I've been wanting to try an open window style reflex or RDS for awhile, Eotech is out for obvious reasons, but how are these meprolight sights? The price point is attractive but the lack of brightness settings make me wonder if isn't good for flashlight use. Also how about durability? 

I have one. It is a great sight. The brightness levels are great. Holds zero well.

I was looking at them before.  The only 2 things that people cautioned about were potentially the dot being too dim and the fact that the Mako Group was the importer.

I have no real world experience with the site myself though.

.

I have two, they're plenty good.  Solid sight, holds zero, brightness levels are adequate.  Auto shutoff is nice.  
Honestly, if they ever make a model with with a CQB reticle similar to EoTech, they'll probably grab a sizable chunk of market share.  
My hope is that someone like Primary Arms will partner up with them and throw an ACSS reticle in there.

I have 3. One original one with a metal hood. I picked up one on a Black Friday deal a couple years ago. Holds zero well, battery lasts forever. I have yet to replace the battery in one.

I bought the original one because it was like $265 on a Black Friday special. It was meant to be a cheaper EOTech for my son's rifle.

Once the whole EOTech thing happened I sold my EOTechs back and bought 2 more Mepro Tru Dots. Both used from the EE here.

I tried Aimpoints, Vortex Strikefires and EOTechs. I like the EOTech field of view and reticle.

The Tru Dot has a field of view like an EOTech. The reticle is not the circle/dot but it works great. All 3 get plenty bright even on a sunny day at midday.

I've owned several of the Tru-Dot RDS', including the original metal hood versions.
What I like: AA battery, wide/untinted FOV through the optic, ergonomic control, few brightness settings (do we really need 20 different brightness settings?)
What I don't like: Original 15K hr advertised battery life on 'high' turns out to be only appx 2K hrs, max brightness can vary from unit to unit (ie: the 'high' on one unit was identical to the 'medium' on another), max brightness can be adequate but needs another level brighter (IMHO).

Tomac

has anyone put one of these sights through a carbine class? I'm just about ready to buy one of these I think. 

Just bought one from midway for $327 shipped, I hope it's bright enough for day work.

i'll be trying the Holosun HS510C Circle Dot & Solar

Attached File

Appreciate the heads up on the deal comes out to about $346 with a NRA round up due to extra shipping costs for AK. Not sure if that makes it a must buy now price. 

ETA:  oh screw it went ahead and ordered it because I've been getting lots of OT

I have 4 of them, all have worked just fine!

I've had mine since the black friday sale in 2014 and that rifle has seen 3k rounds and some range/class/desert action. as hard core as a white collar office dweller with soft hands can get.

Never had to rezero, never had any problems, I pop in new batteries every year just out of precaution.

Brightness is fine even out in the desert, I like the fewer settings and the knob is easy to use.

If you can get one in the low 300s, go for it. It was a steal for the mid 200s I paid.

Only con is the heavier weight (10.8 oz).

I have one and it's great. Very durable, very bright dot. I usually keep it on the lowest, non-NV, setting. I use it in daylight and the dot is still bright indoors with all the lights out using my flashlight mounted on top of the rail in front of the RDS. I much prefer this optic to Eotech or the Meprolight M21.

At that price I've ordered another to see how it compares w/the ones I've used earlier.
I'll post my impressions here after I've had a some range time w/it next weekend.

Tomac

ETA: Wow, I must have gotten the last one 'cause price is now $491!

When I purchased mine it said ther was only 5 left. So there would have been 4 left afterwards. 

There was one left after my order, the last one must have sold shortly after so the price reverted to the pre-clearance price.

Tomac

Please let us know how these compare to or older ones.

Will do!

The two I ordered arrived today.
First impressions, pretty much identical to the Tru-Dot RDS Premier versions I owned originally, except:
1) The inside of the battery cap now has spring-loaded fingers to keep constant pressure on the top of the battery (I surmise this is to prevent recoil-induced momentary contact loss, which I experienced w/my Premier versions if the battery cap wasn't sufficiently tightened), and
2) At max, the dot is at least as bright as I remember the Premier versions being. I briefly owned a std version where its max brightness was exactly as bright as the 'medium' on the Premier versions, I'm glad these new ones both seem sufficiently bright. Looking through them in the bright Idaho afternoon sun, at max the dot was clearly visible, with only a little dimming when aiming at a pure white wall. Until I get some range time this weekend to be certain, so far it seems plenty bright for my needs.

Out of curiosity I compared the RDS at max to a Trijicon MRO I have in my safe, and it's very nearly as bright as the MRO at setting '5' (which is max short of the '6' nuclear bright setting).

Perhaps the biggest surprise I got was comparing the dot's location w/my BUIS after installation, as I planned on doing a rough sight-in to cowitness w/my BUIS before heading for the range. Imagine my surprise to see that both dots were perfectly centered just atop the front sight post, needing no preliminary adjustment!

So, now both my optic & WML both run on AA's which simplifies my logistics.

Tomac

Attached File

Great post thanks for the info.

I to picked one up on a Black Friday deal several years ago. It was my first red dot type of optic actually and I love it. Plenty bright to deal with the Arizona sun and the battery lasts damn forever. It's also offers excellent of the lowest prided quality dot sights I've come across.

Update: My son's visiting this weekend and decided he wanted an RDS for his AR so I ordered one from another vendor. Arrived today and appears to have come off the line a couple of hundred units after the two I ordered for myself.
Compared the dot brightness and his appears to be slightly dimmer than mine. Not as bad as one I saw a couple of years ago, but definitely a little dimmer on all brightness levels. Still adequate, IMHO, but I would have preferred it to be as bright as mine.

Tomac

Mine just came in and I must say wish there was a setting between the lowest daylight setting and the NV setting. 

I picked up mine in that Black Friday sale a couple years ago.  Just moved it over to my pistol build.

Update:
Hit the range today, sight-in was fast/easy for all 3 units. My son's RDS is definitely a little dimmer than mine but was still very visible/adequate in the bright Idaho sun.

Tomac