Optic for ar?

 
Let us know how it turns out. I’m curious to know.
I keep seeing less than positive reviews of those scopes. Not sure, will see tomorrow, I think of canceling the order now. People do complain about bad assembly, debris inside, etc.
 
so, cancelled, will see how this one will do:

there are several reviews and overall positive comments on boards. i`ll only drop this one here, google the rest:
 
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I've been seriously considering just breaking down and buying a Trijicon acog for my AR. Interesting to see other people's choices though.

Not a fan, eotech with magnifier all day long. I won’t even touch acogs at work. That’s a better setup for my uses. Yours may be different. They definitely have their uses, however if I had to choose one and only it would be the two option setup red dot with magnifier.
 
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I've been seriously considering just breaking down and buying a Trijicon acog for my AR. Interesting to see other people's choices though.
I would not discourage you from buying an ACOG. But, I would suggest trying a few options before you purchase. I used a friends gun, a long time ago, with a 1.25-4x accupoint, been using them ever since. Actually, using the 1-4x now. They take a beating. Not sure if I just got used to it or not, but I can't remember the last time the acog came out.
 
I put this on the back burner for a while but now I’m back to looking. Checked out a vortex strikefire II recently and the dot looked like a huge starburst to me. Wasn’t too bad but they only had the floor model. Ended up leaving with a Cabela’s .223 3-12x44 ar scope. It’s nice and clear (not that I have anything to compare it to) but I wasn’t feeling the look of it on top of my rifle. Needless to say it’s going back to the store.6179EC5F-0267-491E-8D68-51495DC08F78.jpeg
 
for what it matters i received the Swampfox Arrowhead 1-10x, from opticsplanet for $430, and i like it overall.
at the edge of the frame it is not as crisp and clear as viper pst2, but, it is decently clear at 10x and an eyebox is OK.
i did not zero it yet, do not have time with kids vacation week, but, i am going to keep it. it is quite comparable with $600 1-6x viper pst2. no dirt/dust inside, built ok for a chinese scope.
 
Holosun 510c is pretty sweet and great if you have an astigmatism.
also I found mine for only $240 so deals can be had on them. Also decent customer service since my QD mount broke after the first use they sent me a new one in about two weeks.
 
I put this on the back burner for a while but now I’m back to looking. Checked out a vortex strikefire II recently and the dot looked like a huge starburst to me. Wasn’t too bad but they only had the floor model. Ended up leaving with a Cabela’s .223 3-12x44 ar scope. It’s nice and clear (not that I have anything to compare it to) but I wasn’t feeling the look of it on top of my rifle. Needless to say it’s going back to the store.

Way too big unless you're building a DMR-style AR, which you don't appear to be.

Quite a lot of people underestimate how much of a factor weight is when dealing with optics. Weight influences handling. The things to keep in mind with weight are (1) magnification; (2) objective lens size; and (3) glass quality.

Magnification is very simple. The more magnification a scope has, the heavier it'll be generally. A 1-4 is going to be the lightest scope option, with 1-6s being close behind. Red dots don't have magnification, so they're usually the lightest option except for poor quality ones or older designs.

Objective lens size does two things: it lets more light into the scope, but the bigger it is, the bigger and heavier the lens and scope body are. The main purpose of an objective lens bigger than 40mm is low light shooting. For example, a lot of guys who hunt before or at dawn or dusk (say NH rifle deer, half hour before dawn and half hour after dusk) like 44mm to 50mm objective lens scopes. Most LPVOs have 24mm objective lenses because they're usually used in the day and not night; if someone wants to use one at night, they can get a clip-on for night vision.

Lower quality glass weighs more. When you look at the weights of higher end scopes, they weigh less than lower quality scopes and have much better optical performance. Its like buying a high end car, you pay for the weight savings.

The scope you bought would be something a coyote hunter would use for shooting in low light with a gun on a bipod or some sort of rest.
 
Way too big unless you're building a DMR-style AR, which you don't appear to be.

Quite a lot of people underestimate how much of a factor weight is when dealing with optics. Weight influences handling. The things to keep in mind with weight are (1) magnification; (2) objective lens size; and (3) glass quality.

Magnification is very simple. The more magnification a scope has, the heavier it'll be generally. A 1-4 is going to be the lightest scope option, with 1-6s being close behind. Red dots don't have magnification, so they're usually the lightest option except for poor quality ones or older designs.

Objective lens size does two things: it lets more light into the scope, but the bigger it is, the bigger and heavier the lens and scope body are. The main purpose of an objective lens bigger than 40mm is low light shooting. For example, a lot of guys who hunt before or at dawn or dusk (say NH rifle deer, half hour before dawn and half hour after dusk) like 44mm to 50mm objective lens scopes. Most LPVOs have 24mm objective lenses because they're usually used in the day and not night; if someone wants to use one at night, they can get a clip-on for night vision.

