I switched the dot sight on my Rock to the Sig ROMEO Zero. I’ve been using the ROMEO Zero on my 9mm Mossberg MC2sc carry for a couple of years now and it’s been rock solid. I hate that I can’t change the battery without dismounting the sight but I’ve only had to change the battery once.
Previously on my Rock I had the ADE NUWA Pro green dot mounted. There are a lot of features about it that I really like but it ended up not holding zero well enough and has a really terrible battery life, in spite of the features supposed to prolong battery life. I’m hoping that ADE will repair or replace the sight.
So after getting two bad Romeo Zeros, one with jammed windage, the next with jammed elevation, I decided to try something else. I ordered a Crimson Trace RAD. They get good reviews and it’s super good price at about $140. Then a friend pointed me to the Athlon Talos EDC for $90 + shipping from Sportsman’s Guide. It gets good reviews and Athlon seems to be a decently respected brand. It’s supposed to be waterproof, aluminum (maybe?), auto-brightness, with a 50,000 hour battery life, and have a lifetime warranty. So I’m giving it a shot.
So I’m going to throw out an opinion that may not be popular to everyone:
You get what you pay for.
Now that doesn’t mean you have to get the most expensive. But with optics, its also not always the best to cheap out. You previously had an ADE, then two Sig’s that didn’t function, and now a crimson trace is on order.
Sure more expensive optics have bad eggs also, but I usually use Holosun and have had 0 issues. A little pricey, not as much as Trijicon or Aimpoint. But they work and have been working for years now. Good luck with the CT.
Maybe. Unless it isn’t. I knew I was taking a chance with the NUWA. I was prepared for it to not pan out.
I knew I wasn’t taking a chance with the Sig. I’ve been running the Sig on my 9 for a couple of years now with no problems at all. I think there was just a bad batch of them that went out so frankly, I’m shocked that I had any problems with them. But whatever.
I also don’t believe that the Crimson Trace is a big risk, mostly because Crimson Trace has been making laser sights (not RDS, I know) for longer than many shooters have been alive. They’re a respected brand.
But, as I wrote above, I canceled the CT.
Instead, I decided to try the Athlon. I know it’s a bit riskier than brands like holosun. I like holosun. I own holosun. However, Athlon seems to have gained some respect as a budget brand and this RDS is getting good reviews so I’m going to give it a shot. If it doesn’t pan out, that’s OK.
But my experience with PSA and some other inexpensive brands has lead me to believe that sometimes you can get a decent product on a budget.
I’ll do a review on my experience with the Athlon. If I remember I’ll do a 1-year follow up, provided it makes the grade on the initial review.
well… if PSA made an optic we would know how much it actually costs to manufacture… american vs chinese glass and factories… so many variables it’s not simple. You do see a price difference even among psa products, at psa you definitely get what you pay for, those expensive toys are legit amaze balls, but the affordable ones are still better than milspec
I bought a pistol that cost less than half what it did. It’s a better weapon. It’s called a Dagger.
“You get what you pay for” doesn’t always apply. Especially in the gun world where price gouging and “paying for the name” is insanely prevalent. This is a sphere where you see guys paying over $2k for a plain jane AR because it has a certain brand stamping on it. We’re all here on the PSA forum because we know we can get a lot more for our money from this company.
All for people trying out these more reasonably priced options. I have optics from TruGlo, Holosun, Sig, Aimpoint, Swampfox, Crimson Trace, Vortex, Burris, Simmons, Trijicon, Primary Arms, and EoTech.
The one I hate the most? The Trijicon reflex. It’s the worst with my astigmatism and was not worth the price at all. I don’t have an issue with the EoTech, but I don’t think it was worth the money either. I very much like my Holosuns, but do I think they’re worth the extra I paid over the cheaper TruGlos, Sigs, CT, or Swampfox? Honestly it’s hard to say. I feel like the best combination of reasonable price/value and performance I’ve gotten is from my Vortex LPVOs.
Sure…and i wasnt talking about firearms, just optics. You can get a high point to be a dependable weapon, or it may break. PSA can go cheaper on their products because 1) they have always used the model of bulk sales = freedom spreading and 2) owning the manufacturing facilities also means they can manage the QC and eliminate the middle man. Most of these chinese made optics dont have that, the exceptions probably being vortex and Primary Arms as far as optics go.
In-house manufacturing is a reason, but not the only reason PSA sells cheaper. I routinely see them sell outside brand products for a fraction of the price you see them elsewhere. I bought my TruGlo and Crimson Trace reflex sights from PSA for 60-70 bucks each, they were 150-220 from other outlets. I also got my Strike Eagle from them for a significant discount.
The TG and CT aren’t the best reflexes I have and both lack some features (mainly shake awake) you see on the really pricey ones but they perform phenomenally for less than a hundred bones. The Crimson sits on an inertia-driven 12ga semi-auto shotty and has held steady. One of the TruGlos sits on the Hannibal rail of my Mini-14 which throws a ton of heat and it’s taken it no issue. I wouldn’t have any reservations about recommending either to others as long as their expectations are in line.
There is a lot of junk out there, I wouldn’t tell anyone to buy one of the ridiculous $15 no-name airsoft optics off Amazon, but there’s also a lot of really decent options available for reasonable prices. I say that also as a Holosun and Aimpoint fan, but with the amount of weapons I have it’s very cost prohibitive to be spending to outfit them all with the pricey stuff, especially the ones that really are just range toys.
No experience with that particular sight. I have used a Vortex prism and like anything else, the choice comes with compromises. Prisms are great in that they’re still usable when batteries die or fail because of the reticle being etched on the glass. That also makes them a superior option for people with really bad astigmatism as they won’t get the typical smear/starburst/etc. The downsides are that prisms have really small and awkward levels of eye relief and are usually pretty weighty for their size.
Crimson Trace products as a whole have been good for me. Your experience may vary.
Glad to hear that. I’ve considered making a full switch from dots to prisms on my rifles because of astigmatism issues (some days are better than others when it comes to seeing actual dots, which is strange,) but it’d be a big price commitment to do so.