11 Best Cheap Red Dot Sight (2023 Updated)

Over the span of a few years, I’ve tried more than a few optics. Some had six or more reticles. Some had one. Others were just not clear or gave consistent results. This red dot sight by Truglo is different.

The 2. 5MOA dot is precice and very clear. The 2 power lens is very clear and void of any sort issues. I’m 68, with only one working eye. Used the Frank Proctor 10m zero, and it then put three into the same hole at 50m after initial zero.

Then at 100m, three in under an inch! I haven’t shot that well since I was in my 30’s! A very solid, and precice optic sight. My trial and errors are over. This optic sight has filled the void of some years of frustration and failure.

Truglo has produced a remarkable and affordable sight.

I was pleasantly surprised by this optic, especially considering its affordable price point. I have a few Bushnell TRS-25’s, but I wanted to try out an optic with a donut style reticle, and with a reticle color option other than red.

Red tends to wash out on orange targets, such as clay pigeons, while green washes out in foliage, so having the option to change back and forth between red and green reticle colors is a nice feature.

I also liked the extra battery compartment feature, a nice plus. I mounted the optic to a 5. 56mm caliber rifle equipped with back-up iron sights, and utilized a set of 1/2 inch risers to obtain an absolute co-witness in conjunction with the iron sights.

I first zeroed the irons @ 50 meters, and then turned the elevation and windage turrets on the TruGlo RDS to align with the tip of the front sight post. The turrets click positively with adjustment. The 3 moa center dot is precise enough to allow for easy use on smaller targets, and I enjoyed first round hits on all of the 20 clay pigeons I placed @ 100 meters.

The green reticle setting allowed for a nice contrast on the target, and the maximum brightness setting was crisp and clear in bright midday sun. The glass is clear, and no lens distortion was observed in the field of view.

The optic retained its zero without issue through the ~180 rounds I fired through the rifle.

Only used it in a few occasions with D750. When and after set up properly, it provides a bigger view field and accurate indication of focus point for 500mm tele-lense. Re-adjustment is needed every time after remounting — which is a pain but understandable as the hot shoe mounting does not provide high enough orientation repeatability.

Though not tried yet, I believe it will work better in conjunction with a camera with AI-assisted AF which helps to focus and track objects of interest, after manually select a nearby or small outlined field.

This is a great addition to a large lens for capturing birds in flight. Before having this device I could not find the bird in the view finder most of the time with my 500 lens. Now I’m on target most of the time and what a great feeling it is to get the subject on target.

The scope is easy to adjust and mounts easily on most cameras in just seconds. The scope lets you have a full view of your surrounding area and works best with your head a short distance from the camera.

I have also used this scope without a tri-pod on a 300mm lens and was pleased with the results.

Pros: Makes framing and re-acquiring a subject at long zoom much easier. Cons: Zeroing can be a little trial and error to lock in.

After using the Celestron StarPointer Finderscope that came with my 8SE and struggling to keep it fastened to the scope, I upgraded to the Telrad which had been highly recommended by members of astronomy club.

This is not a small/compact finderscope but the ease of use and clarity of view are evident. You attach the base and insert the Telrad over its base in seconds. This keeps the base well secured on the OTA.

Consider this a no brainer upgrade.

This is not illuminated with little chance you’ll be able to see the screen display adequately in low light. If you want an illuminated rangefinder, look for one that has a red OLED or similar illuminating feature.

I’ve seen a review stating that this works through glass – it does not. This is a very basic rangefinder that has two settings – one for archery, which includes angular detection to calculate the true horizontal distance needed for estimating drop.

The other is the firearm setting – assuming you are using a high power rifle and not needing to calculate drop. This is a very inexpensive rangefinder, and probably ok for daylight use; however, I don’t recommend it for low light conditions (dawn and dusk).

Great product. Works as advertised. Only con for me is the yardage display is very small. Awesome for the money.

I just purchased this weeks ago and I dont know why I went all these years without it. Its so accurate. I use it in the woods and range things around me like trees stumps so when that deer appears I know the distance.

I switched out my 5 pin setup for one of these. BIG MISTAKE. All went great target shooting. Placement was perfect every time. Out in the stand is another story. Too much moment adjusting sights, pain in the but-hole to adjust at negative temps, by the time you range a deer, adjust the sight and lock it in, pull back and get the deer in your vision through the peep, the yards have already changed and you end up shooting high or low.

No way to account for change of yardage fast with these. I wouldn’t even consider these for hunting.

I have never used a sight on my bows before my 55th birthday this September, needless to say my eyesight has been better. I was intrigued with this sight and ordered it. It took roughly 30 minutes to mount and another to properly sight in to 20 yards.

Most of the time was spent trying to serve in my very first peep. Fine tuning was easy with the micro-windage adjustments as well as well defined elevation markings. Less than an inch at 20 yds, 1. 75 avg at 40 yrds, and crazy accurate less than 3 inches at 60 yrds.

