EOtech 511/551 or ACOG Trijicon Reflex sight

This will be used on my ARs and/or AK as I see fit, whichever one I like it best on. What do you guys think. EOTech is tacticool, but requires batteries. But it can be turned off if for some reason I want to only use the iron sights. The ACOG works in all lighting conditions, has less parts to break/less fragile - but can never be turned off if I wanted to use the iron sights only. But why would that really matter? The whole point of getting an optic is for it to work 100% of the time.

EOTech 551/511:



ACOG Reflex:

Aimpoint.

Trijicon. End thread.

caveat: I have zero experience with either, so don't take my word for it.

Russ D said:

Aimpoint.

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damn you! I didn't ask about a damn Aimpoint. Is there a decent one in the $350-400 range?

I have the reflex and I love it. The EOTech is cool too, but like you said it takes batteries. The Trijicon has a 15 year warranty too.

smores said:

damn you! I didn't ask about a damn Aimpoint. Is there a decent one in the $350-400 range?

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YUP! and they are better than both of your options. Eotechs are not as durable and don't have half the battery life of an Aimpoint.

Russ D said:

YUP! and they are better than both of your options. Eotechs are not as durable and don't have half the battery life of an Aimpoint.

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True, I had the same debate Eotech vs Aimpoint. I like the better field of view with the Eotech but the whole battery life issue is what made me land my Aimpoint.

bigpapa1080 said:

I have the reflex and I love it. The EOTech is cool too, but like you said it takes batteries. The Trijicon has a 15 year warranty too.

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Upon a closer look, it appears that the Reflex does not come with a mount. Is that correct? Brownells has the flat-top AR mount for $94ish...

EOTECH... everything else is just a red dot.

Advantages?
Mounts in perfect co- witness configuration with AR-15 BUIS/ Front sights
The reticle circle is 65MOA for quick snap shooting, 1MOA center dot for longer range shots. It can also be used as a range finder. Much quicker to pick up in cluttered background or bright sunlight. Wider field of view. Can be upgraded to a medium range scope with piggyback magnifiers. Battle tested and a proven performer. Tick marks give instant reference to the position of the rifle ( cant).

Aimpoint. Awesome battery life. Dot is either too big or small. Small dot is not very easy to pick up in a cluttered background. Big Dot is not very accurate for longer shots. You cant tell if you have a canted rifle. Also a proven performer and battle tested. Mounts and rings are an additional cost. Smaller field of view (30mm OD). Eye alignment is a bit more specific than the Eotech.Can also be upgraded to work with magnifiers. Dot in 3x isn't as sharp as the Eotech.

Trijicon reflex, no batteries but the dot is too big for accurate shots, amber dot washes out , Not ideal for long range shooting. requires add on mounts, will not co-witness with your BUIS.

Better than the Trijicon reflex or the Aimpoint is the TRIJICON TRI-POWER with the inverted chevron reticle. You basically get the best of all the features of the sights indicated above.

Just adding to the confusion.

Scar

Shoot the Aimpoint and Eotech and then decide. Some like the Eotech reticle and some hate it. Some like me prefer the single dot for quick heads up shooting. There's a reason you see most of the guys shooting Aimpoints on the Magpul videos. Also Eotechs fail at a much higher rate then Aimpoints. I don't think the 4 moa dot is too big. We were making consistant hits at 400 yrds with one at my last carbine course. How does field of view matter when you shoot with both eyes open anyway? Just wondering not challenging. I'm always trying to learn.

SCARCQB said:

EOTECH... everything else is just a red dot.

Advantages?
Mounts in perfect co- witness configuration with AR-15 BUIS/ Front sights
The reticle circle is 65MOA for quick snap shooting, 1MOA center dot for longer range shots. It can also be used as a range finder. Much quicker to pick up in cluttered background or bright sunlight. Wider field of view. Can be upgraded to a medium range scope with piggyback magnifiers. Battle tested and a proven performer. Tick marks give instant reference to the position of the rifle ( cant).

Aimpoint. Awesome battery life. Dot is either too big or small. Small dot is not very easy to pick up in a cluttered background. Big Dot is not very accurate for longer shots. You cant tell if you have a canted rifle. Also a proven performer and battle tested. Mounts and rings are an additional cost. Smaller field of view (30mm OD). Eye alignment is a bit more specific than the Eotech.Can also be upgraded to work with magnifiers. Dot in 3x isn't as sharp as the Eotech.

Trijicon reflex, no batteries but the dot is too big for accurate shots, amber dot washes out , Not ideal for long range shooting. requires add on mounts, will not co-witness with your BUIS.

