Rifle Scopes Aimpoint 6X magnifier questions

[Dakotabob]

I have an aimpoint t2 with the matching aimpoint 3x-C magnifier in Larue mounts on my LWRC IC-A5. It’s a sweet setup but I’m getting curious about the aimpoint 6X and maybe upgrading the magnifier. Those 6x magnifiers are crazy expensive. If you know of any deals or have one you want to sell pls lmk. I’m also starting to consider getting rid of aimpoint all together and going with a LPVO. If you’re using an aimpoint with a 6X pls let me know your thoughts. Also if you switched from a t-2 to a 1-6, 1-8 or higher I hope to learn from your experience. Thanks

 

[adamjma]

I'm also interested in experiences with the 6x, so bumping this up top.

 

[simonp]

I was facing the same dilemma and went with the LPVO personally, I kept hearing about how big and cumbersome the 6x was compared to the 3x coupled with the fact that the 6x never seems to be available discounted nor do I see them preowned for sale. Didnt make me want to take the gamble with the price of them.

 

[koshkin]

I did a magnifier article for G&A's Red Dot issues earlier this year and spent some time with the 6x Aimpoint for that. I don't know if the magazine is still at the newsstands, but you can order it online if you want the whole thing.

It is a bit of a niche product, but I liked it a more than I thought I would. The FOV with it is comparatively narrow, since getting wide FOV with high mag on a prismatic optic grows the size really quickly. To keep the size manageable the FOV had to be sacrificed. However, the optical quality was pretty decent.

If you use 6x a lot, a decent LPVO will serve you better.

However, if you mostly just run the red dot and need magnification infrequently, it is a really worthwhile setup. I kept it in Aimpoint's twist mount, so most of the time it was off the gun, keeping it light and handy. When off the gun 6x magnifier makes for a very decent monocular for observation.

For a gun where you do not need magnification most of the time, LPVO adds a fair amount of bulk and weight. With a removable magnifier, you get better handling when only the RDS is on there.

ILya

 

[adamjma]

Thanks @koshkin for the info! Good to hear the details on the performance. Might be a good choice for my 14.5" upper.

 

[chevy_man]

As much as I play with lpvo, I keep coming back to a damn eotech.

The reticle, with magnifier, covers so much ground. QR on the magnifier and drop it and cut the weight when you can.

My times on stages went up with a lpvo. I'm always fastest with the eotech, and as much as I'd love to hate it, it just works so fast and consistenly...

Magnification is kinda overrated on certain platforms within certain ranges.
If you need the 25-800 yard range, a 1-6/1-8 is really hard to beat especially if you're not on a clock.
If you occasionally need to stretch past 2-300, I'd stick with the red dot and 3x.

Some of my experience may be different as the ring/dot reticle gives a bit of a bdc. The true single dot doesn't do it for me and never has. All my lpvo have had a bdc style reticle. I've never understood not having some reference points in something designed to reach past point blank range.

 

[Dakotabob]

Thanks adamjma for the bump to top on this post. I appreciate your insight simonp about your decision to move from Aimpoint and magnifier to a LPVO. chevy_man thanks for your insight re: eotech you are not the first I have heard who has said they love them. koshkin I am very familiar with and appreciative of your research, I have watched your videos and read your threads many times, thank you for sharing your knowledge. In particular your video "scoping the AR-15 2020 edition" you discuss the Aimpoint 6X mag.

I am writing this quite frustrated in that I just (a few hours ago) won an auction on ebay for a 6X mag. The seller immediately cancelled my order because it did not sell for a high enough price. Unethical and incredibly anger inducing for me. I was hoping to post here with my review of the magnifier, now I am seriously considering selling the T-2 and 3X magnifier (all on LaRue mounts) and going for the Vortex 1-10 Gen III, which I think ultimately will be a far superior setup than the aimpoint.

At present the minimum 6X-Mag price is over $800 (if anyone even has them available). Based on the reviews I can't see how it could be worth it. Perhaps sour grapes on my end! If I do end up getting one I will definitely post my thoughts. Otherwise a review of my LPVO. Cheers

 

[adamjma]

At present the minimum 6X-Mag price is over $800 (if anyone even has them available). Based on the reviews I can't see how it could be worth it. Perhaps sour grapes on my end! If I do end up getting one I will definitely post my thoughts. Otherwise a review of my LPVO. Cheers

Not sure if you qualify for any discounts through prior service etc. but up here in Caunckistan I can get the 6x for about $750 USD through a program. Not sure if any of the usual vendors on the hide carry Aimpoint - might be worth calling around.

