Just to see if it could handle standard recoil, I mounted the new OSight SE on a GLOCK 19 clone and put 100 rounds through it. It did just fine. With that box checked, I got to the real fun and mounted the greed dot OSight SE on a suppressed Taurus TX 22 T.O.R.O. Over the next couple of weeks, I went through 1,000 rounds of ammo and proved this inexpensive enclosed green-dot emitter performs far above its price point.
The SE is the newest closed emitter pistol optic from OSight, an extension of the same folks that introduced OLight back in 2007. OLight is their light line, OSight is the optic line.
I find pistol optics valuable for almost every scenario (especially short-barreled revolvers.) Unfortunately, I have an irregular astigmatism caused by a sliver of aluminum launched into my eye many years ago. As I’ve aged and the condition has worsened, it’s rendered most holographic pistol sights useless, but the SE offers an alternative to the simple dot aiming point.
Like the earlier red dot version of the SE, this new green dot version allows the user to toggle between a 2MOA dot, a 32 MOA circle and crosshairs or a 32 MOA circle with crosshairs with a small dot in the center.
For me, a simple naked dot appears like a very lopsided “V” or sometimes a figure 8. However, the SE’s circle/crosshair/dot looks like a circle/crosshair/dot. The dot in the center actually looks like a dot, as long as I don’t focus too much on it. That’s a neat trick of the brain, filling in details of the image incorrectly, but in this case, it’s a helpful error. Neat!
The SE fits the common RMSc footprint. An RMR to RMSc adapter is sold separately. The housing deck height of the SE is fairly low and probably allows for the co-witness of many factory iron sights, but still sat a little too high for the TX22’s rear sight.
That said, there are two small wings protecting the elevation adjustment screw at the rear of the SE’s housing. The wings line right up with the TX22’s rear sight, just a teeny bit above the factory irons. If I use the wings instead of the factory rear sight, it changes the zero just a couple of inches at 25 yards.
Windage and elevation adjustments are made via two small screws on the device. Unlike the vast majority of optics at this price point, those adjustment screws are solid, with audible and tactile clicks at 1 MOA per click. There’s no need to remove the optic to change the battery (CR1620). It side-loads via a small compartment in the housing that’s accessible by a single screw.
Very much appreciated are the multiple mounting screws (and extras) included with the SE, as well as an installation and adjustment tool. There are even replacement screws for the battery compartment. I imagine these tiny things are easy to lose and hard to replace, so including a set of spares is particularly nice.
OSight advertises that the battery will last for 100,000 hours on the simple dot setting, but I have no desire to test that. Besides, the SE has an automatic shutoff feature after no use for three minutes. The SE automatically turns back on with any motion. You can also manually turn it on and off via the brightness adjustments on the left side of the housing. I turned it on and just let it do its thing.
One of the big selling points for the OSight SE is its green light emitter. There’s some research that proves green light is easier on the eyes for most people. I don’t know if it’s more “visible” than red light image optics, but the image certainly “pops” in a way that I don’t see with red-light image optics.
There are 10 brightness adjustments, including 2 invisible to the naked eye, but visible through night vision devices. At their highest setting, the reticle is clearly visible even in the bright Texas sun. But it’s at the other side of the brightness spectrum where the SE really shines.
A lot of optics at lower price point advertise they’re night vision compatible. Few really are. They’re usually too bright or unfocused to be of any use through NVGs. Not so with the OSight SE. I was genuinely surprised when I presented the gun forward and looked through an AN PVS-14 monocular and saw a very usable aiming point inside the optic.
If there’s any color distortion or dimming of the image through the optic, it’s so incredibly minuscule as to be almost imperceptible. In dim light, there’s nothing with the naked eye that I can make out that I can’t also see through the glass. The same goes for image distortion at the edge of the optic. If it exists, I can’t tell, with either eye.
OSight advertises the SE as passing IPX7 standard waterproofing. That means it should be safe under 1 meter of water for up to half an hour. I submerged it in my sink for a while and it did just fine. Rain doesn’t stand a chance. The housing is 7075-T6 aluminum meaning it’s not going to break under normal wear and tear and a drop or so in training shouldn’t trouble it either. I racked both guns I used for this review off the SE sight exclusively as well as generally banged it around during use. Zero issues.
As for price, the OSight SE is dirt cheap. It’s pretty impressive what Chinese-made optics are able to accomplish these days. You can purchase them directly online from the OSight website for $187 and even cheaper elsewhere online. That’s just nuts. This is a solid closed emitter green dot optic with clear glass, a metal housing, multiple reticles, great adjustments, sleep/awake functions, easy battery replacement and it actually works with night vision…for way under $200 shipped.
I’ll buy several of these, but this particular OSight SE now lives permanently on this TX22. Housed in a ColeTac Suppressed Pistol Case and carried in a ColeTac Varmint Wrangler Holster, this little combo is my new nighttime varmint murder machine.
Specifications: OSight SE
Optic Material: 7075-T6 aluminum
Adjustment: 1 MOA per click
Reticle Type: 2 MOA dot & 32 MOA circle
Motion Sensor Function: Yes
Power Source: CR1620 battery
Max. Runtime: 100,000 H (dot-only)
Brightness Settings: 8 DL & 2 NV
Reticle Color: Green
Magnification: 1x
Windage/Elevation Range: ± 35 MOA
Window Size: 0.83 x 0.55 in.
Waterproof rating: IPX7
Weight: 0.97 oz.
Price: $186.99 (OSight website, found for less elsewhere online.)