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Rifle Scopes AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

Hasgun Willtravel

Hasgun Willtravel

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 21, 2007
1,405
3
45
Ionia County, MI
#1
I am looking for a scope for the an AR I will have coming or is already on the way.

First let me tell you, the collective genious what feets I will be attempting to acomplishing with the new toy.

Close range match shooting, when I dont want to handle the bolt gun, rapid movers/poppers, rapid engagement type shots, and 300 yards or less offhand shots.

Coyote hunting in my AO, so when I miss the first shot, I can follow up real fast and miss with 5 more shots.

Looking to get into carbine matches, so I am not even sure of these types of course of fire, but sure there are lots of CQB drills/targets, so not quite sure what to expect yet.

I have looked at a bunch of scopes in the past week, and can not readily decide if one scope will do all these tasks well.

I have looked at the Millet DMS as an eentry level scope, then the red dots like aimpoints, Eotech, I really like the Trijicon and they are made just down the road here, but just not sure how well this scope would preform all these tasks.

I also have seen the new vortex viper liee of short AR scopes, and they like sharp as hell. Would like to keep the price around $400 to $800(for a bad ass scope), to preform all the above funtions, is there one that can do it all?

I dont want to spend so much that I regret not using that money to buy another NF for a another bolt gun wich will be in the works in a couple days. (I have raised a couple red flags with the wife lately, she suspects that a couple of the guns are new, but she is not quite sure yet
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#5
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

Id look for a variable 1x4. A fixed 4 is slow when trying CQB, but a 1x is no advantage over what you can see.

Whatever you do DONT do an ACOG with a red dot ON TOP. it will give you nothing but a chin weld instead of a cheek weld.

A lot of guys who are shooting competitively are shooting a 1x4 because of the "one optic rule". At 1x its great and you can shoot it both eyes open, stretching it out and need more magnification, crank it up to 4x. Those guys shooting in open division and running an ACOG or similar have their red dots on a 45 degree mount off to the side on the upper, that way all you do is roll the rifle over for the close stuff.

There are some good 1x4's out there but they are going to be pricey, I am not sure how some of the more budget minded stuff is. A couple of guys I shoot with re shooting swarofski's and they are the cats ass, but they are 1600 bucks I think he said.
 
#6
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

I agree with the 1-4x. i already had a millett on one of my other rifles, this time i wanted something with a BDC. I went with the leatherwood CMR 1-4x because the reticle was closest to what i was looking for. it works ok for the money. if i had the coin i would go with a nightforce. ...oh and its not a true 1x
 
#7
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

I have entered the same situation. I didn't want a 4x ACOG because the eye relief. Thought about the 3.5x ACOG for much better eye relief. I love the Aimpoint that I have used in the past but wondered why not have some magnification range. I have no problem with the idea of hitting man sized targets with an Aimpoint to 300 but what is a happy compromise for me?

I decided to try the NF 1-4x, never had one but will know by the end of next week if it's going to be a good compromise for me.

If you haven't already done so, check out Zaks' fighting optics page.
 
#8
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

for what your wanting to do a eotech with a magnifier fits the bill. flip the magnifier out of the way when your up close.

im a huge fan of the trijicon, but sometimes magnification isnt needed and is in the way
 
#11
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

This may sound a little off base from what I usually would recommend, but I am going to be demo'ing a new Nikon M-223 at work. It will be coming out in May or June. This will be a great package from Nikon, especially for 3 gun competitions.

They have a 1-4, and 2-8 power options. The scope looks really nice and actually should fit exactly what you are wanting to do. It also comes with a 0-600 yard rapid turret. The turret is cool since it is designed for the bullet drop of the .223 round.

The next great thing is that the 1-4 with the point blank reticle will only cost $276.00. If you buy the M-223 20 moa base, you will be completely into the scope and base for $376.00.

It is going to use the same glass quality as the Monarch line, and that is really nice glass for that price range.

Check it out, and good luck.
 
#12
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

I run mainly Aimpoints on my ARs

I tried the 1-4 route, first with a IOR ( love the horseshoe recticle ) and a NF. For goofying around at the range they worked great. What I found was that neither was as fast ( more critical eye relief and placment of head ) than a RDS

So I went back to the Aimpoint but with a 3X mag on one of my ARs. The key to the 3X mag is a good flip mount like the Larue or Samson

I thought I would find this combo cumbersome and hard to transition to higher mag. Boy was I wrong. This system works much better for me than the IOR and NF 1-4. Incredibly fast flipping magnifier

LMTMRP-40.jpg


Because I can't keep well enough along, I then tried a TA-11 ACOG ( wanted the more forgiving eye relief of the TA-11 over -31 ). I found this combo very fast as well and prefer this over the IOR or NF 1-4.