Lower quality glass weighs more. When you look at the weights of higher end scopes, they weigh less than lower quality scopes and have much better optical performance. Its like buying a high end car, you pay for the weight savings.

The scope you bought would be something a coyote hunter would use for shooting in low light with a gun on a bipod or some sort of rest.
I am now looking at a romeo5, romeo7 or holosun 503g and thinking about adding a magnifier. Since I’m returning the scope to cabelas today I’m gonna try to check those out if they have them.
 
I am now looking at a romeo5, romeo7 or holosun 503g and thinking about adding a magnifier. Since I’m returning the scope to cabelas today I’m gonna try to check those out if they have them.

Do you want AA or CR2032 batteries? AAs are easy to find at any store but CR2032s have a very long shelf life. All of my optics use CR2032s and I change the batteries once a year on all of them. I never notice any loss in brightness from the dots.

My advice would be to hold off on a magnifier until you buy and mount the red dot and zero it. You might find it to be fine for your purposes.
 
I am now looking at a romeo5, romeo7 or holosun 503g and thinking about adding a magnifier. Since I’m returning the scope to cabelas today I’m gonna try to check those out if they have them.
Romeo and magnifier is more bulk than a simple x3 bdc prism like at3 one I wrote about before. Prism will always work, with or without battery.
 
Do you want AA or CR2032 batteries? AAs are easy to find at any store but CR2032s have a very long shelf life. All of my optics use CR2032s and I change the batteries once a year on all of them. I never notice any loss in brightness from the dots.

My advice would be to hold off on a magnifier until you buy and mount the red dot and zero it. You might find it to be fine for your purposes.
I haven’t even thought about batteries. I was also looking at the vortex spitfire 3x prism.
 
I haven’t even thought about batteries. I was also looking at the vortex spitfire 3x prism.

Try meeting up with someone in Mass who can show you these different optics on a range. Looking through an optic at a gun store doesn't do justice to what you're capable of with that optic. Get some trigger time and see what you like most.

Trying to figure out what you want for an optic without any experience of what you like is like ordering food at a restaurant when you don't know what you like to eat.
 
It really depends upon intended use case. Vortex prism, a 3x spitfire is great for short to mid distance.

I've been using a Spitfire since last July. I have found it to be a really good optic for 50 to 100 yards. Out past say 150 yards it is lacking. At 200 yards I really wanted more magnification when shooting a standard 200yd target. In closer than 50 yards you are better off with something that has no magnification.
 
I've been using a Spitfire since last July. I have found it to be a really good optic for 50 to 100 yards. Out past say 150 yards it is lacking. At 200 yards I really wanted more magnification when shooting a standard 200yd target. In closer than 50 yards you are better off with something that has no magnification.
i agree. i have set that AT3 prism on my tavor -
View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KTTS8GP
and find it to be best at 50yds. 100 is also ok, closer it is usable, but, not very great. but i have now those spare $6 red dots, so, can use those, always, on a 45deg rail. :)
 
Im debating getting an lpvo since I only have red dots currently. But I'd probably have to shuffle around all my optics and rezero everything if I do that because I cant decide which upper needs what
 
Im debating getting an lpvo since I only have red dots currently. But I'd probably have to shuffle around all my optics and rezero everything if I do that because I cant decide which upper needs what
depends upon what you want, as usual. i kinda like the 1-10x swampfox arrowhead - it is $430 and is universal enough, but, the glass is so-so. not bad, but, not great.
and, they raised the price on it. meh.

razor and viper pst2 vortexes of different magnification have better glass, but much more money. strike eagle line of theirs i do not like - but it is not bad either.

in $1k+ price range there are millions of options, but, i do not have money for that and cannot speak of it. i would decide first - if you want to kill paper making shots go via same hole - that requires 6+ magnification, ideally 10+ - and that will dictate the choice. if you want to ring a 3" steel at 100yds - a 4x will do fine. etc.
 
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depends upon what you want, as usual. i kinda like the 1-10x swampfox arrowhead - it is $430 and is universal enough, but, the glass is so-so. not bad, but, not great.
and, they raised the price on it. meh.

razor and viper pst2 vortexes of different magnification have better glass, but much more money. strike eagle line of theirs i do not like - but it is not bad either.

in $1k+ price range there are millions of options, but, i do not have money for that and cannot speak of it. i would decide first - if you want to kill paper making shots go via same hole - that requires 6+ magnification, ideally 10+ - and that will dictate the choice. if you want to ring a 3" steel at 100yds - a 4x will do fine. etc.
I was looking at pst2 1-6, but strike eagle might be fine I haven't teied one of those before, but the 5-25 viper pst2 I have has been great
 
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