(I should point out that long since this thread was posted I have purchased a couple of TA33 ACOG's).
I've been experimenting a bit under different lighting conditions. In pitch black darkness the reticle is pretty dim even on an ACOG I know has a good element. My older ACOG's element is just as bright, so I assume they're both good.
In low light (but not total darkness), varying degrees of ambient light make the reticle bright enough with the fiber optic, so that the tritium element is apparently not being utilized. (I say that because in low light the chevron is visibly brighter than it would be in total darkness-- meaning that something more than just the tritium is powering it).
Of course, without night vision (something I'll never be able to afford), a person probably would not fire into total darkness no matter how bright or dim the reticle is. So that level of dimness in the reticle would probably never be one that I would have to depend on.
Further, with my Surefire weaponlight illuminated, the reticle is about as bright as the tritium illumination in total darkness, and the target is illuminated to boot, obviously. I'm guessing the fiber optic is picking up just enough of the ambient light from the flashlight to illuminate the reticle (at least marginally acceptably). I haven't tried this with various backgrounds to see if the reticle washes out. Here in the sticks you see enough of the reticle with the tactical light on that you could hit a close-range target.
So, in total darkness, is the tritium useless to a person without night vision? I'm scratching my head thinking "maybe." You certainly would not take a chance on shooting at something you couldn't see no matter how bright the reticle is.
For a person such as myself who is forced to use a flashlight on the weapon to see the target, the fiber optic is evidently more important than the tritium--as long as it's picking up enough light to make the tritium unnecessary. As stated above, the miniscule amount of extra brightness in the reticle with the flashlight on versus the reticle alone in total darkness tells me the fiber optic is enhancing the brightness of the chevron.
Of course a scope with a black reticle is not going to be much use after dark even with the tactical light on. If the fiber optic were removed or damaged somehow, you would have a daytime scope, period. I tested this with a non-illuminated Nikon hunting scope and even with the flashlight on the reticle is invisible against a dark background. My TA33's red chevron is just bright enough to be usable.
I'm thinking of tweaking the amount of lumens in my tactical light to see if the fiber optic picks up more ambient light and becomes brighter, or if the extra light overwhelms the reticle and causes it to wash out to the point of being totally invisible. Some have suggested various ways of illuminating the fiber optic directly (like with a cyalume stick). But I wonder if there might be a "sweet spot" where a tactical light is just bright enough to be picked up by the fiber optic without washing out the reticle, and the target is sufficiently illumiated as well.
Anybody tried different levels of tactical light illumination to see how it affects your ACOG reticle at night?
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