Don't have enough time behind this to conclude which is better ( RDS w/ Mag or ACOG )

You can buy a RDS then upgrade w/ magnifier at a later date
 
#15
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HasgunWilltravel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What does a set up like that set you back? </div></div>

A Larue QD Pivot Mount and 3x Magnifier will run you $600 or so, plus the Aimpoint of your choice and a Larue mount would likely run another $500 to $600 give or take (depending on which Aimpoint you want/need), so you are looking at around $1,100 min. If you can buy used or get a great deal, you can probably knock a few hundred off (maybe).

That setup is great for close-to-medium range engagements that require minute-of-man accuracy (minute-of-yote is also do-able). For precision shot from 300yd out, stick with a 1-4x scope with a more precise reticle that will enable you to get much better accuracy. I am a big fan of the NF 1-4x scopes. They are tough as nails, reliable and consistent optic and offer the 1x, both-eyes-on-target option for shorter range engagements and as a suitable replacement for irons.
 
#16
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

go with a leupold M/RT illuminated reticle, variable 1.5X5 (if I remember correctly. I used one in Iraq (2005-2006) and it worked out really well for me.
The only complaint I had was that the illumination knob turned on easily which just ment that I had to check to make sure that I didn't accidently leave it on or knock it on, and the flip up caps weren't that good. Battteries have a good life and it uses the same batteries as the M68 reflex site. The variable magnification worked out well for me.
 
#22
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

Get the new SB short dot for huge dollars, or use your certificate and get a SS 3-9 for $499. I've never absolutely needed less than 3x, even for close targets. Or, offer me money for my ACOG.
wink.gif
 
#23
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HD1911</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Trijicon TR24...look em up. Should fit the bill quite nicely. </div></div>

Highly recommend this opic. I run one in 3gun. Will serve u well for what you describe. As has been mentioned, you will probably shoot in tactical optics div. that only allows one optic. Open div. allows 2 optics.
 
#25
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

Red Dot for CQB...2-10x optic if you want to stretch it out a little more. My mk4 is a heavy sob though, feels like all the weight of the rifle is in the scope. 1-4x scopes are ok too but IMO for the money spent a 2-8 or 2-10 makes more sense. Elcan Spectre goes from 1x-4x with a throw lever so i suppose its pretty handy for that type of work, but reviews suggest switching between 4x and 1x changes your POI a little bit and its an expensive unit. Your best bet is to try and spend some time behind all the different units you are considering and you will be able to find what you like or dislike about various units. Local gun store might have all these different optics in stock and will let you take a look through em.
 
#26
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

I run an IOR Pitbull. Huge FOV on 1x is very fast at close ranges. Great reticle that is on the money for 5.56. I have used it out to 500 and on 4x center mass hits at that distance are easy using the reticle. It is heavier than most of the other options but the weight has not caused me any problems. Did I mention the field of view is HUGE. I really like this optic.
 
#29
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

I run a EoTech 557 with a 4x flip to side magnifier behind it.

It works REALLY well. 1MOA dot for far away shots, built in 200,300, 400, and 600 yard dots when using the magnifier... 65moa ring for CQB.

Hard to beat it honestly. It is a little heavy, but what AR isn't nowadays with Nightvision / Datetime requirements.

Semper Fidelis
 
#31
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

I have an Aimpoint on my CQB AR that is good out to 200 yds. I have another AR with an IOR 1,5-8x illuminated reticule that works fine for low light CQB all the way out to 400yds. Both of these are fairly light compact units. It really depends what your maximum range will be.
 
#34
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HD1911</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Trijicon TR24...look em up. Should fit the bill quite nicely. </div></div>

+1. Or look at a Trijicon TA-33GH for a bit more money.
 
#35
Re: AR15 Glass - Can one do it all?

Here are the best choices imho based on price and options from best to least best

1. TR24 w/ Amber triangle (its brighter than red and doesnt was out)
1a. Tied for first USOptics 1-4x with C2 reticle!!!!

2. Nightforce NXS 1-4 w/ Mildot or FC2

3. Meopta K-dot (cant wait for the new reticle with holdover)

the new SuperSniper 1-4x looks really promising if they change the reticle to something better.
 
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