If you’re looking for the best red dot sight for the money, you’re in the right place! In this article, we’ve picked 12 of our favorite red dot sights, that are value leaders in their respective fields, from a variety of reputable brands that are well-known and respected.
These red dot sights represent several price tiers that start from lowest to highest. Those on a tighter budget can still get great performance from the entry-level red dot sights on our list.
If you’ve got a little bit more to spend, you’ll find our favorite red dot sights in the mid-tier section and several higher-tier red dot sight picks represent the best we could find for under $1k.
After our list of best red dot sights for 2023, we answer a lot of questions that most people have about red dot sights to get you caught up on all of the red dot terminology and feature specs.
If you’re interested in an even more detailed analysis of red dot sights, you should definitely read that article!
Top 12 Red Dot Sight Picks for 2023
This list of our top 12 red dot sight picks contains the best value-for-the-money options from well-known brands like Bushnell, Sig Sauer, AT3, Primary Arms, Vortex Optics, Holosun, Trijicon, and Aimpoint.
We’ve hand-picked each optic based on our experience, user reviews, value for money, reliability, feature set, and performance.
Nothing on this list will disappoint you or let you down so long as you match the RDS to your specific needs. All of them are tough, can take a beating, and will hold zero when mounted securely.
Without further ado, here are our top 12 best RDS picks for 2023!
- Great Price/Performance Metric
- Decent Battery Life
- Holds Zero
- Fairly Clear Glass
- Compact Size
- Aging Out Of The Market
- Not The Best Red Dot
- No Quick Mount
- Solid Built Quality
- Feature-Packed
- Nice Extras Included
- Clear Glass
- Solid Red Dot
- No Frills, Basic Red Dot
- Stiff Mode Switch
- Nice Lens Coating
- Solid Build Quality
- Great Red Dot
- Good Battery Life
- Very Compact
- Stiff Turn Wheel
- No Quick Mount
- Solidly Reliable
- Decent Glass
- Kind Of Bulky
- No Quick Mount
- Old-Looking Design
- Battery Life Sucks
- Lots Of Modern Features
- Excellent Reliability Record
- Excellent Battery Life
- Nice Red Dot
- Clear Glass
- Heavy Mount
- Lots Of Knock-Offs
- Good Value
- Very Reliable
- Good Red Dot
- Good Glass
- Excellent Battery Life
- Night Vision Modes
- Built-In Adj. Tool
- No-Frills
- No Quick Mount
- Great Feature Set
- Good Glass
- Great Red Dot
- Solid Build Quality
- Excellent Battery Life
- Compact & Lightweight
- No Quick Mount Options
- Good Battery Life
- High-Quality
- Super Reliable
- Great Red Dot
- Good Glass
- Nice Mount
- Big & Bulky
- Heavy
- High-Quality
- Great Performance
- Great Controls
- Acceptable Battery Life
- Nice Red Dot
- Good Glass
- No Quick Mount
- A Bit Bulkier Than Others
- Great Design
- Super Reliable
- Great Feature Set
- Great Battery Life
- Super Compact
- Built To Last
- Quick Mount
- A Bit Pricey
- Trijicon Quality
- Great Glass
- Solid Red Dot
- Very Compact
- Lightweight
- Indestructible
- Large Sight Picture
- Great Battery Life
- Expensive
- Aimppint Heritage
- Highest Quality Build
- Nearly Indestructible
- Great Red Dot
- Insane Battery Life
- Quick Detach Mount
- Big & Bulky
- Heavy
- Expensive
- A Bit Old & Antiquated
Red Dot Sight FAQs
In this section, we’ll be addressing and answering some of the most frequently asked questions regarding red dot sights and how they work.
What MOA Do You Want On A Red Dot?
In case you don’t already know, MOA stands for “minute of angle”.
A Minute of Angle (MOA) is an angular measurement and each MOA is 1/60th of a degree, so 1 MOA spreads approximately 1 inch per 100 yards or, to be exact, 1.047 inches.
