Tag Archives: red dot

Shooting Sports

MidTen Red Green Dot Reflex

MidTen is a budget firearms accessory brand that many consider to be Airsoft grade. Their products typically come in unmarked boxes, and their products don’t have logos. They released an update rifle reflex sight simply named the “Red Green Dot”. A generic name that perfectly matches their generic packaging.

This reflex sight appears to be a beefed up replica of the Ultradot style reflex; made of metal and polymer. Like Ultradot copies, it a rotary selector at the rear that changes an etched mask which changes the shape of the reticle projected. The unit offers a choice of 4 patterns: dot, circle-dot, crosshair-dot, and sunburst. The unit has a metal cage around a large sized mirrored lens but all reflex sights are not as rugged as a holographic EOTech. From personal experience, an airsoft BB hit from CQB distance can chip a lens so extra protection is required for actual airsoft use.

The Ultradot design is simple and reliable but quite a bit out dated by a couple of decades. Two other disappointing aspects of the design is its QD lever and battery. It has a quick detatch lever with a Picatinny base which does not offer a secondary lock, which means it could work itself loose after repeated recoil. Most red dots are powered by a CR2032 coin battery, but oddly this reflex is powered by a 3 x stacked, tiny LR41 button batteries.

I tested the unit on my Ruger 10/22 at 50yrds. I ran over 100 rounds of 22LR and the unit held zero. While 22LR doesn’t have much recoil, in my experience airsoft optics don’t hold zero on firearm even after a mag or two. This reflex may be a cheap as an airsoft optic but it appears to be a suitable to take to the range on a real firearm.

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Shooting Sports

OLight OSight Red Dot

Olight is a flashlight company known for making high-performance flashlights for a more reasonable price point than more tactical brands such as Surefire and Streamlight. It was a bit surprising when Olight quietly previewed a micro-reflex sight at SHOT Show 2024. OLight makes weapon lights but is the first flashlight company to make a weapon optic (that I’m aware of).

The OSight is unusual among micro-reflex sights for having an oversized lens window and for being powered by an internal rechargeable battery. Moreover, it is unique in that its lens cover is also its charger and a mini-powerbank capable of recharging the OSight up to 4 times without being plugged into a USB-C cable. Fully charged the unit can run for up to 70,000 hours on low brightness which is impressive.

The Osight functions like a perfectly normal red dot and now comes in a green dot version as well. It also has auto-dimming, motion activation, and auto-off. And like OLight’s other products, the OSight comes in at a reasonable price compared to premium brands such as Trijicon and Holosun.

70,000 hours is a long time, nearly 8 years at low power; and they claim it will run continuously on the highest brightness for 17 days. But why would you need to constantly keep it charged? It seems a bit of an overpowered solution to the problem of changing a CR2032 coin battery. But overpowered for a reasonable price is something Olight is known for. I’ll leave that for the consumer to decide.

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SPECS

Reticle Type3 MOA Dot
Adjustment1 MOA per Click
W&E Travel Range± 45 MOA
Window Size0.94 * 0.85 in (24 * 21.5 mm)
Brightness Settings12 (10 visible & 2 NV)
Max. Runtime70,000 Hours
Power Source OpticBuilt-in 170mAh Rechargeable Lithium Polymer Battery
Power Source Charging CoverBuilt-in 800mAh Rechargeable Lithium Polymer Battery
Charging TypeUSB-C Charging
Dimensions (Length x Width x Height)Optic: 1.77 * 1.18 * 1.29 in (45 * 30 * 32.8 mm)
Dimensions (Length x Width x Height)Charging Cover: 1.38 * 2.01 * 1.73 in (35 * 51 * 44 mm)
WaterproofOptic: IPX6; Charging Cover: IPX4
WeightOptic: 2.12 oz (60 g)
Shooting Sports

Riton 3Tactix 3x Magnifier

You will find very few reviews of magnifiers on my channel because I’m not a fan of them. I don’t like feel and balance when they are flipped the side and dislike how they block my field of view. But I totally understand why someone would choose to run them. Combined with a light weight red dot, they are slightly lighter than an LPVO without the LPVO’s limitations with daylight illumination. For fans of magnifier/red dot combos, will enjoy the new Riton 3x magnifier.

