Had the opportunity to pick up a couple of Bushmaster AR's at a crazy good deal, and plan on giving one to each of my sons (23 and 13). I love giving 'em guns for gifts, but wife hasn't liked giving the younger one something he can't "have" and use more frequently (she doesn't understand boys being a girly girl herself). But after seeing my 13yo "fondle" my new 1911 and the look on his face, she finally agreed with me that they would both sheit their pants when I give 'em an AR for their bdays!

They both have good bolt action rifles with good optics, so this is more for a fun rifle for the range, plinking, etc. I think they both would like red dot sights, making the rifles more tacticool.

I have an Aimpoint on my LMT carbine, and really like it but not looking to spend that kinda dough honestly. So have looked at the lower priced Vortex sights and some others.

Anyone used any of the Vortex or other sub-$200 sights?

Thanks!
Clint

The Vortex Sparc 2 is about as good as it gets in a 200.00 red dot sight , plus Vortex has the best warranty in the business. Not many will warranty a red dot past two years .

For budget red dot sights I have heard lots of good things about Primary Arms and Vortex. I would look there first.

I purchased the Vortex because it had a five star rating on every site i looked at and i didn't want to fork out 700.00 for the Aimpoint Micro i knew i wouldn't use all that much.

Primary Arms has been mentioned to me by others, but at their price I have been struggling to "accept" the comments I've heard honestly.

Bea - that Sparc II is the one I'm leaning towards due to reviews, warranty, etc.

Vortex has a Lifetime transferable Warranty no questions ask and no warranty card to fill out

What is the battery life on the SPARC? Does it come with the mount for $200.00? I am thinking to put one on lower cost AR to keep in my truck and I just ran across a deal yesterday and also don't want something that will kill me on price.

That little Razor red dot does not look bad either.

SPARC 2 comes with two Picatinny mounts a high and low with a spacer to elevate whichever one you decide to use. I used the low and mounted it on a QD Picatinny. The high mount is for 100% co witness i believe but you may need the spacer for 100%. Battery Life is 300 hours on its highest level more that double at standard setting , the hightest level i seriously doubt you will ever need, because it is very bright at this level. The sight has a auto shut off at 12 hours. Two batteries are included with the sight.

Bea, have you tried that sight for hunting? I want to get an optic for my AR but am not sure which one I want to get. I'd like one that can pull double duty for HD/SHTF use and hunting.

I went out calling a couple of days back, but only got a bunch of crows to respond and the above rifle with the Vortex was what i was carrying . If i had got a coyote to respond i have no doubt i would have killed him using the Vortex scope. I was hunting in the woods and not open fields . I really like the two min dot for this type of calling.

ive got a Vortex Strikefire....like the sight, its been tossed in and out of vehicles and such and held up fine....gonna take it off my AR cause i have decided i want a scope instead but the reddot is gonna get moved to my Marlin Guide Gun in a shorter mount cause i do like the sight.....think i paid $150 and like being able to switch from red to green dots at the push of a button, green seems to stand out better to my eyes most the time....

I also like the Green Dot , but my favorite is Amber

for that you might look at the SWFA 1-4 IR for $400 or wait til they have another sale. I got one for $299, well worth that kind of money.

Another vote for the vortex strikefire. Holds zero perfectly and takes a bit of abuse wo/issue.

Hi Clint - how's that Benelli SBE treatin' ya? Just one of the many I shoulda hung on to!!

As for the red dot, I have a Vortex SPARC but it's mounted on a 10/22. For the $$, they're a very good site but I would also 2nd the recommendation for a SWFA 1-4 if at all possible. I've had one of those as well and that would be a much more useful site for all-around use IME.....

Hey Jeff, it's treated me just fine! I've used it for 80+% of my bird hunting since I bought it from you (still use my Ruger Red Label every now and then for quail or dove) - has served me well and has held up awesome!

Hmmm, SWFA is out of those scopes 'til April according to their website. That and being in Texas (sales tax) are 2 marks against them. Their birthdays are in May & June, but since the younger one is May will probably give them both their rifles then.

Decisions, decisions...

Another member pointed out this deal.....looks very hard to beat IMO!!

Bushnell 1-4x30 - $149 after rebate.

I have a couple of the Leupold Prismatics. So far mine have been working fine, though I have not abused them. They also have etched reticles, so it's visible even if the battery dies.

I have purchased two Bushnell TR-25s (still have one) and the Primary Arms.

I like them a lot. THe Primary Arms is a little brighter, the dot is more clear, and I like the power knob positioning better.

It has been on my AR for two years now. Not only does it hold zero, I have it on a Brownells .5 riser with the thumb knob. I take it off to put a scope on, and when I re-attach it (using a torque driver) it returns right back to zero.

