All posts tagged Tactical Rifle Scopes

It’s not just about quality, proper mounting of rifle scopes is extremely important

Rifle ScopesI don’t know how many times I’ve been in gun shops or sporting good stores where I picked up a new or used rifle and noticed the reticles were not level.  I can see how if you are working at Dick’s sporting goods and a sales clerk is told to put a scope a rifle he might just throw it on, but every year I am on a firing range during October-November, I see a large group of hunters show up shooting paper plates with groups that I would consider terrible and they go home thinking it’s good enough.   Well it might be for a 100yd shot, but it’s an almost definite miss at 200yds and if you know your rifle optic is level, it’s all science and knowledge of ballistics that will make it a hit at 200yds.   If  you have a range finder and mark of territory when getting into a hunting position, just about any 30 caliber hunting rifle from 30/30 level action to a pump 30/06 can be effective well beyond 100yds.

I’ve done a lot of target shooting just using hold overs and in the real world this is probable a very effective way to learn to hunt and shoot instead of having to dial in MOA clicks which can cause you to lose out in an opportunity.   Having a good cheek weld have proper height scope rings can also have an impact on being able to quickly acquire a target.  I’ve never been a fan of large see through scope rings because in my humble opinion it can through off the balance of the rifle.   I mostly see that on lever actions but if it works for you, that’s your decision.   If you don’t have a level then just find an open area of  your home, lay your rifle down on pillows and find a table or flat surface that you can align your horizontal crosshairs on  your rifle scopes to.  This is how I’ve done most of my leveling and I’ve done well at 600yds without windage issues when I had to make scope turret adjustments.

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Identifying Threats, Law Enforcement Perspective, Military, Hunting and Self Defense

Eotech SightsThere is a saying that I learned in NRA Firearms Instructor Training that, “there is a Lawyer attached to every bullet” and this is something I bring up as soon as someone shows the slightest sign of complacency.   Lately I have been getting more calls for people to come to their home for a security evaluation and often people are saying they want a firearm in their home.   100% of the  time these people  have either never fired a gun or know nothing about ballistics and that bullets pass through walls, and, in Urban Environments, that means it’s highly likely that someone else in an in the neighborhood will have a whole in their wall too.  Situational Awareness is the first thing  you need to have an knowing how to avoid being a victim.   The Travon Martin case was the worst possible way to handle neighborhood concerns about crime.  A properly trained Police Officer goes into a low light situation with a flashlight and normally has less lethal devices available before every needing to draw a firearm.  They deal with the same or possible more, when using their firearms.

Several years ago we had some customers that served in Iraq they said that Aimpoint and Eotech Sights were preferred optics, but one of the problems with them is they had zero magnification and they had trouble identifying trip wires, IED wires running across the ground ect.   With Police Officers identifying the difference between a knife, cell phone or a firearm can mean a Civil Lawsuit if your SWAT Team doesn’t have the ability see the difference from 25-50yds.  From a hunting standpoint, accidentally shooting another hunter or taking a deer that is not legal to harvest because you thought you saw antlers and it turned out to be branches from a tree behind it.   Little things like a small set of binoculars that is on your tactical vest, inside your closet might help you know if it’s your neighborhood kid cutting through your yard to sneak back into it his parents house, or if it’s a prowler looking to break into your home.

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Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optic

Aimpoint Patrol Rifle OpticWe sold a boat load of Eotech sights last year and probable because I, personally, am a big fan of that zero magnification optic.   The MOA circle and the 65MOA circle really gets picked up by my eyes and I never feel inhibited when engaging multiple targets.   I’ve done quite a few optic tests at my gun range and really learned a lot in this last year pertaining to the Trijicon, Eotech and Aimpoint optics.   Being that I am a firearm instructor it’s actually more fun for me to bring new shooters or less experienced shooters to the range and see how they learn.   I’ve done tests with AK variants and AR15’s and time and time again ended up with shooters choosing an M4 Carbine over the AK.   Usually a 50yd iron sight test and differences in hit counts between each.

