Should i get the PA micro or save up for an aimpoint?

In my attempt to complete a lightweight build and being rather green to red dots my question is. Should i buy the primary arms micro aimpoint clone or hold out till i have the cash to fork over for a real H-1?
My primary concerns are durability and not to far behind is battery life. I hear good things about the primary arms red dot just wondering if its a decent tough little optic or if i should hold out and eat ramen noodles.

Aimpoint pro $400

There is no substitute for an Aimpoint. Comparing any clone optic to it is like comparing a blow up doll to a real woman.

I figured as much looks like i may be eating ramen noodles for awhile. i was hoping the PA may be tough enough but at a low price.

a lot of people love those PA red dots. If youre poor like me, then get it if its just for plinking/HD. But, if its no biggie to save up, go for the aimpoint. Id also consider a vortex.

I'd say get the PA. Maybe even a used one off EE (I just looked back for you on a Bushnell TRS25 I saw yesterday, but it sold already for $60). I like my PA micro fine and it's holding up well with some decent volume shooting on a Ultimak AK mount (gets a lot hotter than any of the Aimpoints on my ARs and takes as much beating as the R1 on my FAL). You can get some rds practice for the next year or 2 while slowly saving for the H1 and either sell it or move it to a .22 or the like. They hold value pretty well so you'd be out $20-30 after selling it.

The Aimpoints are MUCH better so if you can swing one now, do it. They're not so much better, however, that it will be worth added stress every day while you struggle financially so you can pop a few rounds at the range (exaggeration of course but you get my point).

I learned a while ago that I do not have enough money to buy cheap shit that will have to be replaced, possibly again and again. It's cheaper in the long run to buy the best, once.

Since I saw the wisdom in that truth I have not had to re-purchase any tool I have in the last 11 years. Still have all of them except a set of technique turntables that I traded for a yugo underfolder :)

Well, scratch that..I did give in to impatience about 6 years back when I couldn't find an unfired Vepr K... and I hastily bought a custom AK103 clone (saiga) and was VERY disappointed.

Ended up finding what I was looking for 2 years ago, and paid LESS for the saiga.

Patience brother.

Patiently save up for what you want and then purchase with cash/money you have and be done with it.

You'll take better care of it and it will last you a long time/life time, not to mention you will be training your mind to be a longer term thinker.

I say you save up a little more than planned for the H-1 and get a T-1 2moa.

Bar a zombie apocalypse or civil war breaking out in 6 months and you finding yourself at a disadvantage fighting for your life against moving targets in a urban environment, I think you will find this way the most satisfying.

I bought an aimpoint around 2004, the ms, or whatever the one with no nightvision settings is. That scope was one of the best purchases I have ever made in my life, works perfectly is amazingly reliable. I would without question buy the aimpoint, it's a serious optic built for use on fighting firearm (okay that's melodramatic, but still true).

The answer to this question is always the same. Get Troy rear BUIS and learn to use that real well while saving up for an aimpoint.

I started paying a bunch of money for Aimpoint & EOTech and then realized that I could buy 6 PA Micro's for the price of a T-1. All of my range toys get a PA Micro now. I have a T-1 on my SHTF rifle and I'm good with that. This "hybrid" approach has worked well for me––never had a problem with a PA Micro at a shooting match or range session, and don't expect that I'd ever have a problem with my T-1 if it ever came to that.

My advice? Get a PA Micro for now and have fun with it. It's $100 well spent and when you can afford the T-1, you can move the PA to another gun which you don't yet own but likely will.

Buy once, cry once...get the Aimpoint. You won't be disappointed.

comprimise...

Get an Aimpoint PRO

This

I didn't subscribe to inexpensive optics until I wanted to to try something out with a red dot and I couldn't justify spending $400-$600 on an Aimpoint. I ended buying a Primary Arms micro dot which ended up being a good decision because the project didn't work out for me. I ended up putting the PA red dot on my 22LR and for that rifle, it works out great.

