Broken Eotech

[Sparepartsbuild]

I apologize up front for the long post. I'm well aware of Eotech's past issues so I'm not trying to start a battle between those who like or dislike their product. I'm simply looking for opinions on what caused the failure, whether it was my fault or would any optic fail under the circumstances I will describe below.

Now let me give a quick background of my gear. I have an Eotech EXPS2 manufactured in 2014 which spent most of its life on a 16" mid-length 5.56 rifle which saw about 2000 rounds of various factory ammo. A few years ago I build a suppressed 16" 300 blackout rifle and put the Eotech on it which saw another 200-300 rounds of subsonic factory ammo. I had a lot of malfunctions with the 16" build so I reused as many parts as possible and built a 10.3" SBR in 300 blackout with the Eotech on top. This build includes a Superlative Arms adjustable gas block and a David Tubb's lightweight flat wire buffer spring and standard carbine buffer. This build has worked great and saw another 400-500 rounds of subsonic factory ammo.

Just last week I took my SBR to the range to tune it to see if it could handle combinations of subsonic/supersonic ammo with and without the suppressor and still function reliably. I shot 20 rounds of subsonic through the suppressor to make sure everything was working fine and then moved on with my testing to include tuning for subsonic ammo unsuppressed. That went fine so my next step was supersonic ammo unsuppressed. I fired about 10 rounds when the reticle of my Eotech suddenly shifted to the far left. I tried to readjust it, but quickly realized that even a light tap on the Eotech would cause the reticle to shift all around. At this point I knew it was broken so I fired another 10-20 rounds to see what else would happen. The piece of glass inside, that I assume projects the reticle, then came completely loose and was floating around between the front and rear lenses. I removed the Eotech and finished up with the iron sights.
I assume the combination of a lightweight recoil spring and supersonic ammo was the issue even though the recoil didn't seem that much different or should the Eotech have been able to handle the recoil? I did check the buffer and the nylon tip was intact.

I contacted Eotech to see what they would say and didn't expect any type of warranty work because the unit is eight years old. Eotech said they are going to repair the unit and send it back to me. My only expense was the cost of shipping the unit to them. Under the circumstances I though that was more than fair of them.
I'm still thinking about buying a new optic and was wondering if a red dot or prism optic would be less prone to failure under these conditions. Thanks for your input.

[OutofBatt3ry]

That's pretty cool. I have one from 2019. My favorite RDS though I do fear pulling it out of the safe and it just being broken. Mine came with a 10 year warranty (5 year free repair/replacement, 5 years after that, I have to pay a bench fee)..

Sounds like since they separated from L3Harris their customer service is getting even better. :dirol:

[El Vaquero]

I don’t think it was any of your conditions that did it. Something inside failed. Remember, there are Eotechs that ride around in patrol cars 12 hours a day that get banged around and they survive. It wasn’t the conditions.

The only reason to change would be if you don’t like the Eotech reticle and you want a red dot.

[ggammell]

No one of any consequence uses a prism optic. Theyll fix it and it will likely work for a long long time. I agree with El Vaquero about switching to a red dot. I have a repaired 512 that’s been beaten on for 10 years that’s still going.

[nick84]

Out of tens of thousands of samples, some will always fail. Sorry about your luck, but if you get it replaced I wouldn't worry about it. I had a multiple deployment eotech 553 that survived for years of use on rifles and machineguns, and they're still my go to 1x sight today on my personal guns.

[DoubleW]

Call Eotech. I bet they take care of you. Never hurts to try.

[markm]

As an owner of an EoTech... I still have NO idea why people run these on work guns. A mailbox on your gun that's not the most reliable option out there? Mine really sits in the safe 99% of the time, but I feel I need to own one for reference.

[Stickman]

I have a 552 on an M4 that sees little use, a 552 on a MP5 military clone that sees decent use, and an EXPS something or other that sits on my MK18 night fighting gun. When I used Eotechs on my Patrol rifle for duty, they went back twice, and each time Eotech was great with customer service. Now my duty stuff wears Aimpoint.


Back to your original question, I doubt it was anything that you did. Regarding what is going to work best, just go with whatever has a solid warranty AND works best for your eye. They are all mechanical and electrical devices, they can fail for odd reasons. Some are just more prone to do it than others.

[kirkland]

It sould handle the recoil. .223, 300 blk, suppressed, unsuppressed, lightweight recoil spring, supersonic ammo, subsonic ammo, any optic woth it's salt should be able to handle all those conditions. You didn't do anything wrong. Good that they're fixing it though.

[Sparepartsbuild]

Thanks to everyone who replied. When I get it back it's going back on my SBR and to the range to see how it holds up.

[Defaultmp3]

I believe an RDS will typically be more rugged than an HWS, simply due to the complexity issue, you can see how an HWS has way more parts involved than an RDS:
https://www.recoilweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/RDS_function2.jpg

That being said, the question of whether or not an HWS is rugged enough is a separate one, and I'd say that yes, a quality HWS is more than duty grade. I would look to switch from an HWS to an RDS based on other considerations rather than raw durability, outside of some extremely niche scenarios.

[Leonidas24]

No one of any consequence uses a prism optic. Theyll fix it and it will likely work for a long long time. I agree with El Vaquero about switching to a red dot. I have a repaired 512 that’s been beaten on for 10 years that’s still going.

Uh, what? No one of consequence uses ACOGs? News to me.

[OutofBatt3ry]

Out of tens of thousands of samples, some will always fail. Sorry about your luck, but if you get it replaced I wouldn't worry about it. I had a multiple deployment eotech 553 that survived for years of use on rifles and machineguns, and they're still my go to 1x sight today on my personal guns.


I did a poll on the "other" AR forum regarding Eotech reliability a year or two ago. It was better than a 1/3 failure rate, 100's of responses. Most died in the safe..and I like Eotech. I suppose you could go search there, but I don't frequent much anymore.

I do feel the newer variants have mostly corrected if not completely eliminated pattern failures. It's been quite a while since I've seen a broken Eotech thread, well, before this one.

[Sparepartsbuild]

Anyone have experience with Holosun or Vortex products? My SBR will be my home defense rifle and I like reticles like the Eotech which is why I bought it. I kind of like the Holosun AEMS for the technology incorporated into it or the Vortex UH1 because of the reticle and warranty.

[El Vaquero]

Anyone have experience with Holosun or Vortex products? My SBR will be my home defense rifle and I like reticles like the Eotech which is why I bought it. I kind of like the Holosun AEMS for the technology incorporated into it or the Vortex UH1 because of the reticle and warranty.

Those are all fine but if you’re looking for the most reliable, which it sounds like you might be as it’s for HD, get yourself an Aimpoint and don’t look back. Get yourself a T-2 or PRO if you like the larger objective lens. Excellent quality, ruggedness, and battery life. Now if one of those fail on you than must’ve pissed off some gypsy lady who put a curse on you.

[Hank6046]

Good for you, I had a 512 for like 3 years and it broke on me after a rainy range session, EoTech wouldn't do anything saying that I must of placed it in more than a meter of water, which I did not do. I also had problem with a XPS-2 that I bought second hand off of Armslist, it was horrible with battery life, maybe 2 -3 weeks even after being shut off in my safe, I was the second owner and they said that they wouldn't touch it. Got rid of that a year or so ago, I have the Vortex UH1 (gen2) which I actually like and is crisper dot for me and my astigmatism, better battery life, but fails to an EXPS under night vision and glass clarity. I'm still thinking about getting their Exps3 with their new magnifier for my soon to be "SBR" wink wink.

[ABNAK]

The EOTech and it's large FOV and reticle is my favorite. Due to it's size it's easy to pick up fast and the circle/dot draws the eye to the center. That said, the issues with them lead to a distrust. I like Aimpoints, just wish they could have a bigger FOV (as in back by the shooter's eye, not downrange FOV) and a circle/dot like the EOTech.

[fedupflyer]

I believe an RDS will typically be more rugged than an HWS, simply due to the complexity issue,



Not exactly the case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AfUcxM_f2M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-JoHdB3MxI

[fedupflyer]

I did a poll on the "other" AR forum regarding Eotech reliability a year or two ago. It was better than a 1/3 failure rate, 100's of responses. Most died in the safe..and I like Eotech. I suppose you could go search there, but I don't frequent much anymore.



I wonder how many of those were the 512 series and the "died" ones were due to corrosion of the battery and battery contacts.

[chuckman]

The EOTech and it's large FOV and reticle is my favorite. Due to it's size it's easy to pick up fast and the circle/dot draws the eye to the center. That said, the issues with them lead to a distrust. I like Aimpoints, just wish they could have a bigger FOV (as in back by the shooter's eye, not downrange FOV) and a circle/dot like the EOTech.

Same. In the mil I used a 556 and I have had a 512 and XPS2. I have not had issues with any, I also prefer the circle-dot. I also have Aimpoints, and my only gripe is my preference of the circle-dot reticle.

