Holosun is one of my favorite optics companies…
I really like the cool features they put on their sights, and I love that they focus on keeping their optics affordable…
Right now, two of their most popular options are…
- The Holosun 510c (See Price On Amazon – Over 350 Reviews)
- The Holosun 507c (See Price On Amazon – Over 920 Reviews)
And in this Holosun 510c Vs 507c comparison, we’re going to see how these two sights stack up against each other in the following categories…
- Durability And Toughness
- Lens Clarity And Reticle
- Size Comparison
- Battery Life And Brightness Settings
- Extra Accessories Included With The Optic
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll tell you which of these two sights I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine which one will work best for you…
Let’s get into the comparison!
Durability And Toughness…
Holosun 510c
The Holosun 510c is a pretty durable red dot sight. To start off with, the sight housing is made from a high strength aluminum…
…and it has an anodized surface coating that helps protect the optic from the elements. There is also a tough titanium hood that goes over the lens of the sight and gives it extra protection.
In addition to that, the windage and elevation turrets are recessed into the sight housing and can be adjusted using a screwdriver or the rim of a cartridge…
I really like this feature because it means your adjustment turrets can never be spun or snapped off accidentally…
Also, the 510c is fog proof and waterproof in up to one meter of water. So you won’t have any problems using it in rainy, snowy, or wet conditions…
And it’s also shockproof, so it can easily handle the recoil from high-powered rifles, shotguns, and pistol caliber carbines.
All in all, I think the Holosun 510c is a very robust and reliable optic.
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c is also a very durable optic. First of all, the sight housing is made from 7075 T6 Aluminum, and it also has an anodized surface coating that helps protect it from the elements…
Additionally, just like with the 510c, the windage and elevation turrets on the 507c are recessed into the sight housing, so they’re protected from accidentally getting bumped or snapped off.
Also just as with the 510c, the 507c is waterproof and fogproof, so you can use it without any issues in rainy, snowy, or wet conditions.
And it’s also shockproof so it can easily handle the recoil from shotguns, high-powered rifles, pistol caliber carbines, or from being mounted on pistol slides (which is the most common use for miniature reflex sights like the 507c).
All is all, I think the Holosun 507c is also a very tough and reliable optic.
Durability And Toughness Conclusions…
So in this category we have some major similarities between these two reflex sights from Holosun, but we also have a few differences…
They both have a tough aluminum sight housing, and they both have recessed windage and elevation turrets…
They’re also both waterproof, shockproof, and fog proof. On the other hand, a major difference is the titanium hood that protects the lens on the 510c, and in addition to that, the 510c is a much larger sight…
So for those reasons I’m going to give the win in this category to the Holosun 510c.
Winner: Holosun 510c
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Holosun 510c
The lens clarity on the Holosun 510c is very good. The lens is very clear and you don’t really get any of the blueish or greenish tint that you’ll find on some other red dot sights…
Also, since it is a full sized open-style reflex sight, the sight window is HUGE. It’s much bigger than a lot of other red dot sights, which is good because it gives you a much larger field of view…
This allows you to see more of your target AND what’s around it, and it just gives you a really clean sight picture through the optic.
Now included in the 510c is the MRS (Multiple Reticle System). This basically means that you can switch between 3 reticles…
- A 2 MOA dot
- A 2 MOA dot with a 65 MOA ring around it (Circle Dot Reticle)
- A 65 MOA ring (with no dot in the center)
The 2 MOA (minute of angle) dot is great if you want a really simple reticle. I’ve always found 2 MOA dots on red dot sights to be pretty easy for your eye to pick up (so you can shoot faster)…
But they’re also fairly small which allows you to aim with a fair amount of precision at small targets in the distance.
However, the Circle Dot Reticle is my favorite reticle for a red dot optic. That large 65 MOA ring is super easy for your eye to pick up when you need to shoot fast at targets up close…
But you still have that same 2 MOA dot for precision when you need it. I’m a huge fan of it, and like I said, it’s my favorite reticle on this style of optic.
Last, you have a 65 MOA ring with no dot. This option really doesn’t appeal much to me because I don’t think it does anything better than the Circle Dot Reticle, but it’s there if you find a use for it.
Last, Holosun offers the 510c with either red reticle options or green reticle options. I’ve always preferred red on my sights and optics…
…but there are a lot of people who really like the green reticles, and I like that Holosun offers both versions.
