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Posted: 12/4/2014 9:07:17 PM EDT
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I need some help and i was hoping you guys could help... I have a Colt M4 LE6920MP. and I'm looking at a red dot optic. i see them priced from $49.00-$500.00
was looking at the SightMark SM13041for $89.00 any opinion on the sight? 
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My research indicates that Sightmark doesn't have a great reputation.
I did some significant research for an inexpensive reflex red dot and wound up buying the Bushnell TRS-25. It's more or less a close copy of the excellent (and expensive) Aimpoint Micro series. I bought it from Amazon, who had the best price. I also bought the medium mount that gives me an exact co-witness with iron sights. I've rung the sight out and have zero complaints. It's got a 3000 hour battery life and is shock proof and water resistant down to 10 feet. Black or camo. Down the page notice the "Frequently bought together" for the medium mount and notice the large number of good reviews versus the few bad. Also good: the sight is sold BY Amazon not a third party, and shipping is free. https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-TRS-25-Reticle-Riflescope/dp/B00200E0HM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417742524&sr=8-1&keywords=bushnell+trs-25 |
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Aimpoint PRO is a great optic at a decent price. Aimpoint also has a nearly released "carbine optic" that is a lesser optic than the PRO but will still serve you well. Stay away from the copy-cat cheap pieces of trash.
Sitemark = garbage....Save your money and get an Aimpoint. If you can't, check out Primary Arms. They have decent red dots at acceptable prices and they are better quality than the knock offs you will find. |
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Quoted:
I need some help and i was hoping you guys could help... I have a Colt M4 LE6920MP. and I'm looking at a red dot optic. i see them priced from $49.00-$500.00 was looking at the SightMark SM13041for $89.00 any opinion on the sight?
I tried a made in China Sightmark that was an EoTech knock off. It held zero, and was pretty decent. After a few trips to the range, the weird watch battery that is difficult to find was dead. Replacing expensive, and hard to find batteries is a pain in the ass I don't need eating up my time. Plus it is useless for hunting. I swapped it out for an Aimpoint PRO. No more Chinese sights for me. |
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Another vote for Primary Arms for the best of the budget range-use optics. If you want to go the "buy once, cry once" route you might consider the new Meprolight RDS. I've been using several for months and although I've owned numerous Aimpoints, Eotechs, Trijicons, etc in the past I believe the Mepro RDS has little competition at this price in light of its features: http://www.7-62precision.com/mepro-tru-dot-rds-red-dot-sight-with-1-8-moa-red-dot/
Tomac |
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Quoted:
Another vote for Primary Arms for the best of the budget range-use optics. If you want to go the "buy once, cry once" route you might consider the new Meprolight RDS. I've been using several for months and although I've owned numerous Aimpoints, Eotechs, Trijicons, etc in the past I believe the Mepro RDS has little competition at this price in light of its features: http://www.7-62precision.com/mepro-tru-dot-rds-red-dot-sight-with-1-8-moa-red-dot/ Tomac Just to give you some options I have the Redfield Counterstrike on my 300BO pistol. I really like the site. Comes with a built-in red laser that co-witnesses with the internal dot. Downside with is if you need to run BUISs the front will block the laser. I keep an extra couple of batteries in my grip storage and have never had an optic fail, so I just run without the back-ups. FYI pricing is ~$175. If you're not familiar with the current iteration of Redfield they are a Leupold product, just made in the Phillipines I think. I have loved mine and highly recommend it. The PA stuff is well made as well. I've considered their 1-6 on this pistol as well. |
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For the price of your sightmark you are looking at go buy a primary arms micro dot. I have 2 advanced micro dot's and an eotech. I got a buddy that has an aimpoint pro. I got another buddy who has some crap, dont know who made his. Aimpoint/Eotech different people prefer one over the other, but you will get a good red dot either way. then Primary arm/Vortex decent stuff from China. I have recently started investigating Hi Lux micro max. I have not looked through one yet but have seen good reviews.
