Open Type Red Dot Sight Review
Posted by Andre on 12/5/2011
You see them on video games,
in movies, and for sale all over the internet but for the most part they all
look the same. Many manufacturers make them and they all say that theirs is the
best. They sure look cool. 
You might have even started shopping around to get
one of your very own. But how do you know which one is worth its salt? I took a
look at finding out exactly that.
For this review I tried to
find the most similar looking red dot sights that I could find and I came up
with these four:
The Sightmark SM13003B
Sure-Shot Black,
The NcStar D4B 4-Reticle
Red Dot Sight,
The AIM Sports Inc. RT4-01
Red Dot Sight,
The Golberg R78-2233-BK
Harrier Red Dot Sight
While they all look
identical at first glance they each have their own perks and quirks if you
will. So lets get started.
Price
For the
purposes of this article I will be quoting the prices found on
AR15Outfitters.com. They may more expensive of cheaper elsewhere but it will
give a pretty good idea what you can expect to see for these items.
|
Item
|
Price
|
|
|
Sightmark
SM13003B Sure-Shot
|
$55.99
|
|
|
NcStar
D4B 4-Reticle Red Dot Sight
|
$49.99
|
|
|
AIM
Sports Inc. RT4-01 Red Dot Sight
|
$45.99
|
|
|
Golberg
R78-2233-BK Harrier
|
$40.99
|
|
As you can
see, they are all very comparatively priced (and a very non-expensive sighting
option) with the Sightmark demanding the highest cost and the Golberg the
lowest.
Identical Features
Before we
look at what is different about them, lets look at what they all share.
1.
They
all have the same basic design and dimensions.
2.
They
all have 4 different reticle options.
3.
They
all have ruby coated lenses.
4.
They
all have 7 different intensity settings.
5.
They
all have integrated Picatinny/Weaver Mounts.
6.
They
all include the tools needed to mount and sight in.
7.
They
all include instructions and batteries (1x CR2032)
Reticles
Now that thats
out of the way we can start seeing some differences. As far as reticles go the
only one that stands out is the Golberg in that it only has a dot as a reticle.
It has 4 different MOA settings for that dot however.
The sizes range from:
1.
5
MOA
2.
8
MOA
3.
12
MOA
4.
16
MOA
All of the
rest of the manufacturers have 4 different reticles to choose from. They are:
1.
5
MOA Dot
2.
Crosshair
3.
Bulls-eye
4.
Bulls-eye
with cross
I checked the
brightness by putting in a fresh set of batteries and looking through each
sight on the 5 MOA dot on the highest intensity. The AIM has the brightest
reticle and with the NcStar coming in a close second. The Golberg came in third
with the Sightmark coming is a very distant last. I actually had to check the
battery to make sure it was good on the Sightmark because of how dim the
reticle was.
Next I
checked the clarity of each unit. By this I mean how fuzzy the reticle is on
its highest setting.
By far the AIM
is the most clear with the Golberg coming is second. The Sightmark is the next with
the NcStar being the fuzziest of them all. I do think that if the sight mark
were as bright as the others, it would probably trade places with the NcStar.
Mounting
Next I
mounted them on a mil-spec Picatinny rail to make sure they mount up securely.
I was very surprised. While they all mounted securely with no play or wiggle,
only the NcStar actually mounted to the rail without any cant. All of the other
were off center in some way or the other. So I decided to measure it. The NcStar
was almost perfectly vertical. The Golberg was canted to the left by about 3º.
The Sightmark was canted to the right by about 4º. And the AIM was canted to
the right by a whopping 11º!
Paralax
The AIMs
point of aim was solid and had almost no reticle movement until you reach the
edge of the glass and then it becomes a little distorted. The NcStar was solid
as long as the reticle was towards the center of the glass but if it strayed
towards the center it started to warp and shift. Both the Golberg and the
Sightmark were pretty erratic and if your head position moved at all the
reticle appeared to change point of aim.
Finish
The finish on
each unit was just a little bit different depending on the manufacturer. The
only one that appeared to have a mil-spec anodized coating was the AIM. All of
the rest had a kind of dull sheen that almost looks like it is a matte black
paint. Its hard to say what it is for sure because I do not have the equipment
to test it.
Adjustment & Sight-in
When I mounted
them to my 16 carbine build, each was able to be sighted in within 10 shots
after using a cartridge laser boresighter at 15 yards. I would like to mention
that the adjustment screws each had their own different feel to them. The AIM
and the Golberg felt the best with nice smooth but easily definable click
adjustments. When I adjusted the NcStar it seemed FAR too easy. I could just
barely hear a ball detent clicking inside but it didnt seem to add any
resistance to the adjustment.The Sightmark required the most force to adjust
using the provided allen wrench and the clicks were definitely definable. I
have no doubt that the Sightmark could hold a zero for a VERY long time. If I
thought that one of them would not hold a zero after being banged around a
little it would be the NcStar.
Out of all the
sights that I have test fired, they all were able to hold their zero for 100 consecutive
shots. Time dictated that only 100 rounds could be fired and I would have liked
to do more extensive live fire tests, but I think 100 rounds is better than
nothing.
Warranties
All four of
the items are covered by a limited lifetime warranty protecting against defects
in materials and workmanship.
Summary
All in all
none of the four sights came out perfect. All of them has some shortcoming in
one way or the other. With that being said the AIM Sports Inc. RT4-01 was the
most attractive out of all of the options because the cant can be easily
corrected using shims or by accounting for drop using some good old Kentucky windage.
I personally
have adopted and have been using the AIM Sports RT4-01 for use on one of my carbine
builds and it has performed beautifully for about a year. I have yet to have to
re-sight it in since mounting it and would recommend it to anyone on a tight
budget.
