Sightmark's MTS Mini Solar and XTM-3 Ultimate Red-Dot Setup

To engage in some lyrical understatement, there are currently a lot of different options for electronic sighting systems for your favorite black rifle. Truly top-end, sparkly glass costs more than my first car. The cheap airsoft stuff can be found for what you’d drop knocking back lunch at McDonalds. Unless your email address ends in .gov, your available cash drives that train. The astute gunman outfitting a defensive rifle has a lot of decisions to make. Sightmark has earned a reputation for offering quality products at reasonable prices. Their product catalog spans the spectrum from conventional glass optics all the way up through the most advanced electro-optical sighting solutions. Their newest MTS Mini Solar red dot and Sightmark XTM-3 magnifier offer some unique capabilities, providing quality optics at a great price. 

Variety is the Spice of Life

The earliest red-dot sights consisted of little more than a light-emitting diode that bounced a pinpoint spot of light off a spherical mirror and then back into your eyeball. As light rays are vectors and travel in straight lines, you could fine-tune the geometry of this device and perfectly align your gaze with the bore of the host weapon. Tactical shooting would never be the same. While these rudimentary red dot sights revolutionized the tactical landscape, they also had their limitations, yet the human brain took to these things like a monkey on an orange. Projecting the dot onto your strong eye allowed your brain to superimpose it onto your overall field of vision when operating with both eyes open. The effect is akin to that of the heads-up display in a modern fighter jet. The end result is unprecedented engagement speed and situational awareness.

The down side is that these basic red dots do not offer any magnification. They’re great at bad-breath ranges. However, if the threat is suddenly lurking out a couple hundred meters away, they are little better than iron sights. By contrast, a dedicated magnified optic is tough to use across the room. The easiest solution is to add a magnifier to your red dot like the XTM-3 Magnifier paired with the Sightmark MTS Mini Solar. The Sightmark MTS Mini Solar is an Information Age dual-fuel red dot that’s as bright as Albert Einstein in kindergarten and as tough as John Wayne’s jockstrap. The MTS Mini solar-powered red dot runs off of a combination of a built-in solar cell and a CR2032 button cell. Expect 200,000 hours of operation at the medium setting. That’s 22 years. Wow!

The Eclipse Light Management System automatically adjusts brightness for ambient conditions. The hinged battery door lets you replace the battery without removing the sight. Additionally, the protective caps double as built-in tools for windage and elevation adjustments. Practical applications are stupid-proof. With a little practice, shooting with a red dot becomes second nature. The XTM-3 magnifier is a natural second to the MTS Mini Solar. This 3X lens system is the smallest, lightest pivoting magnifier on the market. Toolless adjustment knobs let you center the magnifier easily. A handy ocular ring manages focus. When mounted behind the MTS red dot, a quick slap orients the magnifier into the line of sight or out of the way. In practical usage, that means you can index from up close to out a ways instantly. Few optics are faster or more versatile. While we take such stuff for granted nowadays, this Sightmark rig is the end result of a great deal of mechanical evolution. Revolutionary advances in microelectronics and battery technology have placed this capability atop normal people’s rifles at reasonable cost. 

Practical Tactical

The XTM-3 magnifier comes with a throw lever quick-detach mount. The XTM-3 is 3 inches long and weighs 8.1 ounces. It is waterproof to IPX7 standards and is nitrogen-filled to eliminate internal fogging. An 18mm objective lens offers a generous field of view, while the 6061 aluminum chassis is tougher than I am. The Sightmark XTM-3, when coupled with their superlative MTS solar-powered red dot sight, really represents the best of both worlds. I mounted this rig onto an SBR (short-barreled rifle) clone of the HK416 I built using some parts from Brownells. These components interchange with those of the superlative original German guns. For less than the cost of a typical high-end AR, you can build a faithful copy of the same piston-driven weapon the U.S. Navy SEALs used to off Osama bin Laden. The resulting stubby little carbine is tough, accurate and inimitably reliable. With the magnifier folded out of the way, my HK416 clone takes corners like a Bugatti. The resulting wide, unobstructed field of view of the MTS sight offers unparalleled situational awareness. The learning curve is both brief and shallow. Clear the weapon at least three times and wait until your family is out doing something else, and you can practice in dim light indoors at home. Slap the magnifier up in place, and the rifle is good out to the limits of the cartridge. The 3X magnification is a nice fit for a 5.56mm rifle with a 10-inch barrel, and torso shots are easy out to a couple of hundred meters. The gun will reach out farther if you take your time. The mechanics are robust, and the proof is in the pudding.

Final Thoughts

The market is cluttered with sighting options for your favorite defensive rifle. Optics solutions can be optimized for close range engagements or precision fire at a distance. Variable-power scopes both with and without illuminated reticles offer both. What you get with the Sightmark MTS and XTM-3, however, is the peerless situational awareness that comes with a 1X wide-view red dot along with the enviable capabilities of a 3X tactical magnified optic. The solar-powered feature also means you also don’t have to fret much about batteries. Indexing the magnifier in and out of the line of sight takes mere moments, and the rig is tough enough that you need not be terribly gentle with it. The details are easily mastered and stupid-proof. Sightmark offers maximum versatility for your defensive iron. 

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