Ruger pc carbine optics

BigRobb

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Just got the collapsible stock model and want to put a red dot on it. It’ll need to be AR height. I’d ideally like to keep it around $400 or so. Daylight bright for sure. 2x or 3x magnification would be nice, but might jump me out of my price range. Not brand loyal and I know the low end stuff is made in China. What do you suggest?
 
I have the Vortex AR Spark on mind but haven't really had the chance to really test it out other than just sighting it in last week. I'm also wondering if most folks use a red dot as opposed to a traditional variable scope on a 9mm carbine?
 
I have a Sig Romeo 5 on a number of my rifles. The shake on feature and the short interval auto shut off is great. The SPARC AR is good, but I just like the fast timeout/shutoff of the Sig better (2 minutes instead of 12 hours) and the auto-shake/wake to turn on more than holding a button to turn on the red dot. SPARC AR, though, takes a AAA battery, which is a huge plus. In my view, I like the Sig's more responsive click buttons over the more mushy Vortex buttons on their red dots.

Some of our sponsors have significant sales current on, for the Sig Romeo. I recently bought another for over $100 off compared to ones I bought earlier this year.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have my optic on the rail on the receiver, rather than the small rail on the removeable handguard. The rifle is so barrel heavy as it is with that aluminum handguard, I don't need to add even an ounce of weight more to the front of it.
 
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I do find the buttons on the spark a little bit of a PITA. You have to hold down the on button for some time to turn it on.
So is there any real advantage of a cross hair scope on a 9mm given the fact that it's not meant to be a long range gun?
 
I do find the buttons on the spark a little bit of a PITA. You have to hold down the on button for some time to turn it on.

That's been my experience with other Vortex red dots. It's OK, but when I can use my Romeo 5 and it can turn on with movement, and auto shut off in 2 minutes, the battery is conserved pretty well and in my view, the user experience is much better.
 
I have a Sig Romeo 5 on a number of my rifles. The shake on feature and the short interval auto shut off is great. The SPARC AR is good, but I just like the fast timeout/shutoff of the Sig better (2 minutes instead of 12 hours) and the auto-shake/wake to turn on more than holding a button to turn on the red dot. SPARC AR, though, takes a AAA battery, which is a huge plus. In my view, I like the Sig's more responsive click buttons over the more mushy Vortex buttons on their red dots.

Some of our sponsors have significant sales current on, for the Sig Romeo. I recently bought another for over $100 off compared to ones I bought earlier this year.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have my optic on the rail on the receiver, rather than the small rail on the removeable handguard. The rifle is so barrel heavy as it is with that aluminum handguard, I don't need to add even an ounce of weight more to the front of it.
Good to know. I’ve read the dot appears more washed out on the sig. have you experienced that at all? I guess for a sub $200 red dot you can’t really expect it to be as crisp as a aimpoint…
 
Good to know. I’ve read the dot appears more washed out on the sig. have you experienced that at all? I guess for a sub $200 red dot you can’t really expect it to be as crisp as a aimpoint…

It’s not sub $200 from what I have seen. My last one was retail $349. The one I just bought on sale was $239. I haven’t noticed any washout red dot. I have tried various brightness settings.

I have never used an Aimpoint so I have no point of reference. The red dot is easy to see but maybe I am not too picky
 
Good to know. I’ve read the dot appears more washed out on the sig. have you experienced that at all? I guess for a sub $200 red dot you can’t really expect it to be as crisp as a aimpoint…

Comparing a $300 optic against a $750 optic is bound to disappoint...However I’ve never experienced any washout with my Romeo and the glass is as clear as my Aimpoint PRO.
 
It’s not sub $200 from what I have seen. My last one was retail $349. The one I just bought on sale was $239. I haven’t noticed any washout red dot. I have tried various brightness settings.

I have never used an Aimpoint so I have no point of reference. The red dot is easy to see but maybe I am not too picky
Yeah. Still $239. I’ll probably go this route. Nice and light. The rifle is a bit of a tank for what it is.
 
I do find the buttons on the spark a little bit of a PITA. You have to hold down the on button for some time to turn it on.
So is there any real advantage of a cross hair scope on a 9mm given the fact that it's not meant to be a long range gun?

In my opinion- nope. A red dot is perfect. A scope is silly.

We have to decide what we want a firearm to do when we look at optics. For me a 9mm carbine should be able to make rapid hits to 100M on targets. A red dot does that.

The only reason I would ever put a precise aiming optic like a scope on a 9mm carbine would be to test accuracy of different ammunition or handloads. After that the reddot would go back on.

I use Riton and Vortex red dots on my Rugers. They work fine. I would also use a Holosun. They all work well.
 
Yeah. Still $239. I’ll probably go this route. Nice and light. The rifle is a bit of a tank for what it is.

Agree. It may help to put a MLOK fore grip on the front - it is still barrel heavy, but it helps.

