Elcan Specter DR 1-4x
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
Nairb Snosrap
Amateur
Yes I have experience using this optic. It's heavy as shit and you can buy 2 ACOGs for 1 Elcan and still have money left over. It's a machine-gun optic. I'd save your money. They look cool, but that's about the only advantage over an ACOG.
Nothing to add. Other than zero retention issues. Arms throw levers (rusting metal injection molded pieces of shit) and external vertical adjustment. This allows sand and grit to get in between the metal gears of the optic and wear it down over time. This will result in your clicks no longer holding true.
Someone mentioned that is the same as the iron sights on the M16A2, and they are correct. Keep in mind that the military only expects you to hit a 20x40" 50% of the time at 550M so not exactly stellar expectations. I expect a 4X scope to provide significant increase in capability.
The Elcan falls well short of that mark.
Someone mentioned that is the same as the iron sights on the M16A2, and they are correct. Keep in mind that the military only expects you to hit a 20x40" 50% of the time at 550M so not exactly stellar expectations. I expect a 4X scope to provide significant increase in capability.
The Elcan falls well short of that mark.
ScottPM09
Member
I had one for a short bit. I believe it was a 1st gen that I bought used. I had come from using an ACOG and wanted something that had a 1x capability as well as a quick "zoom in" function in one housing unit (ie: no magnifier behind a RDS). This seemed to fit my bill as it wasn't as long as a standard 1x-6x optic.
Pros for me:
-Personally, I never had a zeroing issue (only about 500 rounds fired), but even a broken watch is right twice a day.
-I truly liked the features of the magnification lever bar. No twisting a dial. Just flip it over.
-The brightness setting was interesting as it had illuminated red dot options OR illuminated crosshairs on my model (not sure on others).
Cons:
-It's heavy as hell on a carbine
-Bulky! This also kind of fits under the weight as well since it doesn't let you forget it is there.
-Eye relief, as stated above kind of sucks, but I got used to it pretty quick on the carbine. When I used one of the non adjustable magnification ones (M145) on my m240 in Afghanistan, I took it off and never went back due to eye relief. Just food for thought.
-COST!!! I got mine used for $700. that is the ONLY reason I was willing to try it out. Is a brand new one worth the price? No. There are a ton of better options out there IMHO.
If you have any specific questions on it, let me know. I will try to be as fair as I can about the optic, but my recommendation is to avoid it if there are other options you are looking at.
Pros for me:
-Personally, I never had a zeroing issue (only about 500 rounds fired), but even a broken watch is right twice a day.
-I truly liked the features of the magnification lever bar. No twisting a dial. Just flip it over.
-The brightness setting was interesting as it had illuminated red dot options OR illuminated crosshairs on my model (not sure on others).
Cons:
-It's heavy as hell on a carbine
-Bulky! This also kind of fits under the weight as well since it doesn't let you forget it is there.
-Eye relief, as stated above kind of sucks, but I got used to it pretty quick on the carbine. When I used one of the non adjustable magnification ones (M145) on my m240 in Afghanistan, I took it off and never went back due to eye relief. Just food for thought.
-COST!!! I got mine used for $700. that is the ONLY reason I was willing to try it out. Is a brand new one worth the price? No. There are a ton of better options out there IMHO.
If you have any specific questions on it, let me know. I will try to be as fair as I can about the optic, but my recommendation is to avoid it if there are other options you are looking at.
I always seemed to have the wrong doggone optic/upper for any given shit storm if we weren't headed into a specific task. ACOG? We'd end up running around in the 'ville. EoTech? 800 yard PKM volleys inbound. I saw the ELCAN, and I was stoked at the idea of never having to deal with that again. Then I used one, and I became far more interested in Low Powered Variables, which are much better solutions, especially now.
GZ01
Newbie
My experience with the Elcan Specter is that is has the following cons
1. Extremely Heavy on a M4 type Carbine, especially if you are running a 14.5 or shorter barrel
2. Extremely Expensive
3. Gets dirty quickly, and dust and sand are hard to clean, lenses get scratched pretty easily on the them
4. when they break they break hard, they a pain in the arse to send back and get a replacement.
I think you can get a better product with a 1-4x with Vortex Sights, try looking at VIPER-PST or the new Strike eagle 1-6x, I personally am not a huge ACOG fan but they do indeed work. Good luck.
1. Extremely Heavy on a M4 type Carbine, especially if you are running a 14.5 or shorter barrel
2. Extremely Expensive
3. Gets dirty quickly, and dust and sand are hard to clean, lenses get scratched pretty easily on the them
4. when they break they break hard, they a pain in the arse to send back and get a replacement.
I think you can get a better product with a 1-4x with Vortex Sights, try looking at VIPER-PST or the new Strike eagle 1-6x, I personally am not a huge ACOG fan but they do indeed work. Good luck.
bkelly47
Newbie
I ran a 1.5-6x SpecterDR on my Scar17 for a while and the A.R.M.S. levers got rattled so loose from recoil it fell of the gun 2 times. I also had a 3moa zero shift from 6x to 1.5x which I got in contact with Raytheon about it and they told me that was within their acceptable margin and wouldn't help me. I sold it and bought a Mark 6 1-6 which performed way better and cost me less.