aimpoint vs eotech

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trigga

trigga

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i've made up my mind to invest in a good red dot on my new ar15. which brand do you guys prefer? i like more of the traditional round red dot but have seen countless eotech being used by law enforcement and military... so i'm leaning a little more towards eotech. i'm looking at the hunting model 512.A65/1 off their site, anyone have experience with these and this specific model? upgrade downgrade to look into another brand? i need it to hit around 100 yards. i might consider buying a used one.

also i've found a lot of good prices on ebay for both brands, say around $300, what are some pointer that point out the fake stuff from the real...(what i heard: the white aimpoint logo on the product is a clone)
 
For 100 yards, I'd go with the EOTech. It has a small 1MOA dot, as opposed to a larger (4MOA ?) dot on the AimPoint.

I used to have a 5MOA dot sight on my rifle, and when I switched to an EOTech, my long range accuracy increased by a large margin. I have the plain old 512.A65.
 
Can't go wrong either way

They're both top-of-the-line sights. The human eye is considered to have a resolution of about 1 MOA. Mine aren't that good, but it any case the 1 MOA dot is more like looking at a star-- its apparent size is relative to its brightness. Aimpoint now makes most of their sights with an optional 2 MOA dot, which is still pretty much "infinitesimal".

For some people it will come down to the controls. The EOTech is pushbutton controlled. You press any button to turn it on, then there are "up" and "down" brightness buttons. The 512 and most other models have the buttons on the back, but they have new ones with side-mounted buttons, which I prefer. Aimpoint has the rotary on-off-brightness control, which some prefer.

The Aimpoints can be mounted lower, which matters not at all on an AR flat top, but it is worth considering in most other applications (you didn't specify receiver type). The EOTech will be the correct height on AR flat tops as it comes from the box. Aimpoints need a tall ring (QRP with spacer, ARMS#22 with full spacer, etc.) unless you go with the newest CompM4, which comes with its own mount and its own spacer, which works nicely on the AR flat top.

The EOTech reticle is about the best there is, but I would also consider the Chevron in the Trijicon TX30 or RX09 as being ultra-cool reticles.

Having used all of the above (my company sells them) I could not be persuaded to become unhappy with any of them.

The new magnifiers are pretty interesting too. Be advised that the Aimpoint magnifier mount height (Twist lock with the spacer from the QRP) works best with the EOTech 512, et all as well as the Aimpoints. There is a height difference, so the EOTech magnifier works best with the EOTech 553, which is 7 mm higher than the other EOTechs. Any of these reflex or holosights give a stunningly crisp reticle with the magnifiers.
 
For 100 yards, I'd go with the EOTech. It has a small 1MOA dot, as opposed to a larger (4MOA ?) dot on the AimPoint.
Click to expand...

Even at 4MOA it isn't that large it's 4 inches, also many Aimpoints are available in a 2MOA model.

Anyways it's battery life vs a slightly faster sight using the ring dot reticle on the Eotech.

I prefer battery life since I am just as fast with my Aimpoint as I am with the Eotechs I have used.
 
It's really a personal preference. I tried them both and found that I liked the eotech better. However, my associates liked the aimpoint better.

Try them out if you can before you buy and it will save you a lot of heartache.
 
going on a .223 standard 16" flat top. i'm not really into that fancy feature stuff like night vision or 3X mag, just something that will give me consistant hits at 100 yards. i plan on having the standard front sight on along with rear flip, will this be an issue for the front? due to the effect of the front blockage, i've read across about a technique shooting with both eyes?, i've always shot with my dominate eye on the sights...
 
ive been hearing a lot about this battery life thing about eotech, how long do they usually last while constantly on?
 
This is one of those fervent followers on both sides kind of thing. Neither is bad, both have pros and cons.

I personally am in the Aimpoint camp as it's battery life is basically listed as "for damn ever" :D and I feel that it is the simpler more robust unit. I also like that it is much smaller then the Eotechs.

These are only my opinions and in no way are they meant to denegrate the Eotech as the reticle is awesome and they are also built hell for stout.
 
I have an EOTech on a 16" flat top with a fixed front sight and flip-up rear (BUIS). For your stated 100 yard application, this set up should be excellent. After the first few shots, you won't even know the front sight it there.

Food for thought: Both Eotech and Aimpoint now make add-on magnification units that mount in front of the primary sight and provide either 3X or 4X magnification. I'd like to have one on my rig, but I'm worried that adding the magnification unit will take up all the rail space and I'll have to give up the BUIS. Maybe the potential for magnification is of no interest to you, but if it is, you might want to see if either set-up can be mounted on your rifle along with the BUIS.
 
ive been hearing a lot about this battery life thing about eotech, how long do they usually last while constantly on?
Click to expand...

I haven't tested an Eotech for battery life, but the longest that they advertise is 1,100 hours using two batteries.

On the two newest Aimpoint's they advertise 5-8 years of constant on battery life.
 
I like the EoTech just for the super nice reticule. The 65 MOA outside ring is a "rangfinder" on 5'5" people size targets at long range, and is super fast at close range.

The 1 MOA dot in the middle is plenty big enough for anyone to see with the gain turned up. Turn the gain down until you can just barely see it and you can do some really nice shooting at 100 yard targets.

Battery life is not a great concern of mine as I am not on extended patrols in Iraq. Anyway, depending on which switch you turn it on with, it shuts itself off after 4 hours or 8 hours, so leaving it on in the gun safe is not a concern.

Anyway, AA batterys are a dime a dozen and can be bought at any 7-11 on the way to the range if you are worried about it.

I just keep a spare pair in the pistol grip of my Colt CAR-15.
So far, I have never needed them.

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rcmodel
 
One of the things I like about the Aimpoint is that its mechanical on/off switch is completely linear and easy to use in the dark. No fumbling for buttons - just find the battery tube, rotate the power switch clockwise (run your thumb aross the top from left-to-right) until it stops, and then click back three notches. It can be done in the dark with one hand in VERY little time.
 
I have both and prefer the Eotech on my AR. I like the wider field of view - might just be psychological. My Aimpoint had ataller mount so it had less of the front sight assembly in view, but easy enough to get used to with the Eotech with some practice.

Trying the Aimpoint on my FAL, but need a lower mount than the AR style.

With folding BUIS at the rear of my flattop AR rail and the Eotech mounted at the front, there's no room for a magnifier unit. Not an issue as its a carbine and I rarely shoot further than 100 meters.
 
Try one of the Aimpoint copies. They are very well made, durable, feel, look and work just like the real thing. They only cost about $50 and come with a nice Aimpoint copy mount. They are better than any red dot in their price ranger and even 3 times more. They are great way to find out if you want to drop the big bucks on the real thing.

I have a real Aimpoint and one of the copies. I have it on my AK and after a couple of thousand rounds it is still holds zero and works great. I have even drop it a couple of times and it is still going strong.

GC
 
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