Red dot - which one?

So -one of my matchdots is going to have to go in for service soon (sticking adjustment). Not a really big deal - it's >5 years old. However, it started me thinking. The matchdot has pretty much been the 'go-to' red dot for the last few years and I was wondering if there was a 'better' alternative of late. Of course that rather relies on your interpretation of 'better'. For reference - I want better reliability than an Aimpoint, lighter than a Fastfire and under $100. Of course I also want a flying car and this weeks lottery numbers :-)

Given the impossibility of the want - are there any realistic options within the same sort of price bracket as the matchdot? I accept that the 22 may have a different solution set than the 45.

Ultradot is still the very reliable and decent priced its always been, ive owned many and just recently switched to the match dot 2 and love it. Lots of cheap dots  for less money out there I have seen none that can compare to anything ultradot sells.

Aimpoint for me.  Buy once cry once

I know a Perry multi-national champion that lost Perry one year because his Ultradot broke during 45 match. Scope actually broke: parts flew off. He's an Aimpoint man now! I lost out on winning a gun because Ultradot windage went out during cf match. If your in it to win go Aimpoint!
Jon

Or iron sights. Those never go bad

Christopher Miceli wrote:Or iron sights. Those never go bad

Not shooting an Elliason sighted Gold Cup, are you!  lol

Christopher Miceli wrote:Aimpoint for me.  Buy once cry once

What if you need 20? Just hypothetically you understand

Which aim point?

H-1 Micro, as Chris said.  Buy once, cry once.  I have found that the Micro's don't break, so there is no need for a backup dots any more.  20, well.................don't have a response to that one.

kc.crawford.7 wrote:H-1 Micro, as Chris said.  Buy once, cry once.  I have found that the Micro's don't break, so there is no need for a backup dots any more.  20, well.................don't have a response to that one.

http://www.ultradotusa.com/ultradotdist2010_019.htm

And if you look at one of them, you'll find the dot is not centered on the base.  Ultradot was aware of it and didn't think it was important enough to issue a recall on them.  I believe that has been fixed now, but IMHO the Aimpoint Micro is the Micro to shoot with.

Jon Eulette wrote:I know a Perry multi-national champion that lost Perry one year because his Ultradot broke during 45 match. Scope actually broke: parts flew off. He's an Aimpoint man now! I lost out on winning a gun because Ultradot windage went out during cf match. If your in it to win go Aimpoint!
Jon

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  Yes....

I like big dots.  8 minutes or larger.  I guess I am stuck with UD

I don't care who made it they all can fail at some point. Aimpoint makes a good product but its 4 times the cost of a 1'' UD, if your a national champion shooter then it makes since to have them and in many cases the reason you see them at that level is aimpoint gave them to those shooters.

OldMaster66 wrote:

Christopher Miceli wrote:Aimpoint for me.  Buy once cry once

What if you need 20? Just hypothetically you understand

I think you are gonna have to spend more time @ sea my friend =] 

or... @ 20 you could probably open a business account with them.

DavidR wrote:I don't care who made it they all can fail at some point. Aimpoint makes a good product but its 4 times the cost of a 1'' UD, if your a national champion shooter then it makes since to have them and in many cases the reason you see them at that level is aimpoint gave them to those shooters.

I would prefer the term "earned" instead of gave
Jon

Thanks.  Your comments have helped me understand why the gunsmith building a 1911 for my wife is to use an Aimpoint. 
One of the great amazements to me is that you can buy a functioning red-dot sight for $20 that has two colors and four different displays - and the same sight is sold by at least a dozen firms at a large price spread.

. . . and yet CCI SV is still hard to procure.   Comments about what works help.    Mac

Jon Eulette wrote:

DavidR wrote:I don't care who made it they all can fail at some point. Aimpoint makes a good product but its 4 times the cost of a 1'' UD, if your a national champion shooter then it makes since to have them and in many cases the reason you see them at that level is aimpoint gave them to those shooters.

I would prefer the term "earned" instead of gave
Jon

Hard to earn something before you use it, but I'm sure aimpoint is happy! its just good business to have your product sitting atop the guns of some of the best shooters in the country. AMU was handed as many as they needed is what one of their top members told me, when I asked why they switched to aimpoint, his first answer was because they were free. Same answer I got when I asked a former national champion why he used aimpoint... because they gave them to me. Alas they have not offered me one yet.

Earned by performance David. That's how you make a top team as well. Sorry Aimpoint hasn't blessed you with a Micro yet
Jon

I dropped the  $ on an aimpoint cause I saved to buy a quality built gun that cost $$$.  Figured why skimp on the part that puts the dot I'm aiming on.

Jon Eulette wrote:Earned by performance David. That's how you make a top team as well. Sorry Aimpoint hasn't blessed you with a Micro yet
Jon

Oh I understand.. they don't hand them out to any they think can't do them justice.

It is interesting that rifle shooters will spend as much on a scope as they will on the rifle, but many shooters will put a $50 red dot on a $3,000 pistol.  Not that I want to spend $3,000 on a dot, but why skimp at that point?

rfmiller wrote:It is interesting that rifle shooters will spend as much on a scope as they will on the rifle, but many shooters will put a $50 red dot on a $3,000 pistol.  Not that I want to spend $3,000 on a dot, but why skimp at that point?

Possibly because once you pass a certain point (let's say the matchdot) there isn't really any great advantage to spending any more. Is the aimpoint 'better' - probably. Is it going to produce much better scores for a non high-master - I doubt it. I just ponied up for a matchdot 2 - and saved about $400 over the price of the aimpoint. At a guess my scores will improve more from the approx 4K rounds of 22 SV practice than they would buying the H1.

Don't get me wrong - if money wasn't an object I'd get an H1. I know shooters that use them and they are really nice - but there's no way the scope is a limiting factor for me. Maybe if I could reliably add 130 points to my typical 'that was a good day' score of around 2540 it would be worth while. In the meantime I think that from a marketing perspective holding me up as an example of why you should use an aimpoint and watch Downton Abbey would merely cause their sales to fall and PBS viewing numbers to crash :-)

I agree that all of us have a certain point where spending more may not yield much.  I too am very satisfied with my UD's, and too would be better served with more practice.  It is just that I have purchased a dot that I thought would be "good enough" and ended up buying another.  Thank goodness that we can ask questions of those who have "been there, done that" so we all don't have to learn the hard way.

I have both Primary Arms and H1. H1 Quality is superior. Primary arms is excellent. Primary Arms $169, H1 on Sale $530. 

Only difference is reflex may be a little less at 50 than the Primary Arms. At low level the PA dot is actually nicer. 
I would absolutely say the Primary Arms is better than a Ultradot Micro but not an Ultradot 30mm tube. 

My guess is over time the Aimpoint is worth the money but for the same money I can buy 3 Primary Arms. 

RT