The Vortex Sparc AR is an affordable red dot sight that sells for $200 on Amazon here. Not only is if extremely affordable, but it is currently listed as “Amazon’s Choice,” with 160 customer reviews and a 4.5 star average rating.

The Vortex VMX-3T Magnifier is a nice little 3x magnifier that also sells for $200 here.

The Review – Sparc AR Red Dot

*This is an important fact that I can not omit: The first pair of these that I received were defective. The battery compartment was faulty, causing the red dot to turn off after every other shot. Luckily, Vortex’s great customer service was able to handle this situation professionally and swiftly. (They even hooked us up with some cool swag!)

My initial impression of the Red dot was that it is a well built, solid piece of metal and glass. It’s a very small sight compared to my gun, and this look was exactly what I was going for.

The red reflection looks very aggressive and beautiful in photography.

Performance wise, the sight was very easy to align and I was hitting dead on before I even finished the first mag. (Having the bipod was hugely helpful!)

However, I can not give this red dot all the credit for my many bulls eyes, as it was the 3X magnifier that really helped get my shots aligned!

3X Magnifier

Seeing as these were both made by the same company, the 3X magnifier and the red dot lineup perfectly! Since I wear prescription glasses, the focus knob on the magnifier needed to be adjusted slightly, but I was able to see both my target and the red dot sharply.

The above GIF is how the target looked 25 yards out through the magnifier and red dot.

Without using the bipod and simply standing with my 10lb AR-10, I was able to get some very accurate shots! It is such a breeze shooting this thing, and the sights really make all the difference!

Conclusion

While a few gun nuts have criticized me for not buying an $800 EOTech instead, I am very happy with my purchase decision. For $400, being able to pick up both a high quality red dot and magnifier is a steal!

I have absolutely no complaints about these products and would buy again for future rifle builds.