View Full Version : Experience with Elcan Spectre 1-4x
Does anyone here have any experience with the Elcan Spectre 1-4x optic?
I have the opprotunity to purchase one from a military contract that is an overrun unit.
Are they worth the extra money? I already have a Leupold CQT that works very well. Any comparisons?
Be really careful when you buy one, the copies are very very hard to distinguish cosmetically. I would only feel comfortable buying directly from one of their approved dealers.
Bolt_Overide
09-23-10, 07:28
if it were me, I wouldnt buy such an expensive optic used unless I could make myself more comfortable with the buy with some of the following...
1) get the serial number and call the manufacturer and ask them for more info, IE: was this sold to the public, is it genuine ect.
2) the seller is either known to me, or has a good reputation in the online gun community.
3) get to finger **** it first, and it be a model Im familiar with and able to determine its real and in good order.
4) buying it from a reputable dealer, such a grant or one of the other well known retailers who occasionally have used items for sale.
What constitutes "extra money?" They're pretty pricey to begin with, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that they aren't worth it, from a durability and glass quality standpoint. Veeerrrrry tough optic, but heavy as balls, and the tritium in it doesn't last as long as the stuff in a Trijicon product (if that's a feature you care about, of course).
However, there's plenty of 1-4x variables out there for equal or less money -- mostly less -- that are lighter and have been GTG from day one. There's a whole stickied thread about a bunch at the top of this subforum. Worth a look.
Try to find out when it was made. If it was manufactured more than, say, 2 years ago, don't bother. The Specter DRs prior to that had very noticeable zero-shift between 1x and 4x, plus it had a helluva time holding zero on dismount/remount (freakin' ARMS mounts). Something magical happened about a year or two ago, and the ones being issued in the current SOPMOD kits have been very solid performers (if still ridiculously heavy), holding zero and without zero-shift. Maybe they added unicorn farts to the nitrogen purge.....
Roger that. This is coming from THOR Global Defense out of Van Buren, Arkansas.
They are new sights produced for the military but the order was cancelled or cut back so they are/have purchased them.
Won't get a chance to play with it first won't be home until next year sometime but I will confirm the info you guys suggested.
Has anyone used one?
JSantoro I think we were posting at the same time. Will check and see when the manufacture date was and the other things you mentioned thanks. Cost will be between $1700-2100 depending on how many units they order at a time. They are saying that these are SOPMOD overruns will have to check closely.
Yeah, used 'em. They're not a part of our program, but we interact with entities that have them, and we can't tell them that we don't do off-program devices.
The reticle's somewhat like a Trijicon ACOG BDC (unless you count font and how thick the lines are), but the lit portion is a simple dot and it's ensconced within a crosshair arrangement. Can't remember what size dot. Originally made as a LMG optic, as represented by the circles in the reticle at the 700-1000m lines.
Generous eye relief, somewhere around 2.75", maybe .5" of shift between 1x to 4x.
Something like 500-(high)2000hrs illumination depending on the setting, with a 1/3N battery (Aimpoit CompML3 battery).
Near-zero in 4x @ 25m using the 300m aimpoint, confirm zero in 4x @ 100m. If you don't confirm @ 100m (like with an ACOG), you are NOT zeroed.
.5MOA adjustments on the dials.
Diveable to 2 atmospheres
Thanks for the quick response and the info.
So in your opinion are they worth the price for what they are?
Or
Would you put one on your personal weapon?
Won't hold you responsible in anyway, shape or form one way or the other just want a professional opinion if you are willing. If not in the open forum please pm me if you have time.
I had one with the zero shift issue and traded it for a couple of aimpoints. However, I really liked the idea of the optic and I am going to buy one of the new 1.5-6x versions for sure. I thought the glass was very high quality and I liked the reticle. It was heavy, but very solidly built. I thought about buying one of the newer revisions with the problems resolved but now that they have the 1.5-6, I think that is the one to buy.
