ACOG questions? Talk me out or into buying one!!

[equilibrium]

I have a love/hate relationship with the ACOG(used one while in the Marine Corps). Today I was at the LGS and decided to go ahead and play with the ACOG units. I currently run an Aimpoint Comp M2 and love it but the ACOG brought back memories. Other than the eye relief which is to some crappy I still have a soft spot for them after looking through it. I am thinking about selling my M&P15 complete upper since it is just collecting dust to help fund an ACOG purchase. Folks that run ACOG's in the civilian world is it really worth the purchase? I am completely satisfied with the Aimpoint but damn I have this itch for the ACOG. Just not sure of its practicality outside of the military.

[Eurodriver]

Talk you out of it? Easy. As you said, the eye relief is garbage. You have to be perfectly in the eye box for proper eye relief, and this requires adjusting the stock all the time. Standing? Needs to be shorter. At the bench? Needs to be longer. Prone? Shorter. Armor? Shorter. Kneeling? Longer. Total garbage and if Trijicon could fix the TA31 series by giving it more generous eye relief they would still have a real winner...sort of.

You still suffer from wash out if in a dark area and sighting into a bright area. Take an ACOG outside with you at night and aim it inside a house with blinds open (preferably your own, and not attached to a rifle). You'll notice the reticle is now completely black and difficult to pick up.

Weight? Come on bro, the TA31RCOM4 is what? 1lb? On a fixed 4x optic? That's ridiculous. The only thing more ridiculous than the weight is the cost. $1500 can buy you three used Aimpoint T1s. Or to look at it better, you could have a lighter, more practical setup for less money if instead of buying a TA31RCOM4 you bought an Aimpoint T1 and a Magnifier...

With that said, as a fellow Marine, I too love the ACOG and carry it on my favorite rifle. I have learned to mitigate its faults (as have you) and there is certainly no question itwill never ever let you down. It might weigh more than Rosie O'Donnell, take longer to acquire targets inside of 50 yards, and not get much love but it is still a solid optic and if you've got the bug for it, the coin, and use it properly you won't be disappointed.

[equilibrium]

I hear you brother. You nailed it with the eye relief. I was constantly changing my cheek weld when moving from 300-500. I have become used to it and the only reason I have the itch is because I can acquire a "retritiumed" used one for $700. That is the only reason I am contemplating the purchase.

[Eurodriver]

$700?!?

If you don't buy it, I will.

[equilibrium]

Exactly brother!! BTW Where are you stationed?

[TehLlama]

Considering they're more expensive than getting a TR24T, Aimpoint H1, and mounts for both at MSRP, the performance isn't exactly mindblowing.

Eye relief IS garbage on the TA31/TA01, and getting a good field of view is basically the only tradeoff. This is the optic that made me love the UBR, but that's the only stock system that seems to work well with an optic that is low, picky about having eye relief, and has fine enough telescoping adjustments to work well in standing, sitting, and prone. Smartly applied electrical tape to 2/3 of the fiberoptic setup actually fixes the brightness issue

Personally, I run those things really fast up close (on a clean Table-III shoot, I was still finishing up strings of fire faster than the idiots who sounded like they were just point shooting and blasting), and despite that I'm still convinced there are truly superior options if you're not interested in having an M4 clone build (I have one with an M4A1 SOCOM profile barrel and TA31RCO-M4). I really like that rifle even though it's a 10lb boat anchor (UBR, TA31, A1 barrel, M4RAS) loaded; that said I have a much simpler rifle (DD V5 LW) running a TR24RT optic that does all those same things, and a few critical ones a lot better at a complete weight of 8.5 lb loaded (better up close, longer handguard means better light mounting, points better due to lighter overall weight), so a lot of my dismissal of the ACOG as a platform is related to that difference in functionality of complete weapon systems.

It's a perfect military optic for riflemen because it means having the ability to identify objects at distance and make solid hits at range, it has pretty gruntproof dual illumination, and critically it's as tough as the rifle it's mounted on, which is why the DoD spends as much on those as they do on the M16s they live on.

[equilibrium]

I agree with you completely man but I was able to qualify expert with the ACOG. That includes the CQB qual with flying colors(but they do say that if you fail that portion you have no buddies), although I still didnt do bad at all within 25 meters. Although I have to admit that in boot camp with iron sights I performed better. It may have been because I was scared sh!tless to not perform well, IDK.

[Enoch]

Does it have to be either, or?

[Dump1567]

If you want one, buy it. If you don't like it, sell it and get something else.

I had an extra M4A1 build sitting in the safe when I saw a new TA01NSN in sniper grey on Amazon selling for $750. It now sits on that rifle. Are there better options, sure. But I wanted an ACOG. And if I get tired of it, I'll probably sell it and get close to my money back out.

You didn't mention the model, but Amazon currently has the TA01NSN for a pretty good price ($859).
http://www.amazon.com/Trijicon-Acog-...s=acog+ta01nsn

[equilibrium]

The price is $700 which is not bad at all. The reason is has to be either or is because I do not have a need for more than one Ar at this time. I would much have one AR that I practice with constantly and have muscle memory developed with than have 12 that have no memory development chemistry with my body.