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c has pretty good lens clarity. There is a slightly blue tint when looking through the optic…
But it’s not really distracting, and it’s much clearer than other miniature reflex sights on the market like the Trijicon RMR.
Honestly, I would prefer it to be a little more clear, but the slight tint is pretty easy to ignore, and I’ve never found it to affect my shooting (you still get a very clean sight picture when looking through the sight).
Now, like the 510c, the 507c has the Multiple Reticle System, but because it’s a much smaller sight, it’s a little more scaled down. The 3 reticles included are…
- A 2 MOA dot
- A 2 MOA dot with a 32 MOA ring around it (Circle Dot Reticle)
- A 32 MOA ring (with no dot in the center)
Again, I think the 2 MOA dot is a great option, especially if you want to keep things really simple. But as I mentioned already, the Circle Dot is my favorite reticle option…
I also want to point out that having a circle dot reticle on a miniature reflex sight is extremely unique and it really sets this sight apart from its competitors (from other optics companies).
Last, Holosun also offers the 507c with red reticle options or with green reticles options. Like I said before I prefer red, but it’s nice that Holosun offers both for those who like green reticles.
Lens Clarity And Reticle Conclusions…
So in this category we have a few significant differences between these sights. First of all, I love the reticles on both of these optics and they’re very similar (the circle dot is scaled down for the smaller 507c)
That being said, the 510c has a much clearer lens than the 507c in terms of blue tint. I don’t think it’s a huge factor, but I always prefer a clearer lens when I can get it.
In addition to that, the sight window on the 510c is much larger than the sight window on the 507c…
That’s obvious because the 510c is a much larger optic than the 507c, but it really becomes a big factor in this category.
So with all of this in mind, I think the Holosun 510c is the clear winner in this category.
Winner: Holosun 510c
Size Comparison…
Holosun 510c
The Holosun 510c is a full-sized open-style reflex sight. It weighs around 8.3 ounces, which is pretty good in terms of weight for this style of sight…
In addition to that, it sits 2.31 inches high, and it is 3.3 inches long. Again, I think it’s a fairly compact sight in general.
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c is a miniature open-style reflex sight. It only weighs 1.5 ounces, which is super lightweight for a red dot sight…
In addition to that, it only sits 1.54 inches high, and it is 1.78 inches long. All in all, it’s an extremely compact optic.
Size Comparison Conclusions…
So the 510c weighs 8.3 ounces, which isn’t bad for a full-sized reflex sight, but it’s much heavier than the 1.5 ounces of the 507c…
In addition to that the 507c is shorter than the 510c and sits much lower. It’s clearly a much more compact optic. So in this category the win goes to the Holosun 507c.
Winner: Holosun 507c
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Holosun 510c
The Holosun 510c uses 1 CR2032 battery which is able to power the sight for around 50,000 hours (5 years)…
For me, super long battery life like this is a must-have on all red dot sights I use. I’ve had batteries die on me at the range before, which is really annoying…
But more important than that is you don’t want your optic dying on you if you ever need to use it in an emergency.
So with this optic, as long as you swap out the battery once a year, you’ll never have to worry about the battery dying on you…
In addition to the long battery life, Holosun includes the Shake Awake feature, which basically means your sight will automatically turn off after a period of non-use and automatically turn on as soon as the sight senses motion (like when you pick up your rifle).
This will help save your battery life (which is already very long), and at the same time it keeps your sight ready to go as soon as you grab your gun.
Another feature included by Holosun is the solar panel. This is a cool feature because it means you can run your sight without a battery as long as you have some sunlight to power it…
I really like the solar panel because it works really well, and helps save your battery life even more.
Now with the 510c you get 10 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings. The 10 daylight settings get very bright and you shouldn’t have any problems with them washing out even on a sunny day…
Most people won’t use the night vision settings, but some people with NV equipment will take advantage of them, and I like that Holosun includes them at no additional cost.
Holosun 507c
Depending on the version of the Holosun 507c that you get (I prefer the V2), the sight will either use 1 CR2032 battery or 1 CR1632…
Both batteries will power the sight for 50,000 hours (5 years) which, again, is very long battery life, and something I’m always looking for on my optics.
The 507c also has the Shake Awake feature some it will automatically turn off after not being used and automatically turn on as soon as the sight senses motion…
And it has a solar panel that will power the sight without using up the battery just like the 510c does.