The Riton 3x is compact and relatively light for a 3x magnifier, including the weight of the QD side-flip mount. It has clear sharp image from edge to edge. You won’t see a big black donut around your scope like most magnifiers. It has a relatively large objective lens and a thin tube which creates a view that appears to be a nearly all image with no visible tube body.

The only disappointing aspects for me was it’s relatively shallow eye relief and side flip mechanism. It’s eye relief is under 3″ which forced me to choke up on my fixed stock. This would be even more problematical for shooters wearing body armor. The spring loaded side flip mount is well built with a locking QD lever system. But the side flip mechanism release button is positioned in the middle of the mount directly over the QD lever hinge. This may have been a deliberate choice to help protect the button from accidental release but it also made it difficult to press it because the QD lever blocked my thumb. With practice I’m sure I may learn to find it without looking but another solution would have been to reposition the release button.

Paired with the Riton 1Tacticx ARD red dot, it co-witnesses with most AR MilSpec sights and when mounted to my G36/22 was nearly centered out of the box. The adjustments turrets are protected by protective ramps and adjustable with a slotted tool like a screwdriver.

As I said, I’m not a fan of magnifiers but if I was forced to use a magnifier, I would use the new Riton 3x.

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SPECS

Magnification:3X
Parallax Adjustment:Fixed at 100 yards
Objective Lens Diameter:22mm
Lens Coating:Fully Multi-Coated, Full Wide Band, Waterproof Coated, Low Light Enhancement
Field of View at 100 Yards:36.7 ft
Material:6061-T6
Eye Relief:2.75in/70mm
Exit Pupil:6mm
Mount:QD Mouth with Optional Spacer
Length:2.72in/69mm
Weight:7.9oz/224g
Shooting Sports

MidTen Rechargeable Reflex

At first blush, the reflex sight MidTen sent me looked like every other knock off of the Ultraflex PanAV. But taking a closer look, it lacks a rotary illumination and battery turret. Because this reflex sight is USB-C rechargeable. The reflex design traces its roots to competition optics from the late 1980’s. It’s not a combat optic, lacking ruggedness, lens protection, or weather proofing. The MidTen’s build quality looks budget and a bit outdated but it has modern updates that set it apart even from more recent designs.

This MidTen has a 4 reticle dial at the rear of the unit: dot, circle-dot, cross-dot, (no size for the dot is listed by the maker but my eye estimate looks like a fat 6 MOA). Arrow buttons on the left side control 5-levels of illumination. The center button manually turns the unit on and off; keeping it pressed cycles between red and green color. The unit automatically goes into sleep mode after 4 minutes of inactivity. Motion reactivates the unit which remembers its last brightness setting and color selected.

Testing the unit on my Ruger 10/22 TD, I went through a 250 round bulk box of 22LR and the unit held zero. While the MidTen build quality is unrefined but solid. The MidTen has shake-awake, a rechargeable power supply, and a price point lower than any other motion activated reflex.

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Shooting Sports

Athlon Midas LE Gen2

Clint Eastwood’s first leading role was in “A Fist Full of Dollars“. Not many people know this, but that Western was a remake of the Japanese film, “Yojimbo” by Akira Kurosawa. Even fewer realize that Kurosawa was inspired to write his samurai film, by his love of American Westerns.

All this came to mind when I opened up the Midas LE Gen2 box sent me by Athlon. I was struck by how much the LE looked like a giant micro red dot. I realize that RMRs (Ruggedized Miniaturized Reflex-sight) are themselves shrunk down reflex sights. Like the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns: the original was great, the copy was just as good and different enough to be its worth it.

The LE has a reticle that can be changed from a 2MOA red dot, a 65MOA circle-cross, or combined. Activation, brightness, and reticle are controlled by two function buttons on the left-hand side of the LE. Pressing both button simultaneously changes the reticle. The unit has motion activation (aka Shake Awake) and Athlon claims the LE can run for up to 50,000hrs in medium intensity off its CR2032 battery.

The LE was designed as a rifle top red dot. Despite its giant RMR appearance, the LE only a little bit wider than a typical tube-style red dot and about the same weight; it’s smaller than an EOTech X. It offers a nicely designed locking QD Picatinny mount and relatively low profile sitting less than 1.5″ above your rail.