For what they cost, the PA red dots are a great value but I wouldn't use one on a firearm I would stake my life on.

I echo: get the PA now if it's the most RDS you can afford right now, and save up in time for an Aimpoint H1.

Everyone recommending an Aimpoint PRO is missing the point of a lightweight RDS.

I own both and have used/abused Aimpoints and own a PA Micro. The T1 has a much smoother look and feel to it compared to the PA RDS, and it's very nice. But, the PA micro is nothing to scoff at. It’s light, it’s a RDS, it's a fraction the price of an H1, and they have been very well received here through some pretty good use. Is it an Aimpoint? No, it is not. Does it cost as much as an Aimpoint? No, it does not. The weight of the optic DOES affect the perceived balance of a rifle, and the PA Micro/T1 make the rifle almost feel like there's no RDS mounted. I believe you will be pleased with a PA micro for your lightweight build for now, and once funds allow you can decide if you want to upgrade and throw the PA micro on another rifle/pistol or sell it on here for a minor loss.

ZoToL,

it really depends on what your plans for the rifle are.

just shooting at the range = don't spend $500 on a red dot, get a 1-4X for that money

primary arms torture test on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMosefuud0I

Thanks for the help, I suppose i'll have to invest in a PA micro and see if i like the set up and save for a t-1 at a later time.

better yet––-when your satisfied––sell the PA micro in the EE and put the money towards your T-1!

I've tried to kill my TRS-25 over the past 4 years to justify a better RDS, but I can't.

12k rounds on an ultimak (gets insanely hot)

4-5k on an AR

shot in the cold, in the rain, in the heat

its still ticking and holding zero.

Vortex SPARC

You can find them for $200 everywhere. I love mine, but I was prepared to hate it when I bought it. I thought that if I couldn't get a T1 Micro, then I wouldn't be happy. I have only had mine for three months, but I have used it a lot in the rain. Dropped the rifle once on hard ground, and it landed on the optic with no loss of zero.

I am having trouble finding a link for you, but there is a torture test out there where some guy smacked around his sparc, froze it solid in ice and chipped it out, immersed it in water for a while, etc..... and the scope kept working.

have never heard a bad word about the PA system, i don't own so i can't say how good they are, but i'd bet at 80% of the guys hear saying to get the aimpoint have never seen the PA in person, much less used it. There's fan boys everywhere, i say go get an eotech 512, but that's because i'm an eotech fan boy

Pa admits they are play optics not for use on duty rifles. Some of us are not interested in Chinese optics sold for use solely as range toys.

So in other words buy once cry once? i also noticed the t-1 isn't that much more than the H-1 like it used to be. Maybe i'll sell something around here and use irons till then. i sorta need a defense optic to rely on and it needs to be light so it left pretty much those two options. If it were range only i'd look into a 1-4x.

I've seen a whole slew of sim rifles equipped with PA dots in person. That's why I'm not overly impressed with them.

I was pretty much in your situation a few months ago. I bought a PRO. If you are wanting a lightweight RDS, don't get a PRO. It's heavier than you are wanting to go. I ended up choosing the Aimpoint because, in the past, I've bought cheaper versions of things that were close to what I really wanted. In the end, I was always dissappointed and ended up bying the real thing later.

That said, I see no problem with using the PA as a "placeholder" for an Aimpoint next year.

I put a PA Micro on my suppressed 22/45. I could not justify spending more on the red dot than I spent on the pistol AND the can. So far it works well with no complaints.

Now, if I was going to put a micro red dot on something bigger I'd lean towards the Aimpoint over the PA. As others have said the PA is a nice range toy but I bet if it was put under any stress it would fold like superman on laundry day.

And 80% of the guys saying to get the aimpoint....are not subjecting their optic to the environment/conditions the aimpoint was designed for

Sure, aimpoint has the reliability and long battery life standpoint. but, at the cost of 5 times the price of a PA micro; that's alot of batteries and 4 backup PA micros.
it all boils down to what your plans are for the rifle.

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