My Holosun experience

[Member 53328]

If I were depending on optics for self defense, I would agree with the sentiments expressed above.

Dot sights have been fun for competition, but I really prefer the circle around the dot format. Unfortunately, Holosun seems to be the only one offering this. Add in the factor of preferring green for daytime and glare conditions, and a "shake awake" feature, and they're the only option.

It makes more sense to me for a carry pistol, to use irons.

I agree 100% on irons for a carry pistol.

 

[Member 34319]

I'll never understand the amount of confidence people put in such a new, budget friendly foreign company. Then again, I don't understand the loyalty to some other low-tier brands that have constant reports of failures and poor customer service. Pinching pennies is never good when it comes to tools that may save your life IMO.


Life is short, protect it with better stuff.

Stating that a more expensive optic has a lower failure rate is simply false. I've seen plenty of Trijicon RMRs have issues. That's why they are on Gen 2 or 3 now.

Inexpensive brands sell 2 to 1 if not more, maybe even as high as 10-1 over more expensive brands. They could literally have the exact same failure rate, but one
brand would get negative posts like yours because one doesn't think to look at those factors. They would only see what they want to see, the brand they don't like, failing.

I believe Holosun to be a capable optic for defense or any other use.

The sheer amount of them shows that they are capable as such as well.

Besides, one can't truly state this issue is not user error?

 

[Member 53328]

Stating that a more expensive optic has a lower failure rate is simply false. I've seen plenty of Trijicon RMRs have issues. That's why they are on Gen 2 or 3 now.

Inexpensive brands sell 2 to 1 if not more, maybe even as high as 10-1 over more expensive brands. They could literally have the exact same failure rate, but one
brand would get negative posts like yours because one doesn't think to look at those factors. They would only see what they want to see, the brand they don't like, failing.

I believe Holosun to be a capable optic for defense or any other use.

The sheer amount of them shows that they are capable as such as well.

Besides, one can't truly state this issue is not user error?

Yea I really enjoy my NC Star red dot. It's great on my airsoft rifle. Never failed me once....

 

[AK0perator47]

Now I'm curious! I have to check mine

 

[03A3Sporter]

15 years ago I can recall sending my Trijicon Acog back to have the tritium vials replaced , but even when the original vials died the optic worked fine , never an issue .

I think I sent a Leupold back once about 25 years ago . Leupold sent me a new scope .

I have purchased cheaper budget optics and I can't say I have had on average the same experience with them . I remember Pentax sending me two scopes because the first one failed and their replacement failed also, did that same dance with Simmons a few times till I learned my lesson. I am not saying all inexpensive scopes are bad products but in the bad , good, better best spectrum of products they fall into the lower band of good or bad a lot of times . Since I use my guns for a host of purposes I want my optics to work especially as I continue to age and find my eye sight is not as good as it was in years past.

As others have stated if my life depended on a handgun I probably not going to want an optic on it at all.

 

[fstdraw]

Well, I can tell you that my problems with my Holosun 510c is not user error. I'm going to reserve judgment on this brand of sight until I get one that functions and I can see how it really works in the real world. I am hopefully going to get the replacement unit soon. Until then I hope they just keep the communication channel open and keep me abreast of their supply situation.

 

[Kruel J]

Stating that a more expensive optic has a lower failure rate is simply false. I've seen plenty of Trijicon RMRs have issues. That's why they are on Gen 2 or 3 now.

Inexpensive brands sell 2 to 1 if not more, maybe even as high as 10-1 over more expensive brands. They could literally have the exact same failure rate, but one
brand would get negative posts like yours because one doesn't think to look at those factors. They would only see what they want to see, the brand they don't like, failing.

I believe Holosun to be a capable optic for defense or any other use.

The sheer amount of them shows that they are capable as such as well.

Besides, one can't truly state this issue is not user error?

