USA Made RDS under $200?

[Slugz]

I try to buy American when I can. Granted, toilet paper, household cleaning products, and pretty much everything else inside your average wal-mart is made in china, indonesia, taiwan or some other foreign country, so for many things I am simply forced to buy foreign. Some things, such as the Glock, are actually best made in that foreign land and I will/have made that exception.

My AR-15, however, I will not make that exception unless no other option presents itself...

So far I have built this modern iteration of "sex carved out of steel" using nothing but USA made parts from various manufacturers considering price point and quality. Palmetto State Armory, Del-Ton, Bravo Company and Magpul to be specific. But coming to the point of finding a decent red dot sight, i cant seem to find any under $200 that are made in the USA. The only contenders are foreign built, which are the Bushnell TRS-25 and TRS-32, the offerings by PrimaryArms, and (on the more shoddy side based on the reviews I have researched) the Vortex offerings. I cant see building an American legend out of Chinese parts...

That said, I refuse to pay $600 for a red dot... The design is all too simple and looking to surefire as an example, usually the difference between "high quality" and "cheap" is something as stupid as a spring being soldered on BOTH sides of the battery compartment as opposed to just one. I could see some really nice glass scopes with magnification, but not a red dot..

Are there any offerings out there for a decent RDS made in the USA? Can nobody make a product that wont fall apart under significant use for less than a car payment?

[postal]

Eh... no not really....

I assume you looked into redfield and loopy products already- and a lot of loopy products are parts sourced from overseas anyway....

I hear really good things about burris red dots. I dont own one.

I do have 2 nikon monarch "VSD's" and a vortex razor red dot. They are all quality products. I really like that razor....

But one that's made in the USA?

Dont know of any...

Any that are made in the USA, I'd put my vortex razor against it any day of the week for quality, reliability and durability. It isnt cheap though at about $480 best street price. My nikons run about $200-230 which arent cheap either, but are pretty good- not as good as that razor. Nobody has the warranty vortex has either. Check around... look at warranties on electronics... 1,2,4 years is the norm. Even for $500 red dots. My razor at $480 is one I only have to buy once- If it ever breaks, they'll fix or replace it. That even goes for their lower lines like the strikefire. But that razor is tits.... Competes directly with the trijicon RMR and has a lifetime warranty.

[SLO1911Fan]

You can find a Vortex Sparc for around $150 if you look some. If I recall correctly they're made in China, but it is a better product than the Bushnell. You're not likely to find any made in America red dot under your price ceiling.

[jfifer]

Sounds like irons for you my friend. Its okay, thats more american.

'Murica.

[JackRydden224]

Either setup to the $400 mark and buy an Aimpoint Pro / Eotech 512 or give up and buy a foreign made product. Your money. Your politics. Your gun.

I don't let my politics get in the way of my money or my guns but that's just me.

[Slugz]

I'll go irons before I spend $400+ on a red dot...

[Slugz]

Eh... no not really....

I assume you looked into redfield and loopy products alread a lot of loopy products are parts sourced from overseas anyway....

I hear really good things about burris red dots. I dont own one.

I do have 2 nikon monarch "VSD's" and a vortex razor red dot. They are all quality products. I really like that razor....

But one that's made in the USA?

Dont know of any...

Any that are made in the USA, I'd put my vortex razor against it any day of the week for quality, reliability and durability. It isnt cheap though at about $480 best street price. My nikons run about $200-230 which arent cheap either, but ajuJure pretty good- not as good as that razor. Nobody has the warranty vortex has either. Check around... look at warranties on electronics... 1,2,4 years is the norm. Even for $500 red dots. My razor at $480 is one I only have to buy once- If it ever breaks, they'll fix or replace it. That even goes for their lower lines like the strikefire. But that razor is tits.... Competes directly with the trijicon RMR and has a lifetime warranty.

And I'll be GOD damned before i spend $400+ on a red dot made in China... Seriously.... I mean all politics aside, China just isn't known fire making quality anything... could be why they don't have any major automobile manufacturers, or any that I'm aware of at all...

