Holosun 503GU.  I ended up purchasing 6 of these last year.  Under $150 each shipped.  Like having auto on/ off, 6 rifles now have same controls and batteries.   Sold a Aimpoint T1 and Eotech EXPS 3.0.  to pay for these and some new mounts.  Never cared for the Eotech.

I have quality scopes in bobro mounts on my scar 16 and 17.  I may eventually get 2 romeo 5's and used qd micro aimpoint mounts to use them on the scar's.

The 17 should be a good test.

Not seeing much in the way of failures in the literally hundreds of online reviews for Holosun.  Haven't checked out the others yet.

If someone wants to offer objective metrics on why mid-priced optics represent 'gambling with your life' (how dramatic..) then I would like to see it.  Things like Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) are how you measure such things and something tells me nobody here has any idea what that value would be for any of the optics in this discussion.  Other things like how waterproof and run times are published.  Impact resistance is not available as far as I can see.  If you have no data and instead are just offering your heart felt opinion based on products you've been around, that's certainly worth something and I'm sure we all want to hear about it.  But please understand that it's just a personal experience and to me, hundreds of 4 and 5 star reviews mean more than anecdotes and hyperbole.

You are correct, they are great sights and there are a lot of people in the Aimpoint or your gonna die category.  I get them wanting to buy the best of the best, but it just isn't realistic to outfit all of your rifles with Aimpoints when you aren't wealthy.  Also Aimpoint does not offer any other reticles like the Holosun does and I am very very partial to the new ACSS red dot, super quick up close and amazing reticle with a 6x magnifier.   The new Primary Arms advanced red dot that uses rotary knobs seems to even be tougher and just made better overall based on personal experience so far and what I have read.

The thing is any optic can fail on you, most will fail when it isn't a life or death scenario like when you pick it up to take it to the range or whatever.  In the extremely rare event your optic does die on you in that life or death situation then that is why you should always have back up iron sights ready to go - even Aimpoints can/have failed (just not as often).  Most of the bad Holosun dots, or even budget dots for that matter usually show their problems right out of the box or on their first range trip if they are problem prone, and that is a very very small percentage of them based on how many are out there.  You do hear of issues with some people who have had them for awhile but the greater majority are very happy - a lot greater majority of Holosun owners seem to be happy then Eotech owners yet many of the same people who tell you your Holosun isn't duty grade and you should replace it with a duty grade (Aimpoint, Eotech, Trijicon).

This ^

USSOCOM has approved only five red dots for military consideration to replace the EOTechs based on function and durability. Holosun is not among them, nor any other Chinese products.

They are Aimpoint T-2, Leupold Deltapoint Pro and LRO, Trijicon MRO and SRS.  Their process is not based on anecdotes and is not hyperbole.  Have nothing against Holosun.  But it is not duty grade

For just under 200, try looking at the Romeo 5x (no adjustment caps, external adjustment) with a coupon or sale from optics planet.. and for just barely over $300 look at the MRO from botach after making an offer (I offered $349 and they countered at $329).. FOV is very nice on the MRO.

MRO has great field of view which I prefer on my 300blk and stays powered on setting 24x7...

The Romeo 5x I prefer on my 11.5 SBR lightweight setup for runnin and gunnin. The motac on the Romeo works well but I dont know if I trust it yet full time on my HD

I've gone through some nice optics in the past.. comp m2, trijicon reflex (Ran through 2 carbine classes) and tri power and older serial# MRO... 1.5x acogs ... The 2 that work best for me are the first 2 above ... you can find youtube videos of both being torture tested and blasted by a shotgun... Run with a functional set of BUIS and you should be good to go

I like my FF3, Docter Optic MRDs and Vortex Venom (venom sold - the aluminum hood is so narrow the dot washes out in sunlight) for not weighing anything.. but those are best served on handguns and for 22lr in my experience.. they just don't pick up as fast and aren't as friendly with cheek weld on a fighting/HD carbine in an awkward position.

The Romeo 5 has only a 20mm lens, like Aimpoint Micro series and most other micros.  Pretty tiny FOV.  Don't pick up fast enough, either.

holosun 503GU is the clear winner in this category. They can be had for the $170-185 range with enough searching

Yes this is why I mentioned the MRO and it’s impressive field of view in a separate paragraph.

No, I disagree with the Romeo not picking up fast. I can pick it up as fast as my MRO - both are on absolute co witness mounts and pick up equally as fast for me... because under 25 yds I train exactly the same with both

Slow and fast are relative to the user

Misusing FOV. Micros offer the user, two eyes open, a great field of view for great situational awareness

The Holosun 503G or GU, and 515C are both excellent.  The solar cell is not to power it with no battery, but
rather auto adjusts brightness for lighting conditions.  If that is not your cuppa tea, you can switch it to
"manual mode" and set it as you wish, like the 503G.