Everyone who tested it remarked on how light it felt on the rifle and how easy it was to sight in. The large reticle and its wide field of view made it easy and fast shooting, thanks to its massive 26x35mm objective lens. Its rare for me to test an optic and then have those who tried it asked me later for links so that they could order one themselves! If Athlon ever roll out an LE Gen 3, I hope they offer a green illumination option and add a 25MOA circle reticle.

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SPECS

RETICLE SIZE: 2 MOA, 65 MOA

WEIGHT: 7 oz

MOUNT: Picatinny Rail

RETICLE COLOR: Red

LENGTH: 3.4″

MAGNIFICATION: 1x

BATTERY: CR2032

CENTER HEIGHT: 1.29″

OBJ. LENS: 28 x 36 mm

Shooting Sports

Burris Fastfire4

The Fastfire4 is the multi-reticle red dot in the Burris Fastfire family. It is feather light at under 2oz with a doctor/vortex footprint. It has a unique set of features designed for 3-gun, action shooting, and mounting on shotguns for bird and clays.

The Fastfire4 has an oversized objective window allowing for a more forgiving field of view for action shooters in unusual shooting positions. While small and light, Burris managed to fit in ambient light sensor. When placed in auto-brightness mode, the Fastfire4 will automatically dim and brighten to compensate for lighting conditions. The Fastfire4 offers 4 different reticle options which can be cycled by pressing the button on the right side of the optic: A 3MOA precision dot, an 11MOA dot, and two 50MOA circle dots, one with a horizon line, which Burris calls a wing-dot reticle. I think the latter reticle looks more like a Pokeball. The horizontal line is presumably for shotgun users, who might use it as a guide for their shot spread.

I prefer multi-reticle red dots in Falling Plates matches. I like to switch between a precision dot and a circle dot reticle at different target distances or stages. Large circle reticles allow me to bracket my steel targets for faster follow up shots.

Burris also included a plastic hood which can be fitted to the rear of the reflex sight, converting it into a closed emitter red dot. This allows the red dot to be resistant to rain and dirt that can plague reflex sights. Anybody who’s struggled to wipe off the wet inside of a reflex sight, will know how useless they can become in the rain. This hood can be especially useful when mounting this sight on a shotgun.

The Fastfire4 is not perfect. While it has a rated 26,000 runtime on a CR1632 battery, and an auto shut-off after 8-hours, it lacks motion-activation. The unit has to be manually activated before use, precluding my consideration for its use for Home Defense firearms or Concealed Carry. As a minor peeve, the front lens bulges past the frame and I often found my palm print on the lens after racking my pistol slide. This could have easily been fixed by extending the lip of the lens frame a few millimeters. And finally, the Fastfire4 isn’t cheap with a street price around $360 which makes it one of the more expensive MRDs on the market.

Despite these drawbacks, the pluses definitely outweigh the minuses for this optic, especially for action shooters. The Fastfire4’s reticle options are ideally suited for the falling plates and bullseye matches I compete in. I just wish it were cheaper and offered in RMR or MOS cut for my other pistols and mounts.

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SPECS

Magnification: 1x
Objective: 31mm
Battery CR1632
Adjustment/Click: 1 MOA
Reticle: 3MOA, 11MOA, 65MOA
Reticle Color: Red
Battery: CR1632
Maxi Wind. Adj.: 90 MO
Length: 1.9 Inches
Weight: 1.6 Ounce

Shooting Sports

CVLife 3MOA/65MOA red dot

The CVLife sent me their new tube enclosed red dot sight which may or may not be named the “Eaglefeather”. That name was present in the manual but on Amazon is simply called the “3MOA/65MOA multi-reticle red dot.” “Eaglefeather” isn’t a strong name for a red dot anyway, so I’m just going to call it the “3/65” which such a better name. Even better for a concealed carry micro red dot. They really should hire me to be a brand consultant.

The 3/65 looks a lot like a SIG Romeo5 but has the advantage of a user-selectable reticle, either a 3MOA dot, a 65MOA circle/sunburst, or a combination of the two. It has motion-activation and a 50,000 runtime off a CR2032 coin battery. I comes attached to an AR co-witness height Picatinny mount and comes with a low-rise Picatinny mount should you want to run it lower to your rail.

