Gun Showcase Thread (No Politics or Philosophical Discussions)

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

It actually never occurred to me to go look at them in person LOL. I tend to think about stuff theoretically at home. If a 1x prism is truly non-magnified, it should behave exactly like a red dot with an equal size window, since the light rays should have unaltered direction, and your eye has to be directly behind the lens to see the reticle in both cases. I wouldn't be surprised if in practice, the image deteriorates as you move your head away from a scope.

The obvious theoretical advantage I can think of for red dots is that you can find bigger ones (giving a bigger eye box) easily, while I can't find a 1x scope bigger than 30mm diameter.

Red dots you don't need to be directly behind. You can be off center. The cheaper dots will experience something called parallax. I've seen as bad as like 12 MOA shift with the lesser quality stuff. EOTech has pretty much zero parallax, and Aimpoint is very close as well; which are big advantages when having to shoot in any position other than perfectly upright and static.

So long as your dot is covering the target, you'll hit the target. Regardless of where the reticle is in the optic window (assuming your mechanics/fundamentals are good).

If it's a TRUE 1x PRISM scope, then the eye relief won't be an issue like LPVOs and magnified optics. Like you mentioned above.

My Aimpoint T2 is a micro red dot. 25mm window. At first, I wasn't sure I liked it that much.


I always liked the EOTech for the larger window and the reticle, with the 68MOA circle and 1MOA dot in the center. It always felt faster and allowed me to have better situational awareness of my surroundings while shooting. The only downside was really the weight. Like 10oz for the EXPS compared to like 3oz for the T2.

After shooting the T2 quite a bit, I've grown to really like it. Especially after going to a 1.93 height mount. I still prefer the EOTech overall, but I've gotten to be much quicker and more comfortable with the T2. So much so that I actually prefer it now compared to the EXPS in some instances/scenarios.

If EOTech could find a way to cut a couple oz of weight from the EXPS, like down to 6oz or something, and then improve the battery life, it would be an instant winner. Aimpoint T2 has 5yr battery life compared to like 25 days with the Eotech.

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

If EOTech could find a way to cut a couple oz of weight from the EXPS, like down to 6oz or something, and then improve the battery life, it would be an instant winner. Aimpoint T2 has 5yr battery life compared to like 25 days with the Eotech.

Fiber optic + tritium = no batteries and operates day or night...


Had an Eotech that I did like, but yeah they kind of go through batteries fast. The M21 is always on day or night for at over a decade and has about as nice a reticle (better clarity/definition but just a tad less quicker acquisition.) It does weigh a little bit more.... but again, always on and ready to go along with just as rugged construction as an Eotech.

[soundman98]

Too bad tritium only has about a 10 year lifespan

[WildCard600]

Originally Posted by soundman98

Too bad tritium only has about a 10 year lifespan

Yep. Had a tritium sight go kaput a few years back. Got dimmer and dimmer as the years went on. Made it absolutely useless at night. Into the trash it went.

[serialk11r]

If I'm not mistaken, the simple dot reticles are power efficient since it just focuses the light from the LED into one point which is easily visible, while the other patterns use a mask that wastes a lot of light output.

Theoretically, it should be possible to arrange some small laser diodes in the shape of the reticle for higher efficiency, but I imagine it would cost a fortune.

IMO a "shake to wake" feature with a larger battery is not a bad solution if you want it ready to go without any buttons to press. An AAA sized battery should be able to go a few thousand hours. Solar charging would be icing on the cake.

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

If I'm not mistaken, the simple dot reticles are power efficient since it just focuses the light from the LED into one point which is easily visible, while the other patterns use a mask that wastes a lot of light output.

Theoretically, it should be possible to arrange some small laser diodes in the shape of the reticle for higher efficiency, but I imagine it would cost a fortune.

IMO a "shake to wake" feature with a larger battery is not a bad solution if you want it ready to go without any buttons to press. An AAA sized battery should be able to go a few thousand hours. Solar charging would be icing on the cake.

Yeah the shake awake feature is one reason why a lot of people really like the holosun stuff

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

AR15 and a pistol. Done.

Yup!

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by shiumai

Yup!

Good stuff there. Those ADAC Ambi lowers are cool.

Which IR illum is that? It looks a lot like a DBAL, but slightly different on the top

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

Which IR illum is that? It looks a lot like a DBAL, but slightly different on the top

Thanks - it's an original (pre-Steiner) DBAL A2. It might have been updated since then.

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by shiumai

Thanks - it's an original (pre-Steiner) DBAL A2. It might have been updated since then.

Nice. The shrouds surrounding the dials on top are a bit different, but that seems to be it.

Have you tried a PEQ/ATPIAL-C in comparison? I haven’t used a DBAL but have a lot of experience with PEQs.

[Sapphireho]

I love AKs. Fun, simple, accurate, and inexpensive Russian ammo.

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

Nice. The shrouds surrounding the dials on top are a bit different, but that seems to be it.
Have you tried a PEQ/ATPIAL-C in comparison? I haven’t used a DBAL but have a lot of experience with PEQs.

I haven't used a PEQ/ATPIAL-C. It looks like the MAWL is the one to get nowadays, but that's $$$. The DBAL works very well with the Surefire SR07-D-IT dual switch to activate it, and the vis Scout light.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by WildCard600

Yep. Had a tritium sight go kaput a few years back. Got dimmer and dimmer as the years went on. Made it absolutely useless at night. Into the trash it went.

i've got a few tritium-lit watch faces, and a keychain--because watches and keychains are cheaper than guns . bought all of it around 8-10 years ago. they are all noticeably dimmer than when i first bought them. as cool as they are, i couldn't imagine using them for anything more than the novelty capacity that i use them in.

to use them in an expensive optics system that needs to be replaced every 10-ish years just seems like a waste of money.

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by shiumai

I haven't used a PEQ/ATPIAL-C. It looks like the MAWL is the one to get nowadays, but that's $$$. The DBAL works very well with the Surefire SR07-D-IT dual switch to activate it, and the vis Scout light.

Yeah the MAWL definitely seems to be the one to beat. DBAL has me curious just because of the cost. ATPIALs have surged in price by a few hundred in the last couple months. They’re like $1,600 now which is pretty wild. Another $1,000 gets you a MAWL, so the question is to just bite the bullet and spend the extra on a MAWL? Or realize the ATPIAL is probably more than good enough and just stick with that?

Or buy a DBAL for less than both? Lol