Forward Controls Adjustable Turret Caps for Aimpoint Micro

**MistWolf** · 12-17-18, 18:57

It wasn't long after I got my Aimpoint Micros I found myself wishing for an easier way to get to the adjustment turrets. The factory turret caps do a good job of keeping out dust and grime and the weather, but they're tiny. For fat fingered fellows like me, they are easy to drop get lost, especially in gravel or grass or snow or the loose brass piling up at your feet. The specialized tool Aimpoint supplies with their Micros does make adjustments easier, but it doesn't help if it gets misplaced, forgotten or lost. I wanted to be able to make adjustments without a special tool and without having to remove the cap.

About a year ago, I contacted Roger Wang and asked him if this was something he could make. I sketched out how I thought it should look and he said "Hmm... Lemme talk to our guys..."

...and they worked their magic! Roger contacted me over the weekend and said "Hey, check out the new item on our website!" I did and to my amazement, there was the turret caps I've been wanting! Just like I imagined them, but better. Roger calls them the "ATA", which I think stands for "Adjustable Turret, Aimpoint".

Here's a photo I robbed of of the Forward Controls website. I hope Roger doesn't mind.

I didn't think the photo would come out so small! Here's the link- http://www.forwardcontrolsdesign.com...cro_p_143.html

I immediately ordered a couple of sets for myself and they were dropped in the mail today. Now, I'm waiting impatiently for them to arrive.

The ATA caps are made of two parts (three, if you count the O-ring)- a cap and a disc. To install, remove the factory cap. Then, place theATA disc on the Aimpoint turret. The disc has two pins that fit in the two holes in the top of the turret. Then, screw the ATA cap down over the disc until the cap is snug. Roger explained that if the cap is over tightened, it will compress the O-ring too much and make adjustments harder to do. (There is an O-ring at the base of the turret placed there by Aimpoint. The caps tighten against the O-ring.) Roger told me they sent an Aimpoint with a set of factory caps and the new ATA caps to be tested in a pressure chamber. He said the ATA caps held up just as well as the factory caps.

Ok, my order hasn't arrived yet, so I have no first hand experience with the ATA caps. Yet. When I get them, I'll put them through their paces and see what I like and what I think needs to be improved. I can't help but be excited, though. If they work as hoped (Roger has a set he's been testing on his own Aimpoint) making adjustments to an Aimpoint has become much easier.

One nice touch is the engraving on the disc. When using the factory cap, Aimpoint has thoughtfully provided markings to help the shooter know which way to turn to make adjustments. The factory markings are universal. They are marked "U/R" with an arrow pointing counter-clockwise so the either cap can be used to make adjustments to either elevation or windage. The discs of the Forward Control adjustable caps are marked individually. The elevation disc is marked "U" and the windage disc "R", both with a counter-clockwise arrow.

Roger tells me Forward Controls is working on a version for other Aimpoints (such as the Aimpoint M4).

I'm excited! First, because making sight adjustments to an Aimpoint will be easier with the ATA caps. Second, because it's based on an idea I had!

So, whattya guys think?

**Tx_Aggie** · 12-17-18, 19:09

Pretty slick! I hope they sell a ton of them. I'll be buying a few sets after the holidays.

**opngrnd** · 12-17-18, 19:13

I'm always happy to see the products Roger Wang rolls out. Incremental improvements really add up when looking at a rifle as a sum of its parts. Great job being part of this!

**Duffy** · 12-18-18, 17:15

Thanks guys

ATA (Adjustable Turret cap, Aimpoint Micros) was in development for a year, mostly because the requirements we place on the ATA, and the components' diminutive nature which requires high level of precision and tight tolerance, all of which takes time to design, test, and verify.

I understand the idea of windage and elevation adjustments for the Micro series sights. By incorporating the tool into the caps, one doesn't need to carry or need another tool to make adjustments. It's pretty smart, until actual people started using the sights, and forgetting and losing them. If you lose the caps, there's no easy way to adjust anything, since it's two indentations as found on security screws, a screw driver can't be used. And folks lose them a lot.

ATA is as simple a solution as we can contrive, given we can't change the sight itself, ATA does precisely what we designed it to do: enable users to make adjustments without having to remove the caps and flip it 180 degrees, mate the two pin like protrusions with the two indentations of the adjustment.

As adjustments aren't always made in a single try, the user leaves the cap aside while continuing to make changes, the caps are easy to forget and lose. These caps are tiny to begin with, and their black color doesn't help. I wonder how many replacement caps Aimpoint sells a year.

ATA's caps and discs are machined from bar stock 17-4 stainless steel. The serrations correspond to the number of 16 tick marks on the inside of the T1 caps. The precision and tight tolerance with with ATA is made, along with the internal O ring, allow the sight to retain the same water immersion depths as the factory caps.

Each ATA is shipped with the O rings installed in the caps, and two extra lubricated O rings. It is important to keep the internal O rings lubricated.

We're happy with the results so far. Future development includes Comp M5 and M4.

**GH41** · 12-18-18, 17:36

I just don't see the need. How often do you really need to dial in your RDS? Maybe once?? Looks like a solution looking for a problem to me.

**gaijin** · 12-18-18, 17:38

Appears a well executed design.

**drtywk** · 12-18-18, 17:52

Just ordered a set, plus his new MLOK QD sling adapter. Roger/FCD makes some of the best designed AR components out there. Plus you can't go wrong with the FCD swag.

**Duffy** · 12-18-18, 18:06

Haha I sent you something that's not for sale, only given away, there's now another swag I'm going to throw in

A pair of plastic Aimpoint T1 caps is $24. A pair of billet machined 17-4 stainless steel caps and discs is $45, but it will be the last pair of caps you'd buy. Caps that don't get removed don't get lost

There are some that lose their caps often enough, but we're looking at a single aspect of the ATA. The ability to make adjustments quickly with a coin, or rim of a cartridge (as there's now no need to remove the cap, flip it over, and mate it to the actual adjustment) is a larger part of the package.