What I like most about the G and GU is the ease of changing the battery, under a cap on the right side.  On
the other hand, with the very long life, auto shut off, auto awake, that is really a non-issue.  Change the
battery every two years and you are GTG.

The 515C has the QD base, lens covers, and "kill flash", as well as the solar cell for auto brightness.  So far
I have not needed to override the auto brightness setting.

I replaced Eotech 552's and 512's with the Holosuns, which at least hold zero, a problem I had with all of
my Eotechs (I had four plus a Bushnell version at one time).  I'm happy with the Holosuns.

Where are you guys finding 503GU's for under $200?  Are there just no sales right now?  I'm usually pretty good at tracking stuff down but I can't even find any for $200 even let alone at $150-180 that people are saying in this thread.

Keep your eye out, you can get an Aimpoint Pro for $335.  LAPOlicegear just had them at $337.  In December SAMPSON had them $312.

I know, I bought several of them both times.

Having had a vortex, bushnell, blah blaah blah,, the Aimpoints are QUALITY and worth the extra $50-$80 from the $250 price point

DI Optical RV1

I use the Primary Arms 30mm advanced red dots. Caught them on sale for 89 because they weren't NV compatible. I dropped each in a QRP2 mount for another $40 and I am satisfied so far.

If I didn't buy those, I'd save up for a trijicon MRO or look for a good deal on an aimpoint pro.

Quite the read here fellas. Long story short I just picked up my first AR a Colt a few weeks back and would like to get a red dot. First I will shoot a few hundred rounds with the iron sights. I know for a few hundred dollars more you can get a better red dot. I spent my few hundred dollars more to get the Colt. My work gave me a $250.00 gift card for Cabela's which I plan on using for a red dot. Right now I am looking at the SIG Romeo5 part of me wants to save up for a Aimpoint. It's been cold here so I haven't been able to get out much to get use to the iron sights first. There is also the need for more mags ammo etc. Anyway thanks for all the posts and info.

Berry Amendment

DI Optical Raven sight. Aimpoint build quality,  AA battery usage (20,000+hrs), clear glass in current gen, accurate adjustments, sharp dot, NV capable. And I have three (both the button and rotary, I LOVE the rotary). And you can use any ARMS #17 equivalent qd mount on them.

Edit: PA often has deals on them, and the .mil discount prices are EXCELLENT.  Oh, and they are from the same production line as the Korean military sights (different designation to get around that damned arms treaty bull).

Do you know the difference between the RV1 and RV2 models?

What is the issue about not properly cowitnessing, neither absolute nor lower 1/3?  If it is not absolute, does it really matter what the fractional height is (nothing magic about 1/3)?

Both the RV1 and RV2 have the same optical formula, but the RV2 has digital controls and 2 oz lighter. The RV1 has a analog rotary dial.

As for not being proper co-witness, remember both were designed for the Korean K2 and K1 sight hight with are taller than the AR15. You can see more images  here. It work just find on AR-15 sight height but it's in between 1/3 and absolute co-witness.

FYI, DI optical's main business is making artillery sight, so they know how to make sight that durable and can withstand recoil. Most of their sight body is CNC from billet aluminum. On the latest generation of their RV1 and RV2 the battery life is two years and both feature the clear lens coating that you will not seen green tin at low light.

Also, the DI Optical RV1 and RV2 were used extensively by the Filipino military during the Battle of Marawi

It's like 4/5 because it is made for the Korean service rifle, although I can pop my sights up and they line up with the dot (a bit low but still accurate). Honestly, in the end it doesn't matter for practical accuracy, especially if you fold the rear sight down.

RV-1 uses a rotary dial. RV-2 uses sealed push buttons and has an auto -off after 10 hours if the sight isn't used (as in left in the safe). Much better made than any other lower-priced sight I've found, perfectly happy with it as a go-to sight. I have Ravens on two of my .308 rifles and one of my 5.56 rifles. No issues with zero retention.

I've got Aimpoint PROs on some rifles.  Vortex Strikefire IIs on others.  PA advanced microdots on others.  And Bushnell TR25's on a bunch of 22's.

Ironically, I only had irons in combat.

BUIS and whatever you can afford works for me.  My HD AR has a PRO.  It's backup has a Strikefire II.  I'd be comfortable using either, and both have irons if needed.