bought, then I started hearing/seeing reports of quality control issues from Holosun. So the reason why I bought the MRO was that, supposedly, Trijicon has much better quality control than Holosun. I intended to replace the Holosun with the MRO and sell the Holosun but after seeing little noticeable difference between my MRO and Holosun, my wariness of "budget" optics like the Holosun has gone down... leading me to purchase the Romeo5 later which has also been just fine despite some reports of poor quality control. I think these QC issues are legit and people have actually gotten bad 403's and bad Romeo5's, but if you get a good one, you got a good one

If you want to spend more on the Aimpoint or maybe an MRO for the peace-of-mind, that would make sense... at least to me, as I did exactly that

 

[WyldeShot]

Based on your use case, you will be well served with the Sig Romeo. If you have the money to spend on the Aimpoint Pro, then that's a good choice too.

I have a Romeo 5 on my main rifle and I have no complaints at all. Lightweight and a small footprint.

Funny that I'm in the opposite boat as gregkl. I currently have a red dot, which works great, but I am strongly thinking about moving to a 1x6 LPVO. With an illuminated reticle, it basically works as a red dot at low magnification, but can dialed up for longer shots.

You've given me something to think about. Maybe I should look at pulling my StrikeEagle on to see how I like it. I know it is a lot larger than the Romeo and heavier but it might work. The only issue is that the rifle has a 10.5" barrel so it might be a little awkward.

 

[VERT]

Sig Romeo, Riton x1/x3, holosun, vortex. Pretty much interchangeable. They are all made in China. All cost about the same. Similar quality and features at a given price point. Paired with a decent set of backup sights I think they are fine. AimPoint and Trijicon would be my choice for duty use.

 

[Gabriel]

Sig Romeo, Riton x1/x3, holosun, vortex. Pretty much interchangeable. They are all made in China. All cost about the same. Similar quality and features at a given price point. Paired with a decent set of backup sights I think they are fine. AimPoint and Trijicon would be my choice for duty use.

This.

The PRO is a good solid optic that we beat the hell out of at work and they still run. I harp on this whenever they come up, but the bottom two screws that hold the three pieces of the mount together need to be pulled and loctited before the optic is mounted. It's the only part we have had issues with and it seems to happen to all of them at some point. Two minutes of prevention will save one from a future headache.

 

[Chalky]

FYI... Cabela's /BPS has the Romeo on sale for $149.99 and is offering 10% off today for veterans, military, LE, Firefighters & EMTs. Free shipping too. Other optics on sale and available. Not a bad deal, $134.99 + tax. Haven't seen them cheaper in a while...

 

[VERT]

If I were looking for a bit more budget option for an AimPoint Pro or Trijicon MRO I would purchase the following.

https://www.btbguns.com/product.riton-optics-x3-tactix-1x-25mm-2-moa-illuminated-red-dot-black

They do come with a warranty, the viewing area is larger then most of the other budget dots, the dot is clean, quick release mount and I like the simplicity of the side mounted on and off. We have had excellent luck with the Riton line. I don’t have any of their scopes but their binoculars are nice.

 

[Ggreen]

If you are completely 100% sure you're not going night vision. I like the aco a little more than the pro. It gets brighter than the pro vs having the NV settings. It also has a much less bulky mount but is still a quality mount. The pro, aco, and mro are my go to red dots. They are in that category where price, utility, and reliability really come together. It's tough to beat an aimpoint micro, but cost states to get prohibitive for most when you creep into the 600+ range, and features/ utility stop increasing so dramatically. Becomes a detail oriented set of features that you pay more for when jumping up there. The aco is such a good dot or of the box for a pistol. Light weight, acceptable nonbulky mount, bright enough to see in any condition.

 

[WyldeShot]

If I were looking for a bit more budget option for an AimPoint Pro or Trijicon MRO I would purchase the following.

https://www.btbguns.com/product.riton-optics-x3-tactix-1x-25mm-2-moa-illuminated-red-dot-black

They do come with a warranty, the viewing area is larger then most of the other budget dots, the dot is clean, quick release mount and I like the simplicity of the side mounted on and off. We have had excellent luck with the Riton line. I don’t have any of their scopes but their binoculars are nice.

I have heard of Riton but keep forgetting to check into them. I need to read some reviews. They look a lot like the others on the market. I just want to make sure they are durable.

 

[WyldeShot]

If you are completely 100% sure you're not going night vision. I like the aco a little more than the pro. It gets brighter than the pro vs having the NV settings. It also has a much less bulky mount but is still a quality mount. The pro, aco, and mro are my go to red dots. They are in that category where price, utility, and reliability really come together. It's tough to beat an aimpoint micro, but cost states to get prohibitive for most when you creep into the 600+ range, and features/ utility stop increasing so dramatically. Becomes a detail oriented set of features that you pay more for when jumping up there. The aco is such a good dot or of the box for a pistol. Light weight, acceptable nonbulky mount, bright enough to see in any condition.

Thanks for the information. I doubt I will go NV considering the $2K-$3k cost. When I am able to go NV I will use a helmet mounted system. I really like the micro too, but like you said the cost is a factor. I will take another look at the ACO.

 

[Ggreen]

Helmet mounted nods require red dots with NV capability. You lose the brighter settings to have an NV red dot though. I'm a big fan of mro's pro's and aco's. Hard to go wrong with any of them. You will have annoyances with the Romeo 5 category red dots. I've seen the optical quality go from crystal clear to extremely poor with lots of reflections and interference. You don't get that inconsistency with the 3 I listed.

 

[WyldeShot]

Helmet mounted nods require red dots with NV capability. You lose the brighter settings to have an NV red dot though. I'm a big fan of mro's pro's and aco's. Hard to go wrong with any of them. You will have annoyances with the Romeo 5 category red dots. I've seen the optical quality go from crystal clear to extremely poor with lots of reflections and interference. You don't get that inconsistency with the 3 I listed.

I will look at the ACO for sure. If I go with NV I would go with a NV laser too. All honestly I don't see me getting NV any time in the remotely near future except for a rifle scope.

 

[4x4strongman]

Aimpoint pro has a +1 for me, I like mine, no issues whatsoever, dont care about the size personally, but it is on the larger size