My Aimpoint Review of the M4 and T1

[FJB]

Howard,
John Enloe, Aimpoint, Inc's Repair Technician, can provide a better response. John answers these questions fairly frequently. However, the following information may prove useful.

Distorted Dots In Red Dot Sights
If your dot does not appear to be perfectly round, the distortion is probably caused by the way that your eye perceives the dot, rather than by some mechanical defect. Due to differences in the lenses in different individuals eyes, round objects that subtend areas near 3 minutes of angle may appear distorted in a variety of ways depending on the individual and other environmental influences. Inexpensive red dot sights sometimes have manufacturing defects that can cause the dot to be an odd shape.
A simple test that can be easily performed will allow you to determine the cause of the apparent distortion:
1. Turn the sight on and look through as you normally would. (This test is easiest when the sight is not mounted on a firearm, but can be performed with the sight mounted as well. Just make sure that the firearm is unloaded and pointed in a safe direction.)
2. While continuing to look through the sight, roll the sight on its optical axis.
3. If the dot's irregularities seem to revolve around the center of the dot like the spokes of a wheel, there is a mechanical defect causing the distortion.
4. If the dot does not roll with the sight, the distortion is caused in the way your eye perceives the dot. This is not to say that you don t have good vision. You can see clearly and still see a distortion in objects this small. This effect is less pronounced in sights with larger dots. More people will see the dot in a
sight with a 10 minute-of-angle dot as being perfectly round than will be able to see a 3 MOA dot as round.

We hope that this helps you to understand this phenomenon. If you have additional questions regarding Aimpoint sights, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Aimpoint, Inc. Customer Service

That all said, after building a CompM4 at the factory it is simply amazing, due to the incredibly precise and fine motor skill work involved aligning the LED module, that the technicians there are capable of making the dots as round as they are.

[lewlew]

I bought the same Aimpoint M4 sight last week and found that the switch has about 1/12 play on every click. Is that normal? I asked the dealer and they said it's designed for military personel who wearing gloves.

[Robb Jensen]

I bought the same Aimpoint M4 sight last week and found that the switch has about 1/12 play on every click. Is that normal? I asked the dealer and they said it's designed for military personel who wearing gloves.

I was told it's normal, mine does that too. I was told it allows it to move even when extremely dirty with sand, crud, blood etc.

[Howard N.]

Howard,
John Enloe, Aimpoint, Inc's Repair Technician, can provide a better response. John answers these questions fairly frequently. However, the following information may prove useful.

Distorted Dots In Red Dot Sights
If your dot does not appear to be perfectly round, the distortion is probably caused by the way that your eye perceives the dot, rather than by some mechanical defect. Due to differences in the lenses in different individuals eyes, round objects that subtend areas near 3 minutes of angle may appear distorted in a variety of ways depending on the individual and other environmental influences. Inexpensive red dot sights sometimes have manufacturing defects that can cause the dot to be an odd shape.
A simple test that can be easily performed will allow you to determine the cause of the apparent distortion:
1. Turn the sight on and look through as you normally would. (This test is easiest when the sight is not mounted on a firearm, but can be performed with the sight mounted as well. Just make sure that the firearm is unloaded and pointed in a safe direction.)
2. While continuing to look through the sight, roll the sight on its optical axis.
3. If the dot's irregularities seem to revolve around the center of the dot like the spokes of a wheel, there is a mechanical defect causing the distortion.
4. If the dot does not roll with the sight, the distortion is caused in the way your eye perceives the dot. This is not to say that you don t have good vision. You can see clearly and still see a distortion in objects this small. This effect is less pronounced in sights with larger dots. More people will see the dot in a
sight with a 10 minute-of-angle dot as being perfectly round than will be able to see a 3 MOA dot as round.

We hope that this helps you to understand this phenomenon. If you have additional questions regarding Aimpoint sights, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Aimpoint, Inc. Customer Service

That all said, after building a CompM4 at the factory it is simply amazing, due to the incredibly precise and fine motor skill work involved aligning the LED module, that the technicians there are capable of making the dots as round as they are.

Thanks, the dot distortion does rotate with the rotation of of the sight. The tag line coming off the dot seems to be about a two mil length itself. I was hoping a simple replacement would be in order. After talking to Tech. at aimpoint, it appears that the sight will be sent back to Sweden and may well come back saying nothing wrong. That's why I decided to just keep it and not be without-- for who knows how long. I will call again and ask to talk to John.

[FJB]

I was told it's normal, mine does that too. I was told it allows it to move even when extremely dirty with sand, crud, blood etc.

Affirmative. Plus it helps minimize the switch rolling to a higher or lower setting if rubbed against gear etc.

S/F

[Olav]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. Just put a M4 on a new Noveske 6.8 SPC upper. Don't get me wrong, I really like the optic, however the dot gives an elongated line appearance. This line really exaggerates with the 3X magnifier behind it. Called Aimpoint USA Tech (have the name written somewhere) and we went through rotating the sight through a 360 to see if the line rotated with the scope or stayed in the same relative location. It rotated with the sight as you would expect if it was a projection problem rather than my eye distortion. Tech said that no 2 mil dot would be exactly visually correct and I know and expect that. Decided to not send it back as the problem does not bother enough to really cause any problems. I do think the dot image should be better though.

FJB, maybe you might comment on this if you would.

Sorry for the necro post but I just noticed this thread after I posted mine about what appears to be the exact same issue.

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?...d=1#post194109

Here a photo of the described problem:



.

[Robb Jensen]

It's normal you're just seeing the internals of the optic.

My M4 and my M4S I have it if having the dot really bright in a darker room. Out in bright daylight I don't see it at all. I don't use the ARDs.

[Jay Cunningham]

This may be stating the obvious but remember the focus should be on the target. If you attempt to focus on the dot itself it will distort.

[Rich776]

I just got the Comp M4s and I only count 15 settings unless the off position is considered a setting. Am I doing something wrong?

[FJB]

There is no off switch on the CompM4. Thus, the first setting is a night vision setting and a total of 16 settings. Battery life on setting 12 of 16 is 7 years with an Alkaline and 10 years with a Lithium. Go to www.downrange.tv/show2 video clip Part 2 to learn more.

S/F