1 MOA is a different size at different distances, so 8 inches at 800 yards is still just 1 MOA.
Now onto the answer!
It is generally recommended that you pick an MOA dot size that is the most appropriate for your needs.
Larger dots (4-6 MOA) are much easier to acquire- especially on close-up or moving targets.
Smaller dots (from 1-2 MOA) are generally recommended where more precision is required or targets are much further away.
If you’re unsure which dot size to go with, finding an RDS with 2-3 MOA is a nice middle-ground that can fill just about any role but may not be perfectly suited for every one of them.
What Does Zeroing A Red Dot Mean?
Zeroing is the process of aligning your sight, scope, or optic with the bore of your barrel. When your RDS is properly zeroed, the impact of the bullet on the target will be exactly at the point of aim.
User error must be taken out of the equation when zeroing an optic if you want to achieve the most accuracy your firearm is capable of performing.
For this reason, zeroing an RDS or other optics should be done with a bench rest that secures the firearm and prevents it from jumping off target while shooting groups after making windage and elevation adjustments on the sight.
How To Sight In A Red Dot?
The quickest and most efficient way to sight in your red dot sight is to get a general zero using a laser boresight. A boresight will get your red dot sight in the “ballpark” by approximating the red dot to the bore of your barrel.
Once you’ve adjusted the windage and elevation to match the laser’s point-of-aim, take your firearm out to a range to fine-tune your red dot until zero is achieved.
It might surprise you to hear that you can actually sight in your red dot with just 2 shots if you’ve got a means to secure your firearm, like a bench-shooting vice.
Here is the Two-Shot Quick-Zero Method:
With the firearm secured, use a boresight (or look down the open breach of a bolt-action rifle) to point the barrel at the center of the target.
Remove boresight & adjust the windage and elevation of the red dot to point at the center of that same target
Verify the firearm is secure- and has not moved- and fire the first shot
Without moving the firearm, examine where the shot landed and adjust the red dot to match the site of impact.
If your firearm has remained secure, the second shot should now be exactly at the point of aim (bullseye!).
That’s all there is to it. If your firearm moved slightly, it may take a couple more shots to hit zero, but this method is by far the most ammo-sparing way to zero any red dot, scope, or optic!
What Distance Should I Zero My RDS?
This all depends on your use case, but most would suggest red dot sights should be zeroed from 15-25 yards for handguns and 25-50 yards for rifles.
Any further than this and you’ll have a hard time spotting the target without some magnification.
If you’re needing any magnification to see where your shots are landing, that’s a good sign that you’ve surpassed what a red dot was designed for.
Whatever distance you use to zero your red dot sight, that is where your shot groups will be tighter.
If you’re shooting a target closer or further away from the distance you zeroed it, you will have to compensate your point-of-aim to hit the center.
Most people will zero their red dot sight to be most accurate at close ranges for self-defense than they would if they’re trying to hit targets at longer distances.
Remember, you’re red dot’s zero is particularly tailored to the ammo you used to zero it.
Switching ammo will shift your zero, so make sure you zero your red dot with the ammo you plan to use and then practice, practice, practice!
Can You Sight In A Red Dot Without Shooting?
To a certain degree, you can. If you have a boresight (a laser that is inserted into the bore of a rifle or pistol or a bullet-style laser that is placed into the chamber) you can quickly achieve a decent accuracy on target- at least out to 5 yards.
If all you care about is getting hits on target at typical self-defense distances, then a quick boresighting of your red dot should do the trick.
Note: You should never rely solely on this method of sighting in an optic as it will most likely be off past 5-10 yards.
Boresights are primarily meant to get you in the “ballpark” to help you save time and ammo until you bring your firearm to the range to zero.
Well, that’s all we’ve got for your today… let us know what your favorite RDS is in the comments below. Until next time- happy shooting!