I had a very brief chance to eyeball the 1-10 and was quite surprised that at 1x I felt the image appeared very much not 1x when viewing outdoors at about 50 feet. Seemed to me that the image was sufficiently out of scale that it left me wondering. Perhaps it was a bad optic (it was in a display case and likely had been well fingered). In any event, I wasn't sufficiently impressed in that short look to drop my RT-6 and a kidney to buy one.

 

[Dakotabob]

Thank you adamjma for your thoughts re: discounts on the 6X as well as your impressions of the Vortex Razor 1-10. After my ebay challenges I realized how much I wanted the 6x-1 mag. I went through Scopelist and was very impressed with the entire experience from pricing to payment/shipment the works. I received it yesterday and spent most of the day today on the range testing it out. My next couple of posts will consist of images and thoughts along w/my review. I want to thank each of you on this thread for your encouragement, I would probably not have taken the plunge w/o this discussion. DB

 

[Dakotabob]

This is my first time uploading images to the hide, they seem too large. I welcome any ideas re: how to batch upload and get them to be a reasonable size. The 6X is obviously much larger than the 3X, it is built extremely well and I am very impressed with the quality of the optic. The diopter controls are really nice, the adjustment range is extensive and I was able to get the dot absolutely perfect with zero bloom, which is amazing considering I had terrible dot edges with the Aimpoint Pro. The T-2 coupled with the 6X is giving me superb image quality. I ordered the module only (no mount) from Scopelist/EuroOptic) and I was very pleased to see that the 6X fit perfectly in the same LaRue mount as the 3X (LT755-30T - LEVER MOUNT). Interestingly in the manual it is indicated that the rubber ring can be cut off if further mounting is needed, I did not need to do this (see pics).

 

[Dakotabob]

Installation was incredibly easy simply replacing the 3X with the 6X. I went to the range and had it all to myself which is always nice. I spent some time getting the placement of the magnifier right. I have it as far back as it goes on the rail and I did end up moving it backwards in the Larue mount as well so that the image was clear when the stock was fully extended. It was a revelation seeing the impacts so clearly through the 6X. I had never been able to see this before with the red dot. I quickly realized that my t-2 zero was incorrect and I adjusted it until perfect. From there I practiced switching between the red dot w/both eyes open to acquiring the target with the 6X magnification. 200 yds soon became child's play and I was hitting them so easily that it became routine, this was very new to me I did not at all feel confident at 200 w/my red dot to this extent prior to the 6X. I pushed things out to 300 and was able to repeatedly hit, although if I am honest I would have liked to have a reticle or BDC. Generally I estimated one dot above the target at 300 and it being a windy day needed to compensate for that as well. Before the 6X I was not shooting the 223 at 300, and even 200 was rare if I'm honest. I really like the 6X it has taken the IC-A5 to another level for me and I feel that it has doubled my effective range. Now that it is placed in the ideal spot for my preferred eye relief I find it intuitive and very empowering. Please take this with a grain of salt as I do not own a LPVO (other than a Vortex Razor LH 1.5-8 although that is on my muzzleloader). It may be that when I acquire a LPVO that I will find this to be superior. Considering however that I am (fairly heavily) invested in Aimpoint, that I already had a T-2 and a 3X, this 6X is definitely going to be staying on the carbine and I will sell the 3X, it is that good. I do not want to return to 3X after being able to see in this level of detail. The glass quality of the 6X-1 Mag is superior to the commercial version of the 3X that I currently own. (I imagine that the professional version 3x-1 is very similar to the 6x). Seeing how good this 6X is, I am curious about EOtech and its ability to use ranging reticles. It would be very good with this 6X I believe. With that said, at 100 when I flipped the 6X to the side and used both eyes open on the T-2 red dot, the speed of acquisition and rapidity of finding targets is unbeatable. Then when 200-300 is needed moving to 6X is just great. It is of course longer than the 3X which may be of concern to some, personally I have no issues with the length. I am very pleased with this product. Some may say that a red dot magnifier is becoming (or is clearly already) obsolete and I can understand those arguments. With that said I am really enjoying this combination and if you have a T-2 I very highly recommend it. I think that they are made for each other and the dot is much clearer than when it was paired with the 3x-C.

 

[Dakotabob]

As a point of reference, the image of the magnifier on the forest leaves taken with my cellular phone camera does not adequately represent the intensity or clarity of the dot. I attempted to acquire a solid photograph to post here, however I found it (most) challenging to align the tube and dot with a tiny camera lens. In person, the dot viewed through the 6x is exceedingly bright and clear.

 

[koshkin]

That's a nice setup. I've spent quite a lot of time with that 6x magnifier and it was difficult to send it back.

I did experiment a fair bit with it sitting behind a red dot sight with holdover marks and it really worked nicely. I think magnifiers are at their best when paired with red dot sights that offer more than just a single dot.

