re: Are magnifiers overrated on ARs? (Sig Sauer Romeo series)

Have you considered something like the PA 2x GLx prism sight? You get a great etched reticle (still usable when battery dies), shake awake, and 20,000 hr battery life in an extremely sturdy, compact package. Main cons are eye relief (good but not unlimited like a red dot) and likely slightly slower than a red dot up close (though this can be largely mitigated with training).

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LPVO is the way to go here.


my AR has an A2 site on the front so i don't think this would work with my setup.

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My C308 has an even more bulky Cetme front sight. It looks almost exactly like this

At 1x the front sight post is visible in the lower third of the sight picture, it's gone by about 2x magnification.

Here's that rifle at 4x

If you want budget, this is the best budget LPVO I found. It's well constructed, has decent eye relief, holds zero, and has an awesome reticle. I have it on my wife's AR and it's surprisingly good. It has an illuminated dot as well as a etched reticle. As I said previously, I'm dumping my old red dot with magnifier combo. It seems like a piece of shite setup when compared to the LPVO.

Amazon

My astigmatism is pretty bad, I'm pretty 1-eye dominant, and I've gotten to the age where I now need progressive lenses (bifocals)... old-guy eyes.

So the technique of both eyes open just doesn't work well for me. If anything, the LPVO on 1x seems better than a red dot when I try to do it. I'm way more comfortable (and get on target a good deal faster), using just one eye.
It's merely a hobby and I'm not going to do however much 'training' to recondition 50+ years of optical interpretation.

One eye, I find either manner works, with caveats. Red dot by itself, I find very fast. The various cheap ones I've tried have retained zero, and I do like the shake-awake feature on the ones I have it with. That Akugesxa dot is pretty nice, you get get it off Amazon for under $60. Dimensions seem comparable to the Sig, at half the price, and I haven't found fault in the pair I own (I ordered another recently).
With a magnifier, I do find it to work ok, and the cheap one I have's glass is clear enough. I have them close, but I've still found an occasional lensflare due to the opening between the two optics. Bright sun at just the right direction, seems to get between the magnifier and dot. It's over 3 inches of relief, so I can get a good sight picture without much issue.
But flipping it around, while it seems handy, feels gimmicky, and I tend to keep it aligned instead of down.

The LPVO seems a more comfortable and easily acquired option. I think it's faster, but since mine is on the Cetme... that gun is much heavier than an AR, so I want to try one on a lighter AR. I got another coming in, going to mount it on a new upper I have, will go from there. I suspect it will be even better on the lighter gun.
The scope I have doesn't have a throw lever, but I've picked up a couple of those "ties", that you can snug around the dial. It has a large knob, and works fine for that purpose. I've seen folks talk about using them on a lot of sites, Brian Enos etc.


You can get them off Amazon, 2 for $15.
LINK

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LPVO is the way to go here.

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I’ve been trying to figure out what to put on my Aero build and my YouTube research has me believing that LPVOs are “on their way out” to being the go to optic.

Mainly due to their:

- Durability
- It isn’t a true 1x to 1x
- The parallax isn’t adjustable like a real scope


Hoplopfheil



eta: Lucas also did a comparison video in a "single take" video (no cuts/edits) with cloned rifles.

Rifle 1 - EOTech Vudu 1-8
Rifle 2 - Aimpoint T2/EOTech G43 combo

LINK

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Correct answer.

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i think it depends on what the main purpose of the rifle is.



are you a long distance shooter that wants to shoot close from time to time? LPVO is the answer. sight picture acquisition is longer but more accurate at long distance.

are you a short distance shooter that wants to stretch it out from time to time? red dot/magnifier is the answer. sight acquisition is faster but less accurate at long distance. eye relief doesn't quite matter as much compared to an LPVO.




all that said, Sportsmans Warehouse is having a sale on Sig optics this weekend. thought about picking it up as my other AR already has a red dot.

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one is no faster than the other.

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I’ll just have to take your word for it.

When I’m looking through a scope, I’m always shifting my head and eyes to get a full sight picture without the shadows around the edges. Maybe I’m doing it wrong.

With a red dot, none of that matters. It might with a magnifier, but that set up isn’t really meant for long distances like a LPVO is.

I’ve also never spent more than $500 for an optic either.

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If you're practicing with the gun, it really isn't.

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It can be minimized with practice but to say that there's zero difference doesn't match my experience. I'm faster with an Eotech than an Aimpoint, the difference is less from an Aimpoint to a good LVPO but it's there.

I don't have to clear buildings any more so the difference is probably meaningless for any situation where I might actually have to use an AR, but for the guys who still do they use red dots of some sort.