All posts tagged Trijicon ECOS

Probable the best all around ACOG?

There isn’t a do it all rifle scope, but some day there will be.  Technology always improves and better weapons and technology is always down the road.    Half a Century ago the military made the decision that the 7.62 round was more than what was need for most combat operations and changed over to the M16.   Not only was the 5.56 round a adequate round you could easily issue 2xs as much ammunition.   Combat optics normally meant an optic that magnified up to 10x and were not suitable for use on semi-auto or full auto weapons.  That is now ancient history and Eotech gun sights, Aimpoint and Trijicon are up to the task.

There are so many different types of optics from Trijicon that are worthy of being put on  your M4 Carbine, but the best one in my opinion is the TA01NSN.   The back up iron sights are already there and really are more of a secondary close range optic.  The 4x magnification on the Trijicon ACOGS can slow you down under 50YDs and you may be better off just moving your eyes to your secondary sights.   No flip up sights or flip to the side.   Eotech gun sights are outstanding for short range shooting and seem to be very popular in the Law Enforcement Community.   Aimpoint and Trijicon seem to be more geared towards Military operations and longer deployments.

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Still my favorite Trijicon combat optic

Not all of the Trijicon optics work for every situation, if they did there would only be one Trijicon ACOG.  I remember the first time I saw these bad boys and I was blow away at  how cool they were too look through.  Seeing a scope with bullet comp was not that common and really just finding a scope that could hold up to a semi-auto military style rifle was hard and I mostly saw hunting optics like Leupold rifle scopes for guys trying to target shoot.   It was not very common in the 1980s and 1990s to see rifle scopes on AR15s.

If I had all of the money in the world I’d probable own everything that Trijicon has out, but I’m  not so I have to be very selective on what I buy because if the bullet comp or the reticle does not suit my needs then it was a waste of money.  I have been and always will be an LWRC Fan and I have several Trijicon TA01NSN on my primary LWRC M6A2.   I have recently purchased a suppressor and I will be looking into getting an LWRC M6A5 when they become available.  As far as I know the only difference between the LWRC M6A5 and it’s predecessor is the gas selector is a 2 position and not a 4.

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Accessories to rifle scopes for hunting or military applications

Anyone that has been at a firing range and done long range shooting is probable aware of the issue of scope glare.   For those that want to understand the sniper/counter sniper training, one of the first things you are going to learn is how to conceal your weapon in and environment.  The achilles heal of a sniper can sometimes be the optics that he needs to bring with him.  Scope glare is what ends a snipers life and in most situations, there is always the potential that a rifle scope will give off some level of glare.   Trijicon was aware of this when they were deploying the ACOGS in the MiddleEast and the flash kill is a must for those doing street work.  For police work or certain environments the high visibility of the Trijicon Fiber Optics cable can also have it’s unwanted attention, and some actually cover there so they are only partially exposed.

I have scope covers on all of my optics because I’ve put guns away in gun safes and had things fall on them where if they did not have covers,  I might be out several hundred if not thousands of dollars.   Trijicon Rifle Scopes are for military or hunting applications.   The Trijicon Accupoint gives you a unique reticle that is highly visible, but most of this is about preference. Trijicon reticles can vary dramatically depending on what the optics intended mission is.   There are traditional long range shooting optics with Mil-dots and are also heavily used for designated marksmen as well as sniper roles

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Something to consider for AK optics that’s new

I’ve gone through many trends with firearms and optics.   Most people start out with iron sights and a bolt action but there is nothing wrong with starting someone out with an AR15A2 style gun.    In my opinion all combat firearms should have backup iron sights on them and every AR15 style carbine has that option.   Some firearms do not handle optics very well, especially many of the battle rifles that came out of the NATO Countries in the last century.   Optics have gotten stronger, but some mounts just don’t hold up in the real world.   The AK style of firearms were very limited with the types of optics that  you could mount on them.  If you have a side rail you would have to worry about some serious cheek weld issues due to the heights of various optics.

I recently watched a video on the Personal Defense Network where Rob Pincus goes over some improvements that you can make to the AK rifles to improve the ergonomics.   One optic that I have fallen in love with recently is the Trijicon ACOG 1.5×16 ring and dot.  You can get them in red or green ring and in my humble opinion, these optics give you a real reason to not get an Eotech gun sight.   The Eotech will give you a larger field of view, but the 1.5 magnification gives you a little help in identifying something just a little further out.  The red ring has more clarity than the Eotech gun sight and didn’t have the haze that some optics give you.

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Changes in combat optics are around the horizon

There have been many changes in recent years away from the tradition long tube rifle scopes.   There has been a steady trend away from magnification and most combat optics are now either zero magnification or less than 4x.    There are many things that I wish they made, but technology is not there yet, but it soon will be.  I love the Eotech gun sights, but the dependency on batteries is a major drawback.   The Eotech magnifier is so popular that many are using them with Aimpoint optics.   The wide object and fighter plane combat gun sight really make the Eotech a great close up fighting optic.

There are a lot of preferences  out there and it’s another one one those age old debates, but it’s really all about what you are going to  use a combat optics for which makes it worth the price.  Trijicon ACOGS have had many changes and I often have to refer to the Trijicon catalog to remember all of the changes.   I’ve heard rumblings that the ACOG DOC sights aren’t being made anymore or they are going to be modified because they keep getting sheered off.  It kind of reminds me of the guys bitching about Blackhawk Serpa holsters that got sheered off during a police chase.

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Magnification from 0-20x

Trijicon ACOGOne problem that any hunter already knew was using too much magnification meant slow target acquisition, especially at close ranges.   Field of view is even more important in combat than in hunting.   In Combat you may be looking at a bad guys face with your reticle right on him, but 6ft to his right is a guy with his sights right on you that you can’t see.  I’d have to say that I belive that 3x-4x is probable the best of both worlds.   Trijicon knew that even an optic with zero magnification like the Eotech had an edge in some situations so now they have Trijicon ECOS which has a red dot optic which sits on top of the scope.  This will eliminate the problem of magnification in close quarters situations.

As The United States has been engaged in military operations since Sept 11th, there have been major changes in gear and combat optic for the Infantryman.   Most M16 rifles had iron sights on them, but now the vast majority of rifles being used are using some kind of Trijicon ACOGs  on them.   I still see the occassional hunting scope from Leupold and Designated Marksmen are common in every team.   The Eotech is still an extremely popular close quarters combat fighting optic due to its zero magnification and easy to track gun sight, but there are drawbacks, namely the battery operation.   Magnification has helped our men and women identify targets, wires, explosives ect. from safe distances and give the ability to put fast followup shots by using bullet calibration on their Trijicon ACOGs.

 

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