Micro-reflex sights with reticles that can be changed between dots and circles are rare. Rarer still are compact red dots that fit on a compact pistol. CVLIfe’s WolfCover X M01 has that rare compact MRD with a changeable reticle that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
The M01 compact MRD has built-in fiber optic rear sights that are a bit too high to use with factory sights but can be used with raised front sights. The box comes with an MOS adapter plate and a Picatinny adapter. The CVLife was a bit small for my slide, so I opted to test it with the Glock EOM RMSc adapter plate.
I ran 50 rounds through my pistol and the M01 held zero. The 32MOA circle looked just a tad smaller than the 32MOA circle on my OSight and I found myself wanting a bit more visual separation between the 2MOA dot and the sunburst circle. I hope CVLife offers a 40MOA or 60MOA circle option in the future.
One other minor nitpick was that the white paint they used to fill in the logo and lettering was a bit sloppy and smeared in places. This is not unusual for a budget product as compromises have to be made and corners have to be cut to lower production costs. If it’s just the paint job, I can live with that.
OLight surprised many when they quietly debuted their OSight micro-reflex sight. Nobody expected a flashlight company known for high-performance-budget-priced EDCs to make a pistol optic. I was not expecting them to follow up the following year with a big launch of two new variants, the compact OSight S (which I have reviewed) and the upgraded OSight X.
I presume the X stands for extra because on the surface the X looks nearly identical to the standard OSight. It has some minor superficial differences with the placement of logos and a different-sized tap and counter-sink on the mounting holes to utilize more industry-standard mounting screws. The X retains the OSights features such as motion activation, wireless recharging cover, and auto-brightness sensing.
The X now features user-changeable reticles. Pressing the “-” button allows the user to cycle between a 3 MOA dot, 32 MOA sunburst circle, and 32 MOA circle-dot. The X also has a slightly larger battery capacity and substantially longer runtime. The X is rated to run for 57,000 hours, whilst the standard OSight was rated 70,000 hours with the dot set at its lowest brightness. Both will run for about 2 weeks constant at max brightness.
The X can be recharged using OLights USB magnetic contact chargers used on their EDC flashlights but its primary charging method is the plastic cover box which displays the current battery charge level of the OSight when attached. Moreover, the charging cover has an onboard battery that can fully recharge the OSight up to 4 times. The cover can be plugged into a USB-C cable to recharge the OSight and the cover.
The battery capacity indicator alone should change the minds of anyone (myself included) concerned with a red dot with a dead battery. Replacing a coin battery quickly and cheaply has its advantages, but no red dot I own can display the current charge level of the coin battery powering it. With the cover recharges and onboard battery, the X can theoretically run for over 28 years when both are fully charged.
With all of these upgrades, I’m left with only three questions. First, when is OLight coming out with a green illuminated OSight X? Second, why even make the standard OSight without the X’s features? Third, shut up and take my money.
Last year, Olight released the OSight, a revolutionary micro reflex sight (MRD) with a unique wireless charging cover. The OSight features an oversized window, which is great for fast target acquisition and re-engaging the target during rapid fire. However, a large window is a negative for those who want to mount an MRD onto a compact concealed carry pistol. OLight created the OSight S to address this issue.
The OSIght S (presumably this stands for “small) uses an RMSc footprint and is one of the smallest enclosed emitter red dots available. It is roughly half the physical size of the OSight but its smaller size means it also has a smaller battery. Fully charged an OSight can run for up to 21,000 hours, which is over 2 years. For those concerned with a non-replaceable internal battery, the OSight comes with a cover that displays the OSights battery charge level. Moreover, this cover functions as a mini-powerbank, capable of recharging the OSight up to 4 times.
Despite its small size the OSight S has the full-sized OSight X’s changeable reticle system. The user can press the “-” button to switch between a 2 MOA dot, 32 MOA circle, and a circle-dot reticle. This feature makes the OSight S one of the smallest MRDs on the market and also the most versatile.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
