Holosun Micro Red Dot Sights

'Micro' is a commonly used term in the field of red dot sights. The first devices of this type were introduced by the famous Swedish red dot manufacturing company. Because they were so popular, many manufacturers followed the trend and introduced red dots of a similar design. The name ‘Micro’ is commonly applied to small tube sights. These are closed from both sides and usually come with a spacer for a lower third or absolute co-witness on AR platform rifles. Because of that, they can be used both for hunting and tactical situations. They are bigger than reflex red dot sights of the compact type, which is why they cannot be mounted on a handgun. If we consider red dot sights of the same price class, small tube sights tend to be optically on a slightly higher level than reflex red dot sights. They are not problematic if used in the rain since the water cannot penetrate the housing and enter the optical path. In most cases, the objective lens found in these devices is slightly tilted – that is not an error but allows the beam of light generated by the LED to be reflected into the user’s eye regardless of its position in front of the device.

Dot size found in these sights varies but is mostly limited to 2–4 MOA. Greater dot sizes are mostly not used since these are not mounted on handguns.

Holosun has a series that mimics the well-known ‘Micro’ red dot sights. They named their variants Paralow. These small tube sights come with both a low mount for the Picatinny platform and a riser for the AR platform. When the mount is taken off, an Aimpoint Micro platform can be found underneath. Because this mounting platform is highly popular, a wide array of different mounts can be found on the market. Besides making small tube sights, they also make full tube sights and open reflex red dot sights. Their reflex sights are available in a compact (HS407C, HS507C, HS508T) and bigger, more robust (HS510C) form factor.

Holosun is known for offering plenty of models within each of the series. In the Paralow series, there are three model families: 403, 503 and 515. The 403 models feature a standard 2 MOA dot, whereas the 503 models allow the user to switch between a 2 MOA dot and a 2 MOA dot surrounded by a 65 MOA Circle. The 515 models are a little bit bigger, they come with flip-up caps and a honeycomb filter included. They also feature a QD mount and allow the user two switch between a 2 MOA dot and a 2 MOA dot surrounded by a 65 MOA circle. There are plenty of models in each of the model family – the differences are marked with letters. Versions with letters A, B and G in their names differ in the battery compartment location (A has the battery on the bottom, B on the side in the form of a battery tray, while G also has it on the side but underneath a round-shaped cover). Model C has the same battery position as models B but also features a solar panel on top. The letter M in the 515 model implies that it is a military-grade red dot sight, manufactured from a CNC milled 7075 Aluminium with a hard-anodized finish. More about the letters' meaning in Holosun devices' names can be read in an article on the Optics-info blog. They are all powered by a CR2032 battery. The click value is 0.5 MOA. The objective lens of all the devices from the Paralow series is tilted which is not a defect but helps remove the parallax error. Also, all models come with the Shake Awake function – when not used for a while, the dot will enter sleep mode. When the device is moved again, it will switch back to active mode in an instant. All of the Paralow red dot sights are parallax free and have a battery life of 50.000 hours.

Lately, Holosun has been cooperating with the American company Primary Arms. Together, they launched a Paralow 503G model which features Primary Arms' famous ACSS CQB reticle.

The warranty is 5 years on the material and 3 years on the electronics.

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