Having lots of fun with my 15/22 so far. Very reliable. I am accepting my eyes are aging and this isn’t 1980 anymore! Looking for a good red dot for close range stuff ( my local clubs steel challenge matches and such) I am a very “old school” iron sight user so am horribly ignorant of optics. I like the idea of something small and low profile ( ie Trijicon RMR) I do not want to monkey with economy optics which I have seen fail far too often. I don’t mind spending $500 for something tough durable and with long battery life. Any help is appreciated

In general the buy once cry once red dot is an aimpoint. The carbine optic version will be fine for a 15/22 and your stated use. Its cheap (comparatively), reliable, and easy to use. The second choice (and a bit more $) would be a pro and that's excellent but I doubt you would notice the difference. Above that in Aimpoint you aren't going to use the additional features. 2nd best choice is the Trijicon MRO. A bit newer, with less of a history on reliability but really nice. And with a good track record so far.
Then you get to all other. An RMR is excellent in most of the feature set but me personally it belongs on handguns and not rifles. The size of the eyebox is a negative on rifles.
Everything else will be lower on the reliability scale but correspondingly cheaper.

I have a Primary Arms H-1-ish clone in my 15-22, I bought years ago.

Fun, reliable and cheap. It fits the role very well.

quote:

Originally posted by LDD:
I have a Primary Arms H-1-ish clone in my 15-22, I bought years ago.

Fun, reliable and cheap. It fits the role very well.

I also have a Primary Arms red dot (mine is a clone of the Comp M4 AimPoint); had it for probably six years now and it’s still going strong. For a .22 it’s great considering the price.

Primary Arms, Holosun, and Vortex all make good range toys. You can also include Ultra Dot as they're in the same price range. I have a PA on my wife's 10/22. It's held it's zero with no issues for several years. I use Ultra Dots on all my bullseye pistols. I probably have upwards of 30k rounds through three UD's with no failures.

Same as you, I don’t mind spending to get a quality, reliable optic. I have Aimpoint and Trijicon on my “real” ARs. But I hated to put a $600 optic on the 15/22 AR. Ended up going with the Vortex Sparc AR. It was right around $200. Looks good, not too big or heavy for the 15/22, works perfect. I regularly use it on steel plates out to 100 yards. I would definitely recommend it.

I am lucky to have about 10 shops in my area that stock optics so start shopping today.thanks for the suggestions

quote:

Originally posted by LDD:
I have a Primary Arms H-1-ish clone in my 15-22, I bought years ago.

Fun, reliable and cheap. It fits the role very well.

I vote here. I've got one of their 50K hour Red dots on my SBR. It's held up just fine. Batteries still going strong about 2 years later being left on. It's held zero.

quote:

Originally posted by myrottiety:

quote:

Originally posted by LDD:
I have a Primary Arms H-1-ish clone in my 15-22, I bought years ago.

Fun, reliable and cheap. It fits the role very well.

I vote here. I've got one of their 50K hour Red dots on my SBR. It's held up just fine. Batteries still going strong about 2 years later being left on. It's held zero.

+2 or 3 for Primary Arms,

have one on a couple of AR's including a 15-22, work great

Well I ended up with something I did not expect- the browning reflex sight. In the past due to eye problems I found conventional red dots ( like the aimpoint on my issue m4 way back when) give me the “cluster of grapes “ effect, but the little browning reflex did not. Since I am just getting my feet wet with optics I figured trying a cheap ( made in China I know) red dot was not a terrible idea. I figured for under 60 bucks it it sucked or I did not like it no biggie. Zeroed this morning easily ( quick trip to the 50 foot indoor range) adjustments with decent clicks and seemed to work fine. Time will tell of course. Next step is a magnified opposite if for the full caliber AR. Somewhat familiar with Acog from military service so suspect that is where I will end up

That's pretty much on the opposite end of your original post.

Hrcjon you are correct ! Did not expect to like this product as much as I did. Sadly all the other options discussed were either not available in town to examine, or the price was not different enough from going whole hog on an aimpoint that I figured why not.