Posted: 2/10/2025 3:32:44 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Brok3n][Edited]
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Thought I'd try this Gideon Valor Mini out especially with promotional discounts, got this for $260 shipped. From what I can tell, it's essentially the same dimensions as a Holosun EPS Carry. I'm going to try it out on a new Taurus TX22 Compact hopefully by the end of this week and see it how performs before putting it on my PX4 Compact for further testing. I suffer from astigmatism so I'm surprised at how much sharper the red dot seems to my eyes over the EPS Carry. I also like the multi reticle options that includes a 3 MOA dot with 30 MOA circle. Couldn't get any good pics with my phone through the lens but here's some out the box pictures of the unit:   Back up iron sights built in + two circle indents that look like you can paint over to possibly co-witness with stock irons?  Manual pages:   Looks like they'll come out with a green version at a later date too. Will see how it shoots but so far I'm liking what I'm seeing. |
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Originally Posted By Brok3n: Thought I'd try this Gideon Valor Mini out especially with promotional discounts, got this for $260 shipped. From what I can tell, it's essentially the same dimensions as a Holosun EPS Carry. I'm going to try it out on a new Taurus TX22 Compact hopefully by the end of this week and see it how performs before putting it on my PX4 Compact for further testing. I suffer from astigmatism so I'm surprised at how much sharper the red dot seems to my eyes over the EPS Carry. I also like the multi reticle options that includes a 3 MOA dot with 30 MOA circle. Couldn't get any good pics with my phone through the lens but here's some out the box pictures of the unit: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/65378/Gideon_ValorMini_01_JPEG-3459874.jpg https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/65378/Gideon_ValorMini_02_JPEG-3459875.jpg Back up iron sights built in + two circle indents that look like you can paint over to possibly co-witness with stock irons? https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/65378/Gideon_ValorMini_03_JPEG-3459876.jpg Manual pages: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/65378/Gideon_ValorMini_04_JPEG-3459877.jpg https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/65378/Gideon_ValorMini_05_JPEG-3459878.jpg Looks like they'll come out with a green version at a later date too. Will see how it shoots but so far I'm liking what I'm seeing. I’d be interested in the green version. |
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Originally Posted By Snags: Interesting little red dot, look forward to your shooting review. Is that the company Mike went to work for? Apparently so:  Red Dots: How Cheap is too Cheap? (featuring Mike Branson) |
| I got mine last week and sighted it in this weekend. The dot is far clearer than my eps carry. I have an astigmatism as well and my edc blooms a fair amount. Using the circle dot, which I love, it is crystal clear even on full power. I have never had a red dot that doesn't bloom and it is almost odd looking to me. It took 1 click of up elevation to zero at 50 feet, and after about 300 rounds has been great. I was going to use it in a match next week, but they cancelled it, so next month it will get it's legs stretched out. So far I really like it, especially at the price point. |
A Government Big Enough to Give You Everything You Want, is Strong Enough to Take Everything You Have.
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
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Originally Posted By savage1971: I got mine last week and sighted it in this weekend. The dot is far clearer than my eps carry. I have an astigmatism as well and my edc blooms a fair amount. Using the circle dot, which I love, it is crystal clear even on full power. I have never had a red dot that doesn't bloom and it is almost odd looking to me. It took 1 click of up elevation to zero at 50 feet, and after about 300 rounds has been great. I was going to use it in a match next week, but they cancelled it, so next month it will get its legs stretched out. So far I really like it, especially at the price point. Awesome, glad to read I'm not the only one experiencing the same type of view with astigmatism. |
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>>This one would need some reviews out there and a better price point to get me to experiment<< What he said...... But I have to say, it looks quite intriguing! Will be keeping my eye on this one. |
Liberals don't care what you do... as long as it's MANDATORY!
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Originally Posted By dogtired: At this point the Holosun K dot has proven itself to me. This one would need some reviews out there and a better price point to get me to experiment. I like the K series as well but it's still an open emitter. The cheapest EPS Carry model I could find was just under $300 minus shipping/taxes too. For now, I'd say the advantage of the Gideon is it's $30-40 cheaper and has multi-reticle option as standard and the glass/dot seem clearer (to my eyes at least) vs the EPS Carry. I finally picked up my new TX22C yesterday and mounted the Valor Mini, will have to get pics later but will shoot with it Sunday. |
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>>Every time I check Gideon OOS<< Yeah, I wonder what the deal is here? I'm in the market for a closed emitter RD (non EPS) but won't wait forever for Gideon to restock. So the question is, are they selling them as fast as they make them or are they having supply issues? |
Liberals don't care what you do... as long as it's MANDATORY!
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Originally Posted By RUT: >>Every time I check Gideon OOS<< Yeah, I wonder what the deal is here? I'm in the market for a closed emitter RD (non EPS) but won't wait forever for Gideon to restock. So the question is, are they selling them as fast as they make them or are they having supply issues? It's a new release so not sure how much supply they had in stock at launch but looks like they quickly sold out. I just got back from the range and no problems with the optic although my astigmatism was playing hell on me today. Even though the Valor Mini looked clear to my eye the last few days, at my LGS indoor range the dot seemed like a line to me although using the bullseye reticle helped. Unlike the EPS Carry's tiny bullseye reticle, I felt the Gideon's actually looked like a distinctive bullseye reticle akin to an EOTech. However today indoors the EPS Carry dot actually looked better in comparison, go figure. I'd say my only knock on the Valor Mini is the same one I have for the Rock that lives on my Dagger Compact which is it's missing one brightness setting. At my indoor range, it's either too low or too bright. Going to keep shooting it but so far nothing terribly bad to say except it sucks getting older!   |
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Originally Posted By JynXD: Any longer term updates how do you , like this optic have you tried it on the 9mm yet? Very interested in this. Thanks for any further updates. |
A Government Big Enough to Give You Everything You Want, is Strong Enough to Take Everything You Have.
