What Red Dot Scope for my Ruger AR556?

I own a Ruger 1911, a Ruger Mark .22 from the'70s, and my EDC for 4.5 years - Ruger SR9C. My Glockaholic friends call me a Rugeraholic.

Just recently I bought my first AR. Wanna guess? Yes, a Ruger AR556. Please know I am totally green about ARs. I want to get a red dot scope on it before shooting it. Here's where I need some advice. The front sight, as you know, is on the A-frame gas piston (is that what it's called?). Obviously the red dot scope has to be raised. I'm told some red dot scopes can be adjusted to have the dot on the front sight, as in if the battery dies you are still sighted in. I would like advice on which inexpensive red dot scope to buy for my Ruger AR556. Thanks for all the help.

I have two AR type rifles, a 5.56 and 308. I have C-More red dots on both of them and am 100% pleased with them. Both of mine have flip up back up sights and the C-More Railway sight can be zeroed in to work with these iron sights. C-more sights are on the expensive side, but in my opinion, they're the best on the market for AR style rifles.

YMMV but I prefer converting to a low profile gas block with a rail & installing a folding front sight; you can then just use standard height red dot without raising it.

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ruger randy

Both my AR's have the folding ''flip up'' sights installed. I can use these sights, the red dot sight, or both together since they've been zeroed together with a laser chamber bore sighter.

I have a Vortex Strikefire red/green dot on my SR556 and it does everything I need it to do.

OP, even though it is a new AR, I would advise taking the stock front sight off, get a gas block with a rail on it and put on a flip up front sight. Zero first with the iron sights then put the Red Dot of your choice on and zero that. If for some reason the red dot fails, take it off and use the BUIS (Back Up Iron Sights) until you can fix the red dot.

Aimpoint PRO! Comes with a spacer to adjust height and a quick detach mount that is rock solid. 2 moa dot and it'll go 3 years on one battery at constant on. Newer ones than mine will go 7 years on one battery. The front sight as it is on the Ruger wont affect your sight picture and depending on using the spacer or not , it will cowitness with the front sight.

There's a reason the military uses either these or the Eotech...

I have a Eotech 512 on a AR15, perfect co witness with flip up iron sights. Also have a Eotech XPS2 on a Mini 14. Tried some cheaper red dots earlier with poor results.

First it's all about budget, then it's all in the mount... When deployed, folding sights are the same height as your A2 front.

The mount you choose will position your red dot either with the dot aligned to the sigths (absolute co-witness) or with dot above the sights but the sights still visible in the lower portion of the red dot window (lower 1/3 co-witness).

For my, the front sight doesn't bother me at all, and I like an absolute co-witness, so if the dot dies, the sights are still in the same place (cheek weld, etc.)

This is a Vortex Strikefire with absolute co-witness mount:


This is an Aimpoint Pro with absolute co-witness mount:


This is an Aimpoint Pro with absolute co-witness mount with an A2 front sight:

Have an Aimpoint Micro H-1 on my Ruger------just ordered an Aimpoint PRO for my Colt

Absolutely no reason to get rid of the fixed front sight base to use a red dot. You can set up the red dot for absolute co-witness, or lower 1/3rd co-witness. If you mount the red dot forward on the receiver and keep both eyes open, focusing on the target down range, you won't even notice the front sight base.

If you want to go inexpensive, go with a Bushnell TRS-25, or something from Primary Arms. For a quality optic, go with the Aimpoint Pro.

I am of the opinion that the red dot answer is almost always Aimpoint.

I'm on a tight budget and would like input as well. What iron sights to you suggest?

The Ruger comes with sights... for others, do you want folding or fixed?

The only budget fixed (metal) sights I've used were made by UTG... they worked fine, held zero, but are not as durable as those from Troy, etc.

I've used (polymer) folding sights from Magpul, A.R.M.S., and Sniper Smart Polymer (Amazon), no complaints with any of them.

Can't go wrong with an Aimpoint, have one on my Sig 556, another on a CZ-527 and the third one on a Ruger MkII Bullseye pistol. Rugged, reliable and accurate. Don't go cheap on the red dot sight, you get what you pay for.

If you can afford it, Aimpoint is the way to go. If you're on a budget; Burris & Vortex are both great quality & I've never heard anything bad about C-More.

Texas629 said:

Can't go wrong with an Aimpoint, have one on my Sig 556, another on a CZ-527 and the third one on a Ruger MkII Bullseye pistol. Rugged, reliable and accurate. Don't go cheap on the red dot sight, you get what you pay for.

Click to expand...

What 527 do you have that a red dot works with? I have an older Lux in .223 that I love.

Budget: Bushnell TRS 25 with the AR mount. Under $125, and the one I have on my Mossberg 835 hasn't budged even under the recoil of a bunch of 3 1/2" turkey loads.

The Aim point PRO is worth every nickel, and there is a reason a truckload of cops put them on their rifles.

I personally like the Leupold prismatic, if the batteries fail the etched reticle is still visible, and it works better with my astigmatism than a true red dot. It's pricey, but it is Leupold guality, and what value do you place on a rifle that may be called upon to save your life?

rugerjunkie said:

Aimpoint PRO! Comes with a spacer to adjust height and a quick detach mount that is rock solid. 2 moa dot and it'll go 3 years on one battery at constant on. Newer ones than mine will go 7 years on one battery. The front sight as it is on the Ruger wont affect your sight picture and depending on using the spacer or not , it will cowitness with the front sight.

There's a reason the military uses either these or the Eotech...

Click to expand...

ditto

The Aimpoint PRO is IMO without equal.

I use an Aimpoint Comp M3 with the 2 MOA dot. It uses a single CR123 battery and has been on my duty rifle for about 8 or 9 years....it is a great sight. I use it co-witnessed to a folding rear sight and the factory front post. The Comp M4 is the newer model, uses a single AA battery, with an even longer battery life. As has been said, if you don't cheap out on this it will probably outlast you..... 8)

I retired from the military a long time ago. Our M-16 had fixed sights and no rails. I just ordered a Ruger AR556 and want to mount a red dot on it. Would this one work without interference from the front sight?

http://www.natchezss.com/burris-speeddot-3-moa-35mm-red-dot-sight.html

I don't mind the front sight being in the field of view as long as it doesn't interfere with the dot. I have seen co-witness used relative to the interaction of the sights. Can someone give me a quick rundown on what that means?

As pictured, that sight (with the included rings) will not work for you. The rings are for a standard rifle, not an AR15. With the in-line stock of the AR15, you need a higher mount to get a good view thru the optic.

There are two ways to go, get some 1/2" riser blocks to use with those rings (easiest) or a different mount.

1/2" riser
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ICNQO6/ref=pd_luc_rh_bxgy_01_03_t_img_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are lots of AR15 mounts on the market at lots of different price points. Most of those will put the center of the optic in line with the standard open sights on an AR15.

Here's a couple pics of mine, with both scopes and red-dots. Notice the height of the mounts, and you'll see some have risers with regular rings to get the same height. The S&Ws have fixed fronts like the AR556 and they are visible in the 1x optics but do not obscure the cross-hairs or dots.

S&W M&P 15-22 – TruGlo 1x 42mm


Lone Wolf G9 SBR – Vortex Spitfire (1x prismatic)


S&W M&P 15S – Aimpoint P.R.O.


S&W M&P 15S – Millet 1x-4x 24mm