Sightmark TRD review by Haus of Guns

The Could-Be-Better List First:

• The mechanical switch/knob for turning the dot on is pretty tight… and small. Which means no accidental movement but with larger hands/fingers it can be tough to get a hold on to easily turn. The proximity is close to the optic tube so positive traction is a little tough. My beef with the switch is most likely personal preference and not a reflection on the quality of the sight.
• Included picatinny mount locks in solid but nut feels loose and a bit out of square at first giving the shooter the impression it may be cross-threaded. This isn’t the case, but it feels a little flimsy. Looking forward I would be sure to replace the standard mount that came with the optic with a more favorable quick detach mount.
• Minimal amount of dot distortion with brightness level maxed out. (for what it’s worth I’ll typically keep the red dot brightness at about midrange anyway)

THE WIN LIST:

• Clear glass. With a lot of inexpensive red dot sights it feels like you’re looking through fog. Not so with this optic.
• No glare either, even shooting directly at and at angles approaching direct sunlight.
• Wide field of view. Shooting with both eyes open and not seeing the “double dot” was a breeze.
• Zeroing is a cinch. I boresighted the red dot initially by centering it on the cowitnessed back up iron sights on the Windham rifle and it was darned close. The knobs are easy to turn with positive clicks and responsive movement. No guessing with adjustments.
• No loss of zero. Also no loss of zero after detaching and reinstalling multiple times. Despite my complaint about the nut feeling like it may be cross-threaded, it locks solid and holds well.
• Flip up lens covers are a big plus. Especially because they stay put and click into place with an audible snap and hold well once closed. Nothing chaps my hide worse than flip up lens covers that ONLY flip up without staying put.
• Long battery life. I more than 40 hours of use on it and the battery during the past few months and it is still bright as day one.
• Very Lightweight. No perceived felt weight increase while lugging the rifle around all day.

All in all the Tactical Red Dot optic from Sightmark is a quality yet inexpensive full-bodied Red Dot optic for your rifle.

Read the whole review over at Haus of Guns.