Aimpoint style red dot sight ...a "clone" if you will. Decent?

Tactical Gear Optics & Mounts
1

Kinda long, but I need some decent advice…here goes.

My current AR-15 setup is as follows:

Bushmaster XM-15 flattop upper with M4 stepped barrel
Stag Arms lower with 6 position M4 stock
A.R.M.S. back up iron sight
Pentagonlight MD-2 light/laser combo
Midwest Industries hand guards
TangoDown vertical foregrip

A decent setup, especially for what I paid (I bought it with all this stuff on it). The only thing I feel it lacks, is an optic. That being said, having messed around with EOTechs and Aimpoints, as well as a couple Trijicon ACOGs on the M4a1’s that EOD checks into our armory at work from time to time, I really like the Aimpoints. If I had it my way, Id get an ACOG, but at $1100 a pop, I think that would be a very poor financial decision on my part, especially on a rifle that will never shoot more than paper.

Im itching to buy an Aimpoint. I really like the Comp ML2’s, but at $450.00 + $150 for a good mount, I cant justify spending the money on something that sits in a case except for maybe 4-5 times a year when it comes out to play at the range.

My question is, I was looking at this:

http://rrages.com/aimpoint/

…and Im highly interested in its quality, and if anyone knows anything about that particular sight. Ive read tons and tons of threads on the Aimpoint clone subject, and I know most peoples feelings on them. They are chinese crap, yes, and they are nothing like the real thing. I agree 100%. However, this isnt about quality. Its about money, and number 1, can I afford $500.00+ for a sight on a home defense/target rifle, and number 2, can I justify spending the money for it? If money wasnt an object, I would go with a real Aimpoint no questions asked, but unfortunately…yeah I think you get the point.

So for $102.00 shipped to my door (I want the cantilever mount so I can cowitness with my ARMS BUIS) will this sight be decent? The reasons I like it over other knockoffs, are he clearly states it is not the quality of a real Aimpoint, and will not be as waterproof and durable as the real deal. He flat out says it on his sight. His sights also don’t have markings on them. I dont want a Aimpoint clone that says Aimpoint, because thats trademark infringement, and its pretty lame if you ask me. IMO, its not even an Aimpoint “clone”, its a sight “styled after the Aimpoint”. Definitely better than a $200.00 chinese knockoff that tries to pass itself off as a genuine Comp M2.

So…for my use, and what I want, would this serve me well? It appears to be decent quality in the photos, but who can trust that? Honestly if its crap quality and its going to either break, or be inaccurate, or lose its zero every time you fire the weapon, I wont touch it. But if itll be worth the $100 itll cost me, Im willing to give it a try.

What does everyone think?

2

Is your life only worth $100? If this is for a gun that you even possibly might stake your life on, the answer is obvious. I wouldn’t put a cheap optic on a .22, much less a rifle I may use to defend my life or the lives of loved ones.

3

Clone means cheap chinese piece of shit. Be patient and save some money up. You can find some good deals on the forum equip. exchange.

4

I was on the band wagon of clone bashing as well until a friend of mine bought a vertical grip with button release bipod built in. The generic version of this>>> http://www.brownells.com/1/1/13181-gps-02-grip-pod-gps-02-grip-pod-black-gps-llc.html but it was $30 instead of $130. I essentially told him he was wasting his money and would regret it. That all changed once it came in and I tried it out. The quality was every bit as good as the name brand…
my advice> google customer reviews of what you’re wanting. Let people who have bought that exact item answer the question for you.

5

I’ve seen that guy selling on ebay. I would not buy clones. Just because he says the quality is not like Aimpoint’s, doesn’t mean sh!t. It’s why they are clones, they’re ALL not going to have the quality.

Pay $100 or so now, go shoot and then pay $100 or so more when it breaks. Repeat everytime you actually use the gun the way you’re supposed to.

OR save up and buy an Aimpoint of your choice.

AND yes, I’ve dealt with clones before. I’m not an expert at it but have used M2, M3, M4, T1 & XPS. They looked the part. Hell, even came with the copied instruction manual but it was a clone just by looking at it. It was clear but lighter than the real optic, sat alittle crooked on the rail and the dot or reticle was definately not like the real optics in that it was too big and could barely zero.

