Hello and welcome to another episode of Optics Trade Debates. We continue on our way through Holosun red dot sights. Today, we’re here to explain Holosun nomenclature. In other words, we’ll do our best to clear up the confusion that is the Chinese company’s method of naming their red dots and what’s the actual meaning behind the various letters and numbers. Let’s dive in.
‘A’ is the first letter of the alphabet so we’ll start here. The ‘A’ letter in Holosun products stands for the specific location of the battery compartment. Namely, the battery of these products is located on top of the mount. The user has to remove the mount before they can remove and replace the battery. The ‘A’ models are the most basic ones and at the moment, there aren’t that many of them that are still in production. The HS403A is a very popular entry-level choice.
Next is ‘B’. This letter stands for all Holosun models with a battery compartment at the right side of the device in the form of a battery tray. The battery is inserted onto the tray that is then installed into the unit.
The ‘C’ letter stands for Holosun devices that feature a solar panel and can be powered with the energy provided by the sun. Models like HS403C, HE403C Elite, HS503C, HS510C and HS515 fit into this category.
Moving onto the letter ‘G’ (without skipping any). This one stands for the side battery compartment. The compartment is tubular in shape and topped off with a cap. Examples like HS403G and Paralow 503G ACSS apply here.
‘R5’ is a numeronym that denotes the red dot in question features a red laser. These devices have a laser pointer with the red illumination colour. The example we’ve shown in the video is HS401R5.
Compare that to ‘G5’. The only difference is that this time, the illumination colour of the laser pointer is green and not the standard red. The colour of the laser depends on its wavelength.
The battery on the side of R5 and G5 models supplies power both to the laser and device as a whole.
Models with the letter ‘U’ in their name have shrouded (protected) turrets. This means they’re impervious to hits and bumps. The housing goes around the turret. All other models’ feature turrets that are exposed.
‘T’ models signify that the standard aluminium housing is upgraded to titanium that is more robust yet very light. It’s important to point out that this can be true for the entire housing or just a part of it. Examples like HE510C(T), HS508T fall into the first group.
The letter ‘L’ always comes in combination with the ‘G’, so ‘GL’. It means these Holosun red dots belong to a later generation. So all of these models have been upgraded sometime after their initial release. The ‘GL’ replaced the former ‘G’-only mark.
‘FL’ (e.g. Paralow HS503FL) stands for flip-up covers.
The very last one is ‘FDE’. As many of you already know, this letter combination stands for Flat Dark Earth, one of the federal standard colours that is commonly used in military gear and optics. Almost half Holosun models can be purchased in this colour variant. Note that ‘FDE’ is not written out on the very housing as it is the case with other letters,
Okay. This is everything we had in mind for this debate. Thank you for your attention. Please like and share this video if you found it useful. If you have any questions left, leave them in the comment section below or send us an email and we’ll be happy to answer. Subscribe to our Youtube channel for more content. We’ll see you next time.
Products mentioned:
Holosun Red Dot Sights
Read more in our blog post:
Holosun symbols, letters
