Best Red Dots for 2023
Best Red Dots for 2023 Red dots have come a long way. Now you can have a dependable red dot that runs 50,000 hours Best Budget Red Dots (L to R, Primary Arms, Holosun, Vortex Sparc) We will cover three of the most popular budget red dots and rank them in reliability, clarity, mounting options, bang-for-the-buck-ness, and more.  Get ready for some torture testing too! Red Dot Immersion Models we’ll cover: Red Dot Warranty Holosun HS403A 3 year, non-transferable Vortex Sparc AR Lifetime, transferable WHY RED DOTS ARE AWESOME I’m an advocate for learning how to shoot with irons and then upgrading to red dots.  If only to understand how awesome they are compared to old school fixed sights. Looking for other kinds of sights?  We cover them in our Ultimate AR-15 Optics Guide. There are four main reasons why I love red dots. 1. Unlimited Eye Relief Unlike other sights, unmagnified red dots have unlimited eye relief…which means there’s no set minimum/maximum distance you need to mount them from your eye. 2. Parallax Free Red dots are essentially parallax free…this means when you move your head around, the red dot moves with you so you’re still pointed at the same target.  This way you don’t need a super precise position to get the shot. 3.  Co-witness Co-Witness, Absolute vs Lower Third You can also choose the height of your red dot so you co-witness your irons.  This way in case the red dots go down…you still have your irons.  Absolute co-witness places the dot exactly on your irons while lower 1/3 gives you more room for the dot. 4. Keeping Both Eyes Open Red dots are designed for you to keep both eyes open.  It’s much easier with red dots compared to iron sights and by using both eyes you get a nearly unlimited field of view while still superimposing the dot on your targets. Now enough about red dots…let’s see our test subjects! THE CONTESTANTS Budget Red Dots Side There’s going to be some red dot terms that aren’t self-explanatory, here’s a quick breakdown of what they mean: Dot Size (MOA): means minute of angle and describes the dot’s size.  For example, a 2 MOA dot will cover 2 inches at 100 yards. Night Vision Compatible: you will still be able to see the dot while using night vision equipment Here’s what I chose for what I see as the three most popular red dots under $200 that come from well-known companies. Primary Arms Advanced Micro Dot The PA Advanced Micro Dot is very well known in the budget optics space for being affordable yet reliable.  Here are some of the important specs: 50,000 hour battery life (1x CR2032) 3-year warranty 2 MOA dot Waterproof to 2m for 72 hours Night vision compatible -4 F to 158 F working temperature Weight: 3.9 oz Does not come with riser (Using Daniel Defense Mount) Holosun HS403A The Holosun HS403A is making a splash in the red dot world for really affordable sights with all the bells and whistles.  Rumor has it that Holosun is the manufacturer of Primary Arms’ red dots (to their specs). 50,000 hour battery life (1x CR2032) 2 MOA dot size 3-year warranty 8-hour auto shutoff Waterproof to 1m Night vision compatible Weight: 4.2 oz w/riser 14 F to 122 F working temperatures Comes with risers for absolute/one-third co-witness Vortex Sparc AR MOST ROBUST The Vortex Sparc AR is a newcomer from the very well-known Vortex that is robust with clear glass. 5,000 hours battery life (1x AAA) 2 MOA dot size Unlimited & transferable lifetime warranty 12-hour auto shutoff Waterproof to 1m Night vision compatible Weight: 8.5 oz w/ riser -4 F to 158 F working temperatures Comes with risers for both co-witness heights DROP TESTING I bought these myself to test them out so this part hurt a little…but if something can’t survive three drops from around 3 feet onto concrete (without being attached to a rifle)…then I probably wouldn’t trust it later anyway. All three survived but I found out later that the Primary Arms one had a crack on the rear window at 7 o’clock… Holosun and Primary Arms (Cracked) It didn’t affect function and it made it through the next test with flying colors. WATERPROOF & TEMPERATURE TESTING I don’t have plans of swimming with my guns but in case I get caught in the rain, I’d like for it to survive. I combined this test with the temperature test and loaded up a pot with some hot water.  I let it cool overnight for the lower end of the temperature spectrum. Again, all three passed function testing in the morning. BUT… I made the error of not wiping them down.  Some time passed before I went shooting with them and I found a good amount of rust on the Primary Arms (rails, next picture) and Sparc AR (screws of the riser). Vortex Sparc AR Rust BATTERY COMPARTMENTS & RISERS Budget Red Dot Batteries (L to R, Holosun, Vortex, Primary Arms) Here you can see the rust on the rails on the Primary Arms. And how each red dot deals with its batteries.  The Sparc AR has the added benefit of using AAA batteries but weights almost 2x the weight of the others. The Primary Arms’ battery is on the side for easy access while the Holosun is underneath and requires disassembly from the mount. Holosun Mounting I was a little scared at the flimsy rubber housing but it held up during the water testing and there’s no rust on anything. Ok…how about how the dots and glass look? DOT & GLASS CLARITY Budget Red Dots All On (L to R, Holosun, Vortex, Primary Arms) This picture is meant to showcase the glass clarity.  I focused on the body instead of the dots so the dots appear fuzzier than in real life. You can see that the Holosun and Primary Arms’ glass is greener than the middle Vortex.  I’d say Holosun edges slightly over the Primary arms in terms of clarity. However, the view box of
