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Element MRDS (Mini Red Dot Sight) Quick Review


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Element Insight MRDS Replica

by aznriptide859

 

IMG_1138.jpg

(KSC G34 with Element MRDS)

 

This will be a pretty quick review :).

 

I got this red dot sight via Noveske (thanks amigo) from EBAirsoft for about $30-35 USD. It can be found on most ACM and big deal HK retailers, sadly Element has completely ceased production of the MRDS, so it will be harder to find from here out. The purpose of this reddot was to mount on my G34 IPSC build, but about a week into the purchase I realized it might be a bit too big for a pistol.

 

Brief background - the RS Insight MRDS is a 7MOA mini reflex red dot, similar in the category of other MRDS's like the Trijicon RMR, JP Enterprises JPoint, Docter RDS, Burris Fastfire, and many more. RS cost is around $330-350, so the Element replica is approx. 1/10 of the RS cost. More info here: http://www.insighttechgear.com/products-mrds.htm

 

Let's take a look at Element's replica.

 

The box:

 

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Inside:

 

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The contents:

 

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The package includes:

 

One (1) MRDS unit

One (1) RIS mount

One (1) MRDS rubber cap

Two (2) mounting screws (to mount the MRDS to the RIS mount)

One (1) "dust brush" (to clean the MRDS)

Two (2) CR1632 batteries (one installed, one as spare)

 

Quite a few items for $30. Let's look at the sight first.

 

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Build quality is very good. Housing is all ABS plastic, as well as the reflector lens - it's tinted a red for non-reflectivity (I think). Overall it's a nice product - and it is very small and VERY light. Element has always been one of my favorite ACM brands, and this MRDS doesn't disappoint.

 

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Adjustment screws are well pronounced, and dot can be fully adjusted. Compared to another ACM Docter RDS I had in the past, the screws hold in very well (unlike the Docter, where the screws kept falling out).

 

Battery cover (unlike Docter RDS's, which is under the unit) is held in by two flathead screws right behind the reflector in the interior of the sight. Cover and screws are captive, so there's no way you can lose it. A definite improvement over past MRDS's I've seen.

 

The RDS seems to be made of two molded halves, however it seems they were glued, so if you run into problems with the sight going in and diagnosing/fixing is hard or near impossible (hard to tell what glue they used). No screws holding the two halves are visible.

 

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On/off/brightness button is rubberized, and clicks with a distinctive feel. The dot is programmed with the following function:

 

On/off: Hold button for 1 second (RDS turns on automatically in the "auto-brightness" setting).

Short click: Cycle through the brightness setting (4 in total): highest, high, low, lowest. Clicking it again will cycle back to auto-brightness, then cycle repeats.

 

Dot on highest setting:

 

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Dot is parallax free (or at least pretty close to it), and I believe is 7MOA just like the RS.

 

Clicking is very easy, and the button programming hasn't malfunctioned since I've tested with it. Thank goodness for the manual on/off function, I hate RDS's with an auto-off/on feature. Battery life is claimed by Element to be 66 hours continuous on the highest setting, while only 24 hours on the auto-brightness setting.

 

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On the front is the distinctive sensor for the auto-brightness feature. Very low profile.

 

Let's go to the mount.

 

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Nothing new - simply thumb screw type RIS riser mount for the MRDS. Overall profile makes the MRDS pretty tall on a rifle build. The mounting style is the same as the Docter RDS, so you can technically mount Docter sights to this mount, and vice versa for the MRDS.

 

MRDS with the mount:

 

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Included is a rubber cover to protect the sight from transport/non-use. Cover has a hole in it to be used as a lanyard function (if needed by the user).

 

I have currently had this mounted on my KSC G34 which uses a Silverback RDS mount. The profile looks a bit big to me unfortunately.

 

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I have so far run into one problem - the MRDS is not impact-resistant. Although it is small and I'm not expecting it to be, sometimes I found when shooting the Glock or simply slamming in magazines in the pistol, the MRDS would shut itself off. I'm not sure if this is a safety feature or if it's a bad connection inside, but seems to me the sight isn't a good idea for pistols or GBBR's, sadly. If anyone else can report on theirs and if it has a similar problem, let me know.

 

So far I'm impressed for this $30 red dot - it's light, low-profile, and functions very well compared to previous mini-dot versions. However the issue with impact sensitivity is a huge con for me (especially for my application), so unless further tests are done, I can only recommend this sight for AEG users, or GBBR/pistol users WITH CAUTION.

 

In any case, if you find one, these are getting rare (ironically only 2-3 month out in the market). But if you're looking for a decent mini-dot setup, the Element MRDS is definitely something to pay attention to.

 

Comments/suggestions/questions are welcome. Thanks for reading :).

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Hey rip, here's my review of your review

 

you suck, I hate you, gimme your stuffs :P

 

 

On a more serious note

 

 

The glass looks really blue have you noticed any issues in a low light setting? Seeing as how I use my pistols almost exclusively indoors, often with no artificial light, this is something that could make or break buying one of these for me (if I ever found one). My T-1 clone looks about the same and sighting on moonlight is near impossible.

Edited by frogfish
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hallelujah! My MRDS is fixed!

 

Let me explain:

 

So remember when I said that I thought the thing had no screws? Turns out I was wrong - each of these small dots you see around the dot sight are actually screws, but Element has molded flexible rubber over the shiny silver screws to make the entire RDS black. A VERY ingenious touch, this way you can unscrew them and still keep the nice non-reflective black finish of the MRDS (you could just paint these screws if you want). Unfortunately I found this out after ripping the rubber of one of the screws.

 

You can see them here:

 

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There are four that hold the upper reflector/housing/battery cover on...

 

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...and 6 that hold the actual RDS assembly with the bottom.

 

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Pretty complicated.

 

I checked all connections and it seemed fine, so I deduced that the battery cover didn't put enough force down on the battery to let the RDS to remain on during shock - I simply spaced it out with some rolled up tape. Now my MRDS functions well even during violent movement - I've managed to keep it on even after dropping the thing 10 times from a height of 5 feet.

 

Now I'm in love with the thing, but do remember if you find one, check the battery connection. I can finally say this thing is DEFINITELY worth getting for $30. BUY ONE IF YOU FIND IT! :)

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