Hoyt Carbon Ellement 29 in Draw @ 69 lbs Maxima Red 250 100 grain tips. Push button brightness control is Nice! I also added the 2 x magnifier lens (Old Eyes) really Nice!!.

I had been contemplating a single pin sight for some time and when the Truglo Archers choice came on sale I just realized my dream had come true. The questions I had concerning varied ranges with differing bow speed/ arrow variables are taken care of if one reads the supplied instructions.

Only one issue which will probably not be an issue in my hunting situations where I live. Due to the light gathering of the fiber optics it is extremely bright in open sunlight. Almost too bright. Now this may not even present a problem in our coastal timber we hunt in as the tree canopy blocks much sunlight and my previos sight many times lacked sufficient light gathering ability.

So we will see soon. The adjustments are easy and precise.

The problem with button batteries is that you never have them when you need them (or you never have the correct SIZE). You wind up paying some store more for batteries than the object you are putting them in is usually worth.

The exception is buying online. If you can get them in advance, it’s really worth it. And these came in two days, so it’s almost like jumping in the car and going to the store to pick them up. Wish you could know far in advance you need them.

don’t we now. AND, wish there was more standardization. Of course, these came and were perfect in two devices but two others required a thinner battery. Hmmm. Maybe next time we could get a variety pack ?.

When you buy batteries, the only way to compare their quality is to evaluate their electric capacity, which most of people could not do because you need a special gauge. Accordingly the only way to evaluate your battery is to use it and determine how long it will work.

That needs some time. I order these batteries for musical children book. So far it is working well.

These batteries are the exact replacement I was looking for. They have performed well. How much can you really say about a battery. Only time will tell if they give good service life. I would recommend these batteries.

Deliver time was good, and the package was packed in a cushioned envelope.

The scope used for the Ravin R10 is a great crossbow scope. It is equipped with speed compensation and dots on the reticle to aim accurately out to 100 yards. The optics are clear even in dusk conditions.

If you can see it well with your eyes, you can aim with the scope. The variable red or green dot brightness is nice, and helps when aiming at darker colored objects, particularly if they are in shadows that obscure the dots, which get very fine.

The big advantage of the R10 scope over the comparable TenPoint model is the dots go out to 100 yards instead of 60. The big advantage over other 100 yard crossbow scopes I came across is the use of dots that do not obstruct your view.

The installation was easy, and by using the instructions that can be found in the Ravin R10/R20 users manual, sighting in and adjustment of the speed compensation are straightforward, and when done, the crossbow is sighted in out to 100 yards.

For the $100 I paid (new in an unopen box), it’s a great value, far exceeding expectations. I had planned to sell the scope that came with my crossbow, but I like this scope so much that I would swap it back and move this one to a new crossbow if I ever decide to upgrade.

If I had a complaint it would be that the lighted dots, even turned all the way down, arebright in extreme dusk situations. Fortunately, these aren’t situations when shooting needs to happen. If I could add a feature, it would be having the crosshair wings, which serve to aid in gauging distance, were also lit, as I find myself pulling the scope up to judge, then back down.

All in all, a great crossbow scope. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a 100 yard capable crossbow scope.

I got this to replace the scope that came with my Rocky mountain rm 405. Far better quality optics. Chrystal clear glass. Some say the reticle is to cluttered. I don’t think so. I really like having each yardage line marked instead of having to count or remember yardages.

The illumination is spot on. And it only lights up what it’s supposed to. And the brightness settings are all usable no matter bright light or low light outside. All the adjustments feel quality and positive.

Takes a little while to get dialed in but that’s part of the fun. Pretty impressive to be able to shoot up to one hundred yards accurately with a crossbow. Of course that’s target practice only. Actual hunting conditions I’d personally never go past fifty yards.

These sell lots of different places in the three hundred dollar range new. I wouldn’t pay that for one. But if you can get one of the factory take offs like I did for around a hundred dollars I would definitely recommend the upgrade.

The take offs are new scopes where someone decided to go with some other scope instead of the factory one. Mine was new in the box. Never mounted.

Only had this on a week but believe difference between factory scope that came on my crossbow and this one. So much clearer now and after easily sighting the scope in the fps adjustment got 20-60yds rite on the dots with in just a few arrows and setting it to match my crossbow/arrow combo (I don’t have room to shoot farther) which was never quite right before.

Great upgrade from the factory scope I was using!.

First time I have purchased a Tru Glo sight. I read all the reviews and decided to give it a try. Sight is well made. The fiber is by far the best I have ever seen. It is bright enough to be used in the shade without a sight lite.

Adjustments are smooth and silent and the placement of the adjustment knob makes the sight marks easy to read. I have several Spot Hogg sights which are well made but the fibers are not nearly as bright and the cost is substantially higher,.