When I was looking for red dots originally for other rifles, I bought multiple Vortex ones. I was never enamored with them mostly due to the same thing with the mushy buttons and the hold to start and the long delay before shut off. I read nothing but good things about the Sig Romeo 5 and so I started delving deeper in researching various alternatives. The Aimpoint was never really under consideration due to cost. In the end it was between the Sig and the Holosun 503 and 515. One of my LGS indicated that they have had to deal with multiple warranty issues on one or both those (I don't remember which). I bought a Romeo 5 and loved it right off the bat so much so that I bought four more after that, the most recent one I bought new off the EE. Now that it is on sale at my other LGS, I may get a couple of more just to keep around as spares.
 
In my opinion- nope. A red dot is perfect. A scope is silly.

We have to decide what we want a firearm to do when we look at optics. For me a 9mm carbine should be able to make rapid hits to 100M on targets. A red dot does that.

The only reason I would ever put a precise aiming optic like a scope on a 9mm carbine would be to test accuracy of different ammunition or handloads. After that the reddot would go back on.

To each their own. My eyes turn 60 a little later this year, and while my reformed diet of a few years now (almost nothing but meat, after almost 39 years of no meat) has done wonders for my eyesight and a number of other elements of my health (skin elasticity most proveably - I almost don't get scratches any more, even play fighting with the cat), a red dot such as my 3MOA FastFire III still flares out a bit. My Holosun gold dot sight should have a 2MOA round dot, but for my right eye it's more like a 4 or 5 MOA oval. Which is fine for plinking with my GSG-16, but not something I'd want to aim with for anything important.

So on my PCC, the TNW ASR in 9mm, I opted for a scope. 2-7x Burris Rimfire at first. But I found the 7x level unsatisfying when putting groups on paper at 100 yards, so found a 2-10x 30mm FFP Visionking scope which seems about perfect for me. Excellent clarity with no distortion, wonderful reticle which zooms along with magnification. Very bright. Easy to quickly acquire closer targets at 2x. For older, less perfect vision, such a scope works very satisfyingly on a PCC, without being very heavy - about 17oz added to the 5.5lbs carbine.

But of course if a dot sight works for whoever, that's great. Wish it worked for me. I like both my dot sights, just don't have them mounted on anything I'd call 'serious' - the Burris FastFire lives on a side-lever air rifle intended as a backup squirrel gun, shooting at around 10fpe and with decent enough accuracy for 1 shot kills out to maybe 15 yards. Suits that job just fine. And if I were thinking of my 9mm as something like that, if for something like knocking down competition plates during a speed run, then sure, I'd put a dot sight on it. But I like that it's really quite accurate at 100, so may as well have an optic mounted with which I can use it to that range or a bit further.
 
I recently (this week) changed up my optic - as stated before the Sig Romeo 5 is very good, and I think the universal opinion is very positive, as is the nice sale price.

I have been in the market for the Holosun 515 but I wanted the GM version (think the CM is the solar backup version but more pricier). Some 515GMs came into my LGS so I picked up some and put it on my Ruger. There are a few significant advantages of the 515GM, the biggest of which is that the lens caps are not rubber like the Sigs and attach and detach using a rubber band looking thing, but the 515GM lens caps are attached/fixed, flip down, and are made of glass. This is great because you can easily see through the optic with the lens cover on.

Second, it is not just a red dot, but also a circular illuminated reticle, with an insane max bright setting.

There is also a shake to wake feature and auto sleep (after 10 minutes). The mount is also a lever pressure mount (some may like this, some may not) that locks in place with a switch that has to be depressed before the lever can be operated (so as to mitigate accidental lever flips).

While working on the Ruger, I decided to reposition my rail light - I had my light on a Magpul offset mount, but I bought an extra MLOK picatinny piece and mounted it as forward as I could, and then mounted the light in front at 6 o'clock. Tape switch is still close by. That still has enough clearance for my BCM Gunfighter full length fore grip (this is huge for anyone who wants to mitigate some of the weight from the heavy barrel).
 
I just purchased THE PA SLX MD 25mm for my SG, the reticle is functional for many applications and is 100% daylight bright. Lot of mounting options. $334
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https://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-slx-rotary-knob-25mm-microdot-with-acss-5.56-reticle

If your looking for PC specific 2x here is a suggestion but will take you out of your price point. Really great optic if you suffer from flare with a red dot. Huge eye relief

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https://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-glx-2x-prism-scope-with-acss-gemini-9mm-reticle
 
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I have a Vortex Sparc Solar on mine. Came with an AR riser and the shake awake feature is neat. No issues at all but it will be at the top of your budget before taxes. Everyone's favorite budget friendly dot, the Bushnell TRS-25 with the AR riser is always a reliable choice. I actually find its lack of features and its toughness very appealing and have owned 3 of them.
 
I run a Vortex Sparc II on my Ruger PCC. Theyre around $300 but Cabellas will often have them on sale for $200.

It's a good 2 MOA red dot but does not have any magnification, something that I found out isn't ideal when one has a stigmatism.
 
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