Good review and i felt the same when i purchased one off FleaBay for another Leapers reseller in May this year. But after about 3 months of use it seems to have lost its ability to focus at full mag (x9). As I turn the mag power down (the lower the better) it seems to regain its ability to focus again at longer distances. You are right about the mildots appearing thick - I would say that the small lense size (x32) amplifies the problem…I do find that most cheaper IR scopes do have thicker reticules though. One last issue I found is that the magnification ring is very stiff (the AO isn’t as bad!) and causes a problem if you are trying to ‘sight in’ whilst on target (on shoulder) - you have to take a better grip off shoulder ( move your eye away from the piece) to adjust the mag. However, it is still a great scope for the money, and after much research into the smallest AO scope with the best mag (and mildot), I found that this is still the best option out there. It does focus down to 3 yards rather brilliantly and it is a solid scope. If I could sort out the focus issue (and live with the stiffness of the rings), then i would give it around 4 out of 5.