Need sight for AR

[diggdug]

I need optics for my AR for a Tacticle class and was wondering if I need to spend $500 on an Aotec or is there another less expensive sight that will hold up to the abuse. I notice some people like the Aimpoint but I have not had any experience with them, any suggestions? BTW the AR I will be using is a S&W M&PT

[Lloyd Smale]

youve got serious money tied up in your smith. Put serious optics on it. If you want a dot go with a aimpoint. Ive got aimpoints and eotecs. the eotecs arent bad pieces but dont compare to the aimpoints in my opinion. Nice thing too is an aimpoint will last over 8 years left turned on on a set of batterys. A eoctec will do 1000 hours max and many models less. If i grab my gun in the middle of the night i dont want to have to worry about turning on a sight. the eotec i have is on a plinker but for a serious gun its aimpoint all the way and if you want a magnified unit id highly recomend a trigicon. there expensive but well worth it.

[Graybeard]

The EOTech is tough as nails. It's in wide use by both military and police departments. Battery life while not short is the single biggest short coming of it. The Aimpoint does have it beat for battery life.

[teddy12b]

I like the way those dot sights look on an AR, but I don't like that the dot itself is so big.  Personally, I think you may want to also consider a low power scope, maybe with some holdover marks on it.  I dont know how far you'll shoot in an tactical class so you may not need the scope.

[Lloyd Smale]

there faily tough Bill but not in the same league as an aimpoint or trigicon. Many people have mount problems with them and i hear alot of guys that have electronic problems with them. Most serious ar guys tend to shy away from them. that been said ive got one that seems to work just fine. the advantage to me is that there is no faster sight for aquireing targets up close. Some guys argue those points but theyve allways been the fastest for me.

The EOTech is tough as nails. It's in wide use by both military and police departments. Battery life while not short is the single biggest short coming of it. The Aimpoint does have it beat for battery life.

[Graybeard]

Aimpoint makes a BUNCH of different variations of their sights and I do want to get some personal hands on eyes looking thru time with them to see which I might want to put on my CD AR. I think and am not sure cuz I haven't tried yet that the EOTech will be faster on target and that little one MOA center dot allows for some pretty accurate aiming up to the distances at which magnification are needed.

The Bushnell versions of them do not seem as rugged as the EOTech brand and there are several versions even of it. That the military uses them as hard as they treat equipment tells me that they can be trusted but like anything any individual example might fail.

From what I've read the ACOG is supposed to be THE CLASS ACT in such sights but quite honestly they are priced out of my price range. Unless they wanted to send me one to play with I don't expect I'll ever see one mounted on a firearm of mine.

On my camo R15 it just wouldn't be cool to mount a non camo sight so I got the camo EOTech cuz I'm a real cool old fart and have to look the part don't ya know. 

[Lloyd Smale]

bill with an aimpoint go with either a m2 m3 or m4. those are the ones with battery life thats measured in years so you can leave them on. Advantage to me with the m4 is it uses aa batterys and the gun its on has a tac light and i dont want to have a bunch of differnt batterys ive got to worry about for sights. Same reason i went aa with an eotec. M4s though are the most costly ones. Really battery life on either of the others is probably good enough a guy doesnt have to worry about batterys. Other then that the comp 2 and 3 are available with either a 4 moa dot or 2moa the m4 is just 2moa, those are the ones without night vision capablitity. I think there refered . Look for the models that arent set up for night vision. I doubt to many here can afford night vision anyway and the ones without are cheaper. I agree that trigicons are the class act. Ive got one comming for one of my guns but it will no doubt be the only one i can ever afflord. but even the trigicon has nothing on a aimpoint for reliablity. What you gain with them is magnification without an ugly magnifier on your gun that needs to be flipped out of the way. Most of those magnifiers dont pick up light all that well and magnify the reticle which i dont like. the trigicons ive used are outstanding in low light.

[diggdug]

Thanks for the input. I broke down and bought the 512 Eotec QD mount combo from Larue. Cant wait to try it out.