Good optic for $200 or less

[120mm]

Include me in my series of POS $400 M1S builds.

First of all, from an "AR as a commodity" standpoint, you did "okay" in spending $500 for a DPMS, mags and ammo.

Now, if you want to have a decent defense gun, you have a choice. You can either spend a couple hundred bucks making it into a minimum acceptable defense gun (New bolt, stake the gas key, ream the chamber to 5.56 and generally replace stuff that will break), or you can sell it (I bet you can get $600 for the carbine alone) and use that cash, plus the $200 you'd planned on a cheap optic, to get a better carbine.

I bet if you really squeezed nickels until the buffalo farted, you could build a hard use carbine for around $800. It'd take some judicious internet stalking and avoidance of "cool guy gear" but I bet you could do it.

[TehLlama]

I wouldn't immediately rule it out as a functioning rifle for home defense - is it subpar in many meaningful ways? Yes. Can that be remedied for less money by shooting it and becoming familiar with malfunction clearance procedures for less money than reselling it and getting something better? Probably.
This site does deserve a lot of the rifle snob view of it, but there IS a very sound argument to all this. For the amount of money required on factory ammunition to figure out if a DPMS rifle is a lemon or a peach, you can usually start out with a Colt, or at least be close enough to pick up a blemished BCM lower and an upper from a high end company that does things like HPT/MPI on bolts and barrels.

I guess the real value argument down the road is what you really plan to do with that upper in the long run. The 'right' answer for $200 to spend on an optic is to get the best set of iron sights that make sense for that configuration, but the focus IS rightly on the platform they're going on.

[SomeOtherGuy]

I picked up from a friend who was down on his luck a NIB DPMS .223, case, 4 mags, and 300 rds ammo for $500 bucks.

I am already looking to upgrade the bolt carrier group and upgrade the buffer ASAP

I wouldn't bother. I'd enjoy the rifle for what it is, and not try to convert it to something it will never be. It would just be money down the drain.

It was never clear to me what kind of optic you wanted. There are some decent hunting type scopes under $200, and the Vortex Strikefire is an OK Chinese red dot for around $150. I'm not going to claim either of those are high quality options, of course, but they might fit the range toy purpose.

As for home defense, a DPMS is probably a lot better than a sharpened stick, but it's not on the list if you want something dependable in a range of circumstances.

Edit to add: I'm not trying to pile on. I own several rifles that get no love here. Some are not so great, some are good enough for many purposes but just not tops, and a few are (IMHO) looked down upon without sufficient reason. Like most I didn't know a lot about what mattered before I started reading here and doing a fair bit of experimentation (which costs $$). But unfortunately most DPMS .223 rifles are below anything I'd want, due to cost cutting and lack of quality control. They are probably just fine for a typical owner who will plink at the range a few times a year and maybe go hunting a little bit, but they will not (generally) hold up under any hard use - even just weekend competition use, much less anything "tactical." If you have any plans to do "serious" things with an AR, even just 3-gun competition, I would sell the DPMS while it's still as-new and put the funds toward something more solid.

Back to the original question and being slightly repetitive, I don't know anything about you or your planned uses. What is your eyesight like? How old are you? People tend to go straight to "use irons" but if you have poor vision or are 50+ that may not be the best advice (if you're young and have 20/20 vision then irons may be the way to start). Likewise, if you want to make tiny groups from a bench, or shoot little varmints at 100+ yards, magnification is probably a requirement. There are several 3-9x40mm scopes under $200 that I would not feel bad about owning, using or recommending - that is the default deer scope in the US so it has the most options at the lowest prices. As for red dots, I've had a Strikefire for a while and I thought it was pretty good until I got an Aimpoint and started to see what I had been missing. The Strikefire is still decent, but there is a difference when you step up to an Aimpoint (and a sticky thread in this optics forum about the difference).

[Javelin]

This site does not really offer a shoulder to cry on for those who buy subpar rifle builds and equipment.

[VIP3R 237]

The vortex sparc or strikefire arent bad options for the price, while definately not up to eotech or aimpoint's standards, they are decent. Maybe also look at a nikon prostaff. Or save your $, buy ammo and practice and become familiar with your firearm.

[Ghost__1]

Get Irons and ammo.

If you say youll eventually get something else you can take the irons off and put them on your new ones as backups for the RDS you saved up for.

And with all the ammo you bought you'll be familiar with them!

+1 Throw the 200 bones into a jar and save a fifty every two weeks for an aimpoint. You have some ammo and getting irons. Your DPMS is g2g for everything minus HD/SHTF. My buddies runs ok but will stick a case every hundred or so rounds. Thats no bueno for HD among other issues mentioned.

Before I start an optic war I own an Eotech and love it but I find Aimpoint is more forgiving to newer/novice shooters. Battery life being the lead cause. My next Optic will be an Aimpoint T1/H1

[learner-gr]

Also the good about the vortex sparc is the lifetime warranty.

[ryr8828]

Rather than critique your rifle I'll offer a suggestion. For a $500 range plinker, you'd be very happy with something like the Primary Arms Micro with ADM Mount.

I'll second this, primary arms has some decent stuff.

If you want a vortex strikefire, pm me. I think I have one laying around here somewhere I'd sell.

[WillBrink]

This site does not really offer a shoulder to cry on for those who buy subpar rifle builds and equipment.

But it does offer some of the most knowledgeable people going on all things AR, and if one if willing to listen, will direct one to best product for the $$$$. That was my experience at least.

[JStor]

Nope, the reason that your new AR is a range toy is because it is made from sub-standard materials that are known industry wide for failures.

Price isn't the driving factor, but rather quality. Just so happens that you can't get a quality rifle for much under $950 in the current market.
__________________

+1 See quote above.