Which EOTech Holographic Sight

I have an older EoTech and you just can't get a better reticule then the orginial 1MOA dot & 65 MOA circle for fast use.

I see nothing but confusion with two dots inside the circle.

As for quick-release?
Mine comes off in about 10 seconds if I have a coin in my pocket that fits the clamp screw slot.
Thats fast enough for me.

Once I mounted it and zeroed it years ago, it's never been off again though.

rc

I had an XPS2-2 (2 Dots) but sold it off last year b/c I'm really an Aimpoint kinda guy. That said, the XPS2-2 was the best EOTech I've ever used. The size was nice and compact, battery life was very close to the advertised lifespan, and the 2 dots made it much easier for my eyes to resolve for close-range, quick shooting. I need corrective lenses, so for me the 2 dot system worked better in a pinch (as opposed to the single dot) when I wasn't wearing my glasses. The huge circle wasn't very useful for me, but the 2 dots helped a lot. The second dot was also capable of landing rounds on a man-sized target at 500 yards.

Those new EXPS and XPS optics are the best ones EOTech has ever made IMO.

The "huge circle" is actually a quick & dirty combat use range finder.

65MOA = 5' 7" at 100 yards.
Or about the height of an average standing solder.

So, framing a solder in the circle is 100 yards, circle to dot (half circle) is 200 yards, etc.

rc

Can you be talked into the more-reliable Aimpoints instead?

Try primary arms.

I have the 512. Smaller would be nice, but AA batteries are hard to beat. I have the 65moa ring and dot, wouldn't like two dots. Could someone provide a link or refernce to why an Eotech would be less reliable than an Aimpoint?

I run an XPS2-0 and I love it. I can range find with the 65 MOA ring (as rc said), my eye picks up the dot way faster with the ring over an Aimpoint's dot only. Transverse battery mounts fixes the reported terminal problems from long ago. Battery life is nice and long if you dont want/need it on 24/7.

I just love the new XPS series. Aimpoint has battery life advantage but thats it as far as Im concerned. Aimpoints also require additional cost for a mount too. The new Eotechs are reported to be just as durable as Aimpoints, and my experience has verified that for me. Ive sold my old T1 to a friend who picked up a SIG556 and havent looked back. Oh, its US made in MI too as a bonus.

I knew of the battery life diference, but I wouldn;t call that a reliability issue. 1100 hours runtime on lithiums, and two more in the magpul grip for 2200 hours combined run time. Not to mention I always use the 4 hour auto off. I don't think I'll be running home for batteries any time soon.

I really don't know all of the differences among the models that you linked to.

Just consider your options. First, IF I was the get an Eotech, it would be XPS model. I really like the transverse mounted battery, which I believe adds to the durability and reliability of the sight.

As far as the QD mount goes, I can't tell what sort of mount it is. If it is the sort that has a lever on the cross bolt, I'd probably take a pass on that. I've seen those sorts break. As mentioned above, the standard mounting system is pretty fool proof and all you need is a coin to mount the sight and the chances of over torquing the screw with a coin are pretty slim.

As for which model to get, it depends on you. I prefer to have the buttons on the back. I just plain find it easier to adjust from a shooting position. Of course, having the buttons on the side can be a benefit, if you plan to run some sort of magnifier. Getting to the buttons on the back with a magnifier mounted can be a pain in the butt.

floorit, I don't think that the XPS gets 1100 hours of runtime on a single battery. I think it's more like half that, at what they call a nominal setting, which I've always found to be too low.

Still, keeping backup batteries should make this a no big deal thing.

I also prefer the standard eotech reticle. 65 MOA circle with the 1 MOA dot. It is fast and one of the reasons that I run that type of reticle. Shooting at close range at torso sized targets is super fast.

floorit76 said:

I knew of the battery life diference, but I wouldn;t call that a reliability issue. 1100 hours runtime on lithiums, and two more in the magpul grip for 2200 hours combined run time. Not to mention I always use the 4 hour auto off. I don't think I'll be running home for batteries any time soon.

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EOtechs have proven to have reliability issues reaching far beyond battery life.

But now that you mention it...multiple years of being continuously on with an Aimpoint is pretty nice.

