I got my red dot yesterday. I mounted it last night and gave it a good workout. I originally posted this in a different thread to help someone with his decision about what red dot to buy, but I decided to post a review thread as well to help others with the same question. If the moderators don't want double posts, I apologize, and will respect their decision to delete whatever they want. Thanks.
I bought the Walther (made in China by some mystery company) Top Sight 1, which was $35. The picture on the Pyramyd Air site and the Umarex USA site is not accurate. The Top Sight 1 looks just like the Top Sight 2, but it has a 30mm tube instead of a 1 inch tube. This isn't a big deal, but I purchased a mount based on what I thought the picture looked like. The Sight was pictured with some really nice Weaver style rings. However, it showed up with some really small and crappy Weaver rings. This was not a big deal, since my gun has a 11mm dovetails. However, I bought a one-piece Leapers mount to hold the sight. Based on the picture, there would be no fitting problems. But, in reality, the sight, since it's not the same as the picture, is a very tight fit in the mount. I got it to fit, but it's very snug. Almost too snug. Oh well, not a big deal, but vendors do need to know that the picture is not accurage. Anyway....
So far, I really like the sight and it will fit my needs well. Keep in mind that I've never owned or used a "good" red dot, or even a "bad" red dot for that matter. All I've ever used is "this" red dot.
It fits my needs perfectly. I'm not going to target shoot with it. I put it on my beater Crosman Quest 800 .22. I use that rifle for plugging tin cans and the occasional squirrel and rabbit hunt. I wanted a red dot that was bright and would be very easy to use while quickly finding moving targets such as a squirrel or rabbit. It's a 10 MOA, but it's not intrusive. I usually shoot open sights, so 10 MOA is an upgrade for me in the accuracy department. The dot is bright and crisp, and it has 11 brightness setting. 11 is too bright and is overkill with lots of internal reflections. The lower settings work great. Outdoors during daylight you can set it between 2-5 and get a very nice red dot. Unless you plan to aim at the noon sun, you'll never need the high setting of 11.
The tube is aluminum and it seems to be very rugged and well built. The click adjustments are precise and it was very easy to sight in. However, there is one serious flaw with it. The labels for up/down and right/left are backwards! This is not that big of a deal, but it was sure a pain in the arse at first before what I knew was going on. So, to move the dot "left", I had to turn the clicker in the "right" direction. Quite weird, but each click is 1/3 MOA, so it's easy to get the sight as accurate as I am--in fact, it's definitely more accurate than I can shoot. There is plenty of elevation and windage range, so it should be able to work on any gun. My Crosman likes to shoot to the right--and by quite a bit. I was able to dial in the red dot with plenty of room to spare.
Like I said, I've never used any other red dots that can serve as some baseline for comparison. However, I really like this one and I highly recommend it. It's a great value for $35. It's worth a try, and even if you don't like it, $35 is not a huge loss. You can always slap it on a cheap pumper or an airsoft gun and have hours of fun. I would have no hesitation putting this sight on an expensive gun, but that's me. I usually shoot with open sights, so this red dot is a huge upgrade in targeting, at least for me.
