Sweet shooter. It's been 100% and accurate. Trijicon 1-4x Accupower on top. Here's a link to the build blog. (http://commonbullets.com/wp/archives/2155)
(http://commonbullets.com/uploads/AR/build2.jpg)
(http://commonbullets.com/uploads/AR/build1.jpg)
(http://commonbullets.com/uploads/AR/AR47_01.JPG)
(http://commonbullets.com/uploads/AR/AR47_02.JPG)
I'm thinking of pulling the scope off this rifle and going to a red dot for home use and plinking, and using a 4-16x when bench shooting at the range. My eyes just suck these days and 4 power at 100 meters is not enough! Hate it, too, 'cause that Trijicon is awesome. I was considering a prism sight instead of a red dot (because of the etched glass), but those things are heavy for their size! :(
Toss me some ideas...
Questions like this are the reason I buy AR lowers by the 5-pack.
First it was going to just be a 16" 300 blackout carbine for plinking and an 18" SPR for long range. Then a 358 Winchester for a "heavy". Then a 16" carbine in 223 cause 300 blackout is expensive. Then a 20" A2 style for working on CMP Service Rifle shooting. And an AR pistol cause fun. Then a 6.5 Grendel for 1000 yards, and a 308 cause I got all that brass, and a 260 cause cause, and a 458 SOCOM cause i got the barrel cheap. Not to mention the 9 builds so my mom, wife and kids would have their own guns to shoot at the range.
But, that means I have about every optic out there. I have three TRS-25's, a Primary Arms Micro-dot, two Primary Arms 2.5X fixed ACSS prism, a Bushnell AR Optics 1-4X24 PCL, a SWFA SS 1-4X24 MIL, three SWFA SS 10X42 MIL and an Athlon Argos 8-34X56. And three or four no-name junk optics.
So, for my AR pistol, which is used for home defense and plinking I have gone back and forth between iron sights, which are really hard to break, and a TRS 25, which is really easy to use and really easy to leave on. For my 16" carbine that I actually shoot the most I went from red-dot to Bushnell 1-4 PCL to the SWFA 1-4 MIL. In the end I liked the SWFA the best. If the reticle in the Bushnell had been at 1X the size it was at 4X, I would have stuck with it, but it was just too small. My daughter loves it.
That Athon Argos is awesome and completely negates the need for a spotting scope out to about 300 yards for my eyes. Downside is at full magnification the eyebox and field of view are pretty limited.
The SWFA 10X are among the best compromise optics for anything but close quarters.
And the Primary Arms 2.5X prism scopes are actually way good for what they are and what they cost. They do weigh a good bit more than a red-dot, but less than a 1X4. If I weren't so happy with the SWFA 1-4, I would probably order a 3x version of that optic for my 16". Wife and a different daughter both really like theirs.
Oh great... Just when I thought I was close to figuring all this out...along comes sqlbullet! Can I have your daughter's email? I want to send her a bunch of cute puppy pics! LOL ;D
Just messin'
Anyway, did that prism scope have decent enough eye relief? For defensive and plinking use, a fuzzy red dot would do the job, but it's just disturbing to me to see the flares or a grape cluster. I supposed I can run a peep sight behind it to take care of that problem, and wrote an article about it on my blog, but with that you lose that wide open unrestricted view. Not bad for sighting in the dot, though. I've used the Trijicon and other illuminated magnified scopes to switch to occluded eye aiming. Works great. if you have an illuminated 3x scope, as example, you can close the front lens cover and your right eye will transpose the reticle image to your left eye just like a true 1x scope. If you're shooting a 3-9x scope in the field and a hog is charging you and you need a quick 1x for the up-close work, just close the front lens cap and now you have a 1x scope. Pretty awesome.
Eyebox is pretty good. Not as good as a 1X, but still very generous.
And the reticle is good enough for soda can work out to maybe 200 yards.
great looking shooter
Here's the latest range trip with a 16x scope at 100 meters. It's fun being able to see a target like you're standing on top of it! 20 rounds of Silver Bear ammo. The inner circle is 1.5".
(http://commonbullets.com/uploads/100meters_7.62x39_Silver%20Bear.jpg)