ILya

 

[Dakotabob]

Ilya it’s a great pleasure to correspond with you on this thread. As I briefly mentioned your posts and videos have taught me a significant amount. When you refer to red dot sights with holdover marks, which models are you referencing (eotech, other?). Being invested in the t-2 with Larue LT660 (1/3 Co-Witness) is there a way to include holdover without entirely abandoning this setup? At 200 there was no issue but at 300 and beyond a holdover would be most welcome.

 

[koshkin]

Ilya it’s a great pleasure to correspond with you on this thread. As I briefly mentioned your posts and videos have taught me a significant amount. When you refer to red dot sights with holdover marks, which models are you referencing (eotech, other?). Being invested in the t-2 with Larue LT660 (1/3 Co-Witness) is there a way to include holdover without entirely abandoning this setup? At 200 there was no issue but at 300 and beyond a holdover would be most welcome.

There are quite a few out there. I have the Shield SIS, Holosun Paralow and a new Primary Arms red dot sights with those reticles. I tried the 6x magnifier with the ACSS reticle arrangement in the Holosun and it was very usable:

Holosun Paralow HS503G Red Dot Sight - ACSS CQB Reticle

DetailsExclusive to PrimaryArms.com and Primary Arms authorized dealers.Primary Arms and Holosun have combined forces to bring you the power of the patent pending ACSS® CQB reticle in a red dot sight for the first time! The problem with dot sights is that a large dot is great up close but less...

www.primaryarms.com

I wrote an article on magnifiers for the Red Dot magazine earlier this year and a lot of the experimentation I have been doing was for that:

OSG Newsstand

I have slight astigmatism, so without a magnifier, all those extra aiming points do not do anything interesting for me, but they also do not seem to get in the way. However, with the magnifier, they definitely help me extend the range. I wish Aimpoint introduced something like that.

The next RDS I plan to look at for use with a magnifier will be Sig Romeo 4H that has that reticle option.

ILya

 

[adamjma]

The next RDS I plan to look at for use with a magnifier will be Sig Romeo 4H that has that reticle option.

ILya

I have the Romeo4T and the reticle is very nice for that sort of purpose. I'm beginning to regret mounting it on a sky-high 2.26" mount when the Unity Tactical magnifier mount is impossible to find up here in Canada.

 

[Dakotabob]

Thank you Ilya and adamjma I am enthusiastic re: red dots with ranging reticles/additional aiming points. I agree: I truly wish Aimpoint offered something like this. Hopefully we will have an upgrade option from the T-2 (one can dream!). Ilya regarding your publication, is there a way to buy the Red Dot edition of G&A electronically?

One last question for today. I dialed my red dot zero in exactly at 100yds using the 6X. 200 was fine however I ran into trouble with (single red dot) holdover at 300 yards and beyond. Do you recommend that I zero my T-2 at 50 yds (1” high at 100) instead.

 

[koshkin]

Thank you Ilya and adamjma I am enthusiastic re: red dots with ranging reticles/additional aiming points. I agree: I truly wish Aimpoint offered something like this. Hopefully we will have an upgrade option from the T-2 (one can dream!). Ilya regarding your publication, is there a way to buy the Red Dot edition of G&A electronically?

One last question for today. I dialed my red dot zero in exactly at 100yds using the 6X. 200 was fine however I ran into trouble with (single red dot) holdover at 300 yards and beyond. Do you recommend that I zero my T-2 at 50 yds (1” high at 100) instead.

I don't know if they make an electronic version available. They do with some articles, but not with all.

Generally, I am going to do a Youtube and Facebook livecast tomorrow and the topic I want to discuss before I open it to the Q&A is this exact stuff: RDS vs Holographics vs Prismatics vs LPVO. I want to go over the use cases, acquisition speed and a few other considerations that seem to kinda get lost in the noise.

ILya

 

[Dakotabob]

Generally, I am going to do a Youtube and Facebook livecast tomorrow and the topic I want to discuss before I open it to the Q&A is this exact stuff: RDS vs Holographics vs Prismatics vs LPVO. I want to go over the use cases, acquisition speed and a few other considerations that seem to kinda get lost in the noise.

Ilya is this livecast open to the public? If so what time are you presenting this discussion and what is the link? Sounds fantastic. I hope to attend

 

[koshkin]

Ilya is this livecast open to the public? If so what time are you presenting this discussion and what is the link? Sounds fantastic. I hope to attend

Yes, they are livecast to Youtube and Facebook. I started doing them a couple of times a month. I PM'ed you a link.

Eventually, I will probably restrict live chat a little bit, but for now it is a free for all.

ILya