1100 hours is what Eotech claims for the 512, with lithium batteries.
As for reliability, until I see a link to a reputable source, I don't buy it.

floorit76 said:

1100 hours is what Eotech claims for the 512, with lithium batteries.
As for reliability, until I see a link to a reputable source, I don't buy it.

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Would you consider veterans of the armed forces who oversaw a decent numbers of EOtechs, who have returned and told us all about how a very high percentage of them failed, to be a 'reputable source'?

Would you consider a long list of threads made by present and past owners of EOtechs, who have told us about how theirs failed, to be a 'reputable source'?

OK, I really don't want to get off on a tangent here, but since the OP is thinking of buying an Eotech, I'll say that you really have to take those runtime figures with a grain of salt.

Many, many here on THR and other sites have reported problems with battery life in the 511 and 512 models, from batteries going dead in storage due to the circuit drawing power when the unit is off to the batteries just plain needing constant replacement.

As for the reliability, you are your own best source for that information, just as I am my own best source for that information. I know that I've killed six 511s and 512s. I just got sick of having to deal with them. If fact, I gave my last one away to someone here on THR.

As I said above, if I was going to buy an Eotech now, it would be the XPS model, if for no other reason than the transverse mounted battery compartment. This design, at the least, relieves some of the stress that the battery contacts endure under recoil.

EDIT: It looks like Warp was typing while I was.

There are a FEW reports that the older Eotech models would turn off under harsh recoil and the battery terminals would go TU also. Only a very few reports have ever been made but, yes, Warp is right, they are documented and they do exist.

With Eotech changing to the new transverse mount (XPS models) I have yet to hear, yet seen real reports, of this happening. However, if Warp or anyone else has any proof of this itd be greatly appreciated to share the info. Anything can break and I dont like taking chances when me or my families life could be on the line. Every report Ive seen has shown the XPS line to be solid and the old issues are just that....OLD.

As I said, to ME, the only advantage the Aimpoint has is battery life. If its detrimental for you not to have your RDS on 24/7, go Aimpoint. Its a solid, proven, sight. I dont feel the need to have my Eotech on 24/7 for years at a time, and cant forsee a situation where that would be a deal breaker so Ive chosen the new XPS sights until I see info proving otherwise.

Considering I spent 2 weeks reading everything I could find before making my purchase, and seeing nothing about reliability problems. The word of someone from the internet, that I don't know, makes it tough to swallow. Your making the claim, back it up.

TonyAngel said:

OK, I really don't want to get off on a tangent here, but since the OP is thinking of buying an Eotech, I'll say that you really have to take those runtime figures with a grain of salt.

Many, many here on THR and other sites have reported problems with battery life in the 511 and 512 models, from batteries going dead in storage due to the circuit drawing power when the unit is off to the batteries just plain needing constant replacement.

As for the reliability, you are your own best source for that information, just as I am my own best source for that information. I know that I've killed six 511s and 512s. I just got sick of having to deal with them. If fact, I gave my last one away to someone here on THR.

As I said above, if I was going to buy an Eotech now, it would be the XPS model, if for no other reason than the transverse mounted battery compartment. This design, at the least, relieves some of the stress that the battery contacts endure under recoil.

EDIT: It looks like Warp was typing while I was.

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Great minds think alike.

floorit76 said:

Considering I spent 2 weeks reading everything I could find before making my purchase, and seeing nothing about reliability problems. The word of someone from the internet, that I don't know, makes it tough to swallow. Your making the claim, back it up.

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Where did you do your research?

I'm not going to be drug into an arguement about my research. I read all over on the web, just like everybody. You obviosly have a beef with eotech, cool, don't buy one. I did, and so far am very happy. I gave my opinion, and you gave yours. I'm done here.

Considering I spent 2 weeks reading everything I could find before making my purchase, and seeing nothing about reliability problems. The word of someone from the internet, that I don't know, makes it tough to swallow. Your making the claim, back it up.

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floorit, I know that you already bought your sight, but man, you are really barking up the wrong tree on this one. If you did thorough research before making your purchase, you really had a hole in your research results. I wish that I would have had the benefit of being able to research the Eotechs before I bought them.

Believe me, when the 511s and the 512s hit the market, we (shooters as a whole), who had an interest in the sight, really wanted to like it and were hoping that it would be all that we had hoped. It really turned out not to be.

Think about it. A holographic sight for $350? What's not to love? Except that they kept breaking and giving owners fits with the blinking on and off and the batteries dying.

