Disappointed - but good - Holosun Advanced Enclosed Micro 1x 1.1 x 0.87 in Reflex Red Dot Sight

For Optics Planet, I've generally found the items I'm looking for and at a fair enough price. Per usual the shopping experience is good online and wide variety of products to choose from, however, I find once I've decided to select a product...it takes a fair amount of time for the product to ship and arrive. That said, I trust O.P. more than other retailers and have found hassle free returns if needed.

As for the Holosun AEMS Optic, I would say that this is a good overall package. When you consider size, weight and function. The optic is a good size, well enough built and is an enclosed system, which, I wanted. When considering this against other optic choices Eotech XPS3, Sig Saure 4T Pro and a few others...this for the price and options seems to be the best.

Pros: Size, weight and optical clarity along with a pretty robust construction. Also, I selected the "green" reticle as I have on other Holosun optics weather for a pistol or long gun. With that said, you get the usual - Shake awake, crisp reticle, long battery life, large size window for viewing and clear enough glass without magnification. When the optic arrived, I quickly ran through the box, and it comes with all the things you would expect. Instructions, clean cloth, extra battery tray, and tool to adjust windage and elevation along with tightening the screw for the mount. Upon mounting the optic with the included mount, a couple of things that are frustrating...the mount isn't what I would recommend. I found that mounting this to my S&W AR-15 to be a bit of a challenge as the detent screw works...but kind of. I found myself mounting this as recommended but the screw would get a point where the detent would need a really hard twist to get to the next notch to secure it or it would wiggle on the gun. To the point, I was afraid that I might strip the screw! That said, I tighten it as much as I thought I could and no wiggle but had yet to fire the gun with the optic.

So, move to the day I take it to the range. I began the zeroing in process and discovered two things I immediately, don't like. Cons: One the zeroing in process was pretty straight forward and got it zeroed in pretty quickly. However, through that process I discovered two things, one the mounting screw worked loose after 20 rounds or so and had to again retighten this again to a point where I felt I might strip the screw or break the tool from Holosun they sent to perform this task. I find the mount itself is pretty good the lock up to the gun and is well enough thought out, but this screw thing sucks! I wish they had included the QD mount like for the Holosun 515 I purchased a long time ago. This has its issues too, but not nearly as bad as this mount. That said, there are aftermarket mounts (American Defense) that look promising and would solve this problem, however, I have to spend another $130.00 dollars to solve that. Hmmm maybe Holosun could work to improve this. Secondly, the other issue I discovered when this optic is backlit, be it the sun or florescent lighting (the worst) you get a very pronounced visual of the emitter displayed at the top of the window of this optic. In my case, I get a large green cast across the top of the optic when backlit. I would say at this point I am wavering on whether to send this back or learn to live with it. My issue is this, I really like the overall package...but dislike the mount and the emitter casting onto the window. The mount can be solved, however, factoring in the cost of the mount I could easily move to the next price tier and get the Sig or Eotech. As for the emitter casting...that I don't think can be solved, and had I done more research...I would have discovered this is an issue with other users.

Overall, I think this optic is a good choice and has a lot of promise and performance. My only gripes are the mount and emitter issues and not sure I will keep this optic for the cost of $400 plus, I think I can do better.