The 3/65 is fully enclosed tube helped to make this an all weather optic for harsh outdoor conditions. On the top of the unit there are “+” and “-” buttons which control brightness. The “+” button when pressed for 2 or more seconds, cycles through the various reticle styles. In my testing, the 65MOA circle reticles bracketed an 8″ bullseye from 7 yrds, so could be useful in a 3-gun or action shooting matches. The reticle’s adjustments are under Holosun-style flat-head topped turret caps; 1MOA/click that are audible and tactile positive.

In my testing, the unit proved to hold zero even after I accidentally dropped from 5ft onto concrete. Twice. I was attempting to simulate months of range time and abuse by banging the red dot up with my ammo can. When I hit the red dot from the left side, it came off and fell onto the concrete range floor. I remounted it and began to hit it again with my ammo can repeatedly and when I hit it hard from the left side, the red dot again went flying.

I was ready to call the unit or at least a mount a complete fail when I noticed that I had accidentally installed the clamping nut backward on the Picatinny mount. When I hit the red dot from the left side, it lacked the clamping force to say on my rifle and was knocked off. I remounted the red dot to my rifle correctly this time.

Test firing onto a target from 25yrds, I examined my 5-shot groups before hitting the red dot, after dropping it twice, and after reinstalling it and hitting it again. I was shooting off a tripod so not the most most repeatable of a shooting platforms. All three groups looked about equal in size and spread.

Despite my accidentally abuse test, I was surprised that the CVLife 3/65 red dot not only survived but for a budget optic with a street price under $90, this optic performed better than anyone could expect.

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SPECS

Magnification: 1x
Objective Diameter: 20mm
Eye Relief: Unlimited
Click Value: 1 MOA
Adjustment Range: 60 MOA
Reticle: 3 MOA Dot + 65 MOA Circle
Height: 2.6 in.
Length: 2.5 in.
Width: 1.5 in.
Weight: 160g
Material: Aluminum Alloy
Battery: CR2032
Battery Life: 50,000 Hours

Shooting Sports

Riton 3Tactix PRD3

The 3Tactix PRD3 is advertised as Riton’s every day cary micro red dot but has features that are far from ordinary. It offers 3 user selectable reticles: a 2MOA dot, a 50MOA circle-cross, and a combined circle-cross and dot. It has motion activation with a 50,000hr battery life. And a pull-out side battery tray. The PRD3 somehow manages to offer all of these features with a low-profile design which has a lower base than most side-tray battery red dots by its competitors.

I tested PRD3 on an RMR cut slide but found that the PRD3 still wasn’t low profile enough for me to use Glock factory iron sights. For testing, I mounted to my Glock via an MOS/RMR adapter plate. The PRD3 is the RMR footprint model of the 3Tactix red dot line and comes with a RMR to Picatinny 1913 adapter.

For those new to shooting pistol with red dots, I recommend multi-reticle red dots because new shooters often find it easier to find a bright circle reticle. That way, as the shooter becomes more proficient with presenting, they can simply press the + button and transition to shooting with the more precise 2MOA dot. Moreover, the circle-cross reticle can be used for action shooting or mounting the PDR3 to a shotgun to quickly bracket your target. The PRD3 offer a wide range of brightness, visible even in broad daylight.

The PRD3 has a street price comparable to single reticle red dots from Athlon and Vortex. So it’s a no-brainer for me to recommend getting a red dot with a choice in reticles.

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SPECS

Magnification: 1
Objective Diameter: 24mm x 17mm
Eye Relief: Unlimited
Click Value: 1 MOA
Adjustment Range: 45 MOA
Reticle: 2 MOA Dot + 50 MOA Circle
Height: 1.04in/26.3mm
Length: 1.81in/46.1mm
Width: 1.13in/28.6mm
Weight: 1.31oz/37g
Material: 7075 Aluminum Alloy
Footprint: RMR
Battery: CR1632
Battery Life: 50,000 Hours

Shooting Sports

Athlon Midas TSR-1

Athlon Optics recently sent me a Midas TSR-1 micro reflex red dot to test. It comes standard with a Picatinny mount, which got me wondering could I use this for Olympic-style shooting?

