I have very good optics on my M4; however I just bought a M&P 15-22 for plinking. I’d like to put a red dot sight on it for about 100$.
I know it will not be great sight, but it’s only use is for fun. Not competition. If it can hold its zero and is not incapacitated with too much parallax, then it’s all for me.
I picked up a Tru Glo sight for the same reason and wish I had spent more money on a better RDS. When viewing through the sight, it is not quite as clear as a better quality sight. The sight did not hold zero and I had to send it back to the factory. It now holds zero, but the glass on the optic is cracked from recoil and the rifle being bumped around a moderate amount.
Tru Glo is not recommended if you were thinking about going that route.
The dot looks just like the dots on my T-1s. The brightness is adjustable, but I find it’s nowhere near as bright on the highest settings compared to my Aimpoints. Considering its $89 vs $550, I’ll deal with it.
I picked up a StrikeFire from PSA for $99 w/ free shipping , about a month ago. Don’t know if they still have that deal. But I figure it would work fine for the 15-22 also.
Another vote for the Primary Arms micro. You can get them for $79 from Primary Arms, along with the PA riser mount for $20. That will give you a complete RDS setup for your price range, and I don’t think you can beat that setup for $100.
Another Plug for PA Micro. I have T-1’s on my go to AR’s but my 2 PA Micro’s are mounted on a shotty and an AK. No problems at all plus they have good customer service.
The only problem I’ve seen with the TRS-25’s is some of them have stiff adjustment knobs - occasionally I’ll see one that is very stiff.
FWIW, Bushnell also used to claim a 3,000 hour battery life for the TRS-25. Now I can’t find any estimate of battery life listed.
Still, IMHO, they’re not bad - for the money. Not a T-1 or H-1 by any means, but not too bad either. I know of at least one that’s held up to hundreds of rounds on an AK.
I have the TRS Trophey on my .22 and it’s great. No issues. Pretty happy for $89! (That was on sale though, but you can find them usually around that price on Amazon or Cabelas)
Palmetto has good deals on vortex strikefires most days…99 bucks
great red dots, lifetime warranty, run it on the 22 & something larger in the future perhaps, three different mounts, or 2…cant remember exactly…huge vortex fan here…their customer service is top notch
Another vote for the PA T1 clone.
The dot is good enough- not quite a perfect dot, but then neither is my PRO to my eyes…
More than clear enough for day shooting. Brightness is adjustable, and works just fine even in midday sun.
The standard mount/riser that you can get with it from PA is a UTG mount, just for the record… a fellow elsewhere apparently busted his off the rifle under vigorous movement when his rifle collided with an immovable natural object… :laugh:
However, owning the complete PA setup, I would have no problem using the UTG part as an interim mount on a light-duty .22 that’s not going to be tossed all over the place, and simply upgrade whenever it finally busts.
Frankly, for the money, I’d rather save a little $$ and get the PA over the Vortex- there’s always some guy with one of the cheap Vortex RDS that had it crap out…
Both the Primary Arms and the TRS-25 are excellent with the Primary Arms having better glass with less green tint. The Primary Arms also has the added benefit of using the same screw config as the T1/H1s so you can use any mount designed for the aimpoint micros. I can’t seem to kill either of mine but if this is a fighting rifle make sure you know your irons.