Aimpoint ACO vs PRO

[St-Mtx.]

So I've been looking into the "budget" higher end big named scope manufacturers Trijicon Aimpoint Eotech etc ... and looking into their versions of non magnified electronic optics (red dots/holographics)
And the ACO and the PRO from aimpoint caught my eye, not only the price range but battery life and durability of them but I'm hung up because they're damned near identical other than the water resistance of the ACO being less than the PRO and a few other things.

Do you guys have any experience running either of these red dots and if so would one be way better than the other?

I'm looking at buying one quality red dot and not falling into the "just as good" quality trap and have another red dot break.

 

[alucard0822]

IMO the $45 gets a better mount, better housing and better LED/electronics, well worth it if you are already $400 into a quality sight. IMO I don't like the big mounting knob the PRO has, but can swap with a Midwest Industries QD mount which is far superior. IMO I would compare the PRO vs MRO similar pricing, the MRO is smaller and similar battery life/ features.

 

[SkiPatrolDude]

I assumed they were identical besides the mount. Same exact optic footprint.

Interesting to note that they have different waterproofing rating and different housing/electronics.

 

[St-Mtx.]

IMO the $45 gets a better mount, better housing and better LED/electronics, well worth it if you are already $400 into a quality sight. IMO I don't like the big mounting knob the PRO has, but can swap with a Midwest Industries QD mount which is far superior. IMO I would compare the PRO vs MRO similar pricing, the MRO is smaller and similar battery life/ features.

Yeah I was already going to replace the mount regardless with whichever one I decide on.

The better housing is definitely a pro for the PRO.

I've used an MRO before and I don't know, I noticed a slight magnification with it and it was a just a bit annoying when shooting with both eyes open. So I'm just unsure about it.

 

[alucard0822]

would be one thing if it was $100 vs $145, but $400 vs $445, get the PRO, for most the M4 at double the Pro's cost isn't worth that upgrade. Best deal is probably $499 from Larue that includes their awesome upgraded mount.

 

[1time]

For what it’s worth, I have a comp m4 and two micros and the comp m4 and the one micro failed. If you use aimpoint for competition or duty the warranty is only 2 years and is non transferable. I have switched to vortex for everything including my duty rifle due to warranty, and more importantly not needing the warranty with vortex.

For the record, neither of the failed Aimpoints were on anything larger than a .223. The micro was on a .22lr.

 

[1time]

Edit: my first double post.

 

[RJRjr]

I like the pro. I don't mind the mount but have been thinking about trying a different one. Have had mine for almost 10 years.

 

[erwos]

If you just want something new, buy their new Duty RDS.

 

[Redbone1]

I agree with erwos. I have a pro on one of my personal rifles and on my work rifle. Not super impressed with the battery life on it. The one on my work rifle has a tendency to turn just being in a case in the car which doesn't help the battery life at all. The mount while built solid also adds some weight. I plan on picking up the duty rds here soon. It is a lot smaller and has the same footprint as the aimpoint micros which significantly increases your choice of mounts, u just have to watch the height since it will sit higher than micros. I think T Rex arms has info on that on their website.

 

[St-Mtx.]

If you just want something new, buy their new Duty RDS.

Yeah I was looking at the RDS and it's got a pretty aggressive blue tint on the glass, that for me was kinda off putting.

I'm sure it's quality glass and is a great red dot but having to put a such a blue dichroic filter makes me think the brightness isn't the best in absolute daylight (not like there's a blindingly bright desert in MD)

The lens size is also a factor for me larger lenses are better for me. I'm sadly left eye dominant but right handed so my left eye has a dominant information feed, so often my sight picture gets washed out when I'm shooting both eyes open. And I've noticed that with a larger red dot window / object lense size it's more "busy" (not a great word but idk how to describe it) but my right eye has more information and doesn't wash out as much or as quickly and it's easier for me at least.

 

[woodline]

Aimpoint changed their lens coating in the last year or two. The top third of the glass tends to have a bluish tint now, and some of them do look pretty blue if viewed at any angle besides dead on.

OP how much experience do you have with red dots? The Aimpoint PRO is perfectly fine if you don’t mind the larger size. There are lots of other good options out there, but if you’re looking for help getting out of your analysis paralysis and theorycrafting, get the PRO and don’t worry about it. They hold their value decently well so if you hate it, you can get a lot of your money back.

 

[trickg]

Here's a bit of a perspective regarding Aimpoint sights. In the Guard, most of us have Aimpoint CCO's on our M4s - a select few get the few ACOGs we have, but most of us have the Aimpoint, and ours were brand new as of a year or so ago.

The single knob seemed strange at first, but I think I like it - the way it's set up on the CCO, and I'm assuming it's the same on the CCO, is that it's self-torquing for correct tightness when mounting. The knob prevents over-torquing, and also makes it repeatable, returning it very near to zero if you remove it and mount it to the same address on the rail.

Now if only I didn't have an astigmatism. For me, it's a little bit of 2 & 4.

 

[ken792]

The Aimpoint PRO was actually the very first optic I got nine years ago and I still have it.

They are rated to a 30k hour battery life at setting 7 or something while the ACO is only rated to 10k.

The PRO comes with flip covers, which I like.

The PRO is night vision compatible for passive aiming and has worked acceptably for that. The ACO is not, but it has more daylight settings. The ACO glass coating has presumably worse IR transmission.