[Merc1138]

And I'll be GOD damned before i spend $400+ on a red dot made in China... Seriously.... I mean all politics aside, China just isn't known fire making quality anything... could be why they don't have any major automobile manufacturers, or any that I'm aware of at all...

China, Japan, Phillipines, RDS and scope parts get made in lots of places. Typically the key components(things like the lenses, some of the electronics) aren't made in the US. All it boils down to is a matter of how much of it is made in the US. Even getting up into the thousands of dollars you'd be hard pressed to find a 100% US made optic in production.

As far as auto manufacturing in China... there actually is. GM, VW, Daimler, Ford, Mazda, Honda, Toyota, etc. all manufacture(or have parternships to manufacture their vehicles) in China. It's just that they do it for local/regional sale rather than to export to the US. Now if you're talking about strictly chinese car manufacturers, yeah they all suck pretty hardcore.

[Whiterabbit]

I mean all politics aside, China just isn't known fire making quality anything...

Iphone?

I had issues with a Japanese made product. country of origin does not necessarily equate to quality.

[1lostinspace]

If you want US made for that price get a broken glass take a red sharpie and make a dot on it. Get some duct tape it on to your gun and there you have it! made in the US!
Get a PA micro or Bushnell Trs.
Another option is to eat it and get an Eotech or Aimpont

[Droppin Deuces]

High quality optics - even some of those made overseas - are just something that require you to "pay to play," unfortunately.
Are the prices justified? Not always. You just have to know your manufacturers and understand what they're offering. I've paid a lot for the Trijicon name just to know I'm getting one of, if not the best optic of its kind.
I've also paid a lot for a Japanese-made Weaver(American company) and a Philippines-made Vortex. What you are getting in the Weaver is a product made by one of the best optics makers on the planet(Light Optical Works), and in the Vortex(American company), you are getting a great quality scope with an uncomparable warranty(Unlimited, Unconditional, Lifetime). So you are paying for something there. These companies stand by their products and make it worth your while.

I know a Calgunner to actually accidentally ran over his Vortex Sparc RDS in his garage, and they sent him another, no questions asked. It's a great company if you can get past the fact that their scopes are made overseas.
I don't like buying Chinese stuff either, but something you have to understand is that even things made overseas are made to whatever standard is required of them by the buyer. A company like Vortex will always have someone on hand at the plant to monitor production and ensure that things are produced to their standards.

[JackRydden224]

I'll go irons before I spend $400+ on a red dot...

Then go iron, end of thread.

There is nothing that fits your criteria.

[Slugz]

Then go iron, end of thread.

There is nothing that fits your criteria.

Id tell you your comments are unhelpful but I'm pretty sure you already know that.

[JackRydden224]

Actually both of my comments as well as everybody else's comments in this thread are very helpful you just refuse to face the reality. You want a made in USA RDS but refuses to pay $400 which is the cheapest made in USA RDS you can find. You then declare that you would rather go iron then paying $400 for RDS. What I said is exactly what you said.

So tell me, what more do you want people do help you with?

Id tell you your comments are unhelpful but I'm pretty sure you already know that.

[Merc1138]

Id tell you your comments are unhelpful but I'm pretty sure you already know that.

Yeah, I gotta agree with Jack here. You asked a question, got an answer you don't seem to like(which also happens to be reality) and then give some ultimatum about the max price you're willing to pay. We don't care how much you want to pay, but if you want a higher quality optic, you're gonna have to pay more. Like it or not, there are quality products made in china, they typically carry higher pricetags than the cheap chinese versions. No one is suggesting you start shopping for scopes on dealxtreme, but you still need to face the facts.

Also, while you may be under the impression that a quality red dot should cost next to nothing to make, it's just not true. You need optics and a system to adjust the position of the dot that can hold up to recoil and abuse, electronics capable of a reasonable(or extremely long) battery life, glass that doesn't have a bunch of glare or some dark tint to make the dot visible, and a solid mount. If you ignore some of that you start running into the lower end of the spectrum with red dots that aren't necessarily horrible(primary arms, vortex, etc.) but if you think you're going to get something like an aimpoint for $200... not gonna happen.