Home AR-15 Mid-level AR-15 optics review: Performance at a reasonable price

Mid-level AR-15 optics review: Performance at a reasonable price

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RANGE IS HOT – Legally Armed America’s Sgt. Todd Ory assists in a review of four mid-level rifle optics – a Sight Mark, Vortex, Sig Tac, and Bushnell. We discuss battery life, reticles, mounts, and positioning and then take them all out to the range to run a rifle with them. While we don’t suggest these as replacements for battle-proven optics they are certainly viable options for weekend warriors and range enthusiasts. Let us know what your favorite mid-level optic is.

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34 COMMENTS

  1. The price point comparison is ridiculous. They're comparing a holographic (or red dot – not sure?), to magnified or prismatic scopes…. of course the price is gonna be different! Why not compare 4 manufacturers of the same TYPE of sight? Then we'd have some useful data

  2. if you were in the military you would understand you are out of uniform, since you are a cop, go get your own uniform and don't steal mine. You have more than enough options out there not to have to wear ACUs and to wear them badly. And yeah, some of us take this seriously.

  3. The first optic shot has the disadvantage. Its like your first few laps on a new race track, so I get that the Ultra Shot did't place well with this testing strategy. What I don't get is why is his first 4 shots with this Sight Mark progressively got worse?!!!! If he put Sight Mark further down in order and gave it a fair shake, it would have done much better with this ranking system.

  4. that's hot because I have the SightMark reddot… mine was $179 on Amazon but I bought the open box version for $100. It also has a laser on the side. I bought mine because my son in law has the exact same one and after using his on the Smith & Wesson sport 2 I had no issues with it at all it has a quick-release Mount has stayed 0 on every different reticle option that we put it on.. plus it has night vision capabilities which is a huge Plus for those of us to like to shoot at night. all and all I've had mine for a year and I've had zero issues with the mounts zero issues with it staying zeroed in. And the battery life on mine is actually great I've left it on by accident four days later found that I left it on it and the battery still work fine for days to come. but he said to our batter life in this review

  5. I liked the video. Still researching for my first AR15, have seen other good reviews on new Vortex OPMOD SFRD Strikefire II. for $180. Leaning towards DPMS Oracle to start with. Will use for coyotes and plinking with the boys. thanks IGGY4570g

  6. I own that Bushnell, and I do not like it at all. The reticle is very fuzzy and there is quite a bit of parallax present. The current version of the Vortex Strikefire II is, in my opinion, a superior optic.

  7. that bushnell acog clone is embarrassingly stupid. its the same size as an acog, and it doesnt have any magnification. reminds me of the acog clones i saw when i visited hong kong. they were all just red dots, too. another thing i saw there is that all the clones and knock-offs had a reticle that you could switch from red to green, just like as seen in this video.

  8. Thanks for the review. I do wonder about the validity of the target ack drills though. From the very beginning I was saying the results could end up being skewed because the shooter would naturally start getting in the grove as he went along. He did get faster with the last two sights even though he complained about the Sig being mounted too low and having to adjust for it. I do appreciate the info on battery life and needing to rezero when switching reticles with the Sightmark.  Overall it's a good review. Thanks

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