Out of the three you listed, I’d go with the German dot.
Here’s why.
In bright sunlight you will not be able to see your illuminated reticle. I have a illuminated SPR reticle on my 1.5x5 and you just can’t see it. In low light it’s great. Otherwise it stinks.
The circle dot would be great for shooting 100 yds and in if it would illuminate. Not that great for longer ranges.
The duplex is okay if you were shooting longer ranges and the optic had BDC. Since it doesn’t you would have to hold-over and thick vertical posts tend to get in the way of that.
The german dot has thinner crosshairs with a dot in the center and thicker crosshairs at the edge and to me would make picking up a target at closer range easier even with no illumination during the day. The thinner vertical crosshairs make holdover at range much easier.
i almost think this is personal preference. out of the 3 reticles that are available with illumination, i would go with the german #4.
but that is just my preference. next for me would be the circle dot.
last would be duplex, just because i’m not a fan of the standard duplex.
i’m sure whatever you pick you can work with it to learn how to aquire it faster.
dots can be easier/faster to aquire that illuminated crosshairs, but again, that can be personal preference.
If you are thinking of using 1.5-5 for 3-gun, you might want to spend some time looking through one at close range ( 0-25yds). I remember looking through a 1.25 Trijicon, and found it slow and a bit disorienting. I found a true 1x much faster, alot easier to pick up especially close targets.
For longer range stuff you will be lacking due to lack of consistent hold-over indicators in the reticle (such as a BDC or Mil increments) or range-finding beyond coarse guesstimates.
The finger-adjustable turrets do provide some ability to dial in range, but without having used one to do so I amhesitant to say exactly how well it will perform the task. If you are staying within 300 meters hold-over won’t be too prohibitive, depending on what size targets you are trying to hit quickly.
I concur with F2S regaring reticle choices. I’d also like to know what your definition of precision is. Obviously a larger, illuminatred dot is ideal for precision, but fine duplex reticles are better for precision. Optics with reticles that allow for precision and speed are few and far between, not to mention very expensive. For 3-gun a 3 MOA dot like the illuminated circle dot on the VX-3 might suffice (though the illumination sucks and I’d recommend others). If you want to shoot 1 MOA or below, neither the illuminated circle dot or illum. German #4 are acceptable at 3 MOA and 2 MOA, respectively. Very few low power scopes will allow you to have your cake and eat it too unless you pony up for something like Swaro or S&B. If you’re okay with 2-3 MOA or so, then there a lots of low to mid-priced options.
With respect to turrets, the VX-3s are not really setup for lots of dialling and are somewhat difficult to see from a shooting or near shooting position. If you intent to utilize the turrets often, I’d recommend the Mark 4s.
I was first contemplating the Millett 1-4x24 DMS sold on PrimaryArms, as it had a lot of features I wanted for half the price of the Leupold, but I then thought the Leupold would be a better value and possibly have a longer lifespan.
The Millet a decent scope for $200. It’s nowhere as clear, robust or as bright as the Leuplold (and the battery life is abysmal), but again, decent for a $200 optic. If 1-4x optics are what you’re looking for and your budget is tight, I’d recommend spending a little more for the 1-4x24 Burris.
I would not recommend the Millett unless the absolute most the user could spend was $200.
Which really brings us to the crux of the matter:
If you want a recommendation for somethng else, we need a budget to work in.
Well, I have to keep the budget down to a sane level, because I can justify just about anything to myself. I do realize the importance of spending a little more on quality gear that won’t shit the bed in two years, that’s why I was interested in the Leupold over the Burris.
So, I guess a price range of 500-600 would be good.
the Millett is… OK… it’s not great or even good as it has no easy method of holdover compensation - it’s just a dot and donut with vertical and horizontal stadia that don’t extend through the center.
not bad if using as a red dot at close range but when used at the distance that magnification becomes necessary, the holdovers become guesswork…