Cincinnati Airsoft Forum

The following is a review of the A1 Optics 50mm Red Dot Sight.
Written By: Lurch a.k.a. "The Salad Ninja"





Are those tiny iron sights not being as useful as you'd hoped? Tired of the same old boring red dot? Is that $500 Eo-Tech you've been drooling over still unattainable because of your podunk, minimum wage, burger jockey career? Are you having to squint every time you look down the tube of that awful 3x9 scope with the disgusting eye relief?

If you answered yes to any one of the preceding questions, then I've got the cure for your optics blues!

I bought this red dot sight off of the eBay some time around the beginning to middle of 2006, and it has more than paid for itself in terms of helping to raise my "kill count" on the playing fields.

I paid somewhere around $40.00 bones shipped for the little beauty, and so far it's been worth every penny.





First thing that I'd like noted is that the scope covers attached to the red dot sight do NOT come standard. I purchased those each singularly and separately and they can be found on the eBay as well. They are made by Butler Creek and come in a variety of sizes and styles for around $3 to $9 dollars, roughly. The covers are made of tough plastic material that will help to protect the lens of your scope from getting cracked, and generally help to keep out the unwanted dust and debris when not in use.


A1 Optics doesn't have much on their website in terms of stock photos to use so I'll be using my own though out this review whenever possible here.


A1 Models



As you can see in the picture above the sight is available in these exciting and luxurious colors including: Tactical Black, Silver (for you flashy blokes), and you guessed it, Camoflauge. Now I'm not particularly fond of Tree camo usually, but that actually doesn't look really all that bad... (that's about as left handed as a compliment can get) Also shown is the little buggers physical dimensions, as well as claiming to be water, shock, and fog proof.


Mounting types

It's also available in two different size rail attachments. 7/8 weaver is the typical size rail all us airsofting folk use. Keep in mind, if and when ordering, to get the right size for you. Because no matter what your girlfriend says, size does matter. Also of note, that rail attachment is molded into the red dot's all aluminum body, it's not going anywhere.




As you can see from this angle, the front (right side of picture) of the sight's attachment is movable forward and backward to adjust perfectly to fit your rail's needs. The rear attachment does not however. Also only the front attachment will fit between the slotted guides of your rail, as the back sits somewhat recessed upward closer to the sight body.





Here we see the thumb screws and clamps. They're made of steal or aluminum as far as I can tell. My only grip with these is that after a fair amount of mounting and un-mounting the paint may wear off, and start to reveal a slight bit of rust, of which can be easily remedied with a simple quick coat of some flat black spray paint of your choosing.







Above can be seen the windage and elevation adjustments that are revealed upon unscrewing the small black caps on the top and left hand side of the unit. I like that these are "quick turns" (that term is taken with a big grain of salt), what I don't like however is that they're too small to be turned with your bare hands, or even your finger nails (trust me, don't try your finger nails).

You have to use a small, flat headed tool of some nature to really be able to dial in a proper setting. I would have liked to seen something that could have been attached and used without even needing to take off your tactical gloves, but that's a small gripe.

Once he's dialed in, he's deadly accurate. (at least as far as airsoft can get)

Another small note here about those caps that go over the W/E adjustments. Don't be to rough when tightening them down, as they can become cross threaded easily. I made that mistake with both of them unfortunately. They do stay in place even still after that mishap, but I wouldn't be surprised if they fall off and get lost on me one of these days.





The large dial on top of the sight obviously sets the brightness of the dot from 0 (off) to 11 (brightest), and does so with a satisfying little inaudible click with every turn. The red dot is very easy to see and it's really something that needs to be held to be appreciated. Onlookers from the barrel's perspective cannot see the dot being projected. So no need to worry about giving yourself away unknowingly.

Setting the dial to the correct brightness is a key and tactful thing to master. You always want to set it to a level that's contrasting well with the ambient level of light in your current environment. Set it too low and it's not as useful, while setting it too high creates a sort of halo effect that obscures the dot's image. Remember, you want to see a dot, not a ghost or a blurred red blob.

