What is the best red dot for an open gun?

[GKARMS]

Hi guys, I am wondering what is the most reliable red dot for an open gun?

[aandabooks]

Right now the Sig Romeo3 Max and XL are the top of the heap.  The C'more RTS2 V5 is a solid choice also.  The Trijicon SRO is good and then there is the old fashioned C'more slideride.  All of these seem to be good solid choices.  I have C'more sliderides on 2 of my open guns and a C'more RTS2 on another.  None of them have ever had a problem.

[TRPOperator]

You will hear pros and cons on about all brands. I have been lucky and I started out with a slide-ride, then went to a delta-point, then to a RTS2 and now run the 510c. I and have not had any issues with any of them. Some people think they the Holosun is to big, and they are bigger than most sights used for an open gun, but they work well for me. 

[mvmojo]

Gonna get a lot of opinions on this one!  I'm currently shooting a Holosun 510c.  Not only do I like the large window and circle/dot combination but I also like the ultra long battery life.  I can turn the Holosun on at the start of a match or practice session and leave it on all day.  If I forget to shut it off at the end of the day, no big deal, it goes to sleep in my range bag until I pick it up again.  Battery life rated at something like 50,000 hrs!  Prior to this I shot a conventional C-More with a 12 MOA dot.  You can't go wrong with C-More.  They're rugged, reliable and allow you to change your dot size from 2 MOA up to 16 MOA by just buying a new $49 diode module.  But they do eat batteries and need to be turned off after the unload/show clear/holster command every time you shoot.  Forget to turn off the C-More at the end of the day and the next time you pick up your gun you'll have a dead battery to contend with.

[ar15rick]

I used a slide ride for about 3 years and never had any issues. It was the aluminum click one. I rarely had to rezero or anything. Now I switched over to the holosun 510C and it is doing good for now. I switched it over the winter break and was going to start using it for matches this season but I have not been able to do that. No matches are being done where I am from becasue of the virus. I like the holosun window which is a lot bigger. We shall see how that red dot runs this season.

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[lacivilian]

Romeo 3XL.

[Rptstoy1]

- Cmore slideride- no issues except for 9 ejections

- Cmore RTS2- on V4’s, dot would dim, haven’t tried the V5’s yet

- Deltapoint- dot too small, can be an issue against the sun

- Romeo XL so far after 6 months, no issues, wide window, crisp dot

[SeattleDude]

Went from DPP to SRO.

 

LOVE IT!

[echotango]

Romeo 3 XL

Edited April 19, 2020 by echotango

[zzt]

Went from a Slideride (really poor battery life) to an RTS2v4 (really poor battery life) to a DPP 2.5 to an SRO.  All performed well, except for batteries.  None broke.  All held zero.  I went with the DPP because of the bright dot.  It is bright enough to see in full sunlight on white steel.  For USPSA I felt the dot too bright at the brightest setting.  It seemed I was paying more attention to the dot.  At lower brightness settings the dot was too small.  The SRO dot is 5 MOA.  It is bright enough without dazzling, and I see the target with the dot superimposed on it.  I use the SRO 5 MOA on all my Open guns.  For SCSA I use a Railway with a 12 MOA dot for PCC.  I really like the larger, dimmer dot.   For RFRO I'm still using a 2 MOA dot, because the Railway sits too high.  I'm thinking of having the Picatinny mount drilled and tapped so I can use a 12 MOA Slideride.

[chevrofreak]

HS510C

[PGGUNS]

I went from DPP Pro, to SRO, and now the Romeo3 maxXL.  I have had multiple DPP’s that went back, not a big fan, SRO went back once and just sent my XL back.  I have a few buddies who also sent the XL back as well due the dot  stopped working, that said It’s been my favorite to date.  Mine went back not because it never worked but the up/down buttons fell off during a match.  I think you’ll find that most if not all optics are prone to go down eventually.  The brightness of the SRO and even even more so the XL are very bright and prefer those over the DPP in a big way.  My XL was the only one that didn’t go down under 1000 rounds, at least the dot continued to work.  Once I got my SRO back it’s been good with a few thousand rounds and no issue but went to the XL when they were first launched.  My DPP & SRO was for my CO gun and the XL is run on my open gun.  

