AR15 scopes

[brutus51]

Just bought a new AR, haven't even gotten it yet and the darn thing is already pulling the wallet strings for some high tech gizmos. So far I have scoped out ( no pun intended) a whole bunch of optics. A Trijicon Accupower 1x4 that I found on Amazon for $705 and a Vortex Razor HD 1x6 that a guy on you tube said I could get for just under 1K, cheapest I could find it was $1278 on Ebay.
The reason for my interest is aging eyes, I wear progressive lens glasses and I'm thinking a illuminated variable scope would be a benefit. Still shoot handguns with iron sights out to 25 yards, but no where near as good as I could 30 years ago.
I know nothing about any of this stuff so some advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hookeye]

Guy at the club had some Steiner w illuminated dot.
It was impressive.
https://www.steiner-optics.com/riflescopes/military/m5xi-military-1-5x24
Dunno what it cost, IIRC was on some DD rifle.
Holy Cow...............MSRP about 3K.

Thank goodness it was impressive to look through.

Yowza!

 

[Doc7]

What is the intended purpose of this upper and scope combination?

 

[Browning]

So far I have scoped out ... A Trijicon Accupower 1x4 that I found on Amazon for $705 and a Vortex Razor HD 1x6 that a guy on you tube said I could get for just under 1K, cheapest I could find it was $1278 on Ebay.

I remember the Trijicon 1-4 Accupower being heavier than the Razor [9 - 10 ounces or something]. It is a 1-6 over a 1-4, but it carried differently. Both are really clear.

I'd personally go with the Trijicon out of the two if I intended of carrying the rifle quite a bit. If not then the Razor would be great.

Another 1-4 to look at is the Steiner P4XI.

https://www.sportoptics.com/steiner-p4xi-rifle-scopes.aspx

 

[SharpDog]

I would hold out for one of these ... low light, digital, electronic ballistic compensation $1000:

https://www.americanrifleman.org/ar...ow-primer-sensight-ssr400-digital-riflescope/

 

[Varminterror]

What is the intended purpose of this upper and scope combination?

This is the most important question to answer before any advice can be given regarding your optic choice.

 

[brutus51]

Target shooting and home defense.

 

[Varminterror]

What range of targets? Home defense implies short ranges on relatively large targets, in which case a red dot or reflex sight makes a lot of sense. I rarely have use for a 1-4x optic, especially with 1-6x and 1-8x options on the market, but 1-4x scopes are very popular on Tactical Timmy’s fighting carbines these days.

For my rifles, I prefer to have a more versatile optic, letting me make use of the rifle which might one day save my life for more applications. A 3.5-10x or 4-16x will more often find a home on my rifles, even an SBR.

 

[Chuck R.]

Target shooting and home defense.

For HD I like an RDS, due to speed and not having to have a decent cheek-weld to make hits. For instance, shot a carbine match last Tuesday and a couple targets through a V-Tac barricade were impossible to hit using a standard shoulder mounted shooting position. Not an issue with an RDS.

For all around use, my 3Gun and coyote carbine wears a Leupold VX6 1-6X. I have no issue ringing steel out to 500 with a 6X.

Cool part about an AR is IF you spend some money on decent QD mounts, you can have both and interchange between use. Before I built my 3Gun rig, I just used my HD carbine and swapped out the optic for matches and hunts.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

For home defense I would definitely go with a red dot. Since you want magnification get a magnifier on a QD mount to use at the range. A good red dot, magnifier, and QD mount(s) would probably be less expensive than the scopes you're considering and fit your needs better.

I bought a Sig Romeo5 red dot a few months ago and have been very pleased with it so far. But your budget seems to be higher than mine was so you want want to consider an Aimpoint.

 

[FL-NC]

If most of your shooting is 100 yards and less, a red dot is hard to beat. If you think you need magnification, a 1-4 or 1- whatever number you like will be most versatile. I have a couple of red dots and a 1-6 strike eagle all from Vortex. They are good for the $ and you can't beat their guaranty.

 

[brutus51]

Primary use will be target shooting, 75 to 125 feet at the indoor range. 50 to 300 yards at the outdoor. Will visit the indoor more often as the outdoor is 60 miles away.
When I do get to the outdoor I will generally go long with other rifles better suited for the longer range.

 

[Armored farmer]

I bought a fixed 3x for my AR thinking it would be versatile and fast for general purpose shooting fron 25 yds out to 200yds. It is, but why limit yourself with low magnification?
I should have bought a 3x9 at least. Leave it set on 3x if you wish...but have the option to dial it in on the distant shots.
My $.02.

 

[BSA1]

Target shooting and home defense.

You need two AR's.

As commented you must have a large house if you need a scope for home defense. A quality Red Dot is best if you really think you need it. (I mistrust batteries).

Get a second AR and leave it set up for long range shooting. Otherwise you will be having to switch scope and Red Dot depending on why you are going shooting. Everytime you take the scope off you are going to have to rezero it when you put it back on.

With a AR intended for long range shooting you can also go with a longer barrel, a two stage trigger and other accessories such as a different buttstock.

 

[mavracer]

I have a Burris Tac30 1-4x (10" blackout), a Leupold Hog 1-4x (14.5" 450 Bushmaster), a Burris AR332 3X prism (14.5" M4ish), a Leupold Mod AR 3-9X (16" SPRish) and a 1-8X Vortex Strike Eagle (18" 308 AR).

The Burris reticle in both is great for close up and bigger targets at distance. The Hog is a great hunting scope and would work for up close fine. The 3-9 is awesome 3x isn't bad close up ( at least in to the point I'd be point shooting anyway) and the 9x mil dot is easy peasy out to 500-600 yards then 556 is winded anyway.
The Strike Eagle would be the perfect optic for your application, if it had a bigger eye box and better glass. If you've got time it works ok for long range but you need to be right behind it and eye relief just right to use 8X.

 

[coloradokevin]

If you want to shoot home defense distances with a magnified optic, you really need something that goes down to a true 1x power. There are a lot of options in the 1-4x, 1-6x, and even 1-8x range these days.

I have a Trijicon Accupower 1-8x scope on a rifle that I built as a 0-600 yard setup. But, Vortex, Burris, Khales, and others make competing scopes that are also good, and you should check some of them out, too. These will work at short ranges, but I should mention that they're a heavier option than the red dots that are usually employed for short range work.

A red dot is also an option, but you might find yourself wanting something more beyond 200 yards or so.

 

[Chuck R.]

You need two AR's.

As commented you must have a large house if you need a scope for home defense. A quality Red Dot is best if you really think you need it. (I mistrust batteries).

Get a second AR and leave it set up for long range shooting. Otherwise you will be having to switch scope and Red Dot depending on why you are going shooting. Everytime you take the scope off you are going to have to rezero it when you put it back on.

With a AR intended for long range shooting you can also go with a longer barrel, a two stage trigger and other accessories such as a different buttstock.

Buy decent mounts and you won't have to re-zero. All of mine, Larue, Scalarworks and ADM pick up less than 1/2 MOA (closer to nothing) when remounted. Plenty of independent tests on the net to verify. Here's just one that shows the largest POI shift was .22 MOA:

Overall, the return to zero performance of all the mounts was stellar, with an average zero shift across all the manufacturers of just 0.07 MOA. Most of the mounts had average shifts in the hundredths of MOA in our testing, with the Bobro turning in the smallest at 0.016 MOA and the Burris the largest at 0.22 MOA. We would hardly call our exercise unassailably scientific and hesitate to rank the mounts purely on these test results, so the overall takeaway from our testing is that the scope mounts all performed extremely well on return to zero.

https://www.recoilweb.com/guide-to-quick-detach-scope-mounts-57239.html

 

[z7]

Red dots (aimpiont for example) are great for anything short range and fast, if you like shooting small things or small groups, a magnified optic is ideal, for $1k there are lots of options, I would try to shop around and get a 1-6 or 1-8 power optic if you want magnification, it’s great to have when you want it

 

[Walkalong]

I bought a fixed 3x for my AR thinking it would be versatile and fast for general purpose shooting fron 25 yds out to 200yds. It is, but why limit yourself with low magnification?
I should have bought a 3x9 at least. Leave it set on 3x if you wish...but have the option to dial it in on the distant shots.
My $.02.

Size/weight is why for me. Have the same Nikon 3X on an AR. Although these days some of the 1xXYZ scopes are getting pretty small.

 

[MistWolf]

An LPV for a defense AR is a good choice when the shooter needs to be able to focus the optic to their eye. If a shooter has problems focusing on a front sight, all too often they'll have problems focusing on a red dot as well.

 

[Chuck R.]

An LPV for a defense AR is a good choice when the shooter needs to be able to focus the optic to their eye. If a shooter has problems focusing on a front sight, all too often they'll have problems focusing on a red dot as well.

Agreed

But, I have an astigmatism and I still do pretty well at HD distances and beyond with a RDS. Last week we had carbine night at our IDPA club and I won the match using an Aimpoint Patrol model on my Colt AR6951. The dot looked like a combination of a starburst and a twisted figure 8 at times but I got by. The majority of the targets required headshots with the 4" circle zero pints down zone at distances further than I can expect a shot in my house. I can also ring steel with it at 100y reliably.

Not good for precision work by any means, but "OK" for HD.

 

[Walkalong]

The dot looked like a combination of a starburst and a twisted figure 8 at times

Mine's not that bad yet, thankfully, but I do like a low powered optic over red dots anymore if I want to see the target clearly. Dots are still fast if the target is big enough and bright white like when shooting steel.

 

[Chuck R.]

Mine's not that bad yet, thankfully, but I do like a low powered optic over red dots anymore if I want to see the target clearly. Dots are still fast if the target is big enough and bright white like when shooting steel.

Same here, it's like the old adage...I can see the sights OR the tgt clearly, just not both.....

 

[brutus51]

Went with the Trijicon accupower 1-4 based on price point and feedback received. Looked at offerings from all the major players, really liked the Vortex Razor but at twice the price of the Trijicon I couldn't see any big advantage, plus the Trijicon was much smoother at magnification adjustment compared to the Vortex which took more effort to adjust.

 

[IndianaBoy]

Good choice on a LPVO. Trijicon makes great optics. I have a Razor and I love it but I would not be upset to use the Trijicon for the same purposes.

IMHO if you buy a good quality optic the only downside of the LPVO vs the red dot is weight.