I will have to check closely before getting one to make sure it is problem free.
Would you put one on your personal weapon?
Issued-personal, and presuming one made in the last year, yes. I'd yammer (bitch/whine/cry) about the weight like a Sicilian grandmother around the villiage well, but I would use it and mightily resist the temptation to toss it down mountains, then check zero just for funsies. It's TOUGH.
Personal-personal and buying for myself, no. There's plenty of other options out there for less money that are less ridiculously robust but otherwise match or exceed it in other categories, and I won't buy anything with ARMS mounts that I can't swap for something better.
For the money you're looking to spend, there's a great deal of validity in looking at a NightForce or Schmidt & Bender 1/4x, or even a Trijicon TR24, though that last one eliminates anything like a BDC reticle.
I concur with JSantoro. Lots of products at this price point to consider.
My personal fave is the new Vortez Razor HD 1-4 with EBR reticle in a Bobro mount, which can be had for around $1400 in total.
I am anxious to try out the Elcan 1-6x Spectre.
Gray Ghost
09-24-10, 01:39
Veeerrrrry tough optic, but heavy as balls, and the tritium in it doesn't last as long as the stuff in a Trijicon product (if that's a feature you care about, of course).
Elcan SpecterDR does not have tritium, only an illuminated reticle or red dot. Battery life is 3,000 hours.
Cost will be between $1700-2100 depending on how many units they order at a time.
Kerif Night Vision sells the SOCOM SpecterDR's for about $1640 (MIL/LE only). The owner is a very nice guy. They are the only retailer I found that regularly stocks them and actually sells them for a decent price (not $2,000+ like the one or two other places I found online who claimed they had them).
The reticle's somewhat like a Trijicon ACOG BDC (unless you count font and how thick the lines are), but the lit portion is a simple dot and it's ensconced within a crosshair arrangement. Can't remember what size dot. Originally made as a LMG optic, as represented by the circles in the reticle at the 700-1000m lines.
SOCOM overrun model that I believe the original poster is discussing will actually have the BDC marks represented as lines, not circles. This is the only difference between this model and the civilian version (besides the exterior color) which has circles in the reticle and range finding marks located to the side of the reticle. The SOCOM version is supposed to be less "cluttered".
There are DRs with tritium, though you're right in regard to the fact that the current ones we get do not have it. Point taken.
A few of months ago we had a broohaha over some that were originally Canadian mil that somehow ended up in US stocks, in which the lamps had faded. Somebody wanted to see if the material could be replaced. It was an exercise in Extreme Not Caring for me, except for the fact that I got to rub somebody's nose in the fact that it would have been a matter of a single phone call if it were a Trijicon product.
Right about the reticle, too, especially since the reticle between the 5.56 and 7.62 variants are configured exactly the same so as to practically eliminate any training scars for users that jump from one weapon to another.
Lynn Freshly
09-24-10, 14:56
I have had a couple Specters that did have impact shift when switching from 4x to 1x. I just picked up a new Specter DR and Sighted it in on 4x at 100 yards. I then switched the lever to 1x and put the rounds right on top of the 4x rounds.
Another forum had a guy with impact shift and he sent it back to Armament Technology and they repaired it for him
Lynn
Lynn how do you like it? Does it do all as advertised?
Thanks for the post. I have expressed my concerns to the guys at THOR and they were aware of the problems with the other units made last year and have assured me these are of recent manufacture and can supply documentation as needed.
Lynn Freshly
09-27-10, 08:59
Lynn how do you like it? Does it do all as advertised?
Thanks for the post. I have expressed my concerns to the guys at THOR and they were aware of the problems with the other units made last year and have assured me these are of recent manufacture and can supply documentation as needed.
I really like this optic. I know that I am a minority on some forums. Would I want to issue it to a company of military grunts, no. But I think it is a great optic and if you are not taking it on and off on a regular basis, I think the ARMS mount are not an issue either.
Yes, it does all that is advertised.
Lynn
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