Watching the evolution of red dot sights in the last decade or so is something to behold. There used to be two types of red dots: expensive ones and cheap ones. Aimpoint and Trijicon ruled the high-end market, and everything else was often junk. That’s changed; good red dots are pretty darn cheap. As a fan of cheap stuff, I wanted to try out one of the cheapest red dots out there, the CVLIFE WolfCloak X03.
The name WolfCloak was certainly a choice. The optic cost about fifty bucks, and attempts to copy the Trijicon RMR. It uses the RMR footprint, it uses a bottom-loaded battery, and a button on each side to adjust brightness. Where it compares to the Trijicon RMR ends there. From there it’s a bit downhill.
Editor’s Note: More than a bit…
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I tossed this gun on a Staccato HD P4, because, well, I thought it was funny to put a 50-dollar optic on a 2,500-dollar gun. The WolfCloak comes in red and green variations, features a 3 MOA reticle, packs 12 levels of brightness adjustment, and even comes with shake awake.
The shake awake feature shuts the optic off after four minutes of inactivity. The optic claims to be shockproof, is IPX6 water/dust proof, and is made from aluminum. It’s pretty bog standard for a red dot. So can a red dot that costs 50ish dollars work? You read the title of the article. You already know the answer.
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Let’s start with the problems.
Brightness Settings
If you’re indoors and start adjusting the brightness, it seems to jump from too dim to see to too bright. The 3 MOA dot also grows significantly as the brightness increases. It’s certainly larger than 3 MOA at the 12 setting. The dot itself is quite starlike with noticeable streaks coming from each side.
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Inside it’s visible, but outside, not so much. In the bright sunshine of a southeast summer, the dot disappears. I have to look hard to find any semblance of an illuminated reticle. The cowitness sights on my Staccato are more visible than the dot by a large margin. If I try to draw and shoot, I end up seeing the front sight and taking my shot.
I let it get to early evening, and guess what? The dot is still tough to see with the sun behind me. It’s a real hassle to try and take any kind of shot. Even zeroing was a massive hassle. This kind of kills the entire dot, to be honest. Even if anything else was excellent, I have, at best, an indoor range optic.
The Turrets
Zeroing was a hassle because of the fact I could barely see the dot, but it was also a hassle because of the turrets. The adjustments have no tactile or audible feedback. Making the adjustments is a bit of a pain with the micro Allen key required.
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I did eventually get it zeroed, hitting dead on at 15 and 25 yards. Then it wasn’t zeroed.
The Zero
The WolfCloak does not hold zero. It started drifting up and left as I fired the gun. I reset the zero, this time slaving it to the sights. You shouldn’t slave your red dot to your iron sights, but I didn’t want to fuss with trying to find the reticle and using the sad turrets.
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Plus the sights provided a fixed reference point for how much the sight was drifting. It took a few magazines worth of ammo, but eventually it drifted upward and over to the left again. By 250 rounds, the reticle had drifted fully away from the front sight.
Is There Anything Good About the Dot?
Uhm, the refresh rate was fine. It doesn’t lag. That’s good! That’s about all I have.
The dot comes with a Picatinny mount and MOS plate, which isn’t a bad thing. That’s a good few extras.
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Other than that, well, it doesn’t have much going on. It’s easily the worst pistol red dot I’ve ever used. Save a few extra pennies and get something else.
Read the full article here