Doesn't sound like user error to me. And although I appreciate your opinion on this, you'll not be able
to convince me that Holosun is a brand as trustworthy as others that have more demonstrated history, known quality and customer support.

 

[Member 53328]

Doesn't sound like user error to me. And although I appreciate your opinion on this, you'll not be able
to convince me that Holosun is a brand as trustworthy as others that have more demonstrated history, known quality and customer support.

Wait..... holosun isn't Aimpoint? I thought they were like the same. Quality and everything.

 

[Heyjoe]

China

 

[Member 34319]

Doesn't sound like user error to me. And although I appreciate your opinion on this, you'll not be able
to convince me that Holosun is a brand as trustworthy as others that have more demonstrated history, known quality and customer support.

I know

Just stating that the others have had history of failures. Which tend to go unspoken.

Trijicon especially, has had tons of units in police and military contracts. They had many issues, yet due to the terms of the contracts, the issues rarely make it to the ears of the public. If the issues get reported, they tend to get overlooked for reasons I've yet to understand. Their early gens had a high failure rate. Much higher than any similar brands units.

Holosun, which doesn't have many military or police contracts, except for their laser and illumination devices, sells mostly to the public. Hard to say what ratio their sales are over Trijicon or similar (Leupoled, Vortex, Sig) but they tend to always be out of stock on most sites I've seen them sell. Which does speak volumes to their brand. I'd go as far to say they probably sell 50 units to one of the other guys, as I see way more Holosun these days vs others. If say trijicon had a failure rate of 1/5 and so did holosun. You'd have 1 vs 50 failures. Making Holosun seem worse.

For example. Let's compare one of your least favorable brands, the Taurus TX22 vs the Glock 44. Early model G44s had a failure rate of almost %100. Say Taurus has a 1 in 5. Let's say Taurus sold 1 million TX22s, Glock sold 200 thousand G44s. Who had more failures? Taurus did. Yet, is there failure ratio higher or lower? Lower.

None of this will change your mind J, but I'm not exactly here to do that. Just offering a counter opinion to yours, for others to read, and maybe look into the details a bit further before discounting a brand as inferior.

 

[Kruel J]

I know

Just stating that the others have had history of failures. Which tend to go unspoken.

Trijicon especially, has had tons of units in police and military contracts. They had many issues, yet due to the terms of the contracts, the issues rarely make it to the ears of the public. If the issues get reported, they tend to get overlooked for reasons I've yet to understand. Their early gens had a high failure rate. Much higher than any similar brands units.

Holosun, which doesn't have many military or police contracts, except for their laser and illumination devices, sells mostly to the public. Hard to say what ratio their sales are over Trijicon or similar (Leupoled, Vortex, Sig) but they tend to always be out of stock on most sites I've seen them sell. Which does speak volumes to their brand. I'd go as far to say they probably sell 50 units to one of the other guys, as I see way more Holosun these days vs others. If say trijicon had a failure rate of 1/5 and so did holosun. You'd have 1 vs 50 failures. Making Holosun seem worse.

For example. Let's compare one of your least favorable brands, the Taurus TX22 vs the Glock 44. Early model G44s had a failure rate of almost %100. Say Taurus has a 1 in 5. Let's say Taurus sold 1 million TX22s, Glock sold 200 thousand G44s. Who had more failures? Taurus did. Yet, is there failure ratio higher or lower? Lower.

None of this will change your mind J, but I'm not exactly here to do that. Just offering a counter opinion to yours, for others to read, and maybe look into the details a bit further before discounting a brand as inferior.

You make good points for sure. I'll just never be someone who goes out shopping for "budget" firearms, optics, knives or lights. I may not have the biggest collection but what I do have is quality that I trust my life to 100%.

 

[CountryGent]

Don't skimp on optics. Whether it's red dot or magnified. Doesn't matter. Optics is where you should pay a premium. But that's just me.

Not just you. I've found one really does get what they pay for with optics. The overwhelming majority of of our firearms wear iron sights, but when buying a scope I just stick with quality and only have to buy once. But to each their own.