In addition to that, the 507c also has 10 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings. Again, the daylight settings get very bright and I like that the night vision settings are included at no additional charge.
Battery Life And Brightness Settings Conclusions…
There are a lot of similarities between these 2 Holosun optics in this category. Both sights have 5 years worth of battery life which is awesome…
They also both have the Shake Awake feature and a solar panel, to help conserve your battery life.
Last, they both have 10 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings. There’s really nothing that separates these two sights here, so in this category, I’m going to have to call it a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Extra Accessories Included With The Optic…
Holosun 510c
The Holosun 510c comes with some pretty cool accessories. You get a tool to replace your battery and an extra battery tray just in case the original one gets damaged…
But the real exciting thing included is the QD (Quick Detach) mount that’s attached to the sight’s housing…
I really like it because it means you won’t have to spend extra money on a mount just to start using your optic…
But you are a bit limited by it because it really is intended to be used on an AR-15 or other AR platform firearms.
You see, with an AR, the included mount will set the 510c up for an absolute co witness with back up iron sights…
That sets the sight rather high, which will be less than ideal if you want to mount it on something like a shotgun or an AK (platforms in which a low mount is more ideal)…
That being said, most people are looking to put an optic on their AR-15, So if that’s the case for you, the included mount will work perfectly.
Holosun 507c
Just like the 510c comes with a mount, the Holosun 507c also comes with a mount. However, there are two big differences between them.
First of all, the included mount with the 507c is a low mount rather than a high mount. This makes it more useful on firearms like shotguns and AKs…
But it means you’ll need to purchase a high mount if you want to use your 507c on an AR platform rifle or pistol.
Now secondly, the low mount on the 507c is removable, which is important if you intend to use the optic on a pistol slide (my preferred use for it).
The Holosun 507c footprint is exactly the same as the Trijicon RMR, and that’s important because the RMR footprint is probably the most popular footprint out there for a mini reflex sight.
So really, it should be relatively easy to find a mounting solution no matter what type of firearm you want to mount your 507c on.
Extra Accessories Conclusions…
It’s tough for me to compare these two optics in this category because they both come with a mount, but the mounts are very different.
The 510c’s mount is attached to the sight housing. It’s also a QD mount which is very cool, and it’s a high mount, so you’re pretty much limited to using it on an AR -15 (or other AR platforms)…
On the other hand, the 507c’s mount is a low mount, and it’s detachable, so you can easily purchase a high mount if you want to mount it on an AR…
Basically, both sights offer you a mount, and they both have some limitations. So in this category, I’m going to call it a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to give exact numbers in this category because the prices of these sights are changing all the time…
That being said, they are usually very close in price, and sometimes you’ll actually find that they are priced exactly the same… So in this category, I’m going to have to call it a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Holosun 510c Vs 507c – Conclusions…
So to sum it all up, in the Durability And Toughness category, I gave the win to the Holosun 510c because it has the titanium hood and it’s a much larger sight…
In the Lens Clarity And Reticle category, I also gave the win to the Holosun 510c because it’s lens has less blue tint than the 507c and the sight window is much larger…
In the Size Comparison, the Holosun 507c was the clear winner because it’s a much more compact sight…
In the Battery Life And Brightness category, I had to call it a draw because these 2 sights both have amazing battery life, the shake awake feature, solar panels, and the same brightness settings…
In the Extra Accessories category, I also called it a draw because both sights come with a mount even though the mounts are very different…
And last, in the Price Comparison, I had to call it a draw again because these two sights are very similarly priced.
So which of these sights do I prefer? I prefer the Holoson 510c (depending on the use)…
I prefer the Holosun 510c if you plan to put the sight on an AR-15 or another AR platform firearm…
First of all, the sight window is HUGE on the 510c which gives you a great sight picture, and the lens is super clear…
It’s also very durable, and it comes with an included Quick Detach mount so you won’t have to spend extra money to start using your optic…
Last, I love the Circle Dot Reticle because it allows you to shoot very fast at targets up close and still be very precise at targets in the distance.
Now if you want a super compact optic, if you’re mounting the optic on a pistol slide (my preferred use for this style of optic), or if your gun requires a low mounted optic (like an AK or a shotgun)…
Then feel free to go with the 507c because it’s still a really great sight…
Either way, I hope I was able to show you the major similarities and differences between these two awesome sights from Holosun!
Great idea. Beautifully written. Thanks for sharing!