I was looking for a red dot to put on top of a new build and was wandering around the Axeon Optics website. I didn’t need anything special, just something that I thought would hold up. Axeon really did have what I was looking for. It was the Axeon MDSR-1 red dot. The MDSR-1 appears to be built for modern sporting type rifles, so here we are.

The MDSR-1 is not a red dot you would put on a fighting rifle. But, it wasn’t designed for that. It is however a great little red dot for trips to the range or varmint hunting. I say this, not because it isn’t well built, but because it has a 3 hour auto off function, not something I like in a fighting red dot. As mentioned, I mounted this little 1x20 red dot on an AR rifle and it works great! The MDSR-1 would also be right at home on a 22 rifle, something like a 10/22 for instance. Since it comes with both a standard low mount, and the co-witness hi mount, you can pretty much put it on whatever you wish.

The specs on this little red dot are pretty nice too. The battery life is 30,000 hours on a single cr2032 battery, so I’ll be retired by the time it wears out. It has 11 brightness adjustments operated by up/down buttons on the top of the optic. The “up” button also turns the sight on. It weighs in at a measly 4 ounces. Axeon also provides see-through flip up lens caps, and they are pre-installed.

Probably my favorite aspect of the MDSR-1 is the 2 moa dot size. The dot is crisp, even for me. But with the 2 moa dot, I can pick it up faster than a 1 moa dot. A 2 moa dot is still small enough for me to have some precision. The Axeon has ½ moa adjustments to get you on target. The little caps, covering the adjustment knobs, are made to be flipped over and used as the adjustment tool. This isn’t just an Axeon thing, but I do appreciate this little bonus.

I ended up using the MDSR-1 more than expected. At first glance, I thought the little 20mm optic might be a bit small. It is not. My eyes looked right through it every time I shouldered the rifle. There is a little bit of halo effect when the dot is turned up high. I see this halo where the edge of the glass meets the housing. It is noticeable, but actually kind of gives it a circle dot feel. On my first range session with the little red dot, I had the dot start blinking under recoil. I pulled the battery and bent the terminals some. This fixed the problem and it hasn’t come back, so I chalk it up to being made somewhere outside of the US. I don’t know how many rounds are through this red dot, but it’s probably over 500 when I write this. It has held zero. I even had to hit this particular rifle with a rubber mallet, because my .22lr kit didn’t want to be removed. The sight’s zero and battery terminals, held up to the “literal” beating, so I figure it’s good enough for its intended purpose.

For a reasonably priced red dot, the MDSR-1 has been really good. At around $100, I got way more than I expected. Crisp dot, lightweight, long battery life, what more could you really ask for in a sporting red dot. Go check out the MDSR-1 if you're in the market for a decent red dot in this price range.