BROWE 4x32 Combat Optic (BCO) Review

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BroweReticle.jpg


Product Specs: taken from manufacturers’ website

Magnification: 4x
Entrance Pupil: 32mm
Exit Pupil: 8mm
Eye Relief: 37mm
Length: 132mm nominal
Width: 67mm nominal
Weight: 17 oz.
Field of view: 7 °
Adjustment at 100 yards: .5 MOA
Adjustment: Internally adjustable prism
Reticle pattern: BCO Chevron 5.56 NATO, with stadia lines ranging from 100m to 800m (aslo available in a 7.62 model)
Ballistic Compensated: 5.56mm NATO (.223 Caliber) M4 with M855 (also available in a 7.62 model)
Color Day/Night: Red, Amber, Blue, or Green (not all 4, you select a color during purchase)
Illumination source: LED
Illumination source controlled-Automatic: Cadmium-Sulfide photocell and flash programmable Microcontroller
Illumination source controlled-Manual: 10 days settings and 3 night vision
Battery Usage Life: 2000 hrs. Typ. (Min. 775hrs. on max brightness)
Housing Material: Military Grade Pure Titanium - TiCP-2
Water Proof: 42m / 130ft.
Fog proof: Filled with dry nitrogen
Lens Coatings: Broad Band Anti-Reflective Coatings

The following image was taken from a PDF overview of the optic provided by the manufacturer.

BroweOpticFeaturesfrompdf.png


4x32 BROWE Combat Optic
From to the manufacturer’s website:

“The BCO is a purpose designed and built optic ideally suited for tactical scenarios and well suited for military, police and sportsmen. Its titanium housing is compact and light weight, yet nearly three times stronger than its aluminum counterparts, enhancing its ability to survive the rigors of field abuse under the most severe environmental conditions.”

My First Impressions:

I remember exactly the first thing that came to mind when I picked up this optic for the first time. “Holy hell, you could beat someone to death with this thing!” It feels rock solid in your hands. The finish is clean, the turret covers are nicely cut for added grip, there aren’t any useless gizmos hanging off the side (two attachment points exist as seen in the diagram above if you wish to use accessories), it just feels well built. There is even a nice “Made in USA” stamp right across the side above the battery compartment.

Moving to the turrets you will find that the covers are very well built. Both windage and elevation knob covers have loops which will not allow them to fall away when removed for adjustment. Internally you will find rubber washers around the turrets to prevent water from making its way in. The turrets themselves are on the stiff side, which I find to be a plus. I have used optics before that would too easily lose zero if bumped or prodded the wrong way. The model I tested was not adjustable by hand and required a coin to make the .5 moa adjustments. While adjusting the turrets you are rewarded with nice tactile and clear audible clicks which were super easy to count while zeroing my rifle. These things will not be making any adjustments unless you want them to. To track the accuracy of the turrets I shot a box test on paper at 50 yards. The scope performed as it should.

There are two different mounting options that you can get from Browe with the optic. There is an ARMS #17 mount and the LaRue LT270. Both have quick dethatch throw lever type attachment systems. Although I have no personal experience with the ARMS mounting systems, I own quite a few of the LaRue and love them all. The optic I received for testing is actually mounted on a LaRue LT170 mount which is similar to the 270.

Features of the Browe:

Single Intuitive Control (SIC) with Target Light Sensor Technology:

Located within the optic is a cadmium-sulfide photocell designed to pick up light bouncing off your target. Because the sensor is located within the optical path, ambient light will not interfere with its ability to accurately read your target brightness. The BCO will then use this target light information to automatically set your reticle brightness setting when in automatic mode.

Browe built the light sensor into the optic stating “in tactical environments, lighting levels are very liquid and constantly changing. When nanoseconds count there is no time to make manual illumination adjustments or search for a poorly illuminated reticle. The Target Light Sensor Technology simplifies the operation and allows the shooter to focus on the job at hand.” This is a pretty cool idea in theory so I was looking forward to giving it a try.

On the left hand side of the optic there is a button which Browe refers to as the SIC button. Their idea was to make one button designed to control the illumination systems for the optic. They claim it was for the purpose of having the shooter only need to build muscle memory for the one control. By pressing the button once, the optic will enter automatic mode in order to take advantage of the target light sensor. The optic will then begin to measure the light being transmitted to its sensor in order to automatically set the brightness of the chevron reticle. I found this to be pretty cool and used automatic throughout the entirety of my testing. I figured that because this was the most marketed feature on (maybe exclusive to) this optic, it would be stupid not to. This is probably the biggest feature that differentiates it from an ACOG.