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Another Primary Arms(PA) vote. I have 2 mounted currently, and work just fine. ($89-119)
Next up in price would be the Sparc or the next gen PA. Many more features. I have a Sparc on my fav AR currently. ($159-200) Back in 09 I tried a Sightmark. What a POS that was. Found the battery dead after about 2 days. Swapped it out, and it did the same thing again. Not worth trying to send back. Chunked it. Never again. |
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I would recommend any one of these:
Aimpoint PRO (you can find these on the Equipment Exchange/Optics and Mounts-used a lot of times for around $350. I have bought 4 of them off of forum classifieds) VORTEX Strikefire (check with Palmetto State Armory. They sometimes have them for $99.99. I bought my two that way.) VORTEX SPARC (nice micro optic. Usually priced around $159. I have three of these. I like them.) Primary Arms Classic 30mm (these are an Aimpoint clone priced at $69.99 and includes a free mount. Good sight for the money) Primary Arms Micro Dot (These are a really nice micro optic. Price is around $129 and that includes a PA mount that gives you a 1/3 co-witness) |
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When it comes to sights you get what you pay for. If your rifle isn't used for anything but punching holes in paper you might like the China made crap? If you might use the rifle in a SD situation, I would recommend buying a optic that is proven quality. PA is some good middle of the road price wise optics. Sightmark and the many sights that are identical is nothing but garbage. Mepro just came out with a new optic and it can be had for a good price. They were just on sale on Black Friday for under $300 delivered. I will be looking for one in the EE!!!
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I vote the Vortex SPARC for sure, without a doubt. You have a better warranty than the PA site as well. Not that the PA site isn't a great site (I've never used one). The Vortex also has a magnifier that's somewhat useful as well.
I use a Aimpoint T1 and it honestly hasn't performed any better than the Vortex. Now if I were going into battle the T1 would probably prove to be a major improvement but for paper punching the SPARC is on par with the T1. Here's a couple pics of the Vortex on top and the Aimpoint on bottom to compare. The vortex on top has the magnifier on it currently. 
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If you're gonna spend that much just get a Aimpoint pro. Quoted:
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Burris AR332, bought one years ago and love it. Matter a fact still on the same battery, couldnt be happier with it. If you're gonna spend that much just get a Aimpoint pro. Yea I disagree, Burris has advantages like 3x magnification BDC and etched reticle so if the battery dies it still works. Both are good optics and have their advantages. |
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Love my Aimpoint PRO, but if you don't want to pay that much and don't want NVG capability, go with their Carbine Optic.
Haven't heard much about the Vortex Strikefire but it looks good. http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-strikefire-hunting-red-dot-scope-low-30mm-ring |
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OP, here are two on the EE if you don't mind buying used.
$330 shipped: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_7_163/1382031_Aimpoint_Pro__330_Shipped.html Used, but looks ok for $305 shipped: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_7_163/1382046_FS__Aimpoint_PRO__cmore_sight__carson_rifle_scope__MI_AK_mount.html |
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Take a look at the new Meprolight RDS, it has an excellent feature set for the price: http://www.7-62precision.com/mepro-tru-dot-rds-red-dot-sight-with-1-8-moa-red-dot/
Tomac 
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| Do yourself a favor and just get an Eotech or an Aimpoint from the get go. I've had enough cheap red dots fail me to have finally learned my lesson the hard way. What I spent on crap re dots that failed or didn't hold zero, I could have bought Eotechs from the get-go, which is what I use now and would never use anything else. |
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Well.......lets see, if your looking at high end then I would suggest an Aimpoint T1 with 2moa......small, light, and tough as nails........that said, if you want a lower end red dot there is only one I would suggest the Bushnell TRS-25......for $80/90 bucks they take some serious abuse, retain zero, and have one advantage over the primary arms red dots.....they are actually waterproof up to like 25 meters if I recall correctly, the primary arms red dots are not.
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Quoted:
I need some help and i was hoping you guys could help... I have a Colt M4 LE6920MP. and I'm looking at a red dot optic. i see them priced from $49.00-$500.00 was looking at the SightMark SM13041for $89.00 any opinion on the sight?
If your going to pay 89.99 I say buy a primary arms... they are a sight sponsor and have had rave reviews by members and outsiders. They are also 89.99 |
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Quoted:
My research indicates that Sightmark doesn't have a great reputation. I did some significant research for an inexpensive reflex red dot and wound up buying the Bushnell TRS-25. It's more or less a close copy of the excellent (and expensive) Aimpoint Micro series. I bought it from Amazon, who had the best price. I also bought the medium mount that gives me an exact co-witness with iron sights. I've rung the sight out and have zero complaints. It's got a 3000 hour battery life and is shock proof and water resistant down to 10 feet. Black or camo. Down the page notice the "Frequently bought together" for the medium mount and notice the large number of good reviews versus the few bad. Also good: the sight is sold BY Amazon not a third party, and shipping is free. +++++++ Also takes the common CR2032 lithium battery (cheap and available every where) 3 MOA dot fits the usefulness of a lot of different targets sizes and distances 11 settings for brightness https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-TRS-25-Reticle-Riflescope/dp/B00200E0HM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417742524&sr=8-1&keywords=bushnell+trs-25 |
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Quoted:
Aimpoint PRO is a great optic at a decent price. Aimpoint also has a nearly released "carbine optic" that is a lesser optic than the PRO but will still serve you well. Stay away from the copy-cat cheap pieces of trash. Sitemark = garbage....Save your money and get an Aimpoint. If you can't, check out Primary Arms. They have decent red dots at acceptable prices and they are better quality than the knock offs you will find. This. |
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Take a look at the new Meprolight RDS, it has an excellent feature set for the price: http://www.7-62precision.com/mepro-tru-dot-rds-red-dot-sight-with-1-8-moa-red-dot/ Tomac <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Tomac/media/PB220003.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/Tomac/PB220003.jpg</a> Did you get the limited edition aluminum hood or polymer? I really wish they would just make them all aluminum. I asked mako about it the day these came on the market but they said they had no intention of switching. At that point anyways. But that was months ago |
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NO mention of the Lucid?
