Vanity: Need help selecting a scope for an AR-15

vanity | 8/23/2012 | BerserkPatriot

[BerserkPatriot]

Looking for a scope for an AR-15 for overall duty [for a ‘friend’] – medium range tasks to CQB

I’ve more or less narrowed it down the choice to a Red Dot or Holographic Sight: Aimpoint, Trijicon ACOG or EOTech

What are the pros and cons of those three basic types? [A Trijicon ACOG may be above the price point, for example]

Which one of those three would you recommend?

Are there ‘Copies’ of these products from other [US] manufacturers that are worth consideration?

Looking to narrow down the choices.

[BerserkPatriot]

Thanks for your advice in advance.

[Wildbill22]

Also interested. I have had red dots that keep eating batteries when I forget to turn them off. I have a Catseye lighted reticle (same issue) which is ok for long range and relatively cheap, but short range suffers.

[SnakeDoctor]

I want an EOTech Hybrid Holographic Site ...

I want an AR/M4 that is all-purpose ... close-quarter and long-range. The EOTech looks to be a good combination of a CQB holographic sight and a scope that can be flipped down for longer-range shooting. To be perfectly honest, I learned about it from Call of Duty (Heh. What can ya do?)

I've also considered getting an ACOG sight. Haven't had the opportunity to try-out either, yet, though I've heard good things about both.

SnakeDoc

[Chainmail]

My best recommendation is the Trijicon ACOG ; bulletproof reliability, 4X magnification, excellent day/night utility, no batteries. As far as the copies go, you get what you pay for. The ACOG has great resale value, the replicas do not. They are expensive but so what? Aren’t we worth it?

[Lurker]

I have an Aimpoint Comp ML2 that I am very pleased with.

[grobdriver]

What's your "friend"'s eyesight like?

Dot scopes are all the rage and they have their place - if you have 20-20 uncorrected vision. Many of us need some magnification and adding a second optic to the dot can get expensive not to mention making the rifle heavier.

We use the Primary Arms 3x compact scope on both of our ARs. Sub $200 and is a great scope out to 100 yards.

[taxcontrol]

First, lets understand your definitions. To you, what is long range? 300 yrds might be a streach for some using a .223 but mid range for others (.308). Also be realistic with your own abilities and your shooting rig. A platform that gets 2 MOA from bench is not going to be 100% reliable at 600 yards, esp after you factor in human error.

I tend of favor holo sights. I shoot .308 so for long range (300+ yards), I want a BDC built in. In my hayday, I was good enough to be a designated marksman but I doubt I could make the really long range shots now. I question my ability to hit accurately beyond 500 yards.

Short range to me is 100 yrs or less. Basicly as long as the dot/retical covers a man sized torso target, I know it will be a hit. However, for short range with precision shooting, say 6” or less bullseye or head shot, I would want a 3 mill or smaller dot or a cross hair.

I also tend to think that you need enough power to reduce the distance to the sight picture of a 100 yard shot or better. A 600 yard shot would then require a 6x power scope. Others like a tighter picture and want a 50 yard sight picture. Your mileage may very. For hunting, I favor a 3x to 6x scope. Getting too much power can make for dark sight picture, and a very narrow range of view.

Just thinking out loud about my personal preferences.

[frogjerk]

I learned about it from Call of Duty

I thought it looked familiar!

[Glennb51]

The best one I have seen lately is the Leupold mark VIII CQB. Check out OpticsPlanet. They seem to have the best price.

[SJSAMPLE]

I’m an Aimpoint M2/M3/M4 fan, but I can see why EOTech fans are happy, as well.
For the Aimpoint, it has the strengths of durability, simplicity, and battery life.
It’s VERY tough, and I suspect it has the edge over the EOTechs, based on my experiences with both.
Simplicity. ONE KNOB, no buttons.
Battery Life. No contest.

The EOTech as a larger field of view, is holographic (which makes me dizzy at times), and the newer models have a much smaller footprint.

