INSIGHT MRDS????

[MadDog]

mattmcg: I can't use the cover because of the metal protective shroud so I just turn it off after shooting. The original battery has lasted about a year and a half so far but like I said I turn it off. I leave all of my aimpoints on 24/7 and change out the batteries every 3 or 4 years whether they need it or not.

Would be nice to be able to do the same with the MRDS.

MadDog

[mattmcg]

Hmmm, I'd say a year and a half of battery life so far with turning it off is just getting started. Frankly, I think you could leave it on if you'd like as long as it is stored in a dark location (e.g. safe). Are you on your first set of batteries still?

As far as red dots go, this one is about the closest you can get to a typical aimpoint without the added bulk and weight. The fact that you can leave it on for over a year or turn it off (which I prefer) sounds like it is doing well for you.

[MadDog]

Like I said, I would like a longer battery life but I am not complaining. It has worked out great and is one of my favorite optics. In fact I have 2 of them, along with 2 - T1 Micros, 1 - H1 Micro, 2 - Docter optics, 1 - Trijicon MRD, 1 - Trijicon RMR, 1 - Trijicon Accupoint, 1- Trijicon RX30, 2 - Aimpoint ML2's and 1 - Aimpoint ML3.

MadDog

[Impact]

thanks .i asked ADM the question here.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=72451

[Gunzfcc]

Did anyone try the factory MRDS setup with a set of the micro Troy sights? I have a POF .308 with a 12" barrel, and want to keep it super light. With the higher piston top I was thinking this would be a wicked setup. Thoughts??

[jsbsmarine]

Does anyone know which mount is lower?
The ADM mount or the factory insight mrds mount.
Quick detach doesnt really matter to me since it's going on a HK UMP conversion, just need the lowest profile mount possible...

[mattmcg]

Still going strong with the KZ mount, the MRDS, and protective shroud. Honestly after running an Eotech XPS, and Aimpoint T1, and the MRDS, the open visibility, the lightweight, and ruggedness of the little MRDS continues to impress even after 6+ months.

I think Insight is really missing the boat marketing-wise with getting the word out on this.

[bubbameat]

Still going strong with the KZ mount, the MRDS, and protective shroud. Honestly after running an Eotech XPS, and Aimpoint T1, and the MRDS, the open visibility, the lightweight, and ruggedness of the little MRDS continues to impress even after 6+ months.

I think Insight is really missing the boat marketing-wise with getting the word out on this.

That's good enough for me....I think i will follow your lead.

[Ned Christiansen]

I am still getting a year or upwards of on a battery, leaving it on all the time. I really think batteries at the store may vary +/- 20% in how much life is in them.

I epoxy-bedded the sight-shroud-base sandwich together. With the shroud in place, the sight's locating peg engagement with the base is reduced. Never actually had a problem but it just seemed like something that needed a little reinforcement.

I wrote this article some time back for SWAT Magazine; by the time I submitted it, some one else had beaten me to it so they didn't use it. I could only find my "draft" and not my "final" but I scanned it and I think it's finished:

Insight Technologies MRDS Sight
By Ned Christiansen

I got into IPSC/USPSA shooting just as the “arms race” started. When shooters started going from .45 ACP to .38 Super, then adding a compensator, I kept up. But soon it had to be a high-capacity, compensated .38 Super with a red-dot sight. I wanted to stay closer to daily reality, but I felt that these guns had their place in the evolution of combat competition, and that some of these enhancements, after being proven at the range in high-end competition, might just morph into advancements for real fighting guns, and indeed, many have.

Especially the red dot sight. Yes, a fighting carbine can still fight without one, but there is no denying the advantages of having one. It will make you faster. It will enable you to shoot better in reduced light. The red dot sight is practically de rigueur on a fighting long gun now, so widely accepted as “the way to go” that the chances of your manhood being called into question for having one are, happily, almost nil.

