Looks like these scopes are slowly trickling out into the real world. Any opinions (positive and negative) from those who've had them in hand? I'm seriously considering selling my Trijicon 1-8 in order to buy one. Mainly looking for similar or better glass, lighter weight, more appropriate scope for my needs (pretty much a 14.5" 5.56 recce style gun). Main purpose will be defensive use and training, but may try some shooting sports with it as well.
Rifle Scopes Eotech Vudu 1-6
- Thread starter StevethePirate
- Start date
My advice would be to keep your Trijicon. That 1-8 is a nice optic, and I really don't see what advantage the 1-6 vudu would provide you. A little smaller and a little less weight...?
I looked at Eotech's various scope offerings at Shot and it was very underwhelming. I'd go with Bushnell's 1-6.5x over the Eotech, or stick with Trijicon, both of which are known entities that have been in the glass business for awhile.
I got a couple hours hands-on last week with a Vudu 1-6x SR-3, along with several others like the Trijicon 1-8x and VCOG, Vortex Razor Gen2, Kahles K16i, Leupold Mk6, and a few other lower level LPVOs. I tried them both outdoors and indoors/CQB. If I owned a Trijicon 1-8x, I certainly wouldn't sell it for a Vudu. The Vudu itself had some noticeable distortion around the edges, and a smidge of tunnelling at 1x. The eyebox was somewhat tight, and the FOV was 102' @ 1x, which is one of the narrowest FOVs of out there for "higher end" LPVOs. The 109' FOV of the Trijicon 1-8x was demonstrably better indoors in CQB (dryfire/dry run only). I tried out the illumination on the Vudu, and I call bullshit on it being "daylight bright". It was about equal to a Bushnell Elite 1-6.5x for illumination if you've ever seen through one of them. There is some debate on the Trijicon 1-8x illumination being daylight visible, and I think it is, but only just. The illumination of the Vudu I looked through was not as bright as the Trijicon 1-8x. I get the appeal of the EOTech reticle, but being that it's FFP, there are very few companies that have figured out how to make FFP illumination bright enough. EOTech is not one of those companies. The inside reticle is kinda neat in how they incorporated it into the outer circle, but honestly at 6x the BDC is very rudimentary and probably one of the poorest or laziest executions I've seen of a BDC reticle. You have your center dot, which is your BZO and your PBR, but then after that, you have a thick circle with no BDC designation and then a 400yd, 500 and 600 stadia below it that are all the same width, so you can't even do a quick ranging with it like you could with a Trijicon BDC or the Leupold CMR-W.
You can find the Vudu for about $1k online brand-new, but I'd rather spend another couple hundred bucks on a Razor Gen2 1-6x. I would be impressed by the Vudu if it were a $600 scope, but there's no way I'd pay $1k-$1200 for one. If the Vudu was $700, I would still take a Burris XTR-II 1-5x or Leupold VX-6 Firedot over it because at least they have daylight-visible illumination. If you have the Trijicon, keep it. That, or look at a different optic like a Kahles K16i. If you haven't looked through a K16i, HOLY SHIT...Don't. You'll be ruined. Seriously amaze-balls and probably the best LPVO I've ever tried.
Just my $0.02 though, which is worth exactly that.
You can find the Vudu for about $1k online brand-new, but I'd rather spend another couple hundred bucks on a Razor Gen2 1-6x. I would be impressed by the Vudu if it were a $600 scope, but there's no way I'd pay $1k-$1200 for one. If the Vudu was $700, I would still take a Burris XTR-II 1-5x or Leupold VX-6 Firedot over it because at least they have daylight-visible illumination. If you have the Trijicon, keep it. That, or look at a different optic like a Kahles K16i. If you haven't looked through a K16i, HOLY SHIT...Don't. You'll be ruined. Seriously amaze-balls and probably the best LPVO I've ever tried.
Just my $0.02 though, which is worth exactly that.
Thanks all. USACS, were you at one of Fisher's classes? He's one of the few I know who's got that range of high end optics available to use. I know he's pretty happy with the Vudu so far, and less so with the Trij 1-8, and I value his opinion, having taken a couple classes with him.
I would love to get a K16i, but simply can't afford it. It's probably about $500 outside my budget, even used.
I would love to get a K16i, but simply can't afford it. It's probably about $500 outside my budget, even used.
The Kahles K16i SM-1 is still one of my my favorite LPV's and it's nice they lowered the MAP price $250 this year. We have one left in stock. https://www.cstactical.com/kahles-k16i-1-6x24-sm1
I purchased a vudu and it's a nice little optic. Great glass, very solid clicks, in a nice and compact package. I was never a fan of the 65moa reticle in their holosights so I'm not sure why I thought I'd like it in a 1-6 but I dont--so that stands as the one reason I'm selling mine.
It it not aimpoint bright but it can be seen in all but extremely bright daytime conditions. For someone who enjoys the 65moa circle it would be a very useable reticle with the illumination turned off in cqb situations. (Think leupold prismatic) Eyebox is very forgiving, clicks are very crisp as mentioned above, and it comes with a nice little throw lever also. I also like what they did with the illum controls as they won't be adjusted by the optic bumping around like a knob *could.*
It it not aimpoint bright but it can be seen in all but extremely bright daytime conditions. For someone who enjoys the 65moa circle it would be a very useable reticle with the illumination turned off in cqb situations. (Think leupold prismatic) Eyebox is very forgiving, clicks are very crisp as mentioned above, and it comes with a nice little throw lever also. I also like what they did with the illum controls as they won't be adjusted by the optic bumping around like a knob *could.*
Thanks all! My other option (aside from doing nothing) is to sell a couple optics and buy a Kahles 1-6. I don't like the idea of selling so much, but it's an option.
I wasn't at Fisher's course for the optics, but I have been at one of his courses last year where I got time behind the AccuPoint 1-4x and 1-6x, AccuPower 1-4x, along with a Vortex Razor HD Gen2 1-6x and Leupold VX-R Patrol 1.25-4x. I also used to own a Leupold Mark6 1-6x CMR-W 7.62. I'm also doing his practical urban carbine course this summer.
Here's the thing- the Trijicon 1-8x comes off to me as a mid-to-long range scope that can do some CQB. I think that its primary focus is the long range game. In contrast, the Vudu is clearly a CQB oriented optic that can do midrange work when needed. Sort of a different design for the two. Given that Steve does mostly close range shooting with some midrange mixed in, I can see the Vudu being a better optic for his needs. That being said, he was on Ballistic Radio this past week and said that he's starting to favor the high end German/Euro glass now. This is not a surprise, because if you've ever looked through a Kahles, Swarovski, S&B, Zeiss or similar top end scope, you know how amazing they are.
If you really want a better CQB option but don't want to spend Kahles money, I highly recommend you look at the Razor 1-6x. It's heavy, but overall it's probably one of the best LPVOs out there. The illumination is very much daylight visible and is low-level Aimpoint bright. Glass is excellent. Plenty of vendors on here who will get you set up.
Thanks again! I been talking to Steve recently, as he's one of the few i know who has either bought or has samples of lots of LPVO's. He's definitely a big fan of the Kahles (no surprise).
His more recent Instagram pics has a Kahles 1-6 on one of his AR's, not surprised on its popularity though.
Kahles 1-6 SM1
http://bit.ly/1TRN1Mx
