Matech BUIS

[Slater]

Is the Matech going to continue to be the standard military BUIS for the foreseeable future or is there a replacement in the works?

[Kdubya]

I'm not a SME, but I will say that I feel there is a viable alternative that recently came out; the Magpul Pro LR. I picked one up a couple months ago and I've been very impressed. Rock solid, all steel, construction. Very low profile and small overall footprint. I've never run a Matech, but did a lot of research on the few "ranging" BUIS before making my purchase. The Pro LR seemed to offer the two following advantages.

-Dual Aperture: It has both the small and large peep, and can be stowed with either deployed. For me, that was a huge benefit. The only other ranging sight I know of to have both small and large apertures was made by Spikes. I think it's now discontinued. Still, the means to transition from small and large with the Spikes was to unscrew the aperture; leaving a tiny loose piece that can easily be lost. Magpul fixed this flaw with their Pro LR by adding the standard flip that we are all used to.

-Ranging: I believe the Matech ranges in 100m increments. The Magpul ranges in 50m increments. Now, in the heat of battle I don't know how much of an application this would have, but it's certainly a nice feature for range usage.

So, of the two items above, the Dual Aperature is probably the one that offers the greatest advantage over the Matech in a combat setting. The refined ranging is likely negligible. Ultimately, with the advancements in optics I'm not sure how much of an impact a new rear sight would make. Of those friends I have that served, almost none of them relied upon, or used, iron sights during their tours. It's not to say that they'll completely go away. Our men and women will always need a reliable, simple, backup option. However, most are not likely to ever use them.

[masakari]

In response to alternates to the MaTech, LMT also makes a ranging folding BUIS, and it has both large and small apertures as well.
As far as the military using the MaTech, many Marine armories have both the MaTech and KAC micro available.

[Kdubya]

In response to alternates to the MaTech, LMT also makes a ranging folding BUIS, and it has both large and small apertures as well.
As far as the military using the MaTech, many Marine armories have both the MaTech and KAC micro available.

Interesting. I did a ton of research and am surprised I hadn't come across the LMT. Looks a lot like the KAC, and I'm sure is a solid BUIS. But, at almost $150 I'm glad to have found the Magpul for half the price.

[KITTEN_FRENZY]

I was an infantryman from 2010-2013.
The only time I used my BUIS was zeroing 20 rounds in OSUT.

In short, it probably doesn't matter :p