Optics

I've used the lower powered ACOGs. Personally, I really like them. Get red. My favorite is the 1.5x ring dot. Why it costs $900 is beyond me. Some of the 4x ones have pathetic eye relief. I'd definitely try them before you buy. Some models just suck.

3x is another favorite of mine. 2x are quite spicy as well. Really, it's just the fixed 4 or 3.5x that turn me off.

Another good brand to look at is the Leupold line. They have always worked well for me and CS there is a awesome. They have a no hassle lifetime warranty for ANYTHING that happens to the scope.

I'm evenly split between dot sights, variable scopes and irons. Have an EOTech 512 I've owned forever (that thing is a bit of a pig weight-wise, but at least it uses AA's) and a Vortex Strikefire that's played musical chairs whenever I've bought something new.

I have the urge to try out a Micro so the Vortex is going away in a trade. A buddy wants it, so I'll use the money from that to try out a Primary Arms Micro and if I like it I'll spring for an Aimpoint Micro.

That Vortex Strikefire is alright, but it's a bit big and bulky for what it is. The fact that they even include a doubler for the price is kinda cool, but screwing it in rather than flipping it up isn't convenient at all.

The lightweight AR I have set up for HD doubles as a low light brush rifle. It gets carried a lot and not shot as much as that title probably suggests. If I fire 3-4 rds a trip with that thing it's way more than usual. That's the one the Vortex came off of. I just don't exactly have a whole bunch of money to play with right now (back in school), so I wanted to try something similar to the Micro before I shelled out for the real thing.

Anyone have one of those P.A. Micro's? How about an Aimpoint Micro.

The ranges are close in the brush at night and trying to use a higher power scope there is likely to get me gored. Irons work alright, but a red dot is definitely quicker. If I'm using a scope I'm generally in a stand or on top of this water tank.

For conventional scopes I go with either Trijicon, Nikon or Zeiss ('Ahh saves mah dollars or I sell something').

On one of my AR's I have a Trijicon Accupoint TR22G with the green triangle. That's probably the one that gets shot the most. I both love and hate that reticle though. It's quick and great in low light (better than any other scope I own in low light, the clarity is seriously really good), but that post makes holdovers more difficult. Generally not an issue as the shots I take are almost always less that 250y. However on the target shots I take over that range I always end up muttering some version of 'Where the fuck am I supposed to hold again?!!' and I just have to guess without anything to judge by or use to estimate for drop.







I have a Nikon 4-12x40 BDC where I prefer the reticle for longer distance shooting, but it's not as clear (simply because that Trijicon Accupoint is amazing) and I'm not as quick with it at less than 200y as I am with that illuminated triangle. I guess it's a trade off.

I really liked the ACOG's I've gotten to shoot, just wish they weren't so freaking expensive. I'd miss the ability to zoom in and out of a variable scope, I've gotten kind of used to that. I'll break down and buy one eventually, but I'll have to sell something to do it.

Never shot or owned an ACOG with a horseshoe reticle, but I've owned both Valdada IOR's and a Leatherwood CMR that had the same basic reticle.


Leatherwood CMR


Valdada IOR CQB


ACOG TA33G-H Horseshoe

I really liked the horseshoe reticle, thought it cool looking. As far as actually shooting with it though I found them (especially the Leatherwood CMR) a bit cluttered.

The ACOG version doesn't quite have quite the same number of extraneous lines, numbers and graphs all over the place the way those two other ones did though. There's just the horseshoe on top of the drop compensating hash marks, that's better. Quick, easy, uncluttered, and simple. I found I did better with either a regular crosshairs, the triangle post or the chevron reticle (I like that the ACOG has the drop compensator on top of it rather than just the post like on my Accupoint) as opposed to the horseshoe.

Different strokes for different folks, you may totally do well with a HS though. I kept seeing it as one large dot if illuminated and if not I still kept trying to see around the horseshoe part of it. Couldn't, so I'd have to move the scope around in order to see the target. My groups were actually better with an old Redfield and an old Bushnell I had on before. Sold the IOR and the CMR and gave that reticle a rest, bought that Trijicon Accupoint.

I wasn't all that impressed really. The clarity on it was about the same as a circa early 1970's Redfield I have that's on a hunting rifle my father owned. Plus added with the clutter of that reticle it was harder to see the target. I always ended up having use the upper corners to see the target.

I bought it off the net. I wish there was a place to test some of these accessories instead of having to buy them and then try it out. You know, pay some fee at a testing center for ammo and the wear and tear on the gun and accessories and the shooter gets to find out if it works for him/her or not. Doesn't work like that I guess.

At any rate if someone gave me another CMR for free I'd probably just turn around and sell it. The reticle is impressive looking, but with the clutter and the ho-hum clarity actually using it is a different deal.

SWFA is actually where I buy most of my optics. Red Oak isn't that far away and I just drive down there. Their storefront used to be limited to the public to just Thursday's, but now they're open at least 5 days a week that I know of (not sure about Saturday).

I bought that EOTech 512, two Nikon's, that Trijicon Accupoint, that Vortex Strikefire, a Vortex 3-9x40 Crossfire, a Zeiss Conquest, some Nikon binos and a while bunch of various mounts and rings there. Real good CS. They've patiently dragged out everything I've requested without so much as a hint of a sigh or a look to each other (then again they've kind of come to know that I'm going to be dropping between $300-$1,000 every time I set foot in there). I think that they're just that way normally though.

Only one of their actual brand I've had a chance to play with is that SWFA Super Sniper 10x that a buddy has on a deer/varmint rifle. That thing is really nice. Next longer distance bolt I get will probably be topped with one of those. Tasco used to make that one for them (it was actually a really good scope for being made by Tasco), but they've secured the rights to it.

www.snipercentral.com/ss1042.phtml

Yeah, that's what they've said anyway.

Not too many places that had a lower price though when I've looked. OpticsPlanet a couple times when I've just been looking for future purchases and not quite ready to pull the trigger on it, but mostly they have pretty good prices.

Hmm, figured you'd have one (or 4-5) of the new EXPS mini EOTech's. That's interesting. Guess you don't like stocking a bunch of random semi-exotic and pricey batteries either.

At any rate I have a question on using EOTech's out to 400 yards.

Longest shot I've ever taken using mine has been about 200 yards. Usually since I'm using it for hunting at night it's far less (<60 yards).

I found these pictures showing roughly where to hold. I've seen them before, but I'm not regularly shooting at that distance with an EOTech and what you said prompted me to look it up again.

My question is this...













You'll notice that they're all the same except on the 400yards end of it, on the two sets they're differing on where to hold. On the one pic with the enemy soldier on the 400 yards part of it the dot is on the head. On the pic using the dog as the target the dot is way above the cartoon dog and the top of the torso is resting on the 65 MOA circle.

So on a 400 yard shot using an EOTech 512 which is it and where do you hold?