In testing I found the light sensor to be quite accurate and responsive. Even though all of the testing on the range was in bright sunlight, I made a point to try it at night as well as indoors. When you move over a target that is well lit, the reticle becomes brighter. Move over a darker target or use it in low light and the chevron will dim. Sometimes when moving the optic around indoors between two differently lit objects, I found that occasionally the light sensor was not sure which light setting it should choose between. In such cases the chevron would flicker between two settings every now and then. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It kind of reminded me of laser sights that are designed to flicker in order to grab your attention faster. Even though this obviously wasn’t a design feature, it took nothing away from the effectiveness of the reticle. As another note, I found this to happen only when the target was very close and you are moving between two differently lit targets rather slowly.

If you continue to press the SIC button, the second press will put you into manual mode. This gives the shooter the ability to choose from 10 day settings and 3 night vision settings. As I mentioned previously, I did not use manual settings once during testing. I had no need with the automatic setting functioning so well. To turn the optic off, simply hold the button for a few seconds. The SIC button worked exactly as advertised as I never gave the settings a second thought. My entire interaction with the optic controls through all of my testing consisted of me pressing the button once to turn it on and holding it for a second to turn it off when I was done.

There are tons of optics on the market today boasting some sort of illuminated reticle. Tons of these optics also happen to fall quite short during the day time. I have personal experience using more than a few optics exceeding the thousand-dollar price point. When an optic in this price range claims to have an illuminated reticle, I expect it to work just as well in sunlight as it does in low light. This is not an unreasonable expectation. In this price range I have come to expect a certain level of perfection when I purchase an optic. The Browe advertises an illuminated reticle. And guess what, it works. If I had to compare the brightness to an optic most are familiar with, it would be the Aimpoint. Keeping in mind that the Aimpoint optics are designed to be NOTHING BUT a red dot, this is definitely a plus for the Browe. At no point during my testing during the day did I think to myself “this should be brighter”.

Vibration Motion Sensor:

Who hasn’t forgotten to turn off an electronic optic before? When I compare electronic optics, probably the most important feature to me is battery life. Hell, if a battery dies on a red dot optic you may as well be looking through a toilet paper roll on top of you rifle. The Browe is obviously not purely a red dot optic, but it sure doesn’t hurt to know that you can leave it on and forget about it.

The Browe was designed with a backup system to help conserve your battery. Internally there is a motion sensor that will trigger an auto shutoff (sleep mode) if motion is not detected after two hours. The BCO has an average battery usage life of over 2000 hours with a minimum of 775 hours on max brightness. In sleep mode the battery current is less than 1uA, which the manufacturer claims will give a shelf life of over 10 years.

Of course like an idiot, the very first time I used the optic I was able to take advantage of this feature. By far the worst part of going to the range is unpacking all the gear you took with you. It slipped my mind and I forgot to turn off the optic. A few hours later I remembered that I never switched it off and went to go shut it off only to find that it had beat me to it. Definitely a nice feature.

BCO Utility Port:

On the right hand side of the optic is the battery compartment that stores the lithium 3v battery. On the back of the battery housing is a port referred to as the BCO Utility Port. As I did not really have the means or the need to play with this function I will be borrowing the description of its capabilities from the company site.

“This port can be used to update the operating firmware or customize the existing program. It can also be used to plug in a remote pressure pad switch, so the SIC button controls can be placed at a secondary location on the weapon. This port can also be used to import or export power. This means that accessories such as lasers or mini red dots could be powered from the BCO battery. Alternatively, the BCO utility port is capable of importing power, to run on an external power source such as a central power system.”

All in all, this feature does sound pretty cool. Unfortunately I just did not have the equipment handy to test the capabilities.

Range Report:

My Test Platform:

ARwithBrowe.jpg


Also used was a nearly identical rifle to compare the Browe against another optic when engaging targets at close range. Both rifles are using nearly identical Noveske uppers, same trigger, same stock, same sling, LaRue mounts, and sporting similar muzzle devices. The rifle on the top was used to run the Browe while the one on the bottom ran a Leupold Mark 4 1.5-5x20 MR/T.

