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reflex red dot sight question??

dreherdreher Member Posts: 8,787 ✭✭✭✭
in General Discussion
I have a Glock 17 gen 5 coming in probably the first of next week.  I have decided that I want to put a red dot on it and try a few of the local shoots  (When they start again.)  I want the reflex style not the tube type.  What I am looking for is the best sight for the money.  I can buy a sight from $43 to $800!  (And up!!)  Now I'm only guessing but unless you are really lucky and hit that one in a hundred sight that is good at $43 the inexpensive sights are not the way to go.  It also makes no sense to me to pay more for the sight than you payed for the Glock in the first place.  There has to be some type of middle ground.  I'm thinking $200 +/- $50.  

I know some of you do a lot of shooting using the reflex sights.  What, in your personal experience, seems to be the best $200 sight out there??  Plus or minus 50 bucks.  Or do I need to add a little more $ to get the sight that will make me happy.

Talk to me!!  I have come to value your opinion over the years!!  
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    bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2020
    I have several Burris FastFire II's and one Vortex Venom on the G34.  I like them all they are in the $200 range the Vortex was 180.  I would seek the longest battery life for the money and go from there.
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    truthfultruthful Member Posts: 1,986 ✭✭✭✭
    I have been very disappointed in every red dot sight I have owned. The higher priced ones are a tad better than the cheapys but not a whole lot.
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    bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
    truthful said:
    I have been very disappointed in every red dot sight I have owned. The higher priced ones are a tad better than the cheapys but not a whole lot.

    Why are you disappointed in them?
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    dreherdreher Member Posts: 8,787 ✭✭✭✭
    Truthful,  I also am interested in what was disappointing to you?  Since I have never shot a handgun with a red dot sight on it I don't know what to think.  My thoughts are pretty simple.  My eyes are excellent.  For a 73 year old.  But to say iron sights are crisp and easy to see like even 20 years ago would be a flat out lie.  I have read many articles saying the red dots are much easier for "aging" eyes.  I really have the bug to try and see if my stroke crippled up body and 73 year old eyes can shoot some good scores.  To be more specific I want to outshoot my 21 year old son and my 45 year old son-in-law!!!!!!    >:)  
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    William81William81 Member Posts: 24,593 ✭✭✭✭
    I have had good luck with this one.....


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    bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
    I am 62 now.  When younger I had vision that was better than 20/20, irons were easy to use.  I did not need readers until age 56.  Iron sights can still be useful to me but the fast clear focus of my youth is long gone.  I put several $25.00 red dots on AR rifles.  They worked fine except for adjusting the hits.  The cheaper red dots do not have linear adjustments and are not intuitive to use.  The Burris FastFire II's and the Vortex Venom are easy to adjust and make sighting corrections that hold fast.
    The main issue for us older guys is focus.  When you use a red dot focus is not a factor, the dot is there one eye open or both eyes open.  Parallax is not a factor either.  You see the dot and where the dot is, the bullet hits, assuming it was zeroed properly.  I would not have spent almost $2,000 equipping my handguns and several AR rifles with red dots if I did not have confidence in their superior performance over iron sights.
    All things considered including price I would buy the Vortex Venom for all my red dot equipped guns.  The Burris is more expensive without any feature making one better than the other.  YMMV.
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    WarbirdsWarbirds Member Posts: 16,839 ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2020

    My opinion only, but I have ran alot of dots.

    Vortex or the FF3 are both decent, the vortex has a crisper dot, the FF3 is a heavier duty.

    I think the overall best value dot today is the Holosun 507C.

    The really cool thing about this dot is it has a giant 38MOA circle and then a small 2 MOA dot in the center. If you are moving fast the circle is great, when you need to slow down & make a precision shot the 2MOA dot is there. You can buy red or green.


    I am biased but I put Trijicon at the top of the line- and the SRO with a 5MOA dot is what I run, the RMR with the 6MOA dot was also very good.


    It will take a few outings to get fast with the dot- but it is worth it.

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    rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,650 ✭✭✭
    I prefer a Green dot to a Red dot. The Green dot, seem to show up better in bright sun light to me. I've bought and used, a couple Burris Red Dots. In the $175-$225 range.  No complaints, but the Green Dot, stands out and easier to see. 

    I bought the Green Dot off Amazon, for around $40. It now has gone up to $70, but still a better deal than the Burris's. Below is the name, that it is sold by on Amazon. Course it's out of China, like most of the stuff from wally world and amazon. Although it kind of irks me, big time now, buying Chinese stuff. In light of this virus crap, they are responsible for.


    Ade Advanced Optics RD3-006B Green Dot



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