Which optic for my Rifle?

[doctorhumbert]

I decided put a combat optic on my HK93.
I want a fast target acquisition, so the dot sight is probably way to go.
Most of the shooting is probably done for 100yard range and CQB home defense.

So far I am devided between Trijicon Reflex II with triangle reticle, ACOG TA11, AOG TA31, and ACOG TA01.

I 'can' afford TA11, and TA31, but these are going to put a strain in my budget. This is my main problem.

I like Reflex, but of course I would prefer ACOG's BAC with X3-X4 magnification.

I can buy TA01 for around $600, but I see no advantage of this scope over cheaper X4 cross hair optic.

Which one should I get?
I do not like Aimpoint, since I hate batteries. and same for Eotech, only with added ugliness.

 

[Zak Smith]

I have a few TA11's and I've shot with the TA01.

I would recommend the TA01 (or JP's simplified reticle TA01-JP) for more precision shooting.

The TA11 will be the fastest. BAC works really well for quick shooting. I

The TA31 will be a little less flexible when in suboptimal shooting positions, but it's largely a matter of your preference in eye relief.

-z

PS. You should be able to get a TA11 or TA31 for under $900 from CSGunWorks.com (while SableCo and SWFA advertise for $1100) Mike Cecil is a great guy to do business with.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

The Reflex II has a lot of flaws as a red-dot optic - both the EOtech and Aimpoint are far superior to it despite their need for batteries. I would take iron sights over a Reflex II myself.

I own a TA11 myself and that and the TA31 are great scopes. In my experience they aren't as fast as the Aimpoint for household distances and they also lose to the Aimpoint in some urban/indoors lowlight settings.

With a battery life of 10,000 hours (and 8,760 hours in a year), you can pretty much leave the Aimpoint on all the time and just replace the batteries twice a year as part of routine maintenance.

The big weakness of the Trijicon system is the way the reticle is lit. 90% of the time it is a plus as it adjusts brightness automatically to ambient light levels. However, when you are in the dark and your target is well lit (say by a weaponlight or street lamp), the reticle is only powered by tritium and it isn't strong enough to give good contrast.

With the ACOGs, you'll just have a black or dim red reticle that doesn't contrast as well because their reticle is etched in glass.

The Reflex has no etched reticle. When this happens with the Reflex, you'll have no reticle at all. So if you go with the Reflex despite this, at least make sure you can use your iron sights through it, because you will be using them in the lighting scenario I described. You'll also find that thelens tint of the Reflex II is a real pain in low-light situations.

 

[doctorhumbert]

I think I am going to go with Reflex 2 with a triangle dot & ARMS#15 as a mount.

BAC ACOGs are nice, but I think red dots fit my application better.

I looked through Reflex at my local gun store today (actually I had a reflex before, but it's been too long to remember what it was like). Yes the triangle 'did' wash out when I tried to look out the blue sky from dim indoor. But still, the dot was useable. Yes there is a blue tint, but it wasn't a big of deal, it reduces blinding glares.

I also looked at aimpoint and Eotech, but I found red dot on aimpoint to be too large. Eotech did have smaller dot for longer range application, but it has even shorter battery life than aimpoint. Though not as bright, at least reflex had a well defined triangle reticle. Both aimpoint & Eotech dots were fuzzy.

For me, I hate batteries. I always drain the batteries on my electornic ear muffler since I always forget to turn it off. This is the main reason I am going for Reflex, otherwise I would have bought Eotech for its superior dot reticle.

I guess I would be calling CSGunworks or scopes&more on MOnday. The Reflex II 06 with ARM15 mount should cost me around $420.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

You are the one who has to live with it so go with what you like; but I encourage you to evaluate them all again in different lighting situations and be sure that the mount, rifle, Reflex II setup you choose to go with allows you to use iron sights through it even in low-lighting because you will need them.

 

[doctorhumbert]

Found TA01NSN for $690 in excellent condition.
I think I am buying this if the deal goees through.
I know TA31 is better, but this is pretty good deal considering it comes with mount and back up iron (sucky from what I hear). I might attatch Doctor optic later on it.

Let you know how I like it if I get it. I might still get red dot optic later.