Should you stockpile this cheap red dot? (Crimson Trace CTS-25)

The crimson trace CTS-25 is an affordable red dot. With an MSRP of $79.99 it is competitively priced with other entry level red dot options. Routinely, it can be found on sale for around $55 or less. This makes it a tempting option for those of you collectors who need an affordable optic to throw on a bunch of AR builds. The question is, is this red dot any good or should you keep looking? This red dot actually has a lot of flashy features that we'll cover.

Before we dig in, I want to know, what is your go to red dot that you run on your rifles?

Let's start with what's good. This led emitter has both red and green options which is nice because everyone's eyes are different.

The CTS-25 features a 4MOA red dot with a 25mm objective lens. The field of view is slightly wider than most competitors for micro red dots. 20mm is the standard for the Sig Romeo-MSR, Romeo 5, Holosun 403/503, and equal in size to the Bushnell TRS-25, as well as coming in a hair smaller than the Bushnell TRS-26. So it has a good window size for its compact size.

The battery compartment itself is located on the side and it takes standard CR2032 batteries.

The Windage and elevation controls sit under the removable caps and can be turned with a flat blade screw driver or a bullet shell in a pinch.

The brightness controls are manual, but the push buttons are of good quality.

The body is made of durable 6061 Aluminum. So overall a pretty par for the course basic red dot. It does include a solid pic rail riser as well.

So far so good, but would I put this on my rifles? Well, I would say no. There are better options at the same price range. Its cool the amount of features Crimson Trace packed into this optic for such a cheap price, but it has some issues that I found were enough that I kept taking it off rifles to replace with other optics.

My biggest gripe is the placement of the internal emitter. It blocks part of your field of view. If you have it mounted very close to your eye, it doesn't matter, but as soon as you try to mount this far enough away for usage with a magnifier, it obscures a good portion of the window.

The optic also has a bit of glare in different lighting conditions. I found that I could see my own reflection in it frequently which was distracting.

The glass is also a bit hazier than other red dot optics I own. And 4MOA is a bit wide for my liking, especially with a magnifier. I would much rather run a 2MOA red dot optic.

So overall I would personally say no, this probably isn't the one to run on your backup rifles. Certainly, you should opt for the next tier up or better for your primary rifle. The optic has some cool and unique features, but I'd rather have a basic red dot that is designed well.

The market in 2024 is really saturated with high quality red dot optics, and for the same price you can get a Bushnell TRS-25 or better yet, the super rugged TRS-26 often on sale, for right around the same price. So overall I'd recommend holding out on a sale and picking up ideally, the Bushnell TRS-26, the Holosun 503C, or the Sig Romeo 5 if you're looking for an affordable optic to scale across a few builds.

I hope this video was helpful to you, thanks for watching.