Optics & Red Dots

Articles and podcast episodes on pistol and rifle optics, red-dot sights, LPVOs, mounting, zeroing, angular measurement, durability, selection, and practical employment.

The M68 Close Combat Optic

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For Tactics, Techniques and Procedures Thursday, we are continuing our discussion on optics. Specifically, we will be discussing the M68 Close Combat Optic, or CCO. The reference for this is TM 9-1240-413-13P dated may 2013, and TC 3-22.9, Change 1 dated January 2017 What Is the M68 Close Combat Optic? The close combat optic (CCO), … Read more

Units of Angular Measurement for Optics

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For Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures Thursday, we are continuing our discussion from last week about optics. Specifically, we are discussing how do we know if our projectile is going to hit a target at a certain distance? What is a way for a Paratrooper to know how accurate their weapon is? Or how accurate their … Read more

Battlesight Zero

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Those who carry guns for a living know the world isn’t a nicely manicured flat range and threats will present at differing distances. You won’t have an opportunity to dial in your DOPE to take the shot when you need to. To counter this, anyone not using an optic equipped with a bullet drop compensator … Read more

Low Power Variable Optics

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We will be discussing optics, and what trends there are in the civilian market that may carry over to the military force modernization efforts. One of the biggest trends in the optics market for firearms the past few years has been in Low-Power Variable Optics. For the Definition of this discussion, a low-power variable optic … Read more

Aimpoint RDS and Pistol Mounting PSA

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Editor’s note: This article reflects information available when it was originally published. Laws, policies, products, personnel, technical standards, and recommended practices may have changed. Verify time-sensitive details through current authoritative sources before relying on them.

Aimpoint RDS and Pistol mounting PSA Last year I finally got into the RDS equipped Glock game, using a ALG Defense 6 Second Mount on a Gen 4 Glock 22. About 100 rounds into learning the gun, the dot disappeared. I contacted Aimpoint, and they took care of replacing the pre 2009 well used and abused 4 MOA T-1 with a new 2 MOA T1. In the meantime I used another pre 2009 used and abused 4 MOA T-1 on that gun. It had no issues in the mean time.   A couple months ago, I received a testing model of the Raven Concealment Balor optic mount. I took the used 4 MOA T-1 and put it on the Balor and then mounted it on the Gen 4 Glock 22. About 200 rounds into it, well dot/dial broke. Again, I contacted Aimpoint. Aimpoint rapidly took care of warranty work on this, but more importantly for those interested in a Aimpoint RDS on a Glock, I received the following advice. While there is no proof that the Aimpoint T-1 family is being killed on pistols, there have been more than one optic killed when mounted to a pistol. While researching that, Aimpoint realized that the majority of the T-1’s being killed were older with a certain tech improvement that started on the T-2 series. The improvement is seen when you remove the battery. As you can see in the following picture, there are 3 “nubs” (for lack of better term) on the copper disc. This is the old tech. This is on the new tech – starting roughly mid 2015 production T-1 family (2 MOA usually). This has 16 nubs on it. This is shown on a 2 MOA T1 I got last summer in warranty repair/replacement from Aimpoint. The other 2 MOA T1 I bought last year in the mid summer from a Aimpoint distributor doesn’t have the 16 nubs, meaning it was existing stock. Just be aware of this if you happen to need a Aimpoint RDS for a Glock. For more discussion on Aimpoint RDS, be sure to check out the discussion on the various Primary And Secondary outlets.

Related: Optics & Red Dots Hub

Why I Have A Red Dot On My Pistol – Part 2

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After receiving a lot of great feedback regarding my first offering, I decided to write a follow up article based on the questions I received. Again, I want to reiterate that I am by no means a subject matter expert. I am sharing this as a regular guy that trains a lot (400 to 600 … Read more

Why I Have A Red Dot On My Pistol – Part 1

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Red Dot Sights (RDS) are possibly the single biggest innovation on the pistol platform in recent years. But just like any “new” thing, it has its evangelists and its naysayers. Is it a valuable tool to help you protect you and your loved ones or is it just an expensive accessory to live out your … Read more