I got out this afternoon to take some reticle pics of the Accupower 1-4. I bought a used Larue SPR-E VFZ (non-QD) off Arfcom yesterday so hopefully it'll be here next week for me to mount and zero. In the meantime, my observations about the Accupower are all positive. You have to understand that I've been staunchly against LPV's for a long time. The concept sounds good and all, but everything I'd messed with up until this point had let me down in one way or another. Usually it was that the scope lacked a true 1X on the bottom end. I live in Northeast GA and both natural terrain and matches are all pretty much inside 100 yds. For that distance, the red dot is king. Try running a shoot house or a 3gn bay stage with a 1.25 or 1.5 on the bottom end and those 5 ft targets will eat your lunch. However, I do see the utility of the higher magnification, be it shooting something farther away, or finding/identifying a partially-occluded or dimly-lit target. Some of the earlier scopes that bragged about true 1X (Accupoint, Vortex Razor 1-6) gave horrible fisheye, which I still found distracting for close up targets. Then, you have reticle design. I prefer simpler, faster, ballpark to slower but more precise, so the 5.56 BDC segmented circle in the Accupower is right up my alley. It's similar to shooting a TA-11 ACOG with a Horseshoe. You've got this big, fat, in your face circle for closeup speed, but then very clearly-defined holdovers for distance. The glass is fantastic as well.
Perhaps my favorite thing about the Accupower is its ability to disappear. In the pics below you'll see what I mean. Because of the great eye box, field of view, true flat 1X, and low overall profile, you really don't find yourself looking through the scope on 1X. Rather, it's very much like looking through an Aimpoint or Eotech in that your focus stays on the target and you simply move the reticle onto the target vs "looking through" the optic.
I suppose the one thing that some will consider a downside to this optic is its lack of firedot-bight reticle. The reticle does illuminate and you can see it during daylight hours, but the color will wash out on a bright background in bright sunlight. However, the bold black reticle makes this a non-issue. This was another thing that was on my LPV wish list: that the reticle had to be visible/useable without illumination. For example, I love the Leupold Mark 6, but with its FFP design, the reticle shrinks on 1X and becomes a blazing bright dot. That's great so long as your battery is working, but without illumination, that tiny 1X aiming point can be hard to find. Hence, the SFP (same size throughout power range) bold black reticle in the Accupower is a great choice. Finally, Trijicon did a great job keeping the weight manageable. With most of the popular LPV's weighing in at 20+ oz, the 16oz Accupower is quite nice.
Well, that's enough rambling for now. I'll be mounting this on my 3gun rifle and putting it through its paces in the coming months. Wish me luck!
Pictures show an IDPA silhouette at roughly 20 yds:
1X, no illumination, full afternoon sun:
1X, max illumination, full afternoon sun:
4X, max illumination, full afternoon sun:
1X, max illumination, same lighting, target in shade:
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Originally Posted by breakingtime91