Great optic without breaking the bank. Built like a tank too. https://www.primaryarms.com/LUCID_HD7_Red_Dot_Sight_Gen_III_p/l-hd7.htm Light weight model https://www.primaryarms.com/Lucid_M7_Red_Dot_Sight_p/l-m7.htm If you want to spend $400 go with Aimpoint Pro |
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There are a few different flavors of RDS offered by Primary Arms. I have three of their 30mm Classic's. Very durable and dependable. Would I trust my life with them? I've used em enough to say yes, I sure would. Would I rather have an Aimpoint, sure would. But I can't afford to put a $400 - $600 RDS on every rifle.
Vortex makes some nice RDS too. But they cost more then the Primary Arms offerings. Burris makes a 1x prism sight, that has BDC. That has gotten good revises. It's costing around $250 - $270 though. You can also look at prism scopes too. Burris has a 3x and 5x, both with BDC. Primary Arms has a 2.5 and a 4x, both using the ACSS reticle.Which works very well. There is even a 1-6x scope with the ACSS that really nice. There are some good, low cost options out there. There is also the higher costing options from EOTech, Aimpoint and Trijicon. It all depends on your budget. |
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I've got two budget reflex/red dot sights.
A Sightmark SM14002 Ultra Shot Pro Spec Sight NV QD and a Bushnell TRS-25. My opinion on the Sightmark is that it's OK. I know a lot of guys don't like them but I've had mine to the range a dozen times and it's not given me any problems. The only issue I've noticed with it is that over time it loosens up on the rail and I have to retighten it. It holds zero very well. My opinion on the TRS-25 is that it's a fantastic sight when you get the correct riser mount for it (unless you bought one with the mount). I've got mine mounted to a 1" UTG riser and it's supposed to give me a 1/3 co-witness but it doesn't. The housing that the LED/laser is mounted to blocks the entire front sight. I've got a .83 riser coming that I'm hoping corrects the problem. I guess I'm saying, get the correct riser mount. |
| I've got a SightMark that I received on a trade I recently did. After looking the optic over and finding out about the battery issues and low battery life I couldn't recommend it. Over the holidays Amazon and Palmetto State Armory were selling the Bushnell TRS-25 for an amazing price. I picked up 2 of them from Amazon for $52. If it were me and you weren't willing to pay for the AimPoint Pro I would wait for a great price on a TRS-25. |
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Quoted:
Aimpoint PRO is a great optic at a decent price. Aimpoint also has a nearly released "carbine optic" that is a lesser optic than the PRO but will still serve you well. Stay away from the copy-cat cheap pieces of trash. Sitemark = garbage....Save your money and get an Aimpoint. If you can't, check out Primary Arms. They have decent red dots at acceptable prices and they are better quality than the knock offs you will find. Holosun and Primary Arms are good--I have them and like them. Recently got an Aimpoint PRO. Now THAT is an optic!!! It looks and feels like it will take one hell of a beatdown and not only keep working, but work exceptionally well. |
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Did you get the limited edition aluminum hood or polymer? I really wish they would just make them all aluminum. I asked mako about it the day these came on the market but they said they had no intention of switching. At that point anyways. But that was months ago Quoted:
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Take a look at the new Meprolight RDS, it has an excellent feature set for the price: http://www.7-62precision.com/mepro-tru-dot-rds-red-dot-sight-with-1-8-moa-red-dot/ Tomac <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Tomac/media/PB220003.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/Tomac/PB220003.jpg</a> Did you get the limited edition aluminum hood or polymer? I really wish they would just make them all aluminum. I asked mako about it the day these came on the market but they said they had no intention of switching. At that point anyways. But that was months ago All of mine have the aluminum hood. I wanted that for additional protection of the lens until I found out the lens is a solid optical prism instead of several fragile sheets, and now I have no doubt the polymer hood is more than protective enough. Tomac |
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