In my recent article, AR15: One of your best options when SHTF, I wrote about the benefits of having an AR15 in your gun safe. While I covered many of the reasons why the AR15 is such a good choice for a SHTF gun what I did not address were some of the specific modifications which many people choose to employ when upgrading their gun from a slick (iron sights) platform to something with an optic on the rail. The affordability, popularity, and usefulness of red dot optics often make them the first purchase for AR owners when deciding to upgrade their gun and for good reason. The addition of a quality red dot will enhance the user’s capability to acquire targets faster and quite often engage those targets with more accuracy out to distances of 300 meters or more versus using traditional iron sights.
Two of the most often talked about and utilized optics for the AR15 are the Aimpoint and Eotech. Both of these optics are used extensively by our armed forces, competition shooters and weekend plinkers. They are relatively affordable, both rugged and durable and set the bar when it comes to what should be on the top rail of most AR15’s. We are all capable of reading the stats published on each of the respective company’s websites, so what I would like to cover are my impressions while actually employing these optics out in the operational environment. In case you were wondering I do own both and that is the knowledge I will draw upon for the writing of this article.
For starters let’s toss up some pics for reference. Aimpoint first and Eotech second.
I should note that for this comparison I will be writing about the Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optic, and the Eotech XPS2, while not the most exclusive models either company offers they are very comparable to each other and have a great starting retail price. With the pictures up as reference let’s break down some of the sustains (I like it) and needs improvement (could be better) arguments.
Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optic.
Sustain
- Attaches / detaches to the gun quickly. Large knob makes this very easy to do by hand.
- Flip up covers protect the lenses while not in use, can even shoot while leaving back cover in place.
- Tubular design compliments the look and feel of the standard AR15 more, almost a legacy look.
- 2 MOA (Minute of Angle) dot is very crisp and has almost infinite adjustments depending on lighting conditions.
- Battery life is off the charts, leave it on for 3 years straight and fugghetaboutit.
- Practically indestructible, a very rugged design that is well proven.
- Comes with spacer which allows for use on AR and other platforms, kinda cool.
- While engaging near (50 meters and closer) the ability to shoot with both eyes open is an obvious advantage, put the dot on target and squeeze off while maintaining peripheral vision (situational awareness).
- Crisp 2 MOA dot allows for engaging targets at distance with accuracy as well
- Unlimited eye relief and parallax free (no centering required) operation are great features.
- Compact on the rail, leaves room for backup iron sights.
Needs Improvement
- While awesome for battery life, the 3V lithium is not easily found at most retail outlets and would be much less so during SHTF.
- Removing covers (and leaving them off) during zeroing operations (making adjustments) is sort of a pain, in that they bang around while you are moving the gun.
- For very quick target acquisition (multiple targets under 25 meters) the single 2 MOA dot is not as “fast” as the HALO/dot combo provided by the Eotech.
Eotech XPS2
Sustain
- Halo ring combined with dot make for very quick target acquisition. Instead of focusing on the dot itself you can focus on ensuring your target is simply “within the kill ring” or halo ring before engaging. While probably only milliseconds faster than only using the 2 MOA Aimpoint dot, it can lead to a more confident/accurate shooter.
- Adjustment screws are not covered which makes for quicker tweaking/round placement manipulation during zeroing procedures.
- Unlimited eye relief and parallax free shooting just like the Aimpoint offers.
- 123 Lithium battery is more readily available than the 3V lithium of the Aimpoint
- Check battery indicator (flashing on startup) is a nice feature.
- Very rugged and reliable design, no worries when getting it wet or dropping it (I have done both).
- Very compact, leaves plenty of room for backup iron sights or a magnifier.
Needs Improvement
- You either like the blocky design or you don’t, I prefer the tradition Aimpoint design.
- Two button design for on/off is more complicated than the single knob of the Aimpoint, tougher to operate with one hand while keeping the gun up in the ready position.
- Attaching/detaching from the rail is not as easy as the Aimpoint, you need a screwdriver or really strong fingers.
- Battery life (left on) is about 30 days, pales in comparison to the Aimpoint.
- No covers on the lenses and while not that big of a deal they still remain unprotected while not in use.
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