I won’t let this turn into an AR15 vs AK debate, but I find it hard to argue that a less trained operator will be better with an AK than an AR15.   Recently we started stocking the Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optic has a staple optic for those looking for a red dot optic under $400 that comes with a mount.  Mounts can complicated decisions on optics especially when people see that it might start at a $140-$400 decision, just for a mount.   Aimpoint has had the red dot market for a long time because their optics have been field tested for a long time with military coming back from War and buying the same optic for their personal firearms.   The Aimpoint Patrol Rifle optic has several night vision settings as well as other variable power settings.  I highly recommend looking into getting a magnifier because you will increase your ability to identify targets as well as engage more accurately at 300yds + if need be.

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Choose your reticle wisely so you don’t regret it later!

Trijicon ACOGS for saleWe’re dealing with a lot of first time AR15 owners, both Law Enforcement and Civilian, since we’re in the business we hear a lot of the same questions coming from them.   Some ask us questions like “is the ACOG better than the Eotech” like there is some type of durability difference in the designs.  Well, all of them are not bullet proof even though they are meant to send bullets down range but the Eotech holographic sights and the Trijicon ACOG have very different purposes.  Trijicon has optics that I would better compare to the Eotech like the Trijicon Reflex sights or even the Trijicon TA44 optics.   They are different but they aren’t dramatically different in application.   A 1.5×16 Circle dot reticle is a better comparison to an Eotech 512 with a 2 MOA dot and a 65 MOA circle than the TA31F-G chevron.

One of the mistakes people make with rifle scopes and optics is they get optics with too much magnification.  If you look at the price of what the Trijicon ACOGS for sale are listed as, that’s a very expensive mistake.   You do get what you pay for an there are plenty of $200 and under military looking scopes you can put on your AR15, but they won’t last 5000rds before you break something or find out it won’t hold zero.   I’ve seen plenty of rifle scopes get retired but never had a Trijicon break on a rifle unless it was shot.    Also be careful about what type or red dot size you get because the bigger the dot the harder it will be to see a target with that optic and longer ranges due to it covering the target.

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More feedback from customers about the optics they are buying

Trijicon TA01NSN for saleWe’ve stepped into the Law Enforcement Supply market this year and have had many new products come in that we would never have expected to have.   The Easy Unlocking Tools have come in and some of our local police departments have asked us to keep them around.  Other things like police badges and patches are new to us but it’s interesting how happy people that they don’t have to buy these things online and pay for shipping.    There are lots of things that we have that Law Enforcement and Military personal wear out or use up and need a local pickup point.

Recently we had some good feed back from local competition shooters and from a security detail that had come back from over seas.   The Trijicon optics that they were using were the well know Trijicon TA01nsn for sale in our store and all of these optics were purchased in our store.   It’s cool to see items like this get purchased and come back to us several months or years later completely banged, beat up, and still working with lots of stories to tell.   The Trijicon optic is probable the best priced ACOG since the iron sights add lots of use to the gun without much of a price increase over the TA01 ACOG.

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Color variations as important as camo?

Well, yeah, and that’s one reason i’ve always had a problem with some of the Trijicon ACOGS because they are marketed as combat optics but they make you stand out like a sore thumb in certain environments.  The TA01 is probable what many people consider to be the standard ACOG but many like the idea of having illuminated reticles in day light and there is a major trade off.  If I am deployed in a combat zone,  I want the kill flash and TA01NSN because I don’t want some giant neon strand telling a sniper where my head might be.

If you look closely at what many of our troops are using in Iraq and Afghanistan you will notice that they area very much aware of this.  Many use a rag of some sort oer the optics to limit the visibility.  Its funny that even Trijicon AGOGS as advanced as they are still can still be a liability in combat for the same reason any scope can.   Counter sniping teaches that we can locate any sniper that is in a certain line of sight from us just by the reflection off of his optics.  Even night vision can pick up scope optics at long ranges.  There are always trade offs with firearms and gear.

