Rogue Elite

It seems that the M4 AR15 variant is hands down the most popular carbine in existance in the United States.   There are plenty of AK and European military style rifles out there, but the accessorized M4 is king.    When I first stepped into the high speed tactical carbine school, I was going there from previously owning only Kalashnikov variant rifles.   The biggest promotion I heard from all of those owning an AR15 was how accurate they were.   It is true that the M4 and AR15 family of rifles ARE the most accurate combat rifles, but that doesn’t make them the most effective.   Ever since the Iraq invasion, the notion of just sending in a group of guys with M4 Carbines or M16s without a 7.62 DMR is not common.   There was a lot of hype about the military digging up M14s and giving them this role, but now that several years have passed, the military has been working with newer models of 7.62 rifles to eventually fill that role.
Along with the return of pistol driven guns, the 5.56 is being put in its place and other caliber rifles are being deployed.  The 5.56 and 50 Caliber rifles are doing their jobs quite well, but is some environments the 50 caliber is an over kill and something in between 7.62 and 50 Cal was needed.   The 338 Lapua seems to be filling that role very well.   The combat optic has also been evolving due to the fact that engaging enemies from 100-600yds is not very common and many of these rifle scopes are too much magnification for close quarters combat.    Eotech has a mangnification scope that allows you to go from 3x to zero magnification with the slip of a switch.    Trijicon ACOGs are hands down the #1 combat rifle optic, but red dots and various color and configurations of reticles are being used.   Each has it’s given purpose and it’s up to the operator to determine which application is best for them.

It’s always up to the operator to determine which configuration works best for him, but with the reliance on battery operatored optics and high mounted optics, it’s really a good idea for a user to consider the what ifs.   What do you do with your Eotech if the batteries die?   What happens if the optics come loose ?   Scope mounts can come loose and even break,  I’ve seen this happen on M1A rifles, AK, FAL and AR15s on several ocassions.   Sometimes its a good idea to train  yourself to be able to  hit a target without even a rear sight.   There have been several times where I actually forgot to flip up my rear sights on my co-witness configuration and just used the sight picture from my Eotech optic and the front sight post.   I never missed what I was aiming at and it was actually good practice for me.

If you can get a good cheek weld, and you know approx. where your poi is, you should be able to hit a man size target out several hundred yards with just a front sight post.   I’m sure you’ll burn through a few more rounds to hit your target, but it is possible.    Many Trijicon ACOG rifle scopes are being used with red dots mounted on the top or have iron sights mounted on the top of the scope.   The TA01 NSN seems to be the popular configuration I am seeing around.  This will give you fast transition from CQB or long range engagements,   It also gives you more than one targeting system incase one goes down.

It is true that there is very little difference in application between a military optic and a hunting optic.   The really difference should really be in durability.   There are plenty of good quality hunting optics that will hold up to being dropped every once in awhile, but it has an awful lot to do with the mounts that are on the scope.   Many military rifle scopes attach to the rail of an A3 mount and there is very little to do other than adjust windage and elevation.   It took me a long time to be able to mount cylinder rifle scope properly because you’ll find out really fast if your scope in incorrectly mounted when making elevation or windage adjustments at long distances.   The first sign of an improperly mounted rifle scope is noticing that your point of impact is changing on a diagonal line.   The trick I learned was to make sure you are on a flat surface in the first place and then set your horizontal reticle lines to match a flat object in your home.   I’ve setup optics on firing lines and found out that even though the target looked like it was level with me, the table I was shooting from was actually slanted.

Another issue you may run into when using hunting style optics on a military style rifle is this.   What are you going to do if the optic fails or breaks?   Are you going to need to u se a screw driver to remove it or can you detach it quickly?   Quick detach optics and accessories can become very important if you have a failure of some sort.   For instance, I’ve seen plenty of incidences where soldiers in Iraq took bullets in their optics but the rifles still worked.   Always have backup irons on an M4 is a good idea.  Not only can batteries on something like a Eotech gun sight go down, but sometimes that can actually get broken from being slammed around or from fragmentation.   The Mini 14 ranch rifle is a very manueverable Carbine.   Even though the Eotech optic is primarily for military purposes, I’ve found the Eotech to work very well on a Mini 14 Ranch rifle.    The MOA dot works well with a gun that can shoot MOA as long as the rifle barrel has not heated up, which normally occurs after the 3rd shot, but from a hunting standpoint, I rarely know anyone that takes 3 shots on any hunting trip.

There is a point where people have to learn to realize that there are a great many firearms manufacturers out there that are making suberb firearms.    I’ve heard people claim that a certain firearm was superior in reliability over another.   Well, that is true to some degree, but I’d have to say there are some firearms that are in the top tier category and the durability and reliablity differences may vary in extreme circumstances.   Take a Glock 17 and put it up against a Sig 226 and you’ll see what I mean.   I’m sure the Glock will reguire less lubrication, but there won’t be much difference in 98% of circumstances.

