Vortex Strikefire or Bushnell Holosight

[Vic]

Ok guys, I'm planning on purchasing my first optic for an ar which will be mainly used for plinking and maybe SHTF. I'm really just looking for the best cheap red dot-ish sight I can get, nothing really fancy.

Could you guys give me some advice on either the strikefire or the holosight?

Which maintains it's zero the best? Which is the most durable?

Of course, I'm a noob when it comes to optics so what does parallax free mean, and eye relief?

Thanks!

[rabagley]

Never tried either one of the cheapies you mention. In general, you get what you pay for. IMHO, if you can afford an AR, wait until you can afford one of the less-expensive aimpoints or eotech's and buy that.

In aiming devices, parallax is essentially a change in the sight picture when your eye is not aligned with the central axis of the scope. If you look through the scope off center, does the spot that the crosshair covers change? Red-dot sights are not necessarily parallax-minimized, but it is easier to do than with other sights.

Eye relief is the range of distances between the scope's eyepiece and your eye where you can see the full image. 3-5" means that your if your eye is somewhere in that range, you'll see a bright image that completely fills the eyepiece. If you're nearer or farther, you'll see an image area that only fills part of the eyepiece. Eye relief is only relevant for magnifying optics. Most red-dot sights do not magnify and have a 0-infinite distance eye relief.

[LibertyOptics]

The scopes you mention are good for plinking, but NOT SHTF. Those are two drastically different puposes/scenarios.

Scott