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Body types and preferences in fit and eyesight

There are a wide range of body types that we deal with when sell tactical clothing and sometimes certain cuts just don’t work out.   Recently we had a huge sale on Woolrich Elite half-zip sweatshirts and we had people tell us they fit them except for the length was too long.   Other people have said they were too tight around the waste.   The truth of the matter is that this is something you really can’t get around.   There are no perfect fitting pants or shirts for everyone.   The tactical market has gotten so big that everyone is going to have to just try things on and find out what works for them.

When it comes to rifles and carbines, gun accessories are going to be customized to your hand size and your arm length.   Magpul gun accessories give you cheek weld options and ever optic including Trijicon Rifle Scopes for sale in our store may need to be adjusted to the shooter.  Everyones face and cheek weld is going to be different and you won’t be a proficient operator unless you know how to adapt your gun to what you find comfortable.   Sometimes you just have to get use to it, but there are always stock extensions or shorting option available.

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Visibility and profile of firearms

With all of those new hi-visibility gun sights out there the look of the traditional firearm is changing.  It’s not that uncommon to see a firearm like an AK with bright green, yellow or red sights.   Changing the sight color of your gun may dramatically speed up your target acquisition.   I really don’t mind people doing something like this because it’s better than putting optics on your firearm.  Some of the small red dot optics like the RM1 from Trijicon are nice, but they still make holstering the firearm or carrying a firearm like this a little too bulky.  If there was a way to get the sights to fold down, that would be a better setup.

Folding pistol sights would be something that I would love to see some day, if they can do it for a carbine they should be able to do it with a handgun.  Trijicon Rifle Scopes have varying profiles and some of the ones that are used by the military are meant to limit the need for batteries, but there are always trade offs.   I like Trijicon optics, but I do  not like the idea of having a hi-viz target indicator on my carbine and announce where I am.   The TA01NSN is still my favorite ACOG, but been low-profile means less of a chance of getting targeted.   The Trijicon Kill Flash is a much for all owners of Trijicon ACOGS.

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Red Dots on ACOGS

I am really liking the RMR sights not because they look nice mounted on the top of a TA01 optic or a TA31, but because you can put them on just about anything.   The notion of putting a red dot on handguns is a much better idea than laser sights in my opinion because I do not think people will take as long to track a target with this sighting system.   Handguns are hard enough to shoot in tight groups a better sighting system than irons gives you something easy to see with old eyes and low light environments.   It will take less training to teach a novice to use a firearm with a sighting system like this.

If you really want to dress your M4 Carbine down and have a light and fast optic, the RMR system by itself might be good enough for you.  The RM01-33 can be mounted on a Picatinny rail system and the RM01-34 can be mounted on a Weaver system.  There are plenty  Trijicon rifle scopes  out there but don’t over look the simplicity of  a small and compact optic system that doesn’t add too much weight to your weapon.  The trend is towards lighter and faster firearms and optics are moving in that direction too.

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Trijicon TA26S vs the Eotech design

There have been several changes with the Eotech combat optics, but the biggest one is the position of the on and off buttons.   Now they are all being made on the left side because we now know that an M4 Carbines rail system can get pretty crammed up with sights and gear and the best place for the optics was not in the back, but on the side.   When Eotech started to realize that just a little bit of extra magnification was a big deal for a combat soldier, they released the Eotech Magnifiers for slightly over 3x.   This helped soldiers spot wires or identify weapons on and individual even if it only meant getting a better view from 75 or less yards.  And that’s what 3x optics does.

Trijicon is well know for their 3x and 4 power combat optics, and  you can’t beat the ACOG for it’s combat worthyness, but it still is not a close quarters combat optic.   The Trijicon ACOGS are highly visible and if you put Irons on them like the Trijicon TA01nsn, your going to have you head mounted high on the optic, the same goes for any dot sighting system like the TA31ecos-g.    Those are fancy combat optics, but try fighting out a window and you’ll be wishing for something smaller and compact.   The Trijicon TA26SG-10 is has a shorter housing and is lighter and gives you a lighter Carbine in the end.   The Trijicon TA26SR-10 is the same thing with a red reticle.

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