Sightron's S33-4R Four Reticle Red Dot Sight
I've used red dot and similar electronic sights on and off over the years, including handgun hunting for sheep and wild boar. They often are presented in two basic flavors: cheap and Aimpoint. By cheap, I'm referring to the older Tasco genre sights now more or less displaced by BSA. The problem of the low-end red dot sights is a poor dot that often looks more like a fireworks display than a dot, with all kinds of interesting flares and rooster tails spraying from one side or the other. Some of display run the gamut from dim to very dim, and to top it off you might find that your reticle is too big or too small for the application and conditions. On the other end of the spectrum is AimPoint, the Swedish company that started it all. AimPoint product has always been top-shelf, in my experience, but their red dot sights run about $400 for a basic 2MOA or 4MOA red dot sights, to $850 or more for their current Hunter series sights. For a lot of people, it is just more than they care to invest in this type of sight. So, in large measure, there has been the choice of Chinese pop-can product or the good but even more goodly priced Aimpoint.
The above, exploded view of the Sightron S33-4R shows you "what's in the box."
That's where Sightron's Japanese manufactured S33-4R steps into the picture. The Sightron runs around $230 or so street price, offers a 33mm tube complete with Weaver rings, and surprising for an ESD has a lifetime transferable warranty. The four reticles are a duplex with 1 MOA dot, 4 MOA dot, 75 MOA circle with 8 MOA dot, crosshair 30 MOA circle with 2 MOA dot and you can instantly switch from one to the other as personal preference and conditions suggest. You have a rheostat with eleven different brightness levels to choose from.
There are several reasons for a Red Dot type sight. Fast target acquisition is one and unlimited eye relief is another. By nature tough and durable with a 33mm tube, the Sightron S33-4R is well suited for turkey hunting on a shotgun, handgun hunting, and has found favor on AR and Mini-14 rifles as well. In some states magnifying optics are not allowed in certain seasons, but 1X optics are. This Sightron has a bigger, stronger tube than some of the low-end brands and although there are a couple that have multiple reticles as a feature, they don't hold their zero when changing reticles which is an important distinction.
On a shotgun as a brush gun for deer, for turkey hunting, for handgun hunting, for air rifles, rimfires, or for AR style rifles, it is hard to find a more versatile sighting device. If you don't want a cheap tube from the Island of Misfit Toys, want a quality Red Dot backed by a lifetime warranty, but don't like the notion of $400 or more for an Aimpoint, you'll find the Sightron to be ideal. It's the most quality for the dollar in a Red Dot scope you can find today.
Copyright 2010 by Randy Wakeman. All Rights Reserved.
