Here's a few data points related to the subject matter.
Optic Observations (1 - 4X Variable Scopes)
Bright light! Bright light!
The pic below shows a view looking through an Aimpoint M4S with its illumination at the highest setting. The target in the view has two very bright, white photography lights shining on it from a distance of less than 2 feet; basically the brightest ambient light that I was able to produce indoors.
Now, here is a pic using the exact same setup of lights and target, except this time the optic used is a Schmidt & Bender Short Dot LE.
Here are the two views, side by side.
Horton Sees a Hue
The pic below shows a view looking through a Short Dot LE with the magnification set at 1.1X. The chimney in the middle of the view is approximately 100 yards away. Notice the orange leaves and bricks, the green shingles and the white and yellow aluminum siding. Also notice that the only hue, in the view, that remotely resembles a shade of blue, is the small patch of sky near 3 o’clock.
Colors
There has been a lot of bandwidth devoted to the color of reticles as of late, particularly the color green. Pictured below is a view through a Trijicon TR24-G, which has the green triangle reticle. The scope is “aimed” at a target that is 25 feet away, in a pitch dark room!
Here is the same view, only this time looking through a Trijicon TR24-R, which has the red triangle reticle.
Both views, side by side.
Now, here are the same scopes, in the same set-up, with the only thing different being a switched-on SureFire X300 white light attached to the left rail of the handguard.
Radioactive.
The major weakness of most optics that utilize tritium and fiber optics to illuminate the reticle has been the “washing out” of the reticle when aiming into a brightly lit area from a dark area. The Trijicon TR24 series of Accupoints has vastly improved this situation, although not completely eliminated it.
The view below is looking through a TR24-G that is in a darkened area of the house, looking into a brightly lit area. As you can see, the fiber optics are not being fed enough light to brightly illuminate the reticle and the tritium is having a hard time overcoming the brightness of the target area. The reticle is certainly still usable, although not ideal.
This is the type of situation in which scopes with battery powered illuminated reticles really shine (no pun intended.) The next picture shows the same set-up as above, but looking through a NightForce NXS 1-4 x 24 at 1X magnification with the illumination on.
Again the same set-up, this time looking through a Short Dot LE at 1.1X magnification with the illumination on.
The Ruler of Truth
Pictured below is a view of an Aimpoint M4S with a metal ruler running through its field of view and beyond. Notice that the lines formed by the top and bottom edges of the ruler continue uninterrupted when passing through the Aimpoint’s field of view. Notice that the numbers and graduation marks are the exact same size, both inside the Aimpoint’s field of view and out. This is “true” 1X magnification; that is to say, no magnification at all.
The next view has the ruler running through the field of view of an EOTech HoloSight. Again, the lines of the ruler continue uninterrupted and the ruler remains the exact same size inside the EOTech’s fied of view and out.
Now, let’s apply the Ruler of Truth to what many here have called a “true 1X” optic, the Trijicon Accupoint TR24-R. The magnification ring is set to 1X in the view below.
As you can clearly see, the lines formed by the edges of the ruler are shifted when running through the field of view of the TR24-R and the ruler is clearly larger inside the field of view of the TR24-R; that is to say, the ruler is MAGNIFIED.
The Ruler of Truth applied to a NightForce 1- 4 x 24 NXS with the magnification ring set to 1X reveals the same findings.
The Ruler of Truth applied to a Short Dot LE with the magnification ring set to 1.1X shows little difference from the NightForce NXS on 1X.
In truth, since the “true 1X” scopes are not truly without magnification in the truest sense of the word like an Aimpoint or EOTech, the only thing that truly matters is, can these optics be easily used with human binocular vision; that is, both eyes opened and focused on the target at the same time? The answer is a resounding yes, just as it is with the Short Dot LE at 1.1X magnification.
Focus On The Front Sight
Here's a view of the front sight when looking through an Aimpoint M4S.
This view is looking through a NightForce NXS 1-4 x 24 at 1X magnification.
12 O'Clock High
Weighing In
Trijicon TR24 with LaRue SPR-E mount:
1 pound, 6 ounces
Aimpoint M4S combined with Aimpoint 3X magnifier, both in LaRue mounts:
1 pound 6.8 ounces
NightForce 1- 4 x 24 NXS with LaRue SPR-S mount:
1 pound, 7.5 ounces
Schmidt & Bender Short Dot LE with a LaRue SPR-E mount:
1 pound, 11.1 ounces
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