Elcan specter DR 1-4??

[ggammell]

Mostly range

That optic is way over kill on the weight and wallet for a range gun.

[Leftie]

That optic is way over kill on the weight and wallet for a range gun.

While it's your money and your'e free to do what you want with it, I think that there are better, less expensive options on the market-particularly in the form of LVPOs.

That being said, if you like the Elcan form factor and it fits your needs/wants, who am I to talk you out of it? I just personally wouldn't purchase an Elcan now, especially not for a range toy that won't see field use. Even then, I'd rather put 1k into a new Primary Arms ACSS 1-8 FFP (or grab a gently loved Vortex, Steiner, Khales, or Nightforce option), stick it in a decent mount, and still spend less or a roughly comparable amount than what would be otherwise spent on an Elcan.

[1168]

Half a lifetime ago, I was issued a Can o’ Elk 1-4 to replace an ACOG. I politely got the armorer to give me my ACOG back. I felt like it was heavy AF.

However, I just looked up its nominal weight with mount, and weighed my P4Xi in a high mount. The Elcan is 2-3oz lighter, so if I put it on some sort of riser, its a wash. Assuming nominal weight is close. Maybe I need to revisit this optic in the context of not being 25 anymore, and being more tolerant of the exchange of weight for utility.

[LimeSpoon]

Indeed, the Elcan 1/4 is actually quite lightweight as combat variable scopes go.

It has a couple of unique advantages that let it punch above its magnification range - to dismiss the Specter because of its 4x power would be misguided IMO.

For example:

1. Eyebox and eye relief changes little from 1x to 4x. Maximum eye relief is rather short, although perhaps slightly better than advertised on 1x, but I have heard that the eyebox is excellent with proper eye relief in practice even if the exit pupil is small on paper. In addition, while the maximum eye relief distance is not very long, the eye relief range (difference between max eye relief and min eye relief) appears to be more forgiving than traditional scopes.

2. Battery life is far greater than most LPVOs - more similar to a red dot, actually. At its full nuclear bright setting, Elcan advertises 600 hours. At the middle setting, it still seems to be daylight visible under most conditions (although not really daylight bright outdoors) and allegedly boasts a battery life well in excess of a year.

3. The large objective lens grants good low light performance at 4x.

4. FOV is considerably wider than most LPVOs, approaching that of a TA31 ACOG.

5. Magnification switch is very fast.

6. Short length frees up more rail space. Furthermore, because the objective lens does not sit as far away from the ocular lens as it would on a standard scope, the design may be able to achieve a "truer 1x" since the image being received by the objective lens is not as far away from the image perceived by the naked eye.

The result appears to be a 1x power that is very good, and a 4x power that is much better than the 4x power on LPVOs, instead being more comparable to an ACOG with better eye relief.

Zero shift has not been reported for some number of years now with the newer generations. ARMS levers are not the greatest, but the mount on the Elcan doesn't seem to have any real issues with durability and you can upgrade to the Mk2 levers if you want. Keep in mind the mount is also included in the price.

[Turnkey11]

I've sold my LVPO setups and replaced with Elcans. First off, buy used. I haven't paid over $1400 yet. I haven't had any issues with zero shift between the 1x and 4x, the ARMS levers have not failed, and if the batteries die I still have an optic. The illumination has night vision settings although I dont think they would be useful given eye relief, but its there.