The pace at which Osight has been introducing new products has been amazing, but most have been variations on the same theme: a range of affordable enclosed pistol red dots (their SE line) that are great for everyday carry. Now, with a rifle-sized reflex sight, Osight has entered a new realm.
Osight teased the new Osight R last spring at the NRA show in Houston. When they showed it to us, they asked what we thought the retail price would be on a new multi-reticle enclosed reflex red dot sight designed for rifles and shotguns. I think I guessed $400 and they laughed, saying no, it would be $299.
Turns out we were both wrong. The new Osight R, which just went live for sale today, is retailing for $279.
But wait…there’s more. The Osight R — which has a Micro T1/T2 mounting footprint — ships with a 1.53-inch Picatinny mount that will co-witness nicely with most iron sights and many of you will find that works just fine. If not, Osight’s also making an optional 1.93-inch aluminum riser they’re selling separately for $45.99. That’s what you see in the photos above.
Here are a couple of pics showing the standard 1.53-inch mount.
As a come-on to buy the new R, Osight’s giving away a 1.93-inch mount with Osight Rs bought through October 25 here.
The Osight R has flip-down clear lens covers fore and aft that protect the sight’s multi-coated lenses. It also ships with an anti-reflective front cover if that’s a thing for you.
The Osight R is powered by a single CR2032 battery that’s accessed on the right side of the aluminum housing. Rated battery life depends on the reticles you use.
You have three options. There’s a 2 MOA dot, a 65 MOA donut of death circle, or you can use both at the same time (as above). Rated battery life is 83,000 hours, 18,000 hours or 15,000 hours, respectively. That should be more than enough for just about anyone who changes their batteries regularly. The R will remind you, though, when power is getting low. The reticle will blink once a minute when it’s time for a change.
You get 12 brightness settings, nine standard and three night vision compatible. There’s also a separate night vision button on the left side below the rubber + and – brightness buttons the lets you jump directly into night vision mode without having to cycle through the standard settings to get there.
There’s more than enough luminosity for bright, mid-day Texas sun. And both Jeremy and I noted how ultra-crisp and clear the reticle is. There’s zero flair or fuzziness. Given the Osight R’s price tag, that’s pretty impressive.
While the Picatinny mount that comes with the sight gives you all kinds of options, the Osight R will no doubt be used most often by most people on America’s favorite rifle. And yes, it has “shake awake,” although Osight doesn’t call it that. For them, it’s MAT (motion-activated technology). It shuts down after 3 minutes of non-use and powers up immediately when the rifle is moved (it is immediate, too…we checked).
We also froze it and dunked it in water to see if that IPX8 rating means anything. It worked just fine after both.
In short, we shot the Osight R a lot in the short time we’ve had it. This is a very nicely designed reflex sight with pretty much every feature you’d want in a rifle sight for home defense, range use, competition and more.
Sure, it’s physically bigger (and therefore heavier) than lots of smaller rifle reflex sights, but that big window gives you a nice, wide field of view without inducing the kind of tunnel vision some people experience when using smaller tubular red dot sights. And like Osight’s other sights, this is an amazingly affordable option for the kind of shooting most of us do.
Specifications: Osight R reflex rifle sight
Window Size: 1.1 x .87 inch
Reticles: 2 MOA dot, 65 MOA circle or both
Mount: Micro T1/T2 compatible
Dimensions: 2.72 × 1.42 × 2.52 inches
Weight: 6.7 ounces
Battery Life: 83,000 hrs (dot only), 18,000 hrs (circle only), 15,000 hrs (both)
Housing: 7075-T6 aluminum
Adjustment: .5 MOA per click
Shake Awake: Yes
Waterproof Raging: IPX8
Made In: China
MSRP: $279