AR-15 optic choice

Sudbury shooter

Sudbury shooter

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Hey guys, I've been thinking about switching from iron sights to an optic. The ranges in my area only go up to 200 yards and I plan on starting to shoot idpa or ipsc in the near future. I had originally thought about getting an eotech but I've been told it may not work properly because I have astigmatism in my eyes. My other choices that I had been looking at were an aim point and a 1-4 scope. Does anybody have any recommendations as to what I should or shouldn't get?
 
I have a Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4x, and its great, and not too expensive, either. Its lens allows you to focus it to your eye, so you should be able to get the reticle pretty clear. Pick up a Leupold flattop mount, and away you go. I got the non illuminated regular reticle model, to keep it cheaper and simple.
 
Astigmatism is hell for red dots, I think i have tried most. If you can, put your eye behind one before you buy, and see if you can live with what you see. You can beat them for quick on target, but the dreaded "red smear" of the perceived reticle sucks. I have been gravitating towards more 1-X power scopes as of late.
 
Repro77 said:
I have a Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4x, and its great, and not too expensive, either. Its lens allows you to focus it to your eye, so you should be able to get the reticle pretty clear. Pick up a Leupold flattop mount, and away you go. I got the non illuminated regular reticle model, to keep it cheaper and simple.
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Ive thought about doing that but with a 1-4, do you find it hard to walk and stay on target? As in comparison to a red dot/holo?

Hunter1970 said:
Astigmatism is hell for red dots, I think i have tried most. If you can, put your eye behind one before you buy, and see if you can live with what you see. You can beat them for quick on target, but the dreaded "red smear" of the perceived reticle sucks. I have been gravitating towards more 1-X power scopes as of late.
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What exactly should I be looking for to know if the red dot won't work for me?
 
Sudbury shooter said:
Ive thought about doing that but with a 1-4, do you find it hard to walk and stay on target? As in comparison to a red dot/holo?



What exactly should I be looking for to know if the red dot won't work for me?
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More then one dot appears or it doesn't look like a "dot" - more like a smear

I must wear my prescription glasses when shooting with a red dot or I get this effect.
 
My aimpoint comp m4s works well for me, lucid everything is blurry but the dot reticle - unless wearing prescription glasses in good light (my glasses suck for shooting). Otherwise I have true 1x to 5x weaver tactical FFP with illuminated reticle. Anything past 100 and I prefer a scope , a really important point in choosing a scope for this will be how critical the eye relief is for fast shooting.
 
I use a 1-4X, it's a true 1X so I can easily use both eyes at all times, works great. has an illuminated reticle too if that's your thing.
 
Repro77 has the right idea!! I use the same scope on my AR, works well at 1x when walking or set to 4x on a bipod or the bench

Repro77 said:
I have a Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4x, and its great, and not too expensive, either. Its lens allows you to focus it to your eye, so you should be able to get the reticle pretty clear. Pick up a Leupold flattop mount, and away you go. I got the non illuminated regular reticle model, to keep it cheaper and simple.
Click to expand...
 
I have an astigmatism and my dot looks clear. Unfortunately I see two dots with a fair bit of vertical spacing between them. I find if I push my glasses way up the bridge of my nose the second dot disappears. It seems the closer my lenses are to my eyes the better the results.
 
Does anybody have any experience with using contacts instead of glasses? It seems like a 1-4 might be best for me with my astigmatism. What does it mean that it's a "true" 1-4?
 
Sudbury shooter said:
Does anybody have any experience with using contacts instead of glasses? It seems like a 1-4 might be best for me with my astigmatism. What does it mean that it's a "true" 1-4?
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From what I found contacts work far better than glasses, but Intralase was a far better solution.
My astigmatism would distort reticles when wearing glasses but my contacts corrected the issue, and Intralase corrected the issues caused by having to deal with contacts.
 
Sudbury shooter said:
Does anybody have any experience with using contacts instead of glasses? It seems like a 1-4 might be best for me with my astigmatism. What does it mean that it's a "true" 1-4?
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Some of the cheaper 1-4x optics are not really 1x at the lowest setting but instead have a very slight magnification, like 1.2X or so.
 
I have a moderate astigmatism with contacts. All of the red dots holo sights flare for me. The least flare I get is from a TRS25.
 
SIII1-7X24.. The diopter adjustment range is massive.

Then the quality of optics is superb. Yes, a true 1X.. I can aim at my own feet with my AR.

But when cranked to 7X, you can quarter a fig 11 at 600m.

Jerry
 
First of all, astigmatisms effect greatly varies between people . Mine is pretty bad since I have corneal dystrophy that makes it more irregular

I have Aimpoint M4 , M3 . M2 and all the dots look like a irregular shaped blog . Even worst with the 3X magnifier

Eotech is even more annoying

What works great 1X is the Trijicon Tripower , even with the 3X magnifier . Cheveron sharp for me despite my crappy eyes

I have slowly transition all my AR's to ACOGS because the reticle is clear and sharp

ACOGS are much faster than most 4X magnified scope ( exception like the S&B short dots )

IF you want magnification, you should try Aimpoint / Eotech with magnifier . If your astigmatism doesn't make the dot distracting then great

If it does, and you want 3 - 4X you should look at ACOG

The ACOGs with BAC are fast since they are both eyes open. Works far better than a 1-4X traditional scope , except for scopes like the Short Dot

You need to try an ACOG become a believer ...the entire reticle ( I like their Horseshoe ) is very visible and adjusts to ambient since the fiber optic gathers the light from ambient ( Exception the TA-01 and 02s )

I don't miss the 1X . I tried the piggyback RMR ( way too high ! ) , then RMR on 45deg mount but found just didn't need it for what I do

If you are shooting your AR on paper on bench / prone then nothing wrong with traditional magnified optics

If you are running and shooting steel / cardboard, IMO the ACOG works much better for me
 
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