You can’t go wrong with either, so try both before you buy.

[Carriage Hill]

I use a Trijicon TA01 on my Class III AR-15s:
http://www.militarywarfighter.com/Trijicon_TA01_p/trijicon-ta01.htm

and

the BORS on Leupold Mk 4 4.5-14x50mm on my Barrett 82A1 .50cal BMG:
http://www.barrett.net/optics/bors

and

a 15” Barska 10-36x Zoom w/ 100mm Lens Sniper Scope on Class III AR10:
http://scopesniper.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/barska-sniper-scope.jpg

and

an Eotech 556.A65/1x on my Beowulf .50cal:
http://www.militarywarfighter.com/EOTech_516A651_p/eotech-516a651.htm

[VRWCmember]

Depending on what kind of money you want to spend, Trijicon is great quality and a great company. They are however quite expensive. Aimpoint has very good products in the RedDot category. Either way, I'd recommend LaRue Tactical (located in Texas) for the mounts.

LaRue Tactical

[petro45acp]

Been a fan of the EOTech for about 6 years now. Zeroed at 25 yards, rounds drop back into point of aim at 300 or so. At all points of the battle zero trajectory, the hit is either at or above the dot.

The ring and dot is great for older eyes. LARGE field of view. If a range is known, targeting can be done placing desired impact midway between the dot and the top of the ring (or bottom if beyond the 300-ish range). Same thing goes for snap windage. For close in, ring, target, press.

The newest model uses a single CR123 mounted horizontal relative to the bore axis. This arrangement is durable, and alleviates the early model problem of the sight winking out under recoil (corrected almost immediately with the addition of rubber holders for the battery springs).

All in all, this is preferred over the other dot or chevron sights (your mileage may vary). Very much worth the 5 bills or so to top your ar.

Good hunting.....

[G Larry]

I’m waiting for delivery of the Optimod-EoTech w 3X magnifier. (single reticle version, w shorter footprint)

It’s the version made special for Optics Planet.

This -3 version was to be available last week, so I’m waiting for confirming e-mail.

[The KG9 Kid]

No magnification: Aimpoint Comp ML3 or M4

Magnification: ACOG TA31F 4x

EOTech: I own an EOTech 511, but I wouldn't buy it again if I could go back in time. If you do get an EOTech, make sure it's a model that uses CR123 batteries. Beware of the Chinese fakes out there and buy from a reputable optics dealer, like Optics Planet. Also, the EOTech magnifier is just goofy: With the magnifier and EOTech sight together, they weigh more and cost more than an ACOG and take up all the top rail space.

Inexpensive magnified: Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4x20mm

Less expensive red dot: C-More RTS, Zeiss Z-Point

Inexpensive red dot: C-More Railway

You could also mount a cheapie red dot on top of an ACOG, or on the rail using a 45 degree canted mount.

Save money by not wasting it on backup iron sights that you'll never use, need, or want.

[TurboZamboni]

Burris AR-332 is good for the price. under $300 on ebays.

[Durus]

Are you looking for magnification? What caliber from the AR? (medium distance for a .300 blackout isn't medium distance for a 5.56). I think the eotechs offer a better value than aimpoints, but aimpoints are a better design. Either works quite well. Trijicon makes nice scopes but are pricey.

I think the Nikon m223 1-4X20 AR kit offers the absolute best value for a magnified scope.

Wish list would be a US Optics paired with an aimpoint mini-dot. (in 6.5 Grendel of course)

[Joe Brower]

Flagged this thread to the FR ‘banglist’.

[G Larry]

oh...on “sale” for $900 if you don’t mind tan.

$1K in black.

[tickedoffnow]

I currently have an EoTech 512 (the AA battery type) mounted on mine, and like it. The reasoning behind going for the AA, was in a SHTF scenario, those batteries would be hopefully more available. I love the open sight pattern from it.

Having said all that, yeah, I wouldn’t mind a nice scope too (like the combo posted above). But this AR was destined for sport shooting, and CQB, if it ever came...