hugehodge83
Regular
- Location
- Halifax NS
Hey folks,
So I recently recieved my brand new in bag ARMS 40L-SP flip up rear sight in the mail. Just some background info... I was looking for a quick release rear BUIS for my AR-15, and basically this one poped up on EE in time.
Alright... ill admit it... I am NOT a big ARMS fan... Their mounts (although I am sure they are fine for service rifle, plinking etc) are not up to military standard and there is a ton of hate out there for that product. So I will try and make this as unbiased as possible.
Packaging:
It came in a plastic bag. What did you expect from a chunk of steel?
First Impressions:
The sight is pretty solid just from looking at it. The parkerizing and markings are crisp, and the engravings are easy to read and follow. (although I may use white out in the future to make them stand out at night and in low light conditions) The locking mechanism is solid, and the screw is held down by a wire which connects to the sight base, so it would not be easy to lose. (If your rear sight is falling off and the screw is going missing... you have BIG problems)
The locking lever is SOLID, and the spring tension on the sight is huge, meaning that even under serious stress and impact, you are MOST LIKELY not going to have a failure. (By failure I mean failure to lock or failure to expand)
Windage adjustments are crisp, and once again the engravings make it easy to read. Also, the windage knob is very low-profile. This is great for optics, as you dont have that big knob to limit your FOV.
One of the things I like most about the sight is how there is no "lock up" mechanism, meaning that the sight does not lock into place in the up position. Some people may be saying "BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LOCKING MECHANISM OR THE SIGHT WILL JUST FOLD DOWN WHEN YOUR FIGHTING ZOMBIES!" In most cases, yes... I would agree.. but the ARMS spring tension means a few things:
1) Even if the sight is collapsed, it will not lock in the downward position, meaning it will not get caught on things (branches, slings, your shower curtain when your looking at yourself in the mirror) and the sight will spring back up if it is knocked down.
2) Under extreme shock or if the rifle is dropped, the sight will not break as the spring will absorb most of the shock and not the locking mechanism. This is something to really consider if your MIL/LE.
3) The sight should return to zero everytime.
Take a look at the size of the spring and you can see why its sturdy.
There are however several issues which have to be addressed.
1) The release lever for the sight is a little small, making it hard to actuate with gloves on.
2) The appature is kinda a pain in the ass. As previously mentioned, I am mostly using it for CQB type shooting, meaning that I use the large hole appature. Well is just so happeneds that due to the nature of the ARMS 40L-SP, the small appature is BEHIND the large one. For you switched on people who know what I am saying, it means that anytime I pop the sight up for the down position, I am looking at the small hole app. and not the large hole one! (That being said, it says on the ARMS website that the small app. can be removed.)
Still... this was a piss off, but since I am running a constant co-whittness... it doesnt REALLY matter to me.
3) Once the sight is flipped up, it takes a three handed affair to collapse it, as you have to hold up the locking lever while moving the sight into the downwards position. Moral of this story, either run it up all the time, or run it as it was designed... in case of emergency.
I am not going to get into the science behind same plain sighting (thus the SP).
PROS:
Sturdy
Well cut engravings and easy windage adjustment
Great spring tension
Slots in the top of the app. mean that you have very quick cqb sighting
CONS:
Locking lever affair
Small app. being behind the large one is a pain
Dedicated to an BUIS or co-whittness role
Overall, I would say that the sight is of good quality, but is designed for a specific use. If you are looking for a good quality BUIS the ARMS 40L-SP will serve you well. What one must realise is that you will have to dedicate training time to getting used to the 40L, and you should understand how YOU want to run the sight before purchase. Also, just because this product is pretty decent, dosent mean they all are.
Anyway, I hope I didnt bore everyone to death, and hopefully this was helpful for anyone in the market.
HH
P.S. I would not pay more than $100 for this sight.
And excuse the spelling... I just dont care anymore
So I recently recieved my brand new in bag ARMS 40L-SP flip up rear sight in the mail. Just some background info... I was looking for a quick release rear BUIS for my AR-15, and basically this one poped up on EE in time.
Alright... ill admit it... I am NOT a big ARMS fan... Their mounts (although I am sure they are fine for service rifle, plinking etc) are not up to military standard and there is a ton of hate out there for that product. So I will try and make this as unbiased as possible.
Packaging:
It came in a plastic bag. What did you expect from a chunk of steel?
First Impressions:
The sight is pretty solid just from looking at it. The parkerizing and markings are crisp, and the engravings are easy to read and follow. (although I may use white out in the future to make them stand out at night and in low light conditions) The locking mechanism is solid, and the screw is held down by a wire which connects to the sight base, so it would not be easy to lose. (If your rear sight is falling off and the screw is going missing... you have BIG problems)
The locking lever is SOLID, and the spring tension on the sight is huge, meaning that even under serious stress and impact, you are MOST LIKELY not going to have a failure. (By failure I mean failure to lock or failure to expand)
Windage adjustments are crisp, and once again the engravings make it easy to read. Also, the windage knob is very low-profile. This is great for optics, as you dont have that big knob to limit your FOV.
One of the things I like most about the sight is how there is no "lock up" mechanism, meaning that the sight does not lock into place in the up position. Some people may be saying "BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LOCKING MECHANISM OR THE SIGHT WILL JUST FOLD DOWN WHEN YOUR FIGHTING ZOMBIES!" In most cases, yes... I would agree.. but the ARMS spring tension means a few things:
1) Even if the sight is collapsed, it will not lock in the downward position, meaning it will not get caught on things (branches, slings, your shower curtain when your looking at yourself in the mirror) and the sight will spring back up if it is knocked down.
2) Under extreme shock or if the rifle is dropped, the sight will not break as the spring will absorb most of the shock and not the locking mechanism. This is something to really consider if your MIL/LE.
3) The sight should return to zero everytime.
Take a look at the size of the spring and you can see why its sturdy.
There are however several issues which have to be addressed.
1) The release lever for the sight is a little small, making it hard to actuate with gloves on.
2) The appature is kinda a pain in the ass. As previously mentioned, I am mostly using it for CQB type shooting, meaning that I use the large hole appature. Well is just so happeneds that due to the nature of the ARMS 40L-SP, the small appature is BEHIND the large one. For you switched on people who know what I am saying, it means that anytime I pop the sight up for the down position, I am looking at the small hole app. and not the large hole one! (That being said, it says on the ARMS website that the small app. can be removed.)
Still... this was a piss off, but since I am running a constant co-whittness... it doesnt REALLY matter to me.
3) Once the sight is flipped up, it takes a three handed affair to collapse it, as you have to hold up the locking lever while moving the sight into the downwards position. Moral of this story, either run it up all the time, or run it as it was designed... in case of emergency.
I am not going to get into the science behind same plain sighting (thus the SP).
PROS:
Sturdy
Well cut engravings and easy windage adjustment
Great spring tension
Slots in the top of the app. mean that you have very quick cqb sighting
CONS:
Locking lever affair
Small app. being behind the large one is a pain
Dedicated to an BUIS or co-whittness role
Overall, I would say that the sight is of good quality, but is designed for a specific use. If you are looking for a good quality BUIS the ARMS 40L-SP will serve you well. What one must realise is that you will have to dedicate training time to getting used to the 40L, and you should understand how YOU want to run the sight before purchase. Also, just because this product is pretty decent, dosent mean they all are.
Anyway, I hope I didnt bore everyone to death, and hopefully this was helpful for anyone in the market.
HH
P.S. I would not pay more than $100 for this sight.
And excuse the spelling... I just dont care anymore
