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Thread: Magnifiers for use with an RDS

  1. #1

    Magnifiers for use with an RDS

    With all the interesting discussions about PDWs recently, I got to wondering what the best magnifiers are to mount behind an RDS. I’d prefer something that can be removed completely without too much hassle and quickly mounted again without losing “zero” so my red dot appears in the same place in the magnifier window. Let’s say you have a rifle caliber PDW that you take with you on long trips that bring you far from home, like an AR pistol with a Law folder or something. The magnifier would be carried in the bag with the PDW, not necessarily mounted on it during transport. Then, should the coronapocalypse become the actual apocalypse while you’re far from home and only have your short barrel PDW instead of your preferred longer barrel LPVO setup, you at least have the magnifier if you want to PID at longer ranges.

    I know that years ago there were the Aimpoint 3x magnifiers and the Eotech G33 3x. Now I’m seeing Aimpoint has a 6x that weighs only a small amount more than the 3x, Eotech seems to have 3x, 4x, and 5x magnifiers, Vortex has two 3x magnifiers, and ADM has their FLIK line of magnifiers as well. The RDS this magnifier would be paired with for this hypothetical scenario is an Aimpoint T2 on an absolute cowitness Scalarworks mount. The gun is not equipped with an IR laser because I don’t own NODs.

  2. #2
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    I keep a Aimpoint 3x on a LaRue mount in my tricky bag at work and regularly mount it when I’m out on foot. Good glass, good FoV, easy on / off, no zero change, quick to move in / out of line with my issued H-1 and actually cleans up the otherwise starburst 4 MOA dot. I’ve heard the Eoturd 3x has a bit better glass but haven’t ever used one. The Aimpoint 6x supposedly has a pretty narrow FoV but again haven’t spent any time behind one. I’m very satisfied with the Aimpoint 3x and it’s held up great for going on 7-8 years, excellent tool for PID with a dot. Name:  2CECCE76-B7B4-47D1-A7EE-E580470FC9D7.jpg
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  3. #3
    Hi Risk Customer Services
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    Quote Originally Posted by TCB View Post
    I keep a Aimpoint 3x on a LaRue mount in my tricky bag at work and regularly mount it when I’m out on foot. Good glass, good FoV, easy on / off, no zero change, quick to move in / out of line with my issued H-1 and actually cleans up the otherwise starburst 4 MOA dot. I’ve heard the Eoturd 3x has a bit better glass but haven’t ever used one. The Aimpoint 6x supposedly has a pretty narrow FoV but again haven’t spent any time behind one. I’m very satisfied with the Aimpoint 3x and it’s held up great for going on 7-8 years, excellent tool for PID with a dot.
    Thanks for the great info. I'm in the process of finding one myself for my rifle. Question for you, is you 3X Aimpoint the older model or did you get one of the newer ones?

    I see that there is a "hobbyist" one for about $250 and then a more rugged duty grade one for $600+

  4. #4
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    I use a G33 3x magnifier across a couple different carbines. I like that it gives me pretty close to the flexibility of a LPVO across most of my RDS equipped guns.

    One thing I have noticed is that there can be a bit of zero shift when using the magnifier behind the RDS. Not much, relative to say, a torso, maybe a few inches at 100, but enough to notice. For that reason I no longer zero my RDS with the magnifier. I think Kyle Defoor posted something on this a while back, maybe on IG.
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  5. #5
    Site Supporter dontshakepandas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Whiskey_Bravo View Post
    Thanks for the great info. I'm in the process of finding one myself for my rifle. Question for you, is you 3X Aimpoint the older model or did you get one of the newer ones?

    I see that there is a "hobbyist" one for about $250 and then a more rugged duty grade one for $600+
    I’ve recently tried the 3X-C (commercial) and the 3Xmag-1 which is the newer duty grade model. I kept the duty grade model, but think most people would be just as happy with the commercial one if budget is a factor at all.

    The glass in both are very good, but the eye relief is longer on the duty grade model which is very helpful if you are running a back up iron sight and need to mount the magnifier a little more forward. There isn’t a huge difference, but I’m fairly tall and like to keep my stock extended so every little bit helps.

    The duty grade model is also flat on the bottom which allows me to use my back up sight built into my Unity Tactical FAST mount without removing the magnifier. The commercial model blocks the sight picture so must be removed.

    If neither of those matter to you and you don’t plan on going scuba diving with it, you’ll likely be very happy with the commercial model. Scalarworks actually told me they don’t do a combo deal with the duty grade model because they flat out don’t think it’s worth the extra money over the commercial.


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  6. #6
    I purchased this Primary Arms gen IV 3X magnifier during their Black Friday sale. I bought it as a proof of concept so to speak to see if I liked the red dot/magnifier combo before shelling out EoTech or Aimpoint money. I paired it with an American Defense swing away mount. I have no doubt that the EoTech and Aimpoint magnifiers are better, so I won't try to tell you it's just as good for less money. What I found was that it was perfectly capable for it's intended use for me so I've decided to keep it rather than sell it and buy the EoTech or Aimpoint. It's more of toss in my backpack and forget about it until I need it kind of thing.

    I've used it behind an Aimpoint Pro, CompM2, a Holosun ACSS, and a Primary Arms advanced micro. The dot remained crystal clear when using it with the Pro, and the Holosun ACSS reticle was crisp and smooth. The CompM2 was a little bloomy but not to the point of being distracting, but the Primary Arms 2 MOA dot looked like 4th of July fireworks. It comes with turrets so you can perfectly align the dot inside the magnifier, and it returns to zero for lack of a better term after removing and remounting it.

    As noted by @PD Sgt. you will experience some zero shift so keep that in mind.
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  7. #7
    @TCB mentioned the magnifier cleaning up his dot which is a starburst without the magnifier. This is interesting to me because my eyes are so screwed up that even my T2 can’t show me a dot that’s an actual circle. It’s even worse with cheaper RDS examples like the Primary Arms Micros. Are there any other people with astigmatisms/screwed up eyes who can chime in about the magnifiers?
    My posts only represent my personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of any employer, past or present. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.

  8. #8
    Deadeye Dick Clusterfrack's Avatar
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    I have an EOTech 3x magnifier, and it's about as good as these things get. It has solid and easy to use vertical and horizontal adjustments for centering the dot, and importantly, a focus adjuster. With some experimentation, you can use the focus adjustment to change how the dot appears. I haven't found a RDS that has a perfectly round dot under magnification, except for an EOTech, which is unique in retaining the same dot size when magnified.

    All that said, I rarely use the magnifier. But I can't bring myself to get rid of it. It's nice to have in a pack just in case.
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  9. #9
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    WB, mine is an older model (I bought it used 7 or so years ago). No idea on its actual date of manufacture. The only issue I’ve had it the rubber ring that goes over the metal ledge where you look through cane off (it may originally been press fit with some adhesive?) but a little shoe goo and it’s been good for years. I know there can be some PoI shift with magnifiers but if you properly center the dot in the magnifier you can minimize this (it hasn’t been an issue for me).

  10. #10
    Member TGS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DanM View Post
    Are there any other people with astigmatisms/screwed up eyes who can chime in about the magnifiers?
    My 3x Vortex magnifier turns the dot into a perfectly crisp dot like in a first-person shooter video game.

    Magnified optics in general act as a corrective lens, IME.

    The problem with the Vortex being what we had talked about in PMs, that it doesn't maintain the dot center when detached and reattached (for anyone who is wondering about this otherwise attractive offering).
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