I MIGHT be stepping up to a variable power optic for one of my carbines. there are some things that have to happen first (selling a gun) but I am looking into my options
budget is $1000 for the scope, less is better. I qualify for LE/MIL discounts from the various vendors who support LE/MIL folks really well.
I have looked at a PST GEN II (1-6) and the glass surprised me
I also looked at a strike eagle 1-8, while not as nice as a higher end, I was suprised with the clarity on it as well.
I am looking at Burris XTRII line, either the 1-8 or 1.5-8 (combo deal comes with a PEPR and a fastfire III)
what others should I look at, best glass for the price, reliable and enjoyable to use. I have no problem with cheaper, but I am not going to drop much more than $1k on scope and mount
thanks
I just bought the Trijicon Accupower 1-8. I haven't had it to the range yet, so I can't give you a full report, but the feature set seemed the best for my needs. With a LE discount you can find this scope for right around $1,100, though I bought it on sale for that price without having to jump through any LE purchase hoops.
Here's what I like:
-Larger magnification range of a 1-8
-34mm tube
-A decent first focal plane reticle design for a low powered variable. At 1 power the reticle kinda reminds me of an Eotech reticle, and at high power it's a MIL reticle with easy to read sub tensions. The design is a "segmented circle" type, and you can most easily see examples of it on Trijicon's website.
-Adjustable uncapped 0.1 MIL turrets. Some people don't like these on low powered variables, but this was a requirement for me. Unless someone comes out with a Horus style reticle for a low powered variable, I like to be able to dial elevation for longer shots. I'd prefer to dial elevation and hold windage, rather than trying to guesstimate the hold by holding off in space. And, if I'm taking a 600+ yard shot, I've usually got enough time to spin the elevation dial. NOTE: I think Nightforce just did come out with a Horus-like reticle on their new LPV scope, but it is going to be in the $2,700 range from what I've heard in the rumor mill. Anyway, the obvious argument against uncapped turrets is that you can easily bump them away from their zero (in practice I'm not sure that actually happens as much as it does in someone's imagination). The Accupower has locking turrets, so I don't see this as an issue.
-The reticle illumination appears to be daylight bright to me, despite reports that it wasn't that I read online. I'll comment here that it isn't the "nuclear bright" that my Aimpoint gives me, but it's a usable and functional bright to me, even on bright days. How can I quantify this? Well, it snowed yesterday here in the Denver area, and today is an extremely bright and sunny day, despite snow still being on the ground. This is about as bright as it gets here in the middle of the day. I just walked out back with two of my rifles. One has the Trijicon Accupower on it, and the other is wearing a Aimpoint T2 Micro. Looking at them indoors I'd say that there's no doubt that the Aimpoint is brighter. In practice I pointed them both at a sunlit snow patch that was bright enough that it was hard to look at with the naked eye. Both the illuminated reticle of the Trijicon and red dot from the Aimpoint were visibly red in this condition. The Aimpoint was brighter, as I mentioned, but with a bright white background I could just as easily pick up on either reticle (I think the Aimpoint has to be brighter to function in these conditions, whereas the typical scope reticle is visible against a contrasting background -- again, I could still see the red of the illumination of the Trijicon's reticle in these conditions).
-The glass seems high quality and clear. It's better than most of my cheaper optics, though not as good as my highest end optic (we're talking about a Schmidt and Bender on the high end -- I didn't expect the Trijicon to be on par with that scope, naturally).
What I don't like (so far):
-This is one heavy optic. I put it on a light DMR style rifle, and that rifle no longer feels light! This thing is a beast.
-There's no apparent zero stop on the turrets (at least that I've discovered so far). I like zero stops. I do wish this scope had them, and I apparently overlooked that feature in the purchase because I thought it had them. Still, in practice for a rifle like this it is unlikely that I'll ever be dialing more than 10 Mils worth of elevation adjustment, so I'll likely be on the "first turn" at all times, which makes it a bit easier to get back to zero without a zero stop. But, obviously I have to be a bit more cognizant of where my zero is located without a zero stop. We'll see how well this works in practice once I've put the rifle through its paces.
-There's some bleed-over of the illumination onto parts of the reticle that aren't designed to be illuminated. This is a pretty minor issue, but it looks sloppy. In practice I don't think it will harm anything, and in the bright conditions I described a minute ago it isn't even noticeable.
-They send the thing with a crappy bikini style set of lens caps. I would have liked if they had spent a few bucks to send it with some flip up caps, but I'll buy those on my own and add them later.
