6 Best Red Dot Magnifiers [Ultimate Guide]

Ranging from well over $1,000 to under $100, there are a ton of options in the world of red dot magnifiers. But who makes the best, what features matter, and what is right for you is not an easy question to answer. Well, in this article, I’m going to layout my personal favorites, and help you find the best red dot magnifier for your needs.

What is a Red Dot Magnifier?

Red dot sights are gaining popularity in the market. They’re a top choice for many AR-15 platforms, or any tactical setup. However, one problem with using a red dot is that they aren’t the best option for long range.

You can still hit well within 100-200 yards, but if you need to go further, it becomes very difficult. This is where magnifiers come in to play. Attaching a red dot magnifier, you can now increase the range of your red dot and can switch from close in shooting, and long range and the flip of the device.

They are placed behind a sight or scope and depending on which red dot magnifier you choose, and how you choose to mount it, you can switch between optimal close range, and long range easily.

Benefits to Using Red Dot Magnifiers

As I said above, the ease of switching from a optimal close range to long range is incredible, and worth the extra price – especially if you are building out you SHTF gun or adding to one of of your favorite ARs.

However, there are a couple of more benefits. For example, using a red dot, you can use a magnifier to co-witness with your iron sights, which is something that low-powered variable optics (LPVO) can’t do.

Disadvantages to Magnifiers

The first major disadvantage to a magnifier is the added cost. As you’ll see, they aren’t exactly cheap and add more to the cost of a red dot.

Also, adding a magnifier also adds weight, which typically is around an extra 10-17 ounces. So, if having the most light weight setup is important to you, you might want to reconsider or balance out your need for added long range over that increased weight.

And finally, magnifiers usually have lower eye relief and a smaller eye opening as compared to legitimate LPVO.

List of the Best Red Dot Magnifiers

Okay, so now that we’ve covered the basics on magnifiers, let’s check out my personal list of the best red dot magnifiers on the market:

Best Red Dot Magnifiers

1. Primary Arms 3x LER Gen 4		Best Budget Option Inexpensive Huge value Excellent eye relief	Check Price
2. Sig Juliet 3		Author’s Choice Great glass Included spacers for height adjustment Quick detachment mount	Check Price
3. Holosun 3x HM3X		Best Ingress Protection Rating IP67 rated Clean glass Easy flip	Check Price
4. Vortex 3x VMX-3T		Best Warranty No questions asked warranty Push button flip to side Good construction	Check Price
5. Aimpoint 3X-C		Most Durable Wide aftermarket support Great glass Super durable	Check Price
6. EOTech G33		Best Glass USSOCOM approved Best in class glass Ultra-durable	Check Price

Best Red Dot Magnifier Specifications

Below is a comparison table of the Red Dot Magnifiers and their specs.

Best Red Dot Magnifiers

The following are what I consider the best on the market:

1. Primary Arms 3x LER Gen 4
2. Sig Juliet 3
3. Holosun 3x HM3X
4. Vortex 3x VMX-3T
5. Aimpoint 3X-C
6. EOTech G33

Best Red Dot Magnifier Reviews

Now we’ve had an overview and looked at our list, let us take the time to individually review each item. In this section we’ll be revisiting our specs, speaking into the product and looking at the pros and cons.

Red Dot Magnifiers – Buyers Guide

Let me start off by diving into what specs matter the most and discuss whether it’s worth considering or if that particular spec is just nice to know.

Mount & Swing Type – Unless you plan on replacing the mount on your magnifier, the type of mount and the swing method matter a lot. 

Mounts are pretty simple. They either attach via normal screw-based 1913 railing or they have a Quick Detach level for 1913 railing. Personally, I much rather have the QD version.

No matter what I like being able to get my scopes off of my rifle quickly. If they get damaged and you want to drop the weight or replace them with someone working, QD makes a lot of sense.

Swing type is less important, but something that you should try to play with if you can. Fundamentally, all of the swing methods are going to work more or less the same in terms of the time it takes to use them.

Some mounts require a button to be pushed while you move the magnifier from the side to in front of the red dot. Others you physically pull the magnifier toward you before swinging it from point to point.

My favorite type uses none of those active methods of retention and only uses tension to keep the magnifier in place. Just move it from point to point with a firm motion and you’re good to go.

Personally, I’ve never had one move accidentally. So tension is good enough retention for me.

Ingress Protection Rating – This is a rating that you can really count on in life. A group that you’ve likely never heard of called the International Electrotechnical Commission is a not-for-profit trade organization that developed and maintains a lot of industry standards for a lot of things.