 

[Dinglenutz]

Doesn't sound like user error to me. And although I appreciate your opinion on this, you'll not be able
to convince me that Holosun is a brand as trustworthy as others that have more demonstrated history, known quality and customer support.

I've got a bunch of Trijicon and Holosun stuff now, pretty much if not actually exclusively. Zero failures, one factory defect on an RMR. My sample size is small but I have no issue trusting any of them. That's why I use them.

Most of the Trijicon are dual illum and the Holosun units are mostly if not all solar, and none of either are bottom of the line. Come to think of it I do have one Sig optic, a Romeo Zero that came on the P365. If I was doing it again I'd consider the little Holosun for that one.

 

[fstdraw]

So, my Holosun update. I asked Caleb/Trever at Holosun if it was going to be a while before new units came in, could they send my HE510C back to me and I can use it with the 2 MOA dot only. They said of course and would send me the tracking info. I'm at least happy to get my new/used sight back so I can use it (2 MOA dot only) if needed. Also I want to let the forum members know that Holosun always got back to me within 2 days time during all this correspondence.

I will certainly let you know how the replacement sight preforms when I get it. I'm sure it will make my AR15 even more fun to shoot.

 

[Member 53328]

I'm not sorry.

 

[zcap]

Failure rates are almost never reported by manufacturers and sales data availability is also somewhat limited, so speculating about optic quality by the ratio of two unknowns in sales and failure rates is just that, speculation. Additionally, the abuse a piece of military equipment goes through is in no way comparable to the abuse a typical consumer puts on their equipment, so in that context failure rates of military and consumer grade equipment aren't directly comparable.

Most of the Chinese manufactured reds dots are made by a small handful of OEM manufacturers, with each manufacturer offering a range of tolerance and material specs available for contract. The quality varies between airsoft level and excellent, but as a consumer you have no idea what products came from what line or even what plant so even if you buy the "same" product again a year later you may get a product that came from a different line or even a completely different manufacturer / plant.

Companies like Aimpoint or Trijicon offer more consistent manufacturing and have some product lines that meet rigorous manufacturing standards. This does not mean that a given Chinese red dot is inferior, but it does mean as a consumer you have a lot less knowledge (typically zero) about where your optic came from and what spec levels it was built to.

I am not here to bash Chinese products, early emerging market economies typically go through a phase with abundant cheap labor and low manufacturing standards that mature over time. Given the direction of the West and the woefully misdirected idea pursued by many corporates that they can outsource labor but keep innovation local (over the long term, innovation happens where manufacturing happens), I wouldn't be surprised within a decade if the Chicom stuff becomes superior. For now, however, that isn't the case.

 

[asiparks]

i have had 2 LED RMR's defile the bed- one that lost the dot, one where the "elevation" didn't.
I also have one of their BFO SRS red dots where I have to occasionally smack it hard on the side to get the dot to come on. That cost me a stupid amount of money, but trijicon were good enough to offer me 30% off MSRP on a new sight. Which would have been more expensive than picking up one from Optics Planet or Midway.

 

[Kruel J]

I've had ZERO issues with Aimpoint or Trijicon. That's not to say they don't fail, but they are known to make quality stuff and stand behind it.

 

[Dinglenutz]

I've had ZERO issues with Aimpoint or Trijicon.

I've never had either fail in service. The RMR simply wouldn't zero from day one. If something is going to fail that's how I want it to fail really. I'm sure the RMR was a very unusual occurrence overall. I'd trust either one. I've never used an EOTech or Aimpoint product. I'm sure they're great.

 

[fstdraw]

HOLOSUN UPDATE: True to Holosun's word, the guys not only sent me my HE510C GR, but they sent a new, tested one. I'm very happy and can testify as to Holosun's customer service. Hat's off to Trevor and Caleb.

I'm sure the sight will work well.