BothARsSidebySide.jpg


Immediate Concern:

Once I started playing with where to mount the optic on my AR I noticed a problem.

Usually I have my ARs configured with collapsible stocks positioned on just past half extension depending on the optic I happen to be running. This length of pull also tends to work best for my size when transitioning from target to target at speed. If I am target shooting from either a prone or bench position I tend to benefit from a longer stock. Now I am not a large person (about 5’ 8-9””), but the first thing I notice is how close you are required to be to this optic in order to utilize it as intended.

I tried to move the optic as far back on my upper as I could in an attempt to improve my sight picture (before anyone asks, my vision is 20/20 and I don’t wear glasses). When I put my eye right up to the optic I can see that the glass is crystal clear, very high quality, comparable to my Leupold. But damn, it felt like I needed to put my eyeball inside the scope to use it.

Seeing is believing, so here is a picture of where I normally place my cheek weld to my stock when firing in a comfortable position with an optic (or irons for that matter). You will notice that the optic is as far back on the gun as is allowed by the rear iron sights. The irons are standard Troy flip up BUIS.

BroweEyeReliefwirons.jpg


Here is a picture of where I actually have to put my face in order to get a full picture through the optic. And yes, my nose is touching the charging handle.

BroweEyeReliefwirons2.jpg


This is when I looked at the website and found that it stated an eye relief of only 37mm. I have to say that this was quite disappointing.

Some may be saying to themselves, “well get a higher mount and push it farther back!”

Here is a pic of my iron sights removed altogether obtaining a comfortable cheek weld in a normal position with the optic all the way to the rear.

BroweEyeRelief2.jpg


Here is a pic without irons obtaining a cheek weld close enough to the optic to obtain a full sight picture and optic all the way to the rear.

BroweEyeRelief.jpg


Opinions:

This optic is meant for fighting with according to the manufacturer.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about this is “If I am setting up just one rifle that my life will depend on, I want it to have…”

In my experience, a fixed four power optic just does not fall into this category for me. Here in New England, realistically you are looking at having to take a shot at maximum 100-150 yards. Four power fixed optics are incredibly limiting in their ability to engage a target effectively at close range. I have found the best type of optic for all around effectiveness in my area is a low power variable magnification design. I want a low end power for close range with good eye relief that works with my shooting style of two eyes open. I also want a power capable of zooming in for a more precise shot if the situation calls for it, usually around 5 power. This gives you the best of both worlds. Perhaps if you are fighting in the desert where there is constantly open space requiring more magnification you would benefit from a fixed power. But then the question comes up, if the variable optic can also achieve this magnification why limit yourself to just the one mode?

I even ran a quick range comparison between the Browe and a variable zoom optic at close range to illustrate the difference in effectiveness. I ran the drill with each rifle 3-4 times and took the best time from each. Here are the results (Leuopold run at 1.5x). Pay attention to how close my eyes are to each optic.



Conclusions:

The Browe demonstrated some very strong features that I found myself liking a lot, particularly the light sensor and the clarity of the glass. However, I could not get away from the poor eye relief. Mounting the rifle in a comfortable position left me feeling like I was looking through a tunnel with my right eye while my left eye was looking at too much scope in my peripherals. Sitting in the price range of around $1,400 - $1,500 (depending on the model) I expect a certain level of perfection as I mentioned earlier in this write up. The eye relief left me wanting. I even removed my rear iron sights to accommodate the optic, but even then it was bad. You can have the best optic in the world, but if you can't effectively look through it, what's the point? I am not partial to the fixed 4x magnification, but that is based more on the surroundings I use my rifles in as well as my shooting style. For this reason, I am more partial to optics that allow me to keep both eyes open while shooting.

If you are someone that prefers a fixed 4x or ACOG style of optic, you are probably used to dealing with the eye relief that comes with it. If you have found that this type of optic is best for you, then you will definitely enjoy the features that come along with the Browe. Just be aware that there are always tradeoffs when dealing with optics. Be aware of what they are. Think hard about what you plan to use it for. Finally, make your own decisions based on your personal wants/needs. What works for some may not work for others.



