My buddy and I were out at the range earlier today mostly testing out some new cold weather gear (the temp was about -32 degrees). After about one mag through his SCAR-H, the reticle on his TA33 3X ACOG was no longer lit up, it was just a black triangle. If we tilt the gun from side to side it would sort of come back for a brief second, but that was it.
He's going to call Trijicon on Monday, but until then, has anyone ever heard of this? Is it possible something in the optic froze up?
"A good shooter with a weak body and weak mind will lose against one who has the physical ability to crush him, and the mental ability to do it repeatedly"
-Kyle Defoor
Is there a break/ crack somewhere along the fiber optic light tube? It sounds like a place I would inspect to see if perhaps the red or green FO tube on the inside cracked in the extreme cold.
The fiber optic rod probably broke. Not Surprising really considering the extreme temps and especially if it was an older scope. I've had cracks form on the ACOG tubes before. My ACOGs have never completely stopped working though.
Last edited by secondstoryguy; 12-08-2012 at 03:10 PM.
Didn't notice any cracks yesterday, but it's possible. Sort of disappointing if ACOGs can't stand up to the cold since this is his duty gun. He bought it brand new over the summer BTW.
"A good shooter with a weak body and weak mind will lose against one who has the physical ability to crush him, and the mental ability to do it repeatedly"
-Kyle Defoor
Anything made by man can be defeated by man.Originally Posted by F-Trooper05
A lot can be said about the effectiveness of fixed power ACOGs vs the newer variable optics, but one thing the ACOG has never been faulted for is ruggedness. I would be cautious about passing judgement on the ACOG as a product because of the failure of 1 sample.
So I've been told.
"A good shooter with a weak body and weak mind will lose against one who has the physical ability to crush him, and the mental ability to do it repeatedly"
-Kyle Defoor
I noted a fair number of cracked fiber optic rods on .gov supplied M4s while working overseas. Though it was pretty much the only thing that ever went wrong with them. Speaking of .gov supplied optics, **Don't get me started on the number of FUBARd EOTechs that were deadlined though**.
When I purchased a personally owned ACOG, I went with the original style TA01 with traditional crosshairs and without a fiber optic rod . Being able to try various styles of reticles, I found the original crosshair to be more precise at longer ranges (for me).
That being said, I was looking at using the optic primarily for coyote hunting, vamint hunting recreational shooting, etc. While it would fill the role rather easily, I did not intend it to be a scope/carbine combo for social purpose first and foremost.
BTW, I have hunted with mine in some fairly cold weather. Not in -30s like you were describing in your first post. Just typical Rocky Mountain winter time stuff, from low 20s to -15s at the coldest and never had a single issue.
On that note, a couple of thoughts come to mind:
I would reconsider the fiber optic and look at the TA01 due to your unique environmental situation and colder temps.
The other thought is that I would not worry in the least about Trijicon when it comes to customer service. Having been in the biz of lugging hardware around for a long time now, I have observed that the company has a good track record of customer service.
Almost assuredly. Current configurations, the FO is suspended in an epoxy resin; used to be, it was silicone or similar. That was more forgiving of temperature extremes, but there'd sometimes be bubbles that distresed folks or whatever, so they took to using epoxy. It'll can develop striations or cracks along the long axis, but these don't impact how the FO operates.
If you ended up with a crack/break along the short axis, near where the FO extends into the prism, that would fit your symptoms.
That's not been my recent experience.
J.M. Johnston
Host of Ballistic Radio - Sundays at 7:00 PM EST on Cincinnati's 55KRC THE Talk Station, available on iHeartRadio
Maybe its just the SCAR-H shredding optics...
http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.p...ll=1#post97109
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