[C-grunt]

I uesd to be an EoTech hater. I saw multiple 512s fail over the years from around 2003 to 2012ish. I did like how the optic worked, but never trusted it.

A couple years ago I started trying out the XPS series and now run one on my duty gun. I haven't seen a XPS series EoTech fail yet. But that doesn't mean they wont.

About 10 years ago i had an ACOG fail on me after sitting in the back seat of my car during a cross country highway drive. I got to my uncles ranch and all of a sudden the ACOG had condensation in it and wouldn't hold zero. A friend Aimpoint H1 recently died and needs to go back. You use your equipment enough and you'll break stuff. Have back ups.

[Sparepartsbuild]

I got my Eotech back last week and hope to get to the range next week to sight it in since I just got an ammo order delivered today, but I don't know if I even what to shoot the Winchester ammo I bought. I opened two out of five boxes of white box Winchester 300 blackout subsonic and it's by far the worst looking ammo I have ever seen. It looks like it was loaded by someone who never loaded ammo before.

[ggammell]

Many companies are skipping the polish and clean look in favor of getting the ammo out the door quicker. Pretty common on the major brands.

[Sparepartsbuild]

I can live with that, but that isn't the problem. One of the cases has a hexagonal shape at the neck where the bullet is pressed in and it look as if some bullets are pressed into their cases farther than others. I didn't measure any so it could be that the cases were not cut down to a consistent height. Whatever the reason I don't think I will be buying anymore Winchester ammo.

[ggammell]

I can live with that, but that isn't the problem. One of the cases has a hexagonal shape at the neck where the bullet is pressed in and it look as if some bullets are pressed into their cases farther than others. I didn't measure any so it could be that the cases were not cut down to a consistent height. Whatever the reason I don't think I will be buying anymore Winchester ammo.

Yeah that’s no bueno. The quality of new production ammo is definitely not was it was pre pandemic. I’ve noticed some occasional problems with AE pistol ammo at work but they are rare. Never had them before.

[weme06]

Interesting anecdotal info in this thread.

Since quality optics can go down, why do some people seem allergic to backup aiming solutions? Seems like the need to have backup irons or whatever is more likely than being involved in a citizen defensive rifle incident.

[1_click_off]

To back up Stickman’s comment…. I had an XPS2 and and XPS2-2 years ago. I sold them off and purchased a T-1. I loved the T-1 but my eyes did not. I bought an H2 in hopes the new glass would help with my astigmatism, but it didn’t. I went back to Eotech because the dot is a dot for me with an Eotech. The Aimpoints are a dash to me (looks like a line from 2 o’clock to 8 o’clock. I could flip my rear iron up and pull the aimpoint back into a dot, but my field of view suffers doing so. My Holosun is a starburst and rides on my MkIV 22/45 lite.

So be sure to go look through one on display before you drop the cash.

[veeklog]

My first Eotech 552 I bought used in 2006; it was manufactured in February 2004. Never had a problem with it, just changed out the leds in the battery compartment and in the front of the unit. A couple of weeks ago the Eotech finally died on me, so I called Eotech and asked if they could repair it. Eotech told me they could not repair it (2006 was the cutoff date) but told me to send it in and they would give me 50% trade-in value. I sent in and they sent me the coupon for the trade-in; next month I buy another EXPS-3. I got my monies worth on a 18 year old optic

[Smith M&P]

I had one on my long time patrol rifle (personally owned Smith M&P...hence my screen name) and one day, shooting it off a picnic table under a range shed it broke. The prism came loose and fell down into the space below the window. EO Tech took care of me (prepaid shipping label, less than 10 days turn around) and I still run it and trust it. A few weeks later, I was eating with one of my deputies who had his cousin with him on a ride-a-long. His cousin was a MEUSOC Marine sergeant with multiple deployments. He was amazed at my story and told me he's never seen an EO Tech broken, and said they ran them on M4s, M240s, etc. Even said he seen an M4 fall from a helicopter as it lifted off from about 70 feet, and the EO Tech survived fine. Just "my luck" I guess...

As a side-rant...anyone seriously training for armed engagement should still train with iron sights at least some of the time anyway, but so many shooters will fold BUIS down for videogame-like ease of shooting with the optic only. My agency I retired from requires 50% of shots on qualification from irons and 50% with the optic. The main instructor for one cool school I went through said he's seen every optic fail AND/OR forgot to be turned on AND/Or have dead batteries. And no-you might not have time to bring the gun down, and then deploy the sights. I DO run permanent co-witness in case of failure of the optic and my personal experience.