Any opinions on the Sightmark Mini Shot Reflex Sight

[jwc]

I am considering buying a Sightmark Mini Shot Reflex Sight for my Beretta Neos 22LR pistol.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/yukon-sightmark-reflex-sight-sm13001.html

Does anybody here have any experience using this sight?

How does it compare with the Burris Fastfire?

[maxicon]

There are lots of similar MRDs from China that appear to be made in the same factory, at a variety of prices depending on the features. The Sightmark looks like one of these, and appears to be similar to the RDPII.

Here's one that appears to be very similar for a good bit less, but even more of a no-name:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Solarforce-QD-Micro-Auto-Brightness-RedDot-Reflex-Sight_W0QQitemZ270253408834QQihZ017QQcategoryZ66827QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It doesn't give a lot of detail in the ad, but some things to consider:

- The Burris has glass optics, which are optically better than the plastic ones like the Jpoint but are heavier. The ad doesn't say what the Sightmark has.

- The Burris has an on/off switch, which most of the auto-brightness MRDs don't have (the ones without auto-brightness usually have a switch). If you store it in total darkness, it won't matter as much, but if you store it in where there's light with the cover off, the on/off switch will give better battery life, at the cost of one more control to mess with.

- The Burris, like many MRDs, only has a one year warranty. The Sightmark ad doesn't say what their warranty is. Burris provides very good support, but with a one-year warranty, that's not worth as much as it is on their traditional optics.

The rail clamp on the Sightmark looks pretty cheesy from the pic, for what that's worth.

Whatever you get, be sure to post your experiences!

[trinydex]

what is the battery life on the burris?

[All Nav]

I just bought the Sightmark Sure Shot reflex sight, orginally for my AK, but I tried it out first on my Buckmark .22LR. Worked excellently, reticle was super-bright at the lowest settings, held zero through the different reticles. Have not yet seen if it will stand up to .223 handloads, but so far I'm impressed.

[trinydex]

http://stores.homestead.com/Laruetactical/Categories.bok?category=Mini+Red+Dots+%2F+Bases

check that out

[socalr6]

The EOtechs are paralax free for less

[trinydex]

where do you find a 70-150 dollar eotech?

also eotechs can't be left on all the time, whereas many minidots with their power saving mode can. i don't know if the sightmark unit does but the burris fastfire and the doctor do have power saving modes.

[aplinker]

OK, so I bought a cheapie to try....

Not real impressed. The top of the window has serious parallax issues. The dot is plenty bright, but construction is suspect.

IMHO the Burris is absolutely worth the extra money.

[trinydex]

nice, thanks for the review.

i received my burris last week. still waiting on some stuff before i buy the larue base and and i need the rifle to mount it on of course.

preliminary review. in total darkness the reticle is great. with lights on it's ok too. the only time i had any dot washout was when i look at my lcd screen that had calguns' white background. the brightness of the screen was bad, washed out the dot completely. i suspect that pointing it at lights would be bad too. but for the purpose i will be using it for, i didn't find anything with the same features that would be necessarily better, especially for the price.

[maxicon]

where do you find a 70-150 dollar eotech?

also eotechs can't be left on all the time, whereas many minidots with their power saving mode can. i don't know if the sightmark unit does but the burris fastfire and the doctor do have power saving modes.

Not only that, the Eotechs are huge and heavy compared to the MRDs, battery life is far lower, and they don't have the auto brightness feature that many like.

With all the recent problem reports on Eotechs, there are a lot of them showing up for sale on the arfcom EE at steadily dropping prices, but I haven't seen a real Eotech under $200 yet.