Magnifier and red dot placement

[wizard1911]

Last week I took my brother in law to the range. He had never fired an AR before and after a full mag he dropped my rifle, destroying the red dot. I was using a mid priced red dot with a Vortex 3x magnifier. The combination was working great until the accident. I am considering a Primary Arms MD-ADS but I was wondering about the relationship of the red dot and magnifier. My previous setup was standard, magnifier behind the red dot. Due to limited rail length, I was wondering if the magnifier could be placed on the handguard rail in front of the red dot and the red dot on the receiver rail. I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't work and it might even be better, magnifying the target while leaving the red dot relatively small. Has anyone tried this? Also, any opinions on the Primary Arms choice?

 

[farmerboy78]

The vortex sparc II is a great red dot. I put one on my son's ar. It will also match your magnifier

 

[giggitygiggity]

Has anyone tried the SPARC AR yet? How does it compare to the SPARC II?

 

[Snyper]

Isn't the "magnifier" really just a scope that has a range of eye relief?

If the distances fit the eye relief it shouldn't matter if it's placed in front or behind.

I think though you will find it's easier to use when closer to your eye

 

[benEzra]

A magnifier in *front* of the red dot will change (perhaps dramatically) the relationship between point of aim and point of impact, and you can't fix the magnified POI without screwing up the unmagnified POI.

Magnifier to the rear of the optic, on the other hand, just magnifies the same sight picture you normally see, so slight misalignment doesn't shift POI.

 

[woodweasel58]

Not being a huge fan of Red Dots I prefer my Lucid HD-7's, PA makes an awesome prismatic for the money, I'm also getting one of their 4-14X44's. My 5X Prismatic is great, and all the research I can find says they make quality products at an excellent price. Personally I prefer etched glass that will work without batteries, or AA, OR AAA when batteries are needed. DI OPTICS, makes a military grade Red Dot. From S. Korea.