IIRC it was $80 plus shipping for the sight and $25 for the riser. I saw a newer one on their site for $160 with five year battery life, but with the batteries being so cheap on Amazon, I think I'd just stay with the $80 dot.

My two boys love shooting with the dot.

Ended up ordering a couple of these! Thanks for the link!

Might have to give one of those a try. Please post a little review on how it works for you after you have time to try it out.

Not sure which one it is but I have had a Bushnell dot on my 12 gauge for about 10 years. It is one that has different reticles

Will do! I read the reviews on several websites, and sounds like it is a really good value via the link provided above! Thanks again to Jeff (Nebraska) for that!!! I look forward to trying them out. Honestly not sure how I'm gonna like that "lever" but looks it could be pretty easily removed if the boys don't like 'em.

The $30 rebate and PSA's price is only good for purchases thru tomorrow - something to think about as elsewhere it is $229+ from what I've found.

I have used the Vortex Strikefire, and I also like the little Bushnell TRS 25.
The Strikefire is on my old Mini 14, and has not lost zero or needed a battery since I installed it back in 2010. The TRS 25 is on one of my M1 .30 Carbines. Seems Bullet proof.

I saw a nice little AR setup with a shorty Vortex red dot in a 1-piece mount at the recent gun show here. Don't remember the model on the Vortex, but I was impressed with the whole setup. Very lightweight.
Had a T6 collapsible stock and floating rail system with a FVG.
Looked like a nice rifle.

Received the scopes yesterday. Here are my initial impressions (* are things I knew going in but felt I should mention here for anyone else looking at these) -

- heavy!*
- clarity is pretty good for the price
- illumination seems to work pretty well, 11 settings but no "off" setting between the brightness settings*, very little "bleed" in daylight (overcast here now so will have to test illumination in daylight on next bright, sunny day)
- 1x is really like 1.25x* - no problem for me when keeping both eyes open (but I have a 2x Aimpoint on my LMT carbine that I can use with both eyes open fine, so...)
- mixed feelings on the throw lever - will leave it up to my sons, but would probably remove it if I were gonna use the scope myself - still would leave a nice sized "bump" to use for power change, lever is a little "sloppy" - has a detent but still not as tight as I would want for it to be for me personally
- clicks are very crisp and audible, but wish it was a little tighter - they're not loose, but would prefer tighter none the less

Let my youngest son look at it, and he really likes it - so good there! I had told him a while back I was looking for a different optic for "our" 15-22 so wanted his thoughts on ones I was looking at (so I could get a good idea of what he would want if he were to pick it out himself, while still keeping it a surprise ).

Side note - their bdays are in late May and late June, not sure I'm gonna be able to hold out that long! haha!!!

There is a seller on eBay that sells the Vortex SPARC II Red Dot for $180 shipped or Best Offer.

I offered $160 and it was immediately accepted. Received the sight today and it is legit.

I'll be glad to share sellers eBay info if you just PM me as he has more and it wouldn't hurt to offer $150 just to see what happens.

Geo

My SparcII is on an airgun right now. It rode on a .357 for a few hundred rounds with no issues. It has nice features an is well made; well worth $200.

I have three of the Primary Arms knock offs of the Aimpoint T1

Not as nice as the real deal but they are great for the $$$

How about a solar option?

bea, I saw one of these at a gun show about a month ago and I was impressed. Seller had it on a very lightweight shorty. The whole package was actually very nice!
I don't see how you could go wrong for that kind of warranty for $200.

Yeah, those Vortex Sparc 2 red dots look very appealing for the money and the warranty they come with. I doubt the Aimpoint PRO I have is any better.

I just put a Bushnell TRS-25 on 7.62x39 upper and am pleasantly surprised. I never thought I'd buy a $100 red dot because I thought they were all were poor quality. I stand corrected.

Now I'm thinking about the primary arms version as I've heard good things about them too.

I have a couple of the TRS-25s on various guns (.22, 9mm, AR). They are pretty far from an Aimpoint, but have worked well for me so far. The latest version with the high riser is pretty sweet for an out of the box AR fit, and I've seen them in the $80 range (Palmetto Arms on sale.)

No experience with the SPARC, but most of what I've heard is pretty good. It seems to be a good jump up from the Bushnell.

The biggest differences between high and low end RDS is battery life and durability. I can't begin to say a Bushnell or Vortex compares with an Aimpoint in those regards, although the new SPARC is better on potential battery life -- just not in Aimpoint territory yet.

Good luck, it's always fun trying to budget for two kids at once! On some purchases, I've let my kids put some skin in the game and "upgrade" if they want to throw in some of their own money. Not as fun though if you want it all set up when you give it to them.