[Jamese35]

I'm a bit stuck on my holosun 510c. After a lot of calling and digging boath Chris Tilly and JJ highly recommend it. Now I have one and haven't looked back. I love the bigger window plus the options. Auto off, solar, big buttons, and a side battery tray. 

[eboadway]

The old "What is the Best....." question rarely has a singular answer. Do some research here, there is a wealth of knowledge. And what is best for you may not be "best" for Joe Bob...

[BoyGlock]

16 hours ago, GKARMS said:

Hi guys, I am wondering what is the most reliable red dot for an open gun?

Reliability should be in terms of how many major rounds w/ the red dot not how long its on the gun. 
A year w/ 300 rnds a week of minor load is far from a year of 700 rnds a week of major. 
its why I use only cmore sliderides til now. 

 

[AverageJoeShooting]

510c or sig romeo

 

510c has a huge window and the 65 moa holoring makes picking the dot up amazingly fast.  thats what im using currently on my open gun

sig romeo is brightest on the market

the alpha optics ft3 is just as bright and a few hundred cheaper

 

the rts sucks. the dot gets washed out in the sun and fails

sro sucks, the dot gets washed out and it has that ghost dot garbage

 

[Bdh821]

 

Herea a good link comparing some of the new popular ones. 

 

After using all 4, I don’t think you can really go wrong with any. Except I wouldn’t use the Romeo1 Pro. Glass is too small

Edited April 21, 2020 by Bdh821

[Joe4d]

while the reflex opent style optics make sense for USPSA, are they much advantage for a game like pins or steel challenge where you arnt moving or getting into position ? Thinking of going old school if my mount ever shows up and go with a $100 tube style red dot. These seem to lat forever and be tough as nails as well as 1/3 rd the price

[jnr88]

I tried slideride and rus v2-4. Went to the Delta Point Pro. Great sight. Totally reliable. I took a Trijcon MRO I had and it’s been on my open gun since then. I haven’t shot much but like it the most.

[gianmarko]

personally i will stay with the old slide ride until something decent and totally reliable comes up below USD 200. 

 

having opened several MRD, i categorically refuse to pay several hundreds for a piece of milled alu, a cheap electronic module, and a piece of transparent plastic

 

a MRD cannot cost more than a decent full size 9mm gun, period. 

 

btw, if you look carefully you will find chinese clones of the slideride for usd 30, and having tested one, there is no way anyone can tell the difference, and they are totally reliable. not that i am advocating buying knockoffs. i will still buy the real thing as the price is reasonable and they deserve my money for having produced a really reliable piece of kit.

 

but 4-600 bucks for a led behind a glass? not happening 

[Silverscooby27]

Probably a 6MOA Sig Romeo 3 XL at the moment.

[jose121962]

FTP 8moa 

[Posvar]

I started with an RTS2 and liked it but sold the gun. Next I tried a DPP and didn’t like the small window and horrible starburst effect when in the sun and turned up. The 510c was awesome in terms of window size but was big and bulky on top of the gun and the small dot killed it for me. I’ve now found the 6 moa Romeo3 Max and it’s my all time favorite. So much so I own 4. All this to say what you start with and what you end up with may not always be the same. It’s a journey as you navigate through options and you may not even know what you really want or like until you experience several. 

[sweatpants]

I am a fan of the R3XL 6 MOA.  I've tried an SRO 5 MOA and prefer the R3XL.

[clw42]

Another R3XL 6MOA vote.  Still waiting on my second one to ship.  Ordered the damn thing at the end of December.  I've got an RTS2 as back up, but might change that to the FTP.