The double strap harness fits snug around the thigh and is comfortable. The holster itself is rigid and will probably survive anything you can throw at it. Side arm retention was very tight on my FXN-9 when it was new and needed to be broken in to acquire an easy draw.

The hood disengagement mechanism is easy to use, does not hang up and is durable with quality machining and assembly. My only issue is that I didn’t get the QD vertical strap. Cost is a little on the spendy side but you get what you pay for.

The safariland drop rig holster I purchased for my M18 pistol is great the fit and finish is perfect. Always wanted one, but they’re pretty expensive. LA police gear had one on sale for half the price! I have been using LA Police gear for a while now.

They always have great sales and everything is in stock. Shipping is quick and easy. My go to shop for all my needs. Thanks LA Police gear!.

Nice holster however in description says it will fit with trijicon SRO red dot. With this particular red dot on site it does not lock in place making it only a level one holster. I called safariland and they said that they’re taking the SRO off as a working sight.

Otherwise good product.

NIB factory sealed. Focus ring was so stiff that a smooth fluid motion to focus was nearly impossible. Ring would jerk from place to place, making a fine focus impossible. Returned to Leupold in OR for repair.

Upon return, focus ring was better (not great). But now at lower magnifications, several black spots were visible on its FFP. That is, the black spots would zoom in/out with power changes. Zooming high enough made black spots disappear off the edges of its field of view.

Returned to Leupold a 2nd time, now for dirty internal optics. Received back and black spots are gone, focus ring is usable but not as good as on their 12-40x60mm Gold Ring HD model (buy this instead).

Inspection of objective lens with a penlight shows some lint on one of its internal optics large lens. So now the dirty internal optics are still present, just not visible in its field of view. Very disappointed in Leupold’s original manufacturing poor quality in fabrication and QC before factory release.

I’m thinking about returning it for a 3rd time, but will call them for options. Very disappointed in the poor repair workmanship at Leupold in OR, fixing one problem and creating another, which wasn’t totally fixed.

Buy something other than Leupold as their quality isn’t what it used to be, in manufacture and warranty repair services.

Based upon advice from the instructor, I purchased this milling capable spotter for a long range rifle course I recently took in West Virginia. As expected the Leopold Mark 4 spotter is a seriously outstanding piece of kit and the mils made it much easier to call corrections when it was my turn to spot.

I found the mils to be accurate and precise and the adjustments to be well thought out and executed. It even comes with a great fabric cover that once stretched in place (it is a TIGHT fit by design but it will go on there eventually!) performs its protective role very well.

It is very easy and quick to go from covered lenses to operational. Great design! I look forward to using to chase muleys out west once I draw a tag! You won’t regret purchasing this spotting scope.

I just bought the Titan M1package with the 3x Pro-View 3 scope. I went to zero in the bow for the first time last weekend. It shot high 3 inches at 20 yards. I made adjustments and got it to shoot good groups at 20 and 30 yards.

I went to go shoot at 40 yards and it’s 5 inches high and the scope is bottomed out. I cannot adjust downward any further. I called TenPoint. They are willing to create an RMA for me, but they have a 2 to 3 week turn-around time.

Apparently there is a shortage of TenPoint scopes. I even asked them if I could pay and upgrade to the next level scope. They didn’t seem to want to do that. They recommended I go back to the place where I bought it to see if they can do anything about it.

I let the Support Rep know that’s a 3. 5 hour drive from the house. I know I can probably re-center the scope and add shim(s), but this is not what you would expect from a new bow package, especially when they advertise they zero the bow at 20 yards.

Should come with a variable speed ring at this price point. Need to compromise between yardage and holdover marks for accuracy. Like the reticle and dont find the illumination to be too bright. Adjustments seem somewhat accurate.

No stated fps rating is annoying.

This scope came with my Turbo GT package. I followed the instructions and zeroed the scope at 30 yards from a bench rest. It was easy to zero. I shot three groups of three arrows each with the last three being dead center in the bulls eye.

I used different bulls eye’s to avoid damaging arrows. The thing that really surprised me was that the 20, 40 and 50 yard dots were also dead on. I like the lighted dots a lot for low light conditions.

After hunting with it for a few days I could properly adjust the light intensity without looking through the scope just based on the light conditions in the woods. I would have rated it a 5 if not for the fact that my scope does not gather light.

My other optics i. e. scopes, binoculars and etc make the object I’m looking at in low light conditions appear brighter than they are with the naked eye. This scope makes them appear darker. In other words, I can see the target with just my eyes but can’t find it in the scope.

Depending on the lighting conditions in the woods this is usually a problem for just the last 15 minutes or so of legal shooting hours. Having said this, I don’t believe you can buy a better crossbow scope for the money.