Olympic-Style shooting became a hot topic during this summer when Turkish precision shooter Yusuf Dikeç won Silver at the Paris Olympics. Usually the Gold medal winner receives all the attention but Dikeç became an internet sensation despite his 2nd place finish. The internet was captivated by his dad-bod and his “no-fucks-given” nonchalant shooting performance. Suddenly the big guntubers were asking how hard is it to shoot Olympic-Style?

Olympic-style style matches are based on International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) rules and are the traditional stance and style for target pistol sports. This style of shooting is alive and well in the USA at NRA Precision Pistol matches. NRA Precision Pistol includes categories for full sized pistol cartridges (9mm and .45cal) along with 22LR Olympic Style pistols.

Unlike Olympic/ISSF, NRA Precision Pistol allows the use of red dots. I enlisted the aid of my fellow club members, who compete in NRA Precision. My buddy brought out his Pardini 22LR (along with Hammerli and Walther) dominate the Olympics and ISSF. If you haven’t seen these 22LR pistol at your range it’s probably because they start at about $2900, so not your typical backyard plinker!

The Athlon TSR-1 is a compact 3MOA micro-reflex designed for Doctor/Noblex cut pistol slides (like the Vortex Viper). It is feather light at 2.8 oz with a thin profile ideal for concealed carry pistols. It has motion-activation, auto-off, and is rated for a 50,000hr runtime on a CR2032 battery. It comes with a Glock MOS adapter plate and Picatinny mount.

Tge Pardini has a rail cut on its receiver for optics. This rail is wide enough for a Picatinny but is shallower. The Athlon Picatinny mount just didn’t have a sharp enough cut on its clamp to sit precisely in the Pardini’s small grove. It was shootable but was not ideal.

For 22LR target pistols with a Picatinny rails like competition Ruger MkIV or My Advantage Arms Target 1911 slide, the Athlon TSR-1 sits securely and perfectly. So we discovered that whilst the TSR-1 will never grace a modern Olympic pistol, it’ll help you drive tacks into your target shooting Olympic-style American target guns.

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SPECS

Obj. Lens: 24×17 mm
Parallax: ∞
Dot Size: 3 MOA
Dot Color: Red 1-10
Center Height: 0.96”
Click Value: 1 MOA
Battery: CR2032
Weight: 2.8 oz
Length: 1.88″


Shooting Sports

CVLife Wolfcovert 6MOA Green Dot

CVLife is known for budget firearms accessories but recently, they’ve really stepped up the quality and design of their optics. The Wolfcovert 6MOA is an affordable RMR cut reflex sight available in red or green dot. It has a 20x28mm lens affording a wider field of view than typical CCW sized micro dots. The 6MOA sized dot and bright green help in acquiring and aiming the dot especially for those new to using dots on their pistols.

But this micro dot can also be paired with CVLife’s riser mount and used on a rifle, shotgun or pistol caliber carbine. CVLife offers these mounts are in 21mm, 23mm, 25mm, and 29mm heights allowing you to absolute or 1/3 co-witness your dot to your iron sights.

The WolfCovert has some premium features like motion-activation and 4-minute auto sleep to conserve battery life. The unit has a stated 50,000hr (10year) battery life. The battery chamber is accessible from the top of the unit so you don’t have to unmount it. It is built with an Trijicon RMR footprint and comes with an RMR to Picatinny and a RMR to Glock MOS adapter.

The reticle can be adjusted using a small flathead screwdriver (a flathead tool is included). The adjustment screws are faintly audible, tactical positive and distinct, with no slop. Each click is 1MOA. In my testing I discovered that the Wolfcovert I received did not hold zero. I contacted CVLife and after sending photos and details about my ammo and rifle (115gr 9mm on Sub2000) they swiftely sent me a replacement. The replacement unit held zero after a 100rnds of testing.

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SPECS

Reticle: 6MOA
Material: Aircraft grade aluminum
Mount Type: ‎RMR Footprint
Length: 1.85″
Width: 1.25″
Height: 1.13″
Weight: 1.34oz
Window size 20x28mm
Click: 1 MOA
Waterproof: IPX-7
Battery: CR1632
Battery Life: 50,000hrs
Warranty: ‎3 years