I ran across a red dot review today. Not all of us have $500+ to throw at a red dot optic, especially for range toys. The price of the optics ranged from $65 to $289, with many of these coming often recommended. I personally have the Bushnell TRS-25, which placed first in their subjective testing, but haven't got out to the range to test it myself yet.


Part one is the intro and part two is the actual comparison.
http://www.thebangswitch.com/budget-red-dot-sight-comparison-part-1/
http://www.thebangswitch.com/budget-red-dot-sight-comparison-part-2/

i really like the trs-25.
scratch that. i apparently really like the trs-25.
just realized i have 3 now. 

its so cheap and performs so well. its no aimpoint t1, but then again most qd aimpoint mounts cost more than a trs-25   

the primary arms micro dot with seekins mount($150 w/mount) is on my list if i needed to purchase another cheap red dot.

its not out yet, but bushnell has a new 1x32 thats replacing their trs-32.
supposed to be their "premium" red dot. 3moa and pretty lightweight.
looks like an aimpoint comp m2 copy.
if its comes in at under 200 street price i think that would be a decent buy. i think msrp was 250-280

I got both the bushnell and primary arms. Their pretty good for the price. Aimpoints are for sure superior in every way from track record, durability and battery life but for one t1 and mount, I can get 6 trs red dots. If one were to fail I still got 5 others on 5 other rifles. Both bushnell and PA are pretty solid and are more than adequate for most practical purposes

The Aimpoint PRO isn't too far off and can be found mid $300.

I've been pretty happy with one from Primary Arms. It ran about $65 and has worked well......no problems at all and holds zero. 

MAC and Sootch00 both have good youtube reviews on affordable optics. I am debating on picking up the LUCID HD7 red dot retails around 180.

I have the TRS-25, Primary Arms and Burris Fastfire II and had the Centerpoint Tactical and Sightmark Model SM14011.

Centerpoint and Sightmark wouldn't hold zero so I returned them. Perhaps it was a bit "unfair" to test the CP Tactical on a Mosin but I figured if it held up to the MN, it would hold up to just about everything. It failed miserably. I threw my TRS-25 on the MN and it was spot on so I knew it wasn't the rifle or the mount.

The Sightmark looked awesome but performed misereably for a different reason. Sightmark's elevation and windage screws screws both moved the dot in the horizontal and vertical plan making adjustments impossible. Someone commented that proper adjustment requires the loosening of some screw inside the sight. If that's the case, then the sight is truly flawed.

Burris works like a charm. Its small enough to mount to a pistol and is of high quality. My only concern is its durability.

The TRS-25 is awesome. It's bright and accurate, durable and holds zero on my MN. I agree with the survey and place it higher in rank than the PA.

I did a review of the CP Tactical in comparison with the TRS-25 and the Sightmark mounted on a Midwest Industries sight mount on youtube here: