C-More sights

[Waldo]

I am thinking about buying a red dot sight for an AR. Does anyone here own or have experience with the C-More sight that mounts on the carrying handle of an AR15 with a fixed carrying handle?

 

[mwtdvm]

Best I can do is one on a 657 and I like it. While it has a lot of plastic in it's construction. it seems pretty tough. Others probably have more experience but I would buy another one.

 

[GatorFarmer]

I have a C-More railway sight on my number one CMMG M4 clone (number one as in first aquired chronologically). Mine is a flat top though, I have an Arms #40 BUIS mounted behind it. I have some astigmatism, so I traded away the EoTech that preceded it.

C-More sights have won a fair number of matches on handguns. Downsides on an AR is that battery life isn't nearly as long as an Aimpoint (which you can literally leave on for years). Another potential problem - unless they've changed them - is that there is the risk of light reflected off it on the front giving away your position (you don't say what you're going to do with your AR and this might be relevant whether it is a hunting or tactical gun). I personally checked mine to see if it was waterproof, since I wanted to know. Thus I ran it under the shower for about 20 minutes. Still works fine.

They're noticably cheaper than an Aimpoint, even a lower end one. Far cheaper than something like a magnified EoTech with a Docter red dot piggy backed (which is a great piece of gear, but horribly expensive).

I haven't tried mine yet with my PVS14, so I don't know if the lowest brightness setting works with NVGs the way that Aimpoints and some EoTechs will. Of course if you aren't running NVGs, don't worry about that.

A C-More is also not going to be as durable as an ACOG or Aimpoint, which are almost quite literally bomb proof (ones have survived IED explosions that have ruined the rifles that they were one).

I don't know if they make one that already comes with a carry handle adapter or not. If not, you can buy one. Seems like that might put it up a bit high though.

Mine is made out of metal. I think that they may also make them out of plastic now. I'd stick to a metal one if at all possible.

With a carry handle mount that I have, it still allows one to use the iron sights. I got it free with an older Aimpoint and had that on the carry handle of my SP1 before I traded it away. I wasn't fully satisifed with having a red dot up that high. Thus my SP2 (which I retained) has straight iron sights (A1 type since I have a transitional type).

Personally, if I'm going to mess around with putting a sight on top of a carry handle, I prefer magnification. I can't afford an ACOG right now though.

My other M4 clone (a CMMG/Colt hybrid) has an older Aimpoint Comp M on it (aka M68 optical sight of earlier type). I somewhat prefer it to the C-More and it was actually cheaper since I got a deal on it by buying it used.

For all that, if you just want a red dot for a home defense rifle, I'd take a C-More over any of the Chicom copies/knockoffs, and over the dubious Sig Holosight that my 556 came with.

 

[Waldo]

Thanks for the responses. I have a Colt AR15-A2 HBAR. It has a fixed carrying handle. I have been debating about putting a red dot sight on it. I am not sure which one to buy. There seems to be lots of strong opinions out there. I would hate to buy one and then go to the range and see another brand and find out I liked it better. I also am not sure I want to spend the money to buy a flat top upper and some back up iron sights and then a red dot sight on top of that. Every time I start to put the money together for sights and uppers I run into a deal on something else and I am still thinking about what to do.

 

[WR Moore]

Rather than add a mount to your carry handle-stability of point of impact tends to be lacking-look at installing a fore-end with picatinny rails on the top. This will allow you to use the rail type mount and if you later find a flat-top upper receiver, you won't need to buy new/additional stuff.

 

[GatorFarmer]

For proof of concept, you can try the Simmons Red Dots. I wouldn't use one on a rifle that my life depended on, but they're cheap enough to tell you whether you'll like it or not. Carry handle mounts aren't that expensive either. If you end up not liking it, you can put the Simmons on a plinker .22 and not be out much. Might help you make up your mind. I'd bought one early on in my experiments to decide what I wanted or didn't want.

If you can get to a trade show - I'm not sure if there will be a Modern Marine Expo at Quantico again this year - the vendors will be out in force to show their latest and greatest gear and answer questions. You can get in on family day if you go onto base with someone with military ID (it's "sort of" open to the public on family day). The Trijicon people had racks full of mock up rifles with every variant of ACOG mounted for example at last years.

If you come to Stafford to pick it up, I can lend you my Aimpoint Comp M to try. You'd still need your own carry handle mount, since I misplaced mine. It's around here somewhere.

One model of the C-More now has the BUIS built right in, but again, that'll really work best on a flat top.

The Trijicon rep said, and I believed him, that the magnified ACOG might be the best bet to put on a fixed carry handle. There's a couple "poor man" ACOG options, one being the Hakko (Japanese made) magnified scopes.

 

[Waldo]

Gator Farmer, thank you for your generous offer. Let me look around at some carrying handle mounts. I like the idea of buying a cheap Simmons red dot to try. The C-More that I am looking at fits in front of the carrying handle but screws to the hole in the top. It is called the Scout model. I am worried that if I get one that fits on top of the carrying handle I will have to hold my head up too high and lose my position on the stock.