I bought a SightMark reflex (not red dot) sight at Cabelas a while back for my Colt M-4 .22. This is the first reflex sight I've had. It has 5 brightness settings for the aiming spot, all noticeably brighter than the last. On the gun, in the house, any of the brightness settings were perfectly visible. However when I took it to the range, in broad daylight but under a roof cover, the aiming spot was completely invisible even at the brightest setting. With close inspection you could see that it was actually there but completely useless for aiming. I have returned it to the store but I got to wondering if this was normal? Doesn't seem like it should be but I've never had one before?
Reflex sights on and AR
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Agree with BSB;
Some sights, including some top end models, are hard to see in daylight. I've played with an Eotech on an M4, in daylight, and was less than impressed. My Bushy M4 wears an Aimpoint Comp M2 series sight system.
It was not cheap, but works well day or night, and even has the ability to be used with NV. It is co-witnessed with the M4 front sight and the mounts are rock solid.
Sorry you have had a sour experience. Perhaps moving to a red dot style might be the way to go if you are so inclined? The top end sightmark is only say 50 or so dollars less than entry level red dots.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure that the sight option co-witnesses with your irons, even if they are the fold down option style.
I agree with the "price" theory though not in this case since the brightness doesn't seem to be the problem but rather the design of the reflex itself. Besides this is for a .22 that I bought for cheaper practice than with my standard AR. It's just not worth spending $300 plus for this type of use. I have a red dot on my SKS that I like but I was just hoping for a more "open" style of sight. But obviously that comes with a price. On the subject of "co-witnessing" the sights. 'Splain something to me. Chris' rifle picture looks like it shows all three sights -rear, middle and front, all in the same plane. I sure couldn't use a red dot in that configuration. I remove the carry handle and mount the sight on a riser to get it just over my fixed front sight. Using it at 50 yds. or less doesn't present any point of impact problems for me. Am I seeing that right?
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Yes, you are correct. They ARE all in the same sight plane, or co-witnessed...meaning that they are all aligned.
I have a Umarex Colt M4 ops, that I did the same thing with, using an NC star red dot, removing the rear sight. it too co-witnessed with the red dot and riser.
You absolutely can. That Aimpoint in the picture, on my 223 M4 is a red dot.
Use a measuring device, measure the height off the rail to the apeture of your rear sight in the removable handle. It's going to be somewhere around a 1/2 inch. If you were to mount a Red dot in place of the reflex, on a 1/2 inch riser, you'll co-witness the front/dot/rear sight to the same plane.
Essentially, you'll have your red dot sitting on top of the front sight [bead] in your sight picture.
let me see if I can get a pic of mine for you.
hold tight.
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OK,
here's some dark pics, that might help in my above post.
tough to capture with the flash, bear with me. The rifle in the pics is the A2 fixed carry handle with the Aimpoint.
In this pic you can clearly see the outline of the rear sight [top]round, and thru to the front post, including wings, and the dot sitting atop the front post
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And the rear sight:
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the last shot here, I was trying to capture the view thru the sight without the dot on, using the flash....not so good.
here's some dark pics, that might help in my above post.
tough to capture with the flash, bear with me. The rifle in the pics is the A2 fixed carry handle with the Aimpoint.
In this pic you can clearly see the outline of the rear sight [top]round, and thru to the front post, including wings, and the dot sitting atop the front post
And the rear sight:
the last shot here, I was trying to capture the view thru the sight without the dot on, using the flash....not so good.
I'm partial to the Burris Fast Fire II myself. It gives you that "open" style sight picture you are looking for and is more affordable (I've seen them as low as $176 USD online) than an Aimpoint. I believe NC Star makes a similar reflex scope. Anyhow, I use one similar to the Fast Fire slightly offset with my telescopic sight for that "just in case" need to rapidly acquire a target, whether it be paper or coyote...hope this helps some!
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