Believe me, I wanted to love them. How do you think I wound up going through so many of them? It took a while, but I finally came to the realization that they weren't such a good deal.

I'll admit that I killed three of them while running them on top of a .50 Beowulf. I finally called Eotech and they told me that those sights are not rated for the Beowulf, so you know what I did? I put an Aimpoint on top of the Beowulf and guess what? No more problems.

One of these days, I might give another Eotech a chance and try an XPS for myself, but that isn't going to happen unless I start to have problems with my TA44S-10 ACOGs.

DAdams, btw, that's a nice rifle. Is that the Daniel Defense rail on there?

And now for the rest of the story?

Smaller would be nice, but AA batteries are hard to beat.

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I think it's well past time some folks re-think their battery choices, or rethink the battery thing a bit?
1. I see lots of folks wanting "easily found" AA over CR123, but with the shelf life of CR123, why would you not have some spares?
2. If the Apocalypse comes, you think you're going to run out for easily found AAs?
3. Some folks like those cheap, readily available AAs, but do you really want to put alkalines in your $500 sight? In the old days of cheap flashlights, whenever I had batteries take a dump in the light, I just tossed the light and bought another. With the price of today's high-tech toys, ain't gonna be no tossing of the device if some alkalines leak and totally screw up the innards, and I will be pursuing repair / replacement of the damaged device using the battery maker's warranty.
4. Which leads us to lithium batteries (as the CR123s). Yes, you can buy excellent lithium AA's in order to minimize the possiblity of leakage, and get a shelf life equivalent to CR123s, but now you've made those "easily found" AAs a little harder to find, and you've also negated any price advantage those "cheaper" AAs had over CR123s (I can buy name brand CR123s cheaper than I can buy Energizer Ultimate Lithiums at Walmart). The wider temperature operating range of lithiums is another bonus.

Just a little food for thought on the battery front?

AFA EOTechs draining their batteries - it hasn't been so in my case.
Maybe they had a bad run, changed their design, or maybe it was more of a case of the batteries folks used in them instead of the sight itself?

Anywho...I have an old EOTech (2 AA Energizer Ultimate Lithiums in it) and it seems to store well with no apparent battery drainage.
I also have one of the newer EXPS models, and I sure do like the compact size / singe CR123 better than my older, bigger model with AAs.

basic makes a good point with the batteries. The CR123s are quite common and Lithium AAs aren't cheap. I standardized on CR123s a long time ago. You can get good cells for around $1 a piece. I've actually been ordering mine from Botach lately.

^^Agree.

Also I choose weapon mounted lights to take CR123s for commonality. Most everyones lights take 123s now anyways.

'Bout the only thing I use alkaline AAs in these days are TV etc remotes, electronic house thermostat, and a few clocks - stuff that is subjected to a long, slow, steady drain, and is in a climate controlled environment.

I had alkalines in an outside remote transmitter for an indoor clock / thermometer, but seasonal temperature swings seemed to really do a number on the life of the alkalines. I've since switched to Engergizer Ulitmate Lithiums with much better results. Despite the much higher price, they're probably cheaper / a wash in the long run, as they don't have to be changed as often due to seasonal temperature swings apparently killing them.

All my vehicles now have Streamlight PT-2Ls (CR123) in the glove box - I still have my old mini-Maglite with alkaline AAs that was previously in my glove box.
Apparently, the alkalines have leaked, as I can't get the end cap off, even with a pair of Channel Locks!

No more alkalines for me when it comes to temperature swings.

I've had an Eotech 512.a65 for several years now, with no complaints. It has held its zero excellently. I have had no issues with reliability - but my days of rapelling with my gear are long over. However, the 512 has survived more than one tumble off the bench with no ill effects.

I have no complaint with the CR batteries, but I do have a (very) minor grumble about the tension springs contacting the batteries - you might want to remember that might they be re-stretched when changing batteries so they make firm contact. I don't use a magnifier, so the on/off buttons are fine for me on the back - but if I did use a magnifer I could see accessing those buttons becoming a bit awkward.

I almost got an Aimpoint for my other 16", but the sales guy at the shop was such a fan-boy trashing my Eotech he actually soured me from completing the purchase.

It's just a tool - pick the tool the suits your eyes best.