Hopefully this review has been helpful to at least one person. I know how hard it is to shop around for optics, especially on the web. It can be quite the frustrating experience with there being so many options on the market at every price point. It is impossible to try them all before you buy.
 
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I was very impressed with the one I saw at the Shot Show, however, for that kind of $$, I found a two year warranty rather than lifetime disappointing. Vortex can afford lifetime on a $500 illuminated scope. It's funny how the pricier high end stuff (Swarvoski Z6i and the Trijicon ACOG are others) comes with a much shorter warranty on the electronics. (Translation: We'll offer a lifetime warranty on the parts of the scope that won't fail).
 
One thing i just thought of is safety glasses, with your pretty face so close to the optic and a set of safety glasses or goggles on will the optic be bumping into them?
 
Nice write up. [thumbsup] I am not much into the fixed power stuff either, and that eye relief looks way to short.
 
Just saw this on facebook...

View attachment 39488

Only conclusion I can draw is that my rifle is famous [rofl]

That is a frankenrifle. The only Noveske parts are the upper.

- - - Updated - - -

One thing i just thought of is safety glasses, with your pretty face so close to the optic and a set of safety glasses or goggles on will the optic be bumping into them?

I did bump my sun glasses once while running the 1-5 drill.
 
Interesting setup.


4x32 BCO with the new SHIELD Close Quarter Battlesight (CQB). Shield has supplied over 20,000 CQB's sights to the British Army since starting production in 2010.
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http://soldiersystems.net/tag/browe/

I can't help but think they're reinventing the wheel here. The year 2008 called, and they want their ACOG with way-too-high RMR back.

I look forward to the invention of offset sights and eventually low-power variable optics.
 
Just saw this on facebook...

View attachment 39488

I had that happen to me recently. I reviewed a heavy duty brush guard for my truck and the next thing I know it's on the front page of the manufacturer's Facebook page. Funny thing is, they didn't respond to me when I sent them pictures via email.

Glad I photoshopped my license plate out of those pics. [tinfoil]
 
I had that happen to me recently. I reviewed a heavy duty brush guard for my truck and the next thing I know it's on the front page of the manufacturer's Facebook page. Funny thing is, they didn't respond to me when I sent them pictures via email.

Glad I photoshopped my license plate out of those pics. [tinfoil]

I am really glad I covered up the serial number on the other rifle. Looks like they grabbed the other pictures.
 
Sorry for necroing this thread, but I just bought one of these optics based in no small part by Dan's review.

I've only put 24 rounds through it so far (damn cold weather), but I am really impressed with the design and the fact that I don't have to worry about tritium decay issues.

The light sensor for the reticule works better than advertised. I have an EO Tech 512, and I was constantly adjusting the brightness on it for different environments to the point I finally took it off.

I shot with the Browe today under party sunny conditions that ranged from sunglasses bright to dark because of the rapidly changing cloud cover. Not once did I need to play with the brightness control despite some pretty radical changes in sunlight during the 2 hour shoot around noon time. It reacted instantly every time.

Shooting with both eyes open will take some getting used to, but I had no problem with getting 1" groups at 100 yds with run of the mill Federal ammo once I had it zeroed at 25 yds.

If you're looking to save some bucks, like them on Facebook for a somewhat reasonable discount coupon offer now and then OR you can buy one on Amazon for slightly above the discount price. If you have funding issues with significant others, I would just ask them to get you Amazon gift cards for a while and pile them up. I bought mine from American Omni Products & they treated me really good, even calling to let me know there was a delay at the factory due to increased orders. It looks like Browe picked up several foreign contracts after the Shot Show and are having a little trouble meeting demand. Turns out Browe held my order to make sure I got the latest rev in firmware, which I thought was nice considering they could have tossed it out the door to meet the ship date. The ability to update the firmware sold me too. That's real forward thinking flexibility IMHO.

To address SteveCase's point, I too was concerned with the eye relief before I purchased, so I thought I would wing it. I don't find any issues with eye relief so long as you use it as designed and shoot with both eyes open. I have mine mounted in front of a Magpul flip up rear BUIS so it's probably only 1.5" away from my eye. I usually shoot my iron sights with my nose on the charging handle but with the Browe I have a little more eye relief, so I'm placing my cheek at the crest of the collapsible portion of the AR stock.

Time will tell, but it looks good so far.
 
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