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old school scope vs. red dot style

trolleytrouttrolleytrout Member Posts: 49 ✭✭
edited March 2012 in Ask the Experts
I have plenty of experience with the old school rifles and scopes but none with the new ar-15 style rifles. How well will a conventional old school tubuliar style gun scope hold up, mounted on an ar-15 as compared to say an Eotech red dot sight , Aimpoint or Burris?
Not that I'm going to abuse the rifle but just from the schock of shooting many rounds at a time.

Comments

  • catpealer111catpealer111 Member Posts: 10,695
    edited November -1
    A "normal" scope holds up just fine. A semi-auto AR doesn't shoot any faster than any other semi and they also have a very light recoil. Mount up and enjoy.
  • perry shooterperry shooter Member Posts: 17,390
    edited November -1
    old school scope will hold up to any 223 recoil . however you will need the right type uper on your AR to mount a scope and get correct eye relief . Unless you are in love with the BLING / TACTICAL look in my opinion there are much better choices then EOTECH for most types of shooting.
  • MobuckMobuck Member Posts: 13,733 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The common red dot sights severely limit the range capability of the AR unless the shooter has good eyesight. I'm 60ish and need a little magnification for target ID and more precise aiming so my choice is a low power variable on carbines and 3-9x on 20" barrelled AR's.
    I consider my limit at about 150 yards with a good red dot. At that range with a 4MOA dot, most any AR will keep all it's bullets on the dot which is fine unless you're shooting at prairie dogs.
  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,649 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Mobuck
    The common red dot sights severely limit the range capability of the AR unless the shooter has good eyesight. I'm 60ish and need a little magnification for target ID and more precise aiming so my choice is a low power variable on carbines and 3-9x on 20" barrelled AR's.
    I consider my limit at about 150 yards with a good red dot. At that range with a 4MOA dot, most any AR will keep all it's bullets on the dot which is fine unless you're shooting at prairie dogs.



    You must have had a much better quality red dot and way better eye sight then me. The red dots I used in the past obscured way to much of the target at any range past 75 yards, for precise accuracy.

    Per TT's original question, go with a Burris low powder variable it's a ideal scope for a AR. The Optics Planet site has a large selection at substantial discounts. I just bought two Burris's off them the in the last 3 months.
  • trolleytrouttrolleytrout Member Posts: 49 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thanks for bringing that up about the dot obscuring the target. I was wondering about that.

    quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
    quote:Originally posted by Mobuck
    The common red dot sights severely limit the range capability of the AR unless the shooter has good eyesight. I'm 60ish and need a little magnification for target ID and more precise aiming so my choice is a low power variable on carbines and 3-9x on 20" barrelled AR's.
    I consider my limit at about 150 yards with a good red dot. At that range with a 4MOA dot, most any AR will keep all it's bullets on the dot which is fine unless you're shooting at prairie dogs.



    You must have had a much better quality red dot and way better eye sight then me. The red dots I used in the past obscured way to much of the target at any range past 75 yards, for precise accuracy.

    Per TT's original question, go with a Burris low powder variable it's a ideal scope for a AR. The Optics Planet site has a large selection at substantial discounts. I just bought two Burris's off them the in the last 3 months.
  • fordsixfordsix Member Posts: 8,722
    edited November -1
    what about holographic buddy let me try one of his AR's with one it was neat once it was zero;ed in
  • tsr1965tsr1965 Member Posts: 8,682 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by fordsix
    what about holographic buddy let me try one of his AR's with one it was neat once it was zero;ed in


    The Holographic sights have a red dot, or reticle, that takes up a lot of space on the target. The smallest dot on a holographic/reflex sight is commonly around 3 MOA, but there are some smaller ones.

    I have several AR's with flat top recievers, that have anywhere from 3-9x, to 6-24x scopes mounted on them. My AR-10 in 308 Winchester, will easily reach 800 yards, and I have shot my 16 inch Varmint upper AR-15 in 5.56 out to 600 yards.

    My vote goes for a regular scope like the Burris FullField II in 4.5-14x, like the one on my 16 inch varmint. I do have higher end scopes on some of my other AR's and long range bolt guns.


    Best
  • fordsixfordsix Member Posts: 8,722
    edited November -1
    the one i used had all kinds of settings, dots, circles, cross hairs
  • TxsTxs Member Posts: 18,801
    edited November -1
    Their intended purposes are different.

    Don't expect to get the degree of precision from an EoTech that you'd have with a 3Xx9 rifle scope - but you also won't get the degree of speed and target tracking ability that the unmagnified sight gives.

    For what it's worth, even with my old eyes it's no problem to keep hits on a silhoutte target at 300 yds. with a standard dot sized EoTech.
  • beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by trolleytrout
    I have plenty of experience with the old school rifles and scopes but none with the new ar-15 style rifles. How well will a conventional old school tubuliar style gun scope hold up, mounted on an ar-15 as compared to say an Eotech red dot sight , Aimpoint or Burris?
    Not that I'm going to abuse the rifle but just from the schock of shooting many rounds at a time.


    Good answers already given.

    An AR-15 is basically just a .223 Remington, just in a military type configuration. Any scope that will hold up to ordinary use on a regular hunting rifle (most of which offer quite a bit more recoil than an AR-15) will hold up just fine on an AR-15.

    Put differently, it if WON'T hold up to normal use on an AR-15 its probably junk and wouldn't hold up on an ordinary rifle anyway.

    Putting a conventional scope on an AR-15 just comes down to making sure the scope is mounted correctly so you can use it properly. Plenty of people do this for hunting purposes on AR-15 platform guns all the time.

    In terms of red-dot vs conventional hunting type scope, really the two are intended for totally different things.

    A military type red-dot scope like an Aimpoint, or a holographic sight like an Eotech is designed specifically for shooting human sized targets at relatively close range quickly. These are COMBAT sights, and built specifically with that purpose in mind.

    A conventional scope is intended for hunting, which involves much more deliberately slow paced shooting, of potentially smaller targets, often at further ranges.

    While you can use a conventional magnified rifle scope for combat, or a military type sight for hunting, each type of sight will work a little better for its intended purpose.
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