6

Look closely at Primary Arms. He sells knockoffs too, but they’re not too bad and may end up being a very serviceable optic for your intended purpose.

http://primaryarms.com/category.sc;jsessionid=92C0F56AC41635AA256C035C4E8A9752.qscstrfrnt03?categoryId=5

7

You might look at the Vortex SPARC also. There’s been some discussion on it, and other Vortex products, you can find in these forums. I think it might be a good compromise for for your stated purpose.

8

Best case, you’re not looking in the right places if you think that that’s your no-shit outlay for an Aimpoint. This is an old one, but I find it hard to believe that this site is the only one on the internet.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=49261&highlight=compml2

There’s other Aimpoints currently available in that subforum.

Yes, you can absolutely justify spending $500+ on an optic that goes on a self-defense rifle, presuming a certainty bordering on that of the existence of gravity that it will work at that critical moment should it occur. However, since verifiable evidence indicates that there’s no earthly reason to spend $500+ in order to get EXACTLY the Aimpoint you like…

No drama with going off-brand if paper is literally all your going after, but if you can afford an Aimpoint for what might be an HD gun, why not just get one?

You need to get valid pricing info. Look around EE. At the very least, base your decision off of good gouge, not what you’ve posted.

9

I’d try real hard to get the real-deal, especially looking at used ones in the Equipment Exchange here. You can probably find one used WITH mount for $300-$400 if you keep an eye out.

However you say it’s just for fun at the range a few times a year and not for self-defense, so if you’re really that pinched for cash then give the clone a try, it may just last you awhile with the type of use you give it.

10

Here’s the deal. For a home defense OR paper shooter you don’t need a $400 sight. Sure, if you can afford one then go for it but reality is that most of us can’t. For the couple boxes of ammo you’re going to run through it a year there will be no problems.

People are taking this to the level of a guy using it to kick in doors in Najaf! Come on people! To many this is just a hobby!

PS. Just bc someone has a $1000 dollar sight doesn’t mean they can run the gun. I’ve seen M4s with all the latest get put away by an actual operator running iron sights. People tend to overcompensate lack of skill with shiny accessories!

11

Well for me I would say buy exactly what you want the first time. Otherwise you will be spending twice. I have done this more than once. The last time was with a motorcycle helmet. Wanted an Arai but did not want to spend the cash. Spent $120 dollars on two other helmets before I broke down and got the Arai. Don’t make the same mistake I did… There are good deals in the EE section… If you get in a pinch you can always put it back up for sell and get your money back…

12

.

If that is all you shoot, I’d forget about the sight…buy ammo so you can shoot more when you do go shoot and just hope your gun/sight/light/etc. can keep up.

.

13

Which is better? Spending $100 every year to annually replace a nonfunctioning optic because it was built out of the trunk of an El Camino.

-OR-

Spending $500 on a reputable optic (plus 2 $6 batteries) that one can reasonably expect to exceed a decade’s use.

Cost and price mean two different things. “Here’s the deal,” my bleeding piles.

Being willing to go cheap on an HD piece isn’t fiscally responsible, it’s almost criminally negligent. Specifying an intent to utilize for HD? Guess what, “hobby” just turned into a word used to make excuses for nothing more that garbage logic, poor math, and a lack of valuing the lives of yourself and whomever you can conceive of home-defending.

The hole in the “door-kicking” argument is every bit as big as the indisputable importance of proper training regardless of whatever one has.

14

I think everyone has covered it already. Try and get a real Aimpoint, or similar.

Knock offs are that, knock offs. Are they cheap? Hell yeah, but why? Because they don’t match the same quality materials that the original uses.

You want to use this on a 5.56 rifle, again go for an original. I’ve heard of clones breaking due to recoil due to their poor wiring connections.

I have heard good things about the Primary Arms, but I would only run them on a .22LR dedicated weapon for plinking.

I know you probably want to finish your rifle in a hurry and get that optic, but wait and see what pops up online. Try eBay and other forum’s E&E areas. the deals are out there. I recently picked up a used but functional Aimpoint M1 for $175 shipped.

15

At least he didn’t say “Let me be clear…” :wink:

@ OP - I just bought an Aimpoint Micro H1 shipped for $480. It will last 10 times longer than any knockoff and I know I’ll have support for it from the manufacturer in the event something does go wrong. Paying a little extra for quality is always the best route. Oh, and deals can be found with enough searching. Unfortunately, and this is a generalization, people looking at clones usually can’t get past the first link when searching for something they want, it’s usually the cheapest and easiest to find.