Crow Hunter
02-19-11, 16:42
I have recently been thinking about switching optics from a M4s & magnifier with Larue FTS mount to a TA33GH to reduce weight and simplify my optics. I had been reading specs and reviews waffling back and forth but this past weekend I decided to do something different.
My mother had requested that I go to the "back 40" and check to see if a cousin who was having timber cut was doing so on his own property since he has predominantly fields and she had seen quite a few nice trees coming out on trucks.
So I dressed in my mall ninja finest and traipsed through the woods. Her property was select cut about 3 years ago so there is quite a bit of undergrowth but some fairly decent trails. It is covered up with deer so I figured I would see how easily I could locate and track any that I jumped up with the M4s with and without the 3x magnifier. While I was out there, I figured I could take shots at "targets of opportunity" stumps, saplings, trash, etc. (And before any range nazis start, I know the area intimately and I didn't take any shots without ample back stops nor did I shoot any Bambi's since deer season is over)
My findings:
-It was difficult to find and track deer with the 3x. When I heard a blow, saw movement and brought the rifle up, I would often overshoot or sweep off target and very easily lost deer when trying to follow them at ranges of between 15 and 50 yards. It was especially difficult when they were moving in and out of tree cover and stopped to look back. They would stop, but I would keep going and then have to swing back to find them again. (I was down wind of them most of the time and I would pause and whistle at them and they would stop to see what the heck was making all that noise.:D) With just the red dot, it very easy to put the dot on them and stay on them.
-When taking shots at multiple targets, (stumps and saplings) it was hard not to get sucked into the scope and lose track of the next target.
-Recoil would throw off shots enough at close range (15-20 yards)that I would have to let the scope "settle" for just a few micro seconds after each shot to make sure I was still hitting the saplings (2-4" diameter) I was aiming at. Much easier and faster with just the red dot.
-Then I got out to the fields, this is where the 3x shined. Much easier to see and identify targets. No crows or other varmits, unfortunately, but there were some cornstalks and misc objects available for plinking. I was not any more "accurate" with the 3x but I felt I was more "precise" and it could identify individual targets further out and engage more successfully with the 3x than I could with the RDS alone. I didn't try any really long shots though because I didn't have anything that I could see to shoot at.
My conclusion:
-For my personal uses: home defense, SHTF, coyote hunting, pest control (stupid muskrats) and general plinking the M4s with the FTS magnifier is superior to a fixed 3x magnified scope. Especially since I have a primary and a backup and can switch magnifiers between them.
I could see how having the ACOG with the BDC would be very valuable in a really open area or in a fixed position (garrison) where you needed to observe/engage targets at a distance.
This probably is old news to most of you guys but it was very revealing to me.
Now I have NO experience with ACOGS so maybe what I have found with my little experiment here is not actually applicable to the ACOG line.
I have alot of experience with magnified optics in fixed positions (deer stand hunting, muskrat sniping, varmit hunting from ground blinds., shooting at stationary paper or reactive targets) That is usually one shot and either dead target or the range is far enough away that they are very easy to reacquire and fire again. However, when both I and my target are both moving and trying to get away it seems to be more of a hinderance than a help. I can't imagine if the deer were shooting back rather than just trying to run away.:fie:
You guys who do this stuff for a living have my absolute admiration and respect.
So those of you that run ACOGS as primary optics, am I doing something wrong or is it something that you have trained to overcome?
Oh, yeah, they were his trees by the way:).
My mother had requested that I go to the "back 40" and check to see if a cousin who was having timber cut was doing so on his own property since he has predominantly fields and she had seen quite a few nice trees coming out on trucks.
So I dressed in my mall ninja finest and traipsed through the woods. Her property was select cut about 3 years ago so there is quite a bit of undergrowth but some fairly decent trails. It is covered up with deer so I figured I would see how easily I could locate and track any that I jumped up with the M4s with and without the 3x magnifier. While I was out there, I figured I could take shots at "targets of opportunity" stumps, saplings, trash, etc. (And before any range nazis start, I know the area intimately and I didn't take any shots without ample back stops nor did I shoot any Bambi's since deer season is over)
My findings:
-It was difficult to find and track deer with the 3x. When I heard a blow, saw movement and brought the rifle up, I would often overshoot or sweep off target and very easily lost deer when trying to follow them at ranges of between 15 and 50 yards. It was especially difficult when they were moving in and out of tree cover and stopped to look back. They would stop, but I would keep going and then have to swing back to find them again. (I was down wind of them most of the time and I would pause and whistle at them and they would stop to see what the heck was making all that noise.:D) With just the red dot, it very easy to put the dot on them and stay on them.
-When taking shots at multiple targets, (stumps and saplings) it was hard not to get sucked into the scope and lose track of the next target.
-Recoil would throw off shots enough at close range (15-20 yards)that I would have to let the scope "settle" for just a few micro seconds after each shot to make sure I was still hitting the saplings (2-4" diameter) I was aiming at. Much easier and faster with just the red dot.
-Then I got out to the fields, this is where the 3x shined. Much easier to see and identify targets. No crows or other varmits, unfortunately, but there were some cornstalks and misc objects available for plinking. I was not any more "accurate" with the 3x but I felt I was more "precise" and it could identify individual targets further out and engage more successfully with the 3x than I could with the RDS alone. I didn't try any really long shots though because I didn't have anything that I could see to shoot at.
My conclusion:
-For my personal uses: home defense, SHTF, coyote hunting, pest control (stupid muskrats) and general plinking the M4s with the FTS magnifier is superior to a fixed 3x magnified scope. Especially since I have a primary and a backup and can switch magnifiers between them.
I could see how having the ACOG with the BDC would be very valuable in a really open area or in a fixed position (garrison) where you needed to observe/engage targets at a distance.
This probably is old news to most of you guys but it was very revealing to me.
Now I have NO experience with ACOGS so maybe what I have found with my little experiment here is not actually applicable to the ACOG line.
I have alot of experience with magnified optics in fixed positions (deer stand hunting, muskrat sniping, varmit hunting from ground blinds., shooting at stationary paper or reactive targets) That is usually one shot and either dead target or the range is far enough away that they are very easy to reacquire and fire again. However, when both I and my target are both moving and trying to get away it seems to be more of a hinderance than a help. I can't imagine if the deer were shooting back rather than just trying to run away.:fie:
You guys who do this stuff for a living have my absolute admiration and respect.
So those of you that run ACOGS as primary optics, am I doing something wrong or is it something that you have trained to overcome?
Oh, yeah, they were his trees by the way:).