I have a Nikon M-223 1-4X20 on my 16" AR and I'm not really happy with it. It stinks for hog hunting at night-using a red or green light, it simply doesn't have the optical clarity to see a coon under a feeder better than a dark little blob. I want something sized appropriately for an AR carbine in about 2.5-10X, 30mm tube and possibly with an illuminated reticle, not going over about $800-900. Not convinced I need an illuminated reticle either. Trijicon has some 1-4X scopes with optics that defy description with a post and a little chevron with both tritium and fiber optics that leaning hard toward but part of me wants more magnification. Vortex has a 2.5-10 with an etched glass reticle and no illumination that also looks good but I don't know much about their quality. I could use some advice from those of you who have some experience about what works best on an AR. I'm building an SPR and when it's done, this optic will go on it and a basic Aimpoint is gonna go on my 16" carbine. Thanks in advance,

Rob

I really like the Trijicon 3-9x40 ... ours are in Larue QD mounts and interchange back and forth with Eotechs as desired. Worth the money; can't recall the price point as compared to Leupold but I like the fiber optic'd reticle. I don't make a lot of use of the mil dot reticle and don't know what the other options are.

I completely agree about the mil dot reticles, and BDC as well. To me it's a 200-300 yard rifle. I can hold over or under. I just want clear optics and some magnification and reliability.

Have had mine on a 223 for a long time, recently parked it on an AR-10 and it is holding up fine. The AR-10 stretches the range out a bit, and will upgrade it to something with target turrets and zero stops.

Rob a simple no mag red dot will do all you want. You don't need to make the animal 10X bigger hold the dot MY .02 J.Michaelon it and press the trigger all will work.

I have no idea why my post keep scrambling?

I used an old Leupold 1-4x for several years, now I use a Bushnell TRS-25. Actually have Bushnell's on 3 guns.
bob

There's just a few occasions where I'd like a little magnification for the future rifle this optic will be on. But when it's built I'm gonna put an Aimpoint on my current rifle.

200 yards is my limit on making a vitals shot with a nonmagnified Eotech. And it takes a while to line up just right.

With my eyesight I have trouble seeing a 6" target sharp enough at 100 yards to tell where the center is. A stigmatism can really mess things up without corrective lenses and when I try and shoot with glasses, when it has to count my glasses always fog up. It can be agrivating to say the least.

Then I will share my opinion based on very limited experience is shooting AR15s around the farm.

A couple thoughts to start with.

First: probably shouldn't be shooting game in excess of 200 yards with a 5.56mm unless they are prairie dogs or ragheads.

Second: why go shooting if you can't see straight? Just go to your eye doc and get a disposable soft contact with astigmatism correction for your shooting eye.

FYI: a 10x scope has as much business on a 5.56mm AR15 as it does on a .30-30 unless it is used for ammo testing.

IMO

Byron

Well, this current rifle is an Armalite 16" flattop carbine with a traditional standard fore arm, etc...currently used for hogs, deer, homeland defense. I am in the process of accumulating parts for an SPR type AR that I may very well shoot prairie dogs and coyotes with and that's the reason I'd like a bit more magnification for this optic that will eventually go on that rifle and then I'm gonna put a basic Aimpoint on this carbine and it will more of a dedicated fighting rifle. While I tend to agree with you that a 10X scope seems out of place on an AR, I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say it has no place. When used as a hunting rifle for small game that magnification has as much place as it would on a .223 bolt action varmint rifle. But, until I get done accumulating parts and put that second rifle together I want better optics on this gun. We went hog hunting this last weekend, and while I didn't see any hogs, the first night I saw coons under the feeder at about 60 yards that looked like black blobs lit up with a Streamlight Stinger and a green filter. The second night I used my Guide Gun with a Leupold VX3 1.5-5 and could see the coons perfectly...and popped one. So, I need better optics on it, would like some magnification and possibly an illuminated reticle. Personally, I think the Trijicon AccuPoint TR24 with the triangle post reticle would be perfect and I'm leaning hard that way but I'm also having a hard time justifying spending over a grand on a rifle scope.

Leupold VXI or II 2-7x33, a VXIII 1.75-6 or a VX III 2.5-8x36 are my favorite scopes. They will cost anywhere between $200 and $500 depending on options.

Rob I am right there with you. I have an astigmatism and it kill shooting a dot a most targets at any kind of distance. If the target is well lit I can do fine but put a deer or hog in the brush and even in good light I have trouble in poor light it isn't going to happen. I had an Aimpoint on my Beowulf, and removed it in favor of a heavy duplex 2-7 VXII. It works much better.

Last summer I was trying to shoot some hogs in low light with my 2x scout scope at about 100 yards. I couldn't tell which way was front. Not sure if I hit the first hog or not, but when they started running I got one.

A couple of thoughts that come to me.

First, get your eye sight squared away. Many times a simple trip to your OD and a soft contact for your shooting eye will solve most eye sight/gun sight problems.

Second, my setup on the AR15 farm carbine is a high quality 1x5 illuminated reticle telescope with a powerful LED weapon light. That is my back porch rifle setup. At 1x with the reticle turned on it works like an AimPoint and at 5x allows a bit finer shooting...maybe...at