Better than the Trijicon reflex or the Aimpoint is the TRIJICON TRI-POWER with the inverted chevron reticle. You basically get the best of all the features of the sights indicated above.

Just adding to the confusion.

Scar

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+100 to what Scar said, all of it right on, except the he forgot to mention the Tri-power is really ugly

What I really, really hate about my EOTechs is that they drain their batteries even when not in use. Two times I have been burned at the range. Take the rifle out of the case that has not been shot in a couple of months, press one of the power buttons, nothing. Dead batteries.

DD214 said:

What I really, really hate about my EOTechs is that they drain their batteries even when not in use. Two times I have been burned at the range. Take the rifle out of the case that has not been shot in a couple of months, press one of the power buttons, nothing. Dead batteries.

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Thats what happens to my buddies with Eotechs. That's exactly why I don't have one. You pretty much can't kill the batteries on an Aimpoint.

I guess I'm the lucky one. I have an EOtech 512 and love it, have had it for a year now and have NEVER had to replace batteries. It is truly a two eyes open sight and I have tried the ACOG but still prefer the EOtech.

I own, or have owned all of the optics in discussion here. I'll give you my experience with them, and what I like/dislike:

Aimpont. Winner - hands down. Russ is right - all of these optics are meant to be used with both eyes open. You really shouldn't have any field of view issues. The M3 and M4 dots are super fast to pick up, as long as you are using the optic properly. You really don't have to worry about batteries, either. Well, at least not for 7 years... M4 uses AA batteries, which is super cool. Downside is that the M4 reqires a special mount - you don't want to use the one that is supplied. The lock knob sticks out a good ways from your rifle and you WILL snag it on something. All aimpoints will co-witness with irons, either absolute or lower 1/3, depending on mount.

Trijicon Tri-Power. This is a fantastic optic. The chevron is VERY fast and easy to pick up. The chevron also provides some ranging abilities. It offers tritium and fiber optics for light gathering in low light, and it also has a battery backup. Very cool! There are some huge drawbacks to this optic, though. There is very little tritium in this optic. It does NOT light up like an ACOG. Not even close. The fiber does a good job collecting light when there is a direct light source, but it glows like a baboon's ass in the dark. Not really a good idea for keeping a low profile... Also - the chevron is VERY faint in situations where you have a lot of light on your target, but the optic is shaded - as in most covered shooting ranges. Luckily, this optic has a battery backup. With the other illumination options, you would think that you would not have to use the battery as much - WRONG. You will use the battery quite a bit - and this optic does NOT have good battery life. Will co-witness (absolute or lower 1/3).

Trijicon Reflex - SCARCQB nailed it. Don't waste your time here. If it doesn't co-witness, you don't want it. Avoid.

Eotech - Russ and the others pretty much summed this one up. It's nice - but there were issues a while ago. I'm not a fan, but that's just my personal preference. I used one for about 2 months and sold it. The reticle is nice, but for quick target acquisition and point shooting, I find the reticle to be a distraction. It boils down to your personal preference with the reticle. Provides absolute co-witness only (unless you use a riser.)

If you want to see/shoot with any of these (except the Eotech), let me know.

I like the EOTechs myself because of the design and the field of view, and because I've seen one still hold zero with a lens cracked. The one thing I hear guys with Trijicons always complaining about is the same thing that is its strong point, they can't turn it off even when they want to, like sometimes at night.

But I can't really call myself an expert. I have carried an $80 Bushnell Trophy red dot at work for a couple of years and it holds zero and works just fine for me. If I get 500 extra bucks to spend, that's a new gun not a scope!

If anyone is dead set on an EOTech, I will be selling one of my 512s and an EOTech 3x FTS magnifier soon. I want to try an Aimpoint instead.

One other thing - there is no ACOG Reflex. The ACOG and the Reflex are both made by Trijicon, but they are NOT the same - two different products. The ACOG is a magnified optic. The Reflex is a non-magnified red dot style optic.

Not being nitpicky - just making sure to differentiate the two. The ACOG is one of the best optics out there, and boy do you pay for it. The Reflex should probably just be discontinued.

DD214 said:

If anyone is dead set on an EOTech, I will be selling one of my 512s and an EOTech 3x FTS magnifier soon. I want to try an Aimpoint instead.

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Those the ones you had on the XCR?

To be fair here, my buddy KAC shoots an Eotech and he is very effective with it. I saw him slam some steel at 600 yards prone with it. Not to mention being very fast and accurate up close also.