I am also one of those who don't understand the point (no pun intended) of Aimpoint's new Carbine Optic.
With the PRO priced as it is, why not get it, instead?
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As for Vortex's -
I think their budget red-dots are priced very well for the quality of the product. I haven't used any, personally, but I've seen them plenty - they all seemed clear enough, with good dots, and all owners reported that they retained zero and have not had durability or reliability issues.
I do own both a Crossfire II 2-7x 32mm for my 10/22 (nothing special, just a plinker) as well as a Viper PST 1-4x 24 TMCQ (MOA) for my LMT MRP16, and both are again very nice for the dollar. The Crossfire has good light-transmission and edge-to-edge for its price-range, and the PST really lives up to its reputation as a gateway drug for high-end glass.
One thing that really struck me as being true on the Magpul "Art of the Precision Rifle" series is the question of why buy a so-so optic for a top-dollar rifle? We're limited by the weakest link, and less-than-optimal glass is a pretty weak link. Buy good glass (for what you'd need it for) and get a good mount for it, and transfer it between guns.
I can take off and re-mount my Larue QD's on both my T1 and my PST and know that it'll hold pretty darned close to zero. No, I wouldn't trust my life to it at "longer ranges" (for each respective optic) unless I absolutely had to, but it's certainly proven to be more than good enough for the classes I've attended. Sure, I'm nowhere near the precision-rifle standard of "getting glass that costs at least as much as the rifle" on either of my ARs (the 4MOA T1 is resident on my class beater, a DDM4V5LW), but then again, I'm not shooting precision with these guns. :wink: For a $1200 5.56 carbine, I think a $600-700 investment in optics isn't that outrageous.
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In terms of magnifiers for the red-dot, I'm kinda split on their utility, but the truth of it is that I really don't have enough time behind the gun with such a setup to really make a decent recommendation either way. All that I can really say is that some of the budget ones are actually pretty darned nice (to the point where I don't really see the reason to spend more to buy an EOTech or Aimpoint one), but I really like the positive locking feature on the Aimpoint.