Reticle/solar power is great but... - VISM SPD Solar Combat Red Dot Reflex Optic

DISCLOSURE: I am on my SECOND VISM SPD Solar Combat Red Dot Reflex Optic (Warranty replacement) continue reading to find out why.

This reticle gets very bright and works great in solar mode with constant adjustment of brightness and always adjusting based on cloud cover, shade etc based on how much sun you are in (in shade its dim, in full sun its SUPER BRIGHT, in cloud cover its medium brightness and everything in between) it allows your eyes to stay adjusted with the available light and your eyes do not fatigue as much. Using an Energizer Lithium AAA battery you get ridiculous run time if no light is available, I have found that brightness setting 1 or 2 works best FOR ME at night even with a bright white light (1000 Lumens) and thats because in no light or even low light conditions the sight gets SO BRIGHT that there is a slight glare around the edges of the reticle that is not noticeable during the day. The great thing is that during the day if you find yourself in full sun and you need the red dot to be more dim you can either cover a portion of the solar piece with some tape to acheive a "MAX BRIGHTNESS" no matter what or simply put it on battery mode and turn down the brightness.

It has windage and elevation turrets/knobs instead of those crappy flatheads or allens, very audible and tactile clicks that is fairly tight and somewhat difficult to turn, 1/2 MOA adjustments, I wish it had 1/4 MOA adjustments but oh well. Adjusment tracks very very well for sighting in/ adjustments. It holds zero on the 5.56 NATO with zero problems whatsoever even after the rifle has been dropped on the ground and banged around.

The quick release mount MUST be adjusted while on the rail with both the allen set screw and the locking outer nut to accomplish the proper tightness and you must use blue locktite after cleaning off the oily substance on the pieces and be sure to loctite and tighten all mounting screws.

My major major complaint with this reticle is the amount of cheap, what seems like Lego plastic, all over this thing. The entire body of the optic and mount and all the important bits are made of a quality aluminum/steel but there is so much plastic on this optic I am amazed they ever put this into production calling it a "Combat" sight... If you go into combat with this thing I would be amazed if you didn't lose or break every single piece of plastic on this optic, needs polymer instead.

I ALWAYS go through every optic and every part with screws/fasteners on my rifle and place a dab of loctite on the screws to ensure that they do not come loose, I think thats a pretty common practice for those of us who are smart enough and patient enough to take the time to take preventative measures. Well, I did that very thing on this optic and every screw I placed loctite on that was near a plactic part and got a tiny bit of loctite on the plastic completely disintegrated and broke into a million pieces. Obviously whatever kind of plastic they are using does not mix with blue loctite. The plastic pieces begin to crack and then if you touch them they just fall apart literally into hudreds of tiny pieces (have you ever seen Gallium on Aluminum? It's like that but with plastic and loctite).

I sent the first one back thinking that it was damaged from the factory because I know I didn't over tighten anything to even come close to cracking the plastic pieces. The second that was sent out to me I was even more careful to not overtighten anything and that's when I realized it the loctite because all I did was put a dab on the screw just enough to fill the threads and look semi wet then tighten the screw to just barely touch the plastic and then let the loctite setup and do its job. There is no other explanation, the tiny bit of loctite I put on the screws cracked apart the plastic again and I would recommend perhaps using superglue instead of loctite.. Maybe that won't destroy the plastic pieces... and you'll never lose a screw, ever... I have not returned this second optic yet because I have just said f*** it and bought a different optic that is all aluminum. I might reach out to Optics Planet and try to figure out if I can replace with a different solar optic, I think the other VISM solar optic might be an option but I don't like the idea of it using a AA battery because of weight, if you don't count the ounces you cry about the pounds.

So now I have an optic that was replaced, I spent $130 on this and it's still functional but with broken lens cap opening tabs and cracked plastic pieces that is just irritating, the cracked plastic piece has no effect whatsoever on the functionality of the optic but WOW, it boggles my mind why a company would add a ton of plastic (Obviously to reduce weight, should be polymer) but overlook the fact that the plastic is not compatible with blue loctite... Like come on man, WTF are you thinking? Engineers sometimes need a good sock in the mouth and I hope this is the metaphorical punch.