One of those standards is Ingress Protection (IP). Basically, a scientific way of measuring and standardizing how water- or dustproof something is.

The testing and rating cannot be done by the company that makes or owns the product, it must be done by a certified third-party testing company. That’s why you can trust the ratings that are given because someone independent did the testing.

This rating is given as IPXX where X is replaced by a number, that number corresponds to how well in the testing process the item got. 

The first X is for dust and the second is for water.

So IP11 is pretty bad for both dust and water. IPX5 means dust wasn’t tested for, but it made it to level 5 for waterproofing. IP69K is the best rating something can get and very few items get it.

Because the testing must be done by someone else, not a lot of brands spring for getting the testing done. But the ones that do earn a lot of points in my book for proving that their product can actually stand up to what they claim it can.

Weight – Weight is… weight. You know what weight is, right?

Lighter is better for every reason there is. Heavier is worse.

However, when we’re talking a couple of ounces difference between these models, weight isn’t a huge deal.

The big deal should be to note what magnifiers come with mounts and what do not. The ones that do weigh more, so don’t get fooled into thinking you’re getting a super lightweight magnifier when really you’re just not getting a mount.

Eye Relief – This is how far away your eye can be from the magnifier to use it properly. More is better since it gives you more room to work with and more is good.

A half inch between the best and worse might not sound like much, but it actually makes a lot of difference in how you position your head and cheek on the rifle. 

If you’re shorter or have a shorter neck, I strongly recommend going for the longest eye relief you can find. That said — you can make do even with the short ones, it just might not be as comfortable to use. You can learn more about eye relief here.

Field of View @ 100 Yards – Put simply, this is how far side to side you can see at 100 yards.

For scopes and LPVOs, this number is more important since the FoV can vary greatly, but for magnifiers, it’s more or less the same.

From the best to worse is only about 8 feet max, so that isn’t a huge concern.

More is better, of course, but I wouldn’t make this the feature that decides what you get.

Normal Magnifiers Vs. Micro Magnifiers

Something that just about all of the major brands have released lately is a “micro” version of their magnifiers.

For EOTech, that’s the G43. For Vortex, the Micro3X. Sig Sauer’s is the Juliet 3 Micro and Holosun has the HM3XT.

All of these are effectively the same idea, a 3x magnifier but smaller. 

Smaller means lighter. It also means that things like BUIS are easier to mount. 

But eye relief is made a little worse since the magnifier doesn’t hang as far out from the rifle and almost universally the eye box on all of these micro models are far worse than their standard-sized brethren.

That’s the short version of the story. More or less, that’s really the only important difference.

I strongly recommend a full-sized magnifier, but if you really want to save some room and weight — the micro version of whatever strikes your fancy is what you should look at.

Everything Is Different, Everything Is The Same

I’ve tested a lot of magnifiers in a lot of situations on a lot of rifles and I’ve come to a bit of a conclusion that I think I should share with you.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter too much what magnifier you get.

Sure, some models are “better” than others. Some have better glass, some better mounts, some just look better. But honestly, I never had a circumstance where X was better than Y to enough of a degree that it actually helped or harmed my shooting.

Even when looking at the best glass Vs. the worst glass, it just didn’t matter that much.

A general rule for scopes is that you want at least 1x magnification per 100 yards you’ll be shooting. So for 500 yards, at least 5x. For 1,000 yards, at least 10x.

Going with that rule — 3x magnifiers are really only designed for about 300 yards. And putting them into practice… ya, that’s about right. 

I’d say the max range for a magnifier is about 350 yards on a good day. Past that and you’ll have a lot of issues.

With that in mind, the quality of the glass doesn’t matter that much. The trueness of the colors doesn’t matter very much. 

If anything matters between these models I would say that durability and value are what you should consider most.

Durability is clearly won by EOTech and Aimpoint, but Sig Sauer, Holosun, and Vortex aren’t far behind.

For value, I would say the sweet spot is between Sig Sauer, Holosun, and Vortex. For my money, I would recommend one of those all day.

The exact one is up to you, but I think you’re splitting hairs trying to choose between them. Whatever you find cheapest with the fastest shipping would be what I get.

Wrapping It All Up

The best of the best options is really nice to use. Both Aimpoint and EOTech make great magnifiers that will serve you a long, long time.

That said, a mid-tier choice like Sig Sauer, Holosun, or Vortex won’t do you badly and will save a ton of money.

Personally, I wouldn’t get the Primary Arms magnifier unless you’re really going for budget over anything else.

All in all, I love magnifiers and a red dot/mag combo is my go-to choice for my rifles.