Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles red dot sightup a S&W

Recently picked up a S&W AR15 and am thinking about a red dot sight.

Anyone have one on an AR? How do you like it?

Pricing; What's a good, inexpensive brand? I'm thinking I can spend about $200.

Rings: I have a spare set of 30MM rings. Will these work, or is the tube size 1" or something totally different?

Please educate me on red dot sights!


Thanks! Virgil B.

Bushnell trs25

I have a Bushnell TRS-25 on a M&P 15 and I'm kind of shocked on how well it works to be totally honest.

I tried it just to see if a red dot was something I even wanted and for the low price I figured I couldn't go wrong.

A few thousands of rounds later, I'm sold on red dots. I don't expect it to last forever, but it's surpassed what I thought I'd get out of it.

The Vortex SPARC-2 seems to have a decent following as well (and is in your price range), but I haven't used one personally.

Put a Vortex Sparc AR on my son's Colt LE6920 - pretty happy with it for the price and can't beat the warranty! Not as small as an Aimpoint micro, but not as big and bulky as most other red dots.

I've got one on a 45 degree angled mount on the AR-15 that is more or less my 4-Wheeler gun for cruising the pastures. Works amazingly well for an el cheapo. Just have to turn the red dot light switch down to the lowest setting, to keep from getting a bunch of red glare.

Not worth a damn, though for shooting pigs at night. For that, I have a Leupold VXR 4x12 with the Fire Dot reticle.

Yep, that's about where economy, reliability, and ease of use begin.

I've had the Bushnell and I have the Primary Arms model that looks similar.
I also have the Primary Arms one with the 50K battery life. I really like it. I think it was $180. I needed a half inch riser to make things fit, but the 50k model has a removable base so you can use an AImpoint Micro mount if you wanted to.

Thanks for the replies!


I'll check in town and see what's available locally, and pricing.
How much are these going for?

Sounds like the Bushnell is the most popular.

I'm in the "try and see" mode right now. Not sure if it's for me or not.


Thanks again!


Virgil B.

Checked on pricing through SWFA.

Looks like I can pick up the Bushnell for right at $100.

I'll see if I can find one in town.

Virgil B.

Got a Bushnell TRS 25 yesterday, and got it on my AR.


It's a HOOT to shoot with this sight!

I thought it was great before, but is even more fun now!

We had them in stock at the shop where I work part time, so I got it with my "employee discount" and picked it up for under $100.


Thanks again for the advice! Virgil B.