There are many to choose from. You can have one in any size and weight, with or without magnification. Cost can range from under $100 to over $1000, quality from “cheezy” to nearly indestructible.
My first miniature red dot was the old Tasco Optima; you could buy them sometimes for under $125 (it is out of production, but the current equivalent of it goes for about $300). The single lens was clear plastic, and for most applications, especially on a pistol, it was quite adequate. Better ones were available but they were a lot more expensive. This is generally true when discussing optics of any kind: the quality curve closely tracks the price curve.

The Insight Technologies MRDS I’ve been testing for two years now is better in several ways than the old Optima. It weighs under an ounce with the battery in place, thanks to the lens being polycarbonate, and the body being injection molded. Some may not care for the idea of a plastic lens, but I was sure it was glass until I read otherwise; it is optically perfect and it will take more and harder knocks than glass. The adjustments are much more intuitive, with small screwdriver-slotted dials featuring detents every 1 MOA. It takes a tiny 1632 battery that is supposed to be good for a year (so far, so good on mine), and, importantly, the sight does not have to be taken off its base to change batteries, so no re-zeroing worries. I like that the direction indicators on the adjustment dials refer to which way the bullet impact will move, not which way the dot will move.

An available outer shroud adds a lot of protection; it is $50. The MRDS will work with mounts made for the Docter and Burris FastFire sights, but Insight offers their own Picatinny base at $100, and this is what I have been using. I did have to give it a “boost” of .300” with a Yankee Hill Machine riser made especially for the EoTech sight. With the MRDS’s smallish window, its vertical placement on the gun relative to the iron sights is more critical that with larger dot sights. The YHM product was the only one I could find that did not place the MRDS too high.

Insight tells me that with the shroud in place, the sight survived their test of mounting it on an M4 carbine and then dropping the carbine sight-first on concrete from six feet. I did not attempt to duplicate their test or do other destructive testing. I will say that the shroud is well made and weighs next to nothing, adding very little bulk. This is good, because a big part of what helps make the MRDS knock-proof is simply that there’s less of it there to bump into things. The shroud’s outer edges were very sharp though, and extending it just a little fore and aft would have added a lot of protection. The shroud mounts by getting sandwiched between the sight and the base, which I believe could lead to a bumped shroud moving the sight.
In the rifle/carbine context, miniature red-dot sights of this style seem to have been niched as backups or for close-range work only; in fact, the MRDS manuals suggests that it is intended for ranges “out to 150 yards”. They are often seen mounted atop a telescopic sight to give the scoped rifle a close-range capability. These applications were definitely considered in the MRDS’s design, given the above-mentioned mounting interface commonality. There are more than a few “piggyback” mounts available that will put your MRDS on top of a scope or ACOG. I felt a better test of the sight would be to use it as a primary sighting device, so I mounted it on an AR15 carbine in .300 Whisper, and then a Smith& Wesson M&P15R in 5.45X39 caliber.

I found it more than adequate as a sight. With the MRDS in place, the Whisper’s short-range tack-driving ability was not diminished, and this particular 5.45’s well documented accuracy level with Russian surplus ammo and iron sights was easily duplicated and bettered. With no magnification, the 3.5 minute-of-angle dot (7 MOA is optional), and the ability to match dot intensity to my target format for the best sight picture off sandbags, I fired several 10-shot groups of 3” to 4”. Taking the manual’s “150 yards and less” statement as a challenge, I also fired two groups at 200 yards, yielding 7 ¾” and 9”. Not heinous, given that at that range, “point of aim” consisted of pressing the trigger whenever the target sheet disappeared under the red dot. With a target format tuned to the dot’s size, say a 16” black bull with 12” of white center, groups could be smaller at 200, but that’d be cheating.

My 400-round experience was not a torture test, and I don’t know if other units at half the price (and less) are as good. But I can say that the MRDS is easy to use, small, light, and effective.

[mattmcg]

Excellent article Ned. They should have definitely picked that one up!

I know that there are a lot of supporters of both the Eotech XPS and the Aimpoint Micro as the "fighting grade" red dots. I've been beating up the MRDS in the same bent as my Eotech and Aimpoint sights and have to say that it has held up extremely well.

The benefit of the adjustable red dot intensity with the units built in light sensor (which can be overridden) is fantastic and is something that I always thought was lacking in the Aimpoint and Eotech offerings.