Thoughts on Magnifiers

Preparedness Depot in Acworth, GA

AtlMedic

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Mar 25, 2015
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how many of you use a magnifier on your AR? If you do what reddot is it used with and what brand and magnification is it?

I've been thinking of getting one when I find a deal to help out if I take my AR hog hunting. I was thinking a low magnification wouldn't hurt.
 

Laufen

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Mar 23, 2015
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Unless you have a pretty nice red dot, I'd just go with a scope. The glass quality isn't great in red dot scopes, and the resulting image quality gets worse with magnification.

I have a 2-7x32 on my hog hunting set up.
 

AtlMedic

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Mar 25, 2015
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Unless you have a pretty nice red dot, I'd just go with a scope. The glass quality isn't great in red dot scopes, and the resulting image quality gets worse with magnification.

I have a 2-7x32 on my hog hunting set up.
I want to keep a reddot on my AR because hunting would not be its main job. It will probably have an aimpoint or eotech on it.
 

Wallace

Tracker
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Mar 26, 2015
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IMHO magnifiers are meh..

I have one and took it off very quickly (3x). My pro and con list is below:

Pros:

Does help out to 100-300 yards to see a little better

Cons:

Added weight
Eye relief sucks
Many times you need to move you RDS forward on the upper if you have BUIS for it to fit on the upper
Not very useful, and would rather have a 1-4x if I wanted low power variable zoom ability
 
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Laufen

Beloved flaming retard
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Mar 23, 2015
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IMHO magnifiers are meh..

I have one and took it off very quickly (3x). My pro and con list is below:

Pros:

Does help out to 100-300 yards to see a little better

Cons:

Added weight
Eye relief sucks
Many times you need to move you RDS forward on the upper if you have BUIS for it to fit on the upper
Not very useful, and would rather have a 1-4x if I wanted low power variable zoom ability
Exactly. The older I get (and I'm not that fucking old) the more I appreciate a good quality optic that doesn't use batteries and that has primo glass.
 

chance

Tracker
Jul 15, 2015
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I shot a friend's rifle with one in front of an eotech. I wasn't a huge fan. Then again, I'm not one to have a rifle with a ton of stuff on it for every imaginable scenario.

On the other hand, I do wish there were more options for affordable fixed low power optics.
 

AtlMedic

Not A Doctor
Mar 25, 2015
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Smyrna, GA
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30082
IMHO magnifiers are meh..

I have one and took it off very quickly (3x). My pro and con list is below:

Pros:

Does help out to 100-300 yards to see a little better

Cons:

Added weight
Eye relief sucks
Many times you need to move you RDS forward on the upper if you have BUIS for it to fit on the upper
Not very useful, and would rather have a 1-4x if I wanted low power variable zoom ability

Good call. I didn't think about having room behind the rear sight and the reddot. I will probably not worry about one since it would only be used every once in a while
 

cmshoot

Marksman
Jul 12, 2016
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Keep your RDS in a good mount that will retain its zero when removed/re-installed. Then buy a separate scope for hunting.

I've used an unmagnified RDS for hog hunting and like it very much.
 
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ReservoirDawg10

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Apr 10, 2016
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I would nix the magnifier. I have had a couple (vortex and eotech) and both were meh at best. Use the RDS as it sits, or get a 1-4/1-6 etc. I really like the Vortex Viper PST 1-4 for a budget option. Easy to use as a true 1x and you get clear glass.