On top of the dial is the battery compartment which can be accessed without need of any special tools, a quarter does the job quite nifty. Inside is revealed one 3volt lithium battery (included) thats just about as big as a quarter






The lens's are nice and big and provide unlimited eye relief, meaning your eyes don't have to be any real certain distance away from the sight to be able to see down the tube and line up your shots. 50mm's is still limiting to some degree, but you will not be able to find a red dot sight any bigger than this. As far as I'm aware, they don't get any bigger!

50 mm FOV
3" eye relief (FOV 101' @ 100yard)
10" eye relief (FOV 63' @100 Yards)
20" eye relief (FOV 35'@ 100 yards

The lens's have a nice anti glare coating, and the front gives off a colored hue of rose in certain lighting conditions.

This part I could almost live without, not that I'm terribly worried that some dude is going to notice the glint off my scope, giving away my position, But... I've ordered an Tenebraex Killflash to slip into the front of my forward lens which breaks up the front of the lens into sort of a honeycomb. Making it harder to catch that glint from the sun reflecting off of it. Those as well can be bought on the eBay and they retail for around $50 bones. Sometimes you can get lucky and find an army surplus auction for far less.


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Some of the specs from the auction site:

Red dot features and specifications
*All optics have a lifetime Warranty
*11 dot intensity settings 3MOA
*Positive click Windage and Elevation adjustments of 1 click per 100 yards
*ALL GLASS Lenses, Multicoated Top quality precision ground and polished
*Water, Recoil and Fog proof, Nitrogen filled
*Sturdy Aircraft quality Aluminum Construction
*Durable matte powder coat Finnish (Black only)
*Extra 3 volt Lithium battery included
*Instructions, cleaning cloth, Warranty Card and Red dots all in Attractive packaging


One thing they failed to mention is battery life expectancy. Don't forget and leave the bugger on the highest brightness setting and fail to check it for a week, it will drain the battery. I haven't really needed to change the battery but a few times in the year I've owned it, and that's after many full days of use.




I like that there's no magnification power to the lens's, which makes snap target acquisition super quick and easy. Some may argue differently however, it's really a matter of personal taste given what your used to using.


Here's a few pics with it mounted on top "Tactical Tupperware".
Tactical Tupperware 01
Tactical Tupperware 02
Tactical Tupperware 03
Tactical Tupperware 04


Pros:

Cheap, $40 bucks for a great sight is well worth the expenditure.

Huge, 50mm is the biggest you can get these in as far as I know.

High quality and guaranteed with a lifetime warranty.

The 3v lithium batteries are fairly cheap and easy to come by.

Battery half-life seems to be pretty good.

Makes me a better person inside.


Cons:

Can be cumbersome to dial in without a small flathead screwdriver on hand.

Paint can wear off of thumb screws over time, causing minor rust on them to appear.

It won't make me pancakes in the morning.




Conclusions:

I use it every time I play and can't imagine going a game without it. I think if I get some rails for my various pistols, I'd definitely slap it on top. Sure it would look ridiculously huge sitting on an M9 or similarly sized weapon, but I just do not care. Quick target acquisition can mean the difference between making that game winning shot, and being just another noobsteak.




Mmmmmmmmm. . . . . . . .noobsteak.

I would highly recommend this product to any and all out there looking for a new aiming solution, especially if you can't afford one of those Eo-Techs... (which is one of my next purchases by the way)



Evil Lurch

Great review, one question. Has it even taken a pellet to the lens? If so how far away was the shooter?

I think in it's relative few years of service it may have taken a hit or two from probably no more than 30 to 40 meters away. If I had a spare I'd give it a good point blank flogging.

It is a glass material the thickness of which I'm uncertain, however the lenses looks as good today as the day I opened the package.