Sightmark's Ultra Shot M-SPEC Pro Heavy-Duty Rifle Red Dot: Review

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Most pistol red dots on the market include a Picatinny rail adapter to use them on AR-platform rifles. I’ve used many and found they often work perfectly well on rifles. However, more often than not, it’s best to use optics for their intended purpose. Leave the pistol optics to the pistols, and grab a dedicated rifle optic for your rifle. This is a conclusion I’ve reached after spending some time behind Sightmark’s flagship AR red-dot sight, the Ultra Shot M-SPEC Pro. At just $299.97 MSRP, the red dot falls well into the “budget” category of optics, yet it is truly feature-packed and purpose-built for hard use on rifles. I generally lean toward low-powered variable optics for my black rifles, but I’m becoming a fan of red dot/magnifier optic setups.

M-SPEC SPECS

So, what exactly makes the Sightmark Ultra Shot M-SPEC Pro a dedicated rifle red dot? Besides the fact that it obviously won’t fit on a pistol, pretty much everything about this red dot says built for hard use. Not that pistol red dots can’t handle rough use, but they are designed to withstand the insane amount of G-force from slide recoil as opposed to drops and bumps for rifle red dots. A compact .40 S&W pistol slide can reach up to 40,000 Gs during operation. Pistol red dots are designed to withstand that force in a forward and back motion, but this often leaves them vulnerable to breakage when dropped. Rifle red dots on the other hand only need to withstand the recoil force of large rifles and shotguns. In comparison, a .50 BMG and even a shotgun shooting a slug barely register in comparison to the G-force of a pistol slide. So, rifle red dots like the Ultra Shot M-SPEC Pro are built to withstand being dropped and bumped more than to withstand recoil.

When you first pick up the Sightmark, there is a satisfying weight to the unit. It’s built from a quality magnesium alloy housing with an additional aluminum shield around the unit, putting this unit at about 9.6 ounces in weight. That’s still not that heavy for a rifle red dot, and the weight is balanced well, too. I was also pleased with the size of the objective. It’s a large 33mm by 24mm, providing ample room for target acquisition and transitions. One of the greatest features I appreciate for a red dot in this price tier is the quick-detach (QD) attachment for Picatinny rails. Typically, that puts a red dot into a much higher tier, and it’s a fantastic feature if you like to swap optics regularly like I do. The lens itself is scratch-resistant, of course, and I detected no significant distortion looking through the glass that you might get from the coatings on lesser red dots.

Windage and elevation adjustments are located on the side and top of the unit, respectively, and the Sightmark also includes a handy adjustment wrench. The battery compartment and illumination controls are also on the left-hand side of the unit with the elevation adjustment, which I prefer as a right-hand dominate shooter. If I need to make illumination adjustments on the fly, I can still keep my dominate hand on my rifle’s grip and trigger. If you are, unfortunately, afflicted with left-hand dominance, you’ll need to train for that manual of arms accordingly. The Sightmark is on the larger side for rifle red dots, but that is an acceptable tradeoff for the durability added from the external aluminum shield to protect the unit. Despite its bulkiness, the aiming dot sits at a standard height above the rail and is compatible with a magnifier unit like the Sightmark XTM-3, which also happens to the be smallest 3X magnifier on the market at the time of this publication.

Aiming and Illumination 

Battery life is always an important consideration for any electro-optic. Powered by a standard CR123A tube battery, the Sightmark Ultra Shot M-SPEC Pro boasts an impressive, advertised 65,000-hour battery life. Realistically, the battery life is going to be about half that if you mostly use the higher illumination settings, but anything over 30,000 hours is still years of use. For standard illumination, the Sightmark boasts 10 illumination settings, and it is indeed daylight bright at the highest setting. The Sightmark also features six night-vision illumination settings. Looking at the illumination controls, you’ll notice a power button at the top, up and down adjustments on the side, then a NV control button on the bottom. This obviously controls the night vision illumination settings, but it is a super nice touch that I don’t see on other red dots. Most other red dots simply have the one set of controls, with the lowest settings being your night vision settings. The Ultra Shot has a dedicated button to control the night vision illumination, and it’s just one of those little features that shows Sightmark truly thought through the design of this red dot. The reticle is a modern circle/dot design using red illumination and uses a 2-MOA center aiming dot with a 65-MOA circle surrounding the dot. It is also an option to only use the center dot without the circle. Another feature that shows the excellent design of the Sightmark is the included sunshade built into the housing of the unit. Looking at the back of the objective, you’ll find two pull tabs to reveal the sunshade. By pulling these straight back (be sure not to pull up at all), the sunshade extends to better cover the laser emitter for the aiming dot. This prevents any washout from the brightest high-noon sun, and it stays completely out of the way when not in use.

Final Thoughts

The Sightmark Ulta Shot M-SPEC Pro can absolutely play with the “big boys” in the red-dot market. I like my expensive red dots, too, but I simply don’t have the budget to outfit all my black gun with $1K dots. Just like the expensive dots on the market, the Sightmark is rated completely waterproof and dustproof, and it’s built to take a beating. For now, mine is going to sit on my LaRue Tactical Black and Tan 6mm ARC rifle. With the Sightmark XTM-3 folding magnifier attached, too, this is the perfect general-purpose rifle with the cost of ammo being the only disadvantage. I’ve seen this sub-$300-MSRP rifle red dot on sale for as low as $250, and you can even find the Sightmark XTM-3 magnifier for around $250 as well. That is a fine deal, yet you can go home knowing you have a solid optics setup for plinking, hunting, training or just about anything.

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