The only things I don’t like about my PRO are the weight and how it’s the only thing I own that uses a 1/3N cell.

 

[St-Mtx.]

Aimpoint changed their lens coating in the last year or two. The top third of the glass tends to have a bluish tint now, and some of them do look pretty blue if viewed at any angle besides dead on.

OP how much experience do you have with red dots? The Aimpoint PRO is perfectly fine if you don’t mind the larger size. There are lots of other good options out there, but if you’re looking for help getting out of your analysis paralysis and theorycrafting, get the PRO and don’t worry about it. They hold their value decently well so if you hate it, you can get a lot of your money back.

I have more time with irons than any optic, I've used a sig Romeo on my AR and I get the dot to bloom and smear from an astigmatism. But I also ran a Sight mark on a bolt gun which had a circle dot reticle similar to an eotech reticle, and it was way more clear I sold that sight mark and the rifle so that's why I was looking at a new red dot. All and all that's my experience with red dots.

 

[woodline]

I have more time with irons than any optic, I've used a sig Romeo on my AR and I get the dot to bloom and smear from an astigmatism. But I also ran a Sight mark on a bolt gun which had a circle dot reticle similar to an eotech reticle, and it was way more clear I sold that sight mark and the rifle so that's why I was looking at a new red dot. All and all that's my experience with red dots.

If you have astigmatism then the only way to confirm whether or not a red dot will look good is to look through it and then buy that specific one. I have an astigmatism that likes to shift around a fair bit, but it is relatively mild at least. I’ve gone through periods where certain dots were less distorted than others, but at this point all the decent ones are usable.

You could also look into a newer generation 1x prism. I personally will take the slight distortion of a red dot over the slightly less forgiving eyebox of a prism, but plenty of folks with astigmatism prefer the prisms since they have etched reticles and adjustable diopters. I want to say I read that the latest generation primary arms 1x prisms are daylight bright and usable with a magnifier, but don’t take that to the bank. I could be thinking of a different brand like Vortex or Swampfox.

 

[calicojack]

would be one thing if it was $100 vs $145, but $400 vs $445, get the PRO, for most the M4 at double the Pro's cost isn't worth that upgrade. Best deal is probably $499 from Larue that includes their awesome upgraded mount.

I have the Aimpoint PRO and I say hell yes, get it.

 

[alucard0822]

If you have astigmatism then the only way to confirm whether or not a red dot will look good is to look through it and then buy that specific one. I have an astigmatism that likes to shift around a fair bit, but it is relatively mild at least. I’ve gone through periods where certain dots were less distorted than others, but at this point all the decent ones are usable.

You could also look into a newer generation 1x prism. I personally will take the slight distortion of a red dot over the slightly less forgiving eyebox of a prism, but plenty of folks with astigmatism prefer the prisms since they have etched reticles and adjustable diopters. I want to say I read that the latest generation primary arms 1x prisms are daylight bright and usable with a magnifier, but don’t take that to the bank. I could be thinking of a different brand like Vortex or Swampfox.

This is true. The main differences I notice when looking through various dot sights are color distortion, image distortion(especially when moving your head), and dot clarity, most all reflex/HWS are plenty bright, most illuminated reticles are not. This is where better sights tend to be better, but not always. Unfortunate that Aimpoint went to a more noticeable tint, the lack of tint in my older models is one thing I really like. Some tint is necessary, as the tint is a coating that reflects the wavelength of the LED, and allows other light to pass through the lens. An LED with a narrower frequency band that matches a coating that reflects a narrower band = less color distortion, but it costs money. As far as astigmatism, IMO adjusting the brightness is critical for reducing this affect, as I wear glasses and have it pretty bad. If the dot is bright, it will be an uneven starburst, but lower the brightness to a click or two above the minimum for that setting, and the dot will be crisp. You can still crank the brightness up and make it a bit faster to pick up the dot and hit short-range, then turn it down for longer shots, or when using a magnifier.

 

[Sirex]

Here's a bit of a perspective regarding Aimpoint sights. In the Guard, most of us have Aimpoint CCO's on our M4s - a select few get the few ACOGs we have, but most of us have the Aimpoint, and ours were brand new as of a year or so ago.

The single knob seemed strange at first, but I think I like it - the way it's set up on the CCO, and I'm assuming it's the same on the CCO, is that it's self-torquing for correct tightness when mounting. The knob prevents over-torquing, and also makes it repeatable, returning it very near to zero if you remove it and mount it to the same address on the rail.

Now if only I didn't have an astigmatism. For me, it's a little bit of 2 & 4.

Dang, that's a good picture. I have the starburst. Shame my right, dominant eye is worse than my left. I have been struggling to find a decent optic I can work with.

 

[MaxVO2]

******I have Aimpoint Pro's on several rifles, some with additional magnifiers and I like the setup a lot. They are consistently good optics and I've shot the snot out of one of the rifles using that optic and have never had a problem with it. It's a good product.

There may be newer and smaller versions out there now, but I've really been happy with all of mine, and the battery life is remarkably good all things considered. I have mine set up on 5.56 platforms, nothing bigger and I like the bigger window on the optic versus smaller optics I have seen others with. Really impressed overall with the quality. I don't have astigmatism, so everything looks very crisp to me.