About every 18-24 months I would have to send back an Aimpoint for repair. We probably had about twenty or so in service, mostly CompM 4s. I would imagine that a lower quality optic in a patrol environment would have been more trouble. Years ago SRT members fielded a couple of Eotecs and those, at least back then, had a lot of issues.
That experience was enough for me to believe that BUIS are absolutely necessary.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet.
I have weird eyes, 20/20 but with notable astigmatism. I get the burst with a dot. On my H1/H2 setups, the burst shrinks to a size that makes it functional with a good target focus at ranges well inside 100 yards. With a lower-1/3 cowitnessed aperture rear sight, the dot is unobstructed for speed in that in-close work. However, dropping down to cowitness through the aperture cleans up the burst so the dot is a pretty clean point at the top center of the front post, making it useful at much longer ranges.
I've tried the 1x prisms (Vortex, Bushnell, Leupold), and none of them work right for me with both eyes open. (Primary Arms wasn't available when I spent an afternoon swapping 1x options.) At least to my eye, they appear to be slightly other than 1x. My brain prioritizes aligning the edges of the image (more area, and lining up edges), and that creates an offset between where the eyes place what they see at the target focus. Ends up being an error on the order of a foot at 50-ish yards. Totally unacceptable. Using just one eye cleans it up, but then I might as well go with an LPVO and get a magnification option. The Aimpoints appear to be a true 1x and image alignment is perfect with both eyes open.
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Not another dime.
Originally Posted by Ed4032
We're good :-)
I'm perfectly fine with quality electronic sights; I'm uncomfortable with electronic sights only.
On pistols, I'm, right now, only running irons. I have been following the red dot sub-forum tightly since it first started but I have to admit that, with the plethora of units, mounting systems, who did/does a good job direct mounting an optic, what screws to use, how to use them etc... I often end up more confused about what works, what doesn't and what would work for me. So, I'm still waiting for some sort of settling down. I just don't get enough shooting time in my life to try out new things.
On rifles, I'm all dots (with BUIS) but now I'm getting confused with all the LPVO offerings, so I'll wait on that too. :-)
" La rose est sans pourquoi, elle fleurit parce qu’elle fleurit ; Elle n’a souci d’elle-même, ne demande pas si on la voit. » Angelus Silesius
"There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers." Paul Muad'dib
I'll throw out a very low probability what if...what does EMP do to electronic red dots? I have an HDS rotary flashlight that is claimed to be EMP proof, but it's the only brand I've ever seen make that claim. I don't know that I've ever seen it addressed WRT red dots of any type. If that's really stupid, feel free to ignore the question.
For fun and/or competition, I don't have much use for irons on a pistol. For duty/carry, their role is primarily checking co-witness to roughly confirm the optic hasn't shifted zero somehow. Secondarily as a true operational back-up, but quality optic/mounting selection should mitigate the need for buis in the operational sense.
Anything I post is my opinion alone as a private citizen.
The same rationale for having the following: spare car tires, home owners insurance, fire extinguishers, reserve parachutes, toilet plungers, tourniquets, carrying cash, a good lawyer's number, a reliable plumber
In case of emergency!
Just a game, but.... A year ago I was shooting a 3 gun match with a rifle with an EOtech and it started a deluge right before my squad started the longest stage. The optic was functioning but completely obscured. I tried a few shots by looking at the target and trying to reposition the dot over to where the target was. Spoiler Alert: This didn't work.
Maybe I could have removed the optic and used the sights (I had some on that rifle), not sure I would have hit a 8" target at 190yds, but at least I would have been using some sights.
I have since transitioned to a LPVO and am wondering if I should add some sights. The scope is on a quick release, if I show up.and it is a rainy day I could shoot the match with BUIS.
I do have them on my two carbines that have dots on them, and if the world ends and I am outside defending my suburb in the rain I could pocket the optic amd have a sight system. I also want the optic on some kind of quick release mount for this reason also. If it gets crashed it might also be obscured.
I am just starting to mess with pistol optics, and do like the idea of just a front sight with a contrasting color.
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
Especially for duty use, what's your dot look like when a lot of light is coming through it? Headlights near your assailant? Backsplash from your own light indoors? Mine's gone. But the BUIS are now very easy to see and use.
Again, why not? They aren't expensive, they aren't heavy, and you aren't replacing them with something that's mutually exclusive to them.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
I was one of the first guys in my social circle to buy a handgun scope, and it went on a Contender barrel that never did have a set of iron sights on it. It was strictly a hunting/recreational rig and I considered it not so much a tool as a toy. All was well unless weather conditions or common dumb-assery would screw things up and put precipitation or part of the landscape on a lens. It's no big deal to lose a shot at a crow or a thirteen-lined ground squirrel due to fiddle-farting around trying to clear an optic, but it can make one reflective between profanities, and I developed a belt-and-suspenders preference that has never left me.
I know, I know... "okay, boomer."
gn
"On the internet, nobody knows if you are a dog... or even a cat."
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