Great review and commentary. Makes me re-think me long-held doctrine of iron sights only. The idea being, can I throw this rifle on hard ground, pick it back up and still have the same working sight picture?
That tends to eliminate most of the optics out there. So, in terms of durability and mounting systems, how do the Trijicon and Eotech products hold up? Given their service history, I’d have to think - pretty darned good.
I think of them as a 'bonus' system myself. I've got the Aimpoint and it works wonderfully. I did the 25 meter zero with it so I know where it should be at 50, 100, and 200 yards pretty much within a couple of inches. That's 'minute of bad guy' in my book.
The Aimpoint is pretty rugged but does require special batteries, which is a drawback IMO. Make sure you've got spares for whatever system you acquire.
I've banged my Aimpoint around pretty good and it seems to hold zero pretty darned well. IMO you'd be well served by any of them but as Travis has shown the ACOG is clearly the superior item if you can afford it. They are NOT inexpensive by any stretch of the imagination.
Of course one shouldn't become dependent on any Optical system as they can and do fail, become damaged, or just get the hell knocked out of their zero.
I've had my Aimpoint for about 4 years or so I guess and I have no complaints about the quality, functionality, or workmanship of it. It's top drawer. For the record I've got the ML2 model. It really gets my 50 year old eyes on target quickly.
You might want to think about a couple of the lower cost Bushnell red dots. I bought three of them a few years ago and IIRC they were $50 or so each. The logic was I can put them on Mrs. L's Mini-14 and another on the Mossberg and still have a spare when one of them fails.
They ain't Aimpoints or ACOGS, that's for sure but I file them under "BTN" (Better than nothing). LOL. For the price they're pretty much disposable, too.
L
Sounds like the Elcan C79 sight might be what you're after. The Canadians mount them on their C8 versions of the M4 carbine, and the USMC has been giving them a try on the M240 MG, since lesser units don't hold up well to such use on full-auto beltfeds.
I think the sight would still be usable after the sort of treatment you describe. The rifle might not, but I think the sight would still be in zero.
The Aimpoints, EOTechs and Trijicons have all passed military waterproof, dustproof and shockproof tests.