This story broke in the Washington Post yesterday...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...mepage%2Fstory

I don't know what bothers me more: That a company would sell such a flawed product to our military, or that those who command our armed forces these days think such a product is essential...

Whatever happened to shooting with iron sights?

It's the 21st Century, Beem. Not just optics, green lasers and Surefire lights. There are even optic equipped Ma Deuces these days. My son's a career Army officer, done four combat tours. He's always had a Trijicon ACOG on his M4. So have all his guys. He's had experience with EOTech, but preferred the ACOG.
I'm old school too. I qualified with iron sights, still prefer them. That said, I spend the big $$$ for an ACOG. It didn't take long to get real fond of it.

That story is old. The company has been issuing refunds left and right for about 2 months now, if not more.

It's also a little misleading. Those SF units don't just rely on EOtech. Aim point and Trijicon take a huge chunk of that industry. If you talk to former SF members a lot of them say that EOtech is in the minority. Most guys use Trijicons or Aim points.


Iron sights are great but they are slower and harder to see. On red dots there is nothing to align. Put the dot on where you want the bullet to go and pull the trigger. It's not precision sniping. It's ment to be fast and deadly. And they do that excellently under 400 yards. With the right ammo and shooter it can be stretched further. While both have their pluses and minuses red dots can be seen in any lighting and any conditions. There are versions that don't need batteries and ones that will still work with a dead battery.

I just keep remembering that we put men on the moon with the low bid . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Yep, old news. This story came out a least a year or more ago.
I never seen any figures on what percentage of the EOTechs went bad. Only that some did and that was under the worst possible conditions. Combat is hard on gear. Anything can fail in those circumstances.
The real issue here is that the company knew it was possible, but covered it up.

I have two of the Model 512s which have worked fine for years. I like 'em and really don't think I'll bother with sending them back.

BTW: the rifles I have these on also have iron sights that are properly zeroed. One of my hard and fast rules is never trust your life to anything which requires a battery.

AMEN Brother.

Bekeart

That's the beauty of a 1x red dot. Those irons are right there where they've always been.

EOTech started accepting returns in November or December of last year. Very liberal system, you email them with the site's serial number and what you paid, they approve the return via email and you send it in, no receipt needed. Turn around time is however quite slow. The earliest returns took two months or longer, now they are supposed to be down to 4 weeks from date of receipt, however it took them over 2 weeks just acknowledge mine had been received, and I only live 50 miles from their headquarters.

Forgot to mention, they also include $15 extra to pay for the return shipping.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

I've used EOTech and Aimpoint, usually had the iron sights cowitnessed in the optic lens. Very fast, very simple. If the battery quits, the iron sights are right there. I do prefer the Aimpoint, in my opinion it is more simple to use having only one control knob and I prefer the single red dot. That's what is on my rifle now.

I agree.

Aside from temperature, sealing and moisture issues that have plagued EOTech.... having to fiddle with buttons to turn it on and off, auto shutoff and short battery life (hence the auto shutoff) never seemed like a good fit for a battle rifle. An optic for a battle rifle ought to at the ready, period. Aimpoint.

I have one Eotech 512 and i wouldn't go back to
strictly iron sights now for nothing.
Mine has been flawless and holds zero perfectly.
I will not be sending it back.
Red Dot sights are a great thing for us "older" guys
whose eyesight ain't what it used to be.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

I shot my first AR last week. It had some type of holographic sight with a magnifier, not sure of the mfg. First time using those sights. Yes, I live under a rock.

I liked it but prefer my 1-4x Leupold. Of course I'm not in combat so I can't compare the operational advantage of holographic sights at most combat ranges.

I don't think I'll ever buy one because I'm a rec shooter. I don't see any advantage in that application over glass.

At the range I've noticed that the really high end AR's have glass on them. A guy that shoots there drags in 5 or 6 at a time and works up loads for each one using a chrony. I've never seen a holographic sight on any of them, just glass. Someone told me he builds these high end AR's for people and wrings them out as the final step.

But like I said, I don't know much about the systems.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Amen.......