Those of us old enough to remember when people told us that putting Glass on a battle rifle was not a good idea because they were brutal to optics and most scopes wouldn’t hold up are now old news.   Rifle scope have come a long way just as firearms have.   I’ve seen optics come back from Iraq that had bullet holes in them and they were still sighted in.   The differences between Leupold rifle scopes, Zeiss rifle scopes and Trijicon rifles scopes tends to really be about preference.    They all have moderate to expensively priced optics and the glass on them is superior to anything that was out 20yrs ago.   With a good pair of scope rings, these optics will work reliable in just about any hunting or military application.   I’ve seen all of the above mention optics on M14 rifles in Iraq.

As The United States has been engaged in military operations since Sept 11th, there have been major changes in gear and combat optic for the Infantryman.   Most M16 rifles had iron sights on them, but now the vast majority of rifles being used are using some kind of optic on them.   I still see the occassional hunting scope from Leupold and Designated Marksmen are common in every team.   The Eotech is still an extremely popular close quarters combat fighting optic due to its zero magnification and easy to track gun sight, but there are drawbacks, namely the battery operation.   Magnification has helped our men and women identify targets, wires, explosives ect. from safe distances and give the ability to put fast followup shots by using bullet calibration on their Trijicon ACOGs.

One problem that any hunter already knew was using too much magnification meant slow target acquisition, especially at close ranges.   Field of view is even more important in combat than in hunting.   In Combat you may be looking at a bad guys face with your reticle right on him, but 6ft to his right is a guy with his sights right on you that you can’t see.  I’d have to say that I belive that 3x-4x is probable the best of both worlds.   Trijicon knew that even an optic with zero magnification like the Eotech had an edge in some situations so now they have Trijicon ECOS which has a red dot optic which sits on top of the scope.  This will eliminate the problem of magnification in close quarters situations.

There is much debate about which scope mounts are the most durable.   Some scope mounts are stronger than other just based on the quality of the metal, but the reality is that all scew on mounts can come loose over time.   One of the secrets that experienced shooters need to pass on is the use of loctite.   If you are going to be using a scope for serious shooting or putting an accessory in a firearm, you should seriously consider using loctite.

Adding the extra security may mean that your scope won’t come loose after a few thousand rounds.  I’ve seen guys with battle rifles with $1000 optics on them and after a few thousand rounds, the mounts came loose.  None of these individuals were using loctite.   Over torquing screws is something to be concerned about because screwing a mount in as tight as you possible can does not mean more security, it actually means more stress.   Loctite doesn’t add stress to your gun mount it just helps keep the grip on your screws so they don’t rotate after long firing periods.

We’ve all seen the massive accessorizing of firearms in recent years.   Firearms likes SKS rifle and Mini 14s are not immune to the firearm attachements and modifications that have run rampant in the AR15 community.   In my opinion, there are a lot of firearm owners out there that had their Legos taken away from them and they brought that mindset into gun accessorizing and tactical gear stockpiling.    That’s about as harsh as I can be about why people do what they do to their firearms, but some of it is for hobbie reasons, some for practical reasons, and some because people have the obsessive compulsive behavior of needing to spend money.

There area a lot of good upgrades one can do to a firearm, a fighting rifle should be customized to fit an operator.  Advanced Technology makes some quick and easy upgrades for your shotgun or carbine that can give you better grip or balance.  Shotgun shell holders on the buttstock or riding side saddle is a practical tactical upgrade you can do on your remington 870.  The fiberforce stock for the MAK90 is a way to legally get around some firearm bans and are a big step up compared to the stupid thumbhole stocks.    Attach a rifle sling that fits yoru purpose from Blue Force Gear, they come in 1 point, 2 point and 3 point attachements. Minor firearm modifications make need to be done to attache rifle slings, but do some research on various rifle sling configurations to see what works for you.

Hopefully I don’t sound demeaning in calling Tasco riflescopes a plinkers scope, but I gotta be honest.  They are. and they are possible one of the best starting scopes any shooter can begin with.  Riflescopes can cost in the thousands of dollars, but not everyone needs a combat optic that can see the rings around Neptune.

Some of the Tasco optics can in a 1″ or 3/4″  tube so make sure you put some thought into what kind of size you need and get the proper scope rings. Tasco Pronghorn Rifle Scope 3-9X 40 30/30 Matte 1″ is a great scope to start out with.  There are a few tasco riflescopes that are good for Varmint hunting, too.   The Tasco Target Rifle Scope 6-24X 42 Illuminated Mil-Dot Matte has an illuminated reticle for even more possibilities.

American Defense Mounts Similar to the AD-RECON, the AD-RECON-X mount is made for putting high power glass onto a flattop style AR-15. The cantilever on the AD-RECON-X provides extended eye relief over the AD-RECON model. It is precision machined from 6061 T6 aluminum and finished in hard coat T3 Mil-Spec anodize. It features the patent pending Auto Lock™ Lever system to accommodate both in spec and out of spec rail systems.

The AD-RECON-X mount is precision CNC machined from a block of 6061 T6 aluminum and finished in hard coat type 3 Mil-Spec anodize for a rock hard lasting finish.