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
|
Originally Posted By JynXD: Any longer term updates how do you , like this optic have you tried it on the 9mm yet? Very interested in this. Thanks for any further updates. It's been boringly reliable, no issues with it. Plan on getting another for a 9mm in the future but don't anticipate any issues. It's essentially an EPS Carry with a multi reticle at a better price point. |
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I am so confused. I wanted a Valor Mini and reached out to Gideon to get clarification on the reticle - I wanted the option to have a dot and circle. They told me that it only has a dot. Something about the circle not working out and they decided to drop it. Do these actually have a multi-reticle setup? I went and checked my email, here was their reply on March 28th: The Valor mini is dot only at this time. Like holosun, we were getting too much distortion from the circle because of the aspherical lens and i decided I don't want a sub par product in the market. I understand that's a feature many like but until we can dial in the emitter and lens, we will keep it as dot only for the time being. Have they figured out the multi-reticle and are now offering it... |
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Originally Posted By ag04blast: I am so confused. I wanted a Valor Mini and reached out to Gideon to get clarification on the reticle - I wanted the option to have a dot and circle. They told me that it only has a dot. Something about the circle not working out and they decided to drop it. Do these actually have a multi-reticle setup? I went and checked my email, here was their reply on March 28th: The Valor mini is dot only at this time. Like holosun, we were getting too much distortion from the circle because of the aspherical lens and i decided I don't want a sub par product in the market. I understand that's a feature many like but until we can dial in the emitter and lens, we will keep it as dot only for the time being. Have they figured out the multi-reticle and are now offering it... ETA: just spoke with mike and they did discontinue the multi reticle option. They were getting complaints of the circle being distorted on the edges and it was also a very expensive option. so they just dropped that option |
A Government Big Enough to Give You Everything You Want, is Strong Enough to Take Everything You Have.
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
|
Originally Posted By savage1971: Mine is a multi reticle, do, circle and circle dot. But mine was the first run. Not sure if they have changed or not. I can text Mike and get clarification. ETA: just spoke with mike and they did discontinue the multi reticle option. They were getting complaints of the circle being distorted on the edges and it was also a very expensive option. so they just dropped that option Thanks for the confirmation. |
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Originally Posted By ag04blast: Thanks for the confirmation. Originally Posted By ag04blast: Originally Posted By savage1971: Mine is a multi reticle, do, circle and circle dot. But mine was the first run. Not sure if they have changed or not. I can text Mike and get clarification. ETA: just spoke with mike and they did discontinue the multi reticle option. They were getting complaints of the circle being distorted on the edges and it was also a very expensive option. so they just dropped that option Thanks for the confirmation. Wow that's news to me. I have a first gen model then with a multi-reticle option still and have not noticed the supposed distortion on mine. |
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Originally Posted By Brok3n: Wow that's news to me. I have a first gen model then with a multi-reticle option still and have not noticed the supposed distortion on mine. |
A Government Big Enough to Give You Everything You Want, is Strong Enough to Take Everything You Have.
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
-Thomas Jefferson-
Pround member of Ranstad's Malitia
|
Originally Posted By savage1971: I'm really disappointed because I absolutely love that reticle. It is very fast to acquire when the gun is not presented perfectly. Mine has been rock solid and was going to pick up another Originally Posted By savage1971: Originally Posted By Brok3n: Wow that's news to me. I have a first gen model then with a multi-reticle option still and have not noticed the supposed distortion on mine. Likewise! I can't believe I'm typing this but it looks like the new Olight SE might be the king of budget enclosed options just below Holosun. It's essentially a Valor Mini BUT coming in right now at around ~$170 shipped. I just ordered one to try out.  NEW OSIGHT MODEL!!! |
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Originally Posted By Brok3n: I can't believe I'm typing this but it looks like the new Olight SE might be the king of budget enclosed options just below Holosun. It's essentially a Valor Mini BUT coming in right now at around ~$170 shipped. I just ordered one to try out. Dammit op! Thanks for helping me spend money lol. Same form/function as the EPS Carry, except auto brightness. Half the cost with a 4th of July disco code! Perfect width for 9/40 Glock and 1911 slides. |
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Originally Posted By slack_out: Dammit op! Thanks for helping me spend money lol. Same form/function as the EPS Carry, except auto brightness. Half the cost with a 4th of July disco code! Perfect width for 9/40 Glock and 1911 slides. Originally Posted By slack_out: Originally Posted By Brok3n: I can't believe I'm typing this but it looks like the new Olight SE might be the king of budget enclosed options just below Holosun. It's essentially a Valor Mini BUT coming in right now at around ~$170 shipped. I just ordered one to try out. Dammit op! Thanks for helping me spend money lol. Same form/function as the EPS Carry, except auto brightness. Half the cost with a 4th of July disco code! Perfect width for 9/40 Glock and 1911 slides. Who is selling it and what is the code? |
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Originally Posted By DavidY: Who is selling it and what is the code? https://www.olight.com/store/osight-se-enclosed-optic No code. |
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Originally Posted By slack_out: Originally Posted By DavidY: Who is selling it and what is the code? https://www.olight.com/store/osight-se-enclosed-optic No code. Wowzers 
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