Dots, dot, and more dots...

In my search for a replacement for my two ultradots that have failed in the past few months I've aquired the following:
Ultradot matchdot
Aimpoint 9000sc
Sightron 30mm single dot (can't remember model)
Vortex sparc II
vortex strike fire.

The match dot, aimpoint and sightron  didn't even make it onto a gun and we're returned. Dot quality on the sightron and aimpoint left a lot to be desired vs the ultradot, but the UD had really bad negative magnification.

The spark has a pretty good dot, but a lot of negative magnification and a really small field of view.  The electronic off switch is nice, once you get used to it.

The strike fire was mounted with vortex's 30mm low ring, and it's very very low. I have about 0.040" of clearance between the elecronics housing and the mount.  Of course the housing is a bit larger than the ultradot so the lens center to bore distance is comparable to a MD with low rings, maybe a bit lower.  

The strike fire dot quality is very good and there is no negative magnification. The windage and elevation adjustments are also VERY positive. I haven't shot "the square" with it yet, but they seem very predictable when I sighted it in. 

Th down side is that it's a larger, heavier dot, shorter then the 9000, but a bit wider. That said, I mounted it on my 6" rock river and after sighting in, shot a 99 on an indoor slow fire target. Load is 3.0gr vectan BA10 with a 215 gr powdercoated HG 68 style bullet. Spring is 12 lbs and I had no malfunctions over the course of 100 rounds or so.

I was leery about going to a single ring mount but the tube and body are constructed of a single piece of aluminium, not a tube screwed into a body like the UDs are so they are significantly stronger, at least in theory.

I'll update when I have a few thousand rounds through it.

I'll have to take a peek at that strike fire next match Rob.  Sorry to have to miss you on sunday, but kids are only young for a very short time, so enjoy them.
Al

I see it has a auto shut off after 1 hour, how does it come back on? if you have to push a switch this could cost you points if it shut off during a match.

I shot it on a different gun during 2 2700 matches last weekend and didn't have it shut off once. I shut it off between CF and 45 matches, but it stayed on the whole time. To turn it on, press the top button. It comes in instantly and returns to the last set brightness.

Edit: I read the manual this evening and it shuts off after 12 hours so the auto shutoff shouldn't be an issue... if it is, you've got bigger problems than no dot :-)

I have the Sightron S30-5 mounted on my MatchGun2 (Morini) So far it's working great though the dot is bigger than I like it's the best I've found so far. When Optics Planet had a 12% sale I purchased another. The 9000SC works good too but the dot is more like an asterisk and I don't like that night fire very loooow brightness settings which take up almost 1/2 of the available range..
I'm interested in the Strike Fire due to the one ring mount. I'm not impressed with the Primary Arms Micro I have on my AW 93 and looking for something better. The One ring feature of the  Strike Fire has me interested but I'm wondering if the weight of the scope mounted on what is not so massive top on the AW will take the weight. If it were the original Aluminum I wouldn't think about it but being I made one from Titanium it may withstand the recoil. (Not the scope, the gun) What is the ring size of the Strike Fire? I like the rings the 9000SC came with so I purchased 2 more sets of rings from Midway and used one set on my Sightron. I'm wondering about Parallax, I see it states OVER 50 yards in the description at OP.

the strike fire is 7.2 oz according to their website. good they changed the auto shut off website says 1 hour, would not want that.

I did get the specifications at Optics Planet. My concern is the rings, I see some sort of offset type ring but wonder if the standard 30mm will fit. OP has the Objective lens diameter to be 30mm but is that the Diameter where the ring is attached? I've seen other scope specifications list the objective lens diameter to be 30mm but it's not! The outside diameter of the tube is 30mm. I really don't like that cantilever ring and would rather have one without it. Another of my concerns is the parallax. I have too many scopes with parallax that exceeds the 10 ring! OP states that the it's parallax free Over 50 yards, not sure what that means  but other scopes say the same but at 50 yards parallax is not good for bullseye. (OP = Optics Planet)

I was about to take issue with fronecks statements, then realized OP was Optics Planet, not Origional poster.

The actual objective diameter is significantly larger, arround 35mm or so. A 30mm ring fits the mounting area. Vortex sells a version with the cantileverer mount for ARs and low mount ring for other apps. The low ring I used was from vortex, but didn't come with the dot as they only had the AR mount in stock. It's very low. Its about 30% wider than a typical ring to give a bit more stability.  Haven't tested parralan yet. One other issue I anticipate is sun glare as it doesn't come with an extension tube. Tried the honeycomb anti reflection device. At one power, you see the honeycomb in the scope... haven't shot it outside yet, but have Dryfired with it and it can be overcome with effort.

Sorry about my poor choice of abbreviation to mean Optics Planet 10sandxs. After posting and reading what I posted I seen my error and edited it to clarify OP to mean Optics Planet not you. Dam computers, cant trust dem to type da right woids!

 Optics Planet implies the scope comes with the cantilevered mount defiantly don't want those, I haven't seen the option for another set of rings. I would be happy with no rings! Are there some threads on either side so as I can make an extension? Like Jerry I'm making some extensions after Adam told me the AMU has them on the 9000SC. I have a bunch of different colors in Acrylic plus some Black Delrin and trying that instead of Aluminum. Let me know how the parallax is.

No problem Froneck, I posted to let you all in on my comedic misunderstanding, no malace was intended.

Optics planet does not show the option for the low ring but vortex has it on thier website. I'm guessing it's not real popular so most retailers don't carry it. I just bought the low vortec single ring.
http://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex-tactical-30mm-riflescope-ring.html 

For the $20 I figured it was easier than a special order.

Yes, there are threads on both sides. I'll try to borrow a thread pitch gauge from a friend and let you know pitch.  On the rear lens, an ultradot polarizer filter adaptor ring is the right diameter, just not the right thread pitch... I tried...

Thanks 10sandxs, most important to me is Parallax. Not necessary to shoot to determine the parallax, if you can rest the gun or just the scope (that's what I do) on something stable without touching it so that there is absolutely no movement. With the eye about the distance as it would be shooting I move my eye the square at a target or something of known size at 50 yards and see how much the dot varies from the center.

50 yards is a problem for me as our outdoor range only allows handguns on the 25 yard range... I'll see if I can sneak on to the 50 yard range.  the owner knows me and if it's not busy he's usually OK with it as he knows I can hit the backstop at 50yards, unlike many of his handgun customers...

I'm going to try to train tomorrow, and will give a report if I can.

I see Midway has the Vortex Strike Fire for $180 with. Free shipping plus a $50 discount on any other item(s) http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/754546/vortex-optics-strikefire-ii-red-dot-sight-30mm-tube-1x-4-moa-bright-dot-with-cantilever-extra-high-picatinny-style-ring-mount-matte

No need to shoot the gun 10sandxs. Prop the gun on some sandbags so it don't move, step back the distance from the eye side of the scope as if your shooting and move your head. Look at where the dot moves that will be the parallax

I shot an 1800 with the strikefire mounted 45 last night. Still no malfunctions in long or short line., even with my relatively light short line loads.  

To test parallax I set the gun in a makeshift gun vise and adjusted it untill the dot was centered on a 25 yard target placed at 50 yards. I'm not going to say it has no parrallax, but the vast majority of the dot had no percivable dot shift on target.  There may have been a very slight shift at the extreme 6 o'clock position, but the dot was also fading out, possibly interference from the 30mm to transiting to the 34mm ogjective.

And speaking of objectives, the ARD works but it would take me a season to get used to it so I wouldnt waste the money on it.   The objective measures 34.2mm inside the threaded tube, and 34.9mm on the outside of the ARD threads. That's all the precision I'm comfortable giving due to the high variablity of measuring threaded diameters.  The thread pitch is 0.75. Anybody making tubes for this size yet???

I didn't measure the diameter of the inside of the objective tube but the threads are 7.5mm in my 9000SC. Needed to know that first to setup my lathe to cut those threads. Seems like the parallax is good, I never have my dot at the extreme 6 o'clock.
 I'll let you know when I get one and if I'm successful in making the tube. I have that spray Brownells sells for aluminum in gloss and flat black. It's not bad since there's not much time between now an Perry to get an aluminum version anodized. I will be testing it made with Acrylic or Delrin. Was thinking of transparent Red  Acrylic for the eye side so as to give a ghost ring effect. The transparent or possibly translucent Acrylic might seem to glow.

It might if you paint the inside black.

I did make the extension tube for the objective side plus the Red ring for the ocular side from opaque Acrylic for the Sightron S30-5. See the similar version I made for the 9000SC in "Some new stuff". I have some concern as to how long it will last especially if I make a longer version for the ocular side as a rain guard. Very few threads are available, I might have to remove the lens retaining ring to gain more threaded area. I don't have much of the translucent Acrylic so I did't want to waste it if the very short threads didn't hold up.