Primary arms...

Primary arms ...2 min dot model ..md /rb/ad... most likely going to be on a Kodiak base slide mounted on a 45 1911...

YAY OR NAY...

not gonna buy a h1 or t1 so any other comments or opinions warmly welcomed.

Especially if anybody has any experience with the primary arms

Thsnks

Go with the Vortex Crossfire. Much better made and same price range. I have Holosun, Primary Arms and Vortex. I would only get the Vortex again. Of course that is my personal opinion YMMV

Len

https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Optics-Crossfire-Red-Sight/dp/B079BY7QMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529333320&sr=8-1&keywords=vortex+crossfire+red+dot

Thread hijack...

Can the Vortex be used with the same mounts as the Aimpoint? i.e. Kodiak

To Hijacker  

  I can't comment on Kodiak mounts never having owned one. BUT, I can say that Vortex and Holosun mounts are interchangeable. There seems to be some industry standard. At least between those two.

Vortex on a 52

Back to Primary Arms. I have two. Good dot when it works. Very reliable on a .22 pistol. Had it riding the slide mount on a .45 and experienced two issues - cross bolt on the mount broke (will be solved with the Kodiak mount) and, more serious, after about a month, the dot started going off after about every other shot. Moving the brightness dial up or down would restore the dot - not a convenient option during sustained fire

Regards,
Oleg.

Oleg G wrote:Back to Primary Arms. I have two. Good dot when it works. Very reliable on a .22 pistol. Had it riding the slide mount on a .45 and experienced two issues - cross bolt on the mount broke (will be solved with the Kodiak mount) and, more serious, after about a month, the dot started going off after about every other shot. Moving the brightness dial up or down would restore the dot - not a convenient option during sustained fire

Regards,
Oleg.

I had the same problem with an Aimpoint. Turned out I didn't have the battery cover tightened down enough. It was snug, needs to be Tight!!

Bill

Huh... very possible. I will try this with my Primary Arms dots. If it works, it will a good alternative to my Ultradots. Thanks, Bill!!!

Try a tiny ball of tin foil on ground side of battery. I have two ultradots that need a little extra push.

Primary Arms have been good to me so I recommend.

Joel

I just bought a Holosun red dot (as opposed to green dot) HS503GU which has the shrouded adjustment caps and side mounted battery.  I really like that the dot can be changed to the circle dot.  The circle dot seems like an awesome option as it allows for concentric centering of the dot in the housing.  I have barely used it but I'm excited by the build quality.  I'll definitely be getting another one to put on my .45 whenever I get a frame mount.

I use one primary md-ads with totts shades in my high standard,works excellent.

no experience on a pistol, but do have a couple of PA dots on a few AR's,

work very well,  no issues, no drama,

Ok, so I've done some searching, and it appears that, mostly, people seem happy with the Primary Arms MD-ADS model, which costs $170.  That's cheaper than an UltraDot MatchDot II, but not by a lot.  

But the other day, I came across the Primary Arms MD-RBGII, which costs $90.  It's a similar short-tube-style 2-moa red dot that weighs 4.2oz and uses a CR2032 battery (rated for 1,000 hrs), 11 brightness settings, 0.5 MOA click adjustments.  Not sure what the objective diameter is (even the manufacturer's webpage for it doesn't say).  I see reviews complaining about it not surviving well on heavy-recoil rifles, but I'm wondering how it would be on a .22 pistol, where it wouldn't even move with the slide.  

Does anyone have experience with this cheaper Primary Arms red dot?  Is there a reason why the MD-ADS is almost twice the price?

Len, in one of the old posts above, you said you like the Vortex better than the Primary Arms red dot (not sure which PA model you have, though), but you didn't describe why you prefer the Vortex.  Can you remember why?

For parents of juniors that I coach, who are buying their kid a 22 pistol, it's hard to recommend dropping $235 on an UltraDot, beyond the price of the gun itself, when they're not sure if the kid is going to stick with shooting.  I've been suggesting the Bushnell TRS-25, which is around $50, but I have one, and while it's ok, it's not a great red dot for bullseye (I prefer a smaller dot, a significant part of the view is occluded, making it not round, the dot flares at reasonable brightness levels, and I feel like it's harder to re-locate the dot after recoil compared to my 30mm UltraDot, possibly because it has a smaller lens).  So, I'm wondering if this $90 option is a reasonable choice.

Currently, because good choices start at $150 and go up from there, a lot of the juniors end up getting really cheap (sub $50) red dots, which often have issues like not holding zero, going out in the middle of sustained fire, difficulty with re-zeroing, insufficient brightness outdoors, bad dot flare, poor battery life, or just plain stop working after a few weeks.  I'm trying to find a reasonable middle ground for them.

Thanks,
Dave

I have several Primary arms red dots, mostly the MD-ADS model. They work fine on .22's and, so far, on a slide-mount .38 Special 1911, although I highly recommend the Kodiak base from Fred Totts.

The as-issued cross bolt is weak. I have had two of them break. Holosun (who makes the Primary Arms sight) will replace them free.

I have one on a back up .45, but have not shot it very much.

You can occasionally find an MD-ADS on Ebay for under $100, although you want to look at the photos very closely. I have seen several that describe a MD-ADS, but the photos show a different model. Apparently the Ebay software defaults to MD-ADS when sellers are setting it up.

Ric

I recently bought 2 of the MD-ADS dots off Optics Planet for about $153 and they were offering a free $40 gift card toward your next purchase, so $113 net. I just got them a couple days ago, at first glance they seem very nice, the construction and dot quality seem great for the price. I have 2 Totts bases ordered as Ric mentions above. In addition I spoke with Jon at Blackmass Custom and he will fit shades to them for $50-$60 if you wish. 

Sorry I can't comment on the cheaper models.

Waiting to hear lens comment on th vortex crossfire.  I have a vortex sparc and sparc 2 and they work great.  I’m looking to see if the crossfire will fit on a weaver rail.  As I also need a less expensive dot for my S&W M41.

I've had two MD-RBGII sights fail during league shoots. Seems the contacts get dirty and lose conductivity causing the dot to go out. Usually happened during rapid fire when I don't have time to tap the switch.

I took the Vortex off of the 52 so I could try the new Nikon on there but the Nikon won't fit on a Weaver rail so I ended up swapping some things around. Yes, the Vortex will fit on a Weaver rail. I have it on my 14-6 now. I have a Sig Romeo4A on the 52 and modified the Weaver rail on a 41 so I could try the new Nikon. The Primary Arms (MD-ADS) and a Holosun are in the scope safe. Holosun (403) liked to move on the base and the PA went out once in awhile. Of course it only went out at the worst times.

Vortex on a 14-6

Is there a pistol you don’t own...good lord!

Len doesn't own anything ending in a vowel....

I own one, its been on a 52-1 on a BME mount all summer. No issues so far.

Hm.... I thought, I've heard Beretta coming out of Len's ..... means of communications (I've never heard the voice ).  But I might be wrong...

Anyway, I had to mill on Bridgeport rail for Buckmark in order to install Nikon's red dot, - Len is 100% correct on this, - forget about installing Nikon's Tactical SuperDot on Weaver rail.  Picatinny only!  Tomorrow is my test day:
Browning Buckmark UDX with Nikon
Smithy 52-2 THBxxx with Matchdot with new Clark 1:10 twist barrel
Smithy 52-2 Axxxxx with iron sights with new Clark 1:10 twist barrel
Springfield's/Peter Stahl's 6" Omega in 38Super 
AP

AP

Hijack... I have a vortex crossfire new in box for sale if interested... I also have a holosun 403g NIB

Both were on a slide mount 45 and didn't hold up so we're replaced (not repaired) by the factory.
Both are good dots for a 22...

Pm if interested

10sandxs wrote:Hijack... I have a vortex crossfire new in box for sale if interested... I also have a holosun  403g NIB

Both were on a slide mount 45 and didn't hold up so we're replaced (not repaired) by the factory.
Both are good dots for a 22...

Pm if interested

Damn, and I just ran out and bought one yesterday....

Testing objective stated in my post yesterday turned out to be a bit aggressive.  I have had no chance to test S&W m52s at all, and only limited testing of Omega was done.  However I did have chance to test Browning Buckmark with Nikon Tactical SuperDot, although it was free hand testing only, - my objective was to get approximation of repeatability of the dot's setting.  With that said, I must apologize upfront for long post and many pictures.  Please feel free to criticize as you deem appropriate. 

Let me start from explaining my "quick" test protocol.  Years ago at my first "give it a go" at BE shooting I developed a simple target for setting up my guns.  Picture of the target is below with cut out of 6-ring circle from NRA 50' B-2 overlaid over it, and, I hope, it is self explanatory.
Based on target dimensions distance between bottom of 6 ring line and center of B-2 target is 2".  So next picture is representative of some mathematical (BS) assumptions I made.