Sight/scope for ar-15

Two questions for you first.

What distances do you want to shoot...and how accurate do you hope to be. Meaning, do you want to hit a man sized target at 300 yards or are you wanting tight groups at 100?

How much are you willing to spend on a scope and a detachable mount?

I can offer you suggestions but need to know more first.

I have an EoTECH on my close quarters gun, a ACOG on one and a 4-16 Weaver on my long range AR.

EoTech doesn't need a mount since it's built in. Around $400.
4X ACOG and LaRue Detachable mount near $1000.
Weaver 4-16 and mount was about $500.

There are plenty of good choices and many bad ones. DON'T buy cheap chinese, your Colt will reject it.

 

+1 for staying away from cheap junk. It's just that, junk.

Eotech is a fine sight for up close and works OK at longer ranges, the reticle is terrible I think and grainy compared to say, an ACOG. With a bit of practice, you can be quite fast up close with an ACOG and for certain you have a huge advantage at range.

A leupold CQT 1-3x tactical scope is (big) a very nice optic for mostly up close work, about $800. 3/9 MOA dot and a large ring, it's fixed but also illuminates if desired with a single AA battery. If money is no problem, an Elcan Spectre is about the best sight that is manufactured IMO, 1-6x with a flip of a lever and a ACOG like reticle with illumination either reticle or just a dot. It's big, ugly and does it all. (and something like a $3k+ price tag)

Aimpoints are about $400-500 and serve very well at lesser rather than more range but if your battery runs dead and don't have another, your down to flip up sights as there's no reticle, just a dot.

 

I say decide whether you want to be able to have fast, quick shots while having a wide open view of your peripherals,

OR

a scope to zoom in close so you can see your shots and be much, MUCH more precise and accurate.

Red dot style sights are generally not magnified, but there are 1.5x 2x, 3x and 4x sights. For scopes, 3-9x is common. 4-12x, 6-18x, and even higher for extreme long range.

 

I'm a fan of a 2-7X32 scope on an AR-15. It's comfortable out to 200 yards and is also perfect on the lower settings at close range. I also use a 50/200 zero meaning that I use an initial near zero at 50 yards, which also puts me just slightly high at 200 yards. The bullet will stay +/- 2" out to 260 yards.

 

yep, I'm loving the 2-7x scopes that are out there now, they fill a very wide sector. I plan on mounting a leupold 2-7x on my M1A as it will work great from 0-1000m.

I think the OP is looking for a reflex optic though, that scope is more of a 'if ya have to up close it's OK' but really meant for a little distance. Eye relief being the major detractor for speed vs. a reflex optic.

 

7x magnification for 1,000 meters?

 

sure! I also shoot 1000m with iron sights. (not very often anymore though, maybe once or twice a year) course that's usually shooting at a 5' bullseye. you don't need intense magnification to shoot long distance, just to ID a target. 7 power puts you a lot closer than 1

I just carry a good set of binos to ID a target but the scope doesn't really make much difference to me; I'm used to iron sights for a lot of stuff so anytime a scope is available I'm pretty happy with whatever magnification I have. Highest magnification I own is 9 I think, father has the indoor target scope right now.

on the flipside, I've used 16+ power scopes at 50', haha!

 

I am one of the people who will recommend the EOTech. I have two ARs and I have an EOTech XPS3-0 on one of them and a XPS3-2 on the other one. The difference is the 3-0 has a 1 dot (in circle) reticle and the 3-2 has a 2 dot (in circle) reticle. I shoot them both at mostly 100 yards and I will not tell you that I can shoot MOA but I can keep all of the shots inside an 8 inch round target. The one with 2 dots is designed to shoot at 100 yard on the top dot and 200 yards on the lower dot but I have not shot it at 200 yards.

If you need magnification, there is a small scope that is designed to use with the EOTech. I can not remember the name of it but it might be the ACOG that gunhugger mentioned.

 

An EoTech with a 3X or 5X magnifier. Here's one with the magnifier shown in the flip to the side position.


Flipped down...

 

Just bought a Burris AR-536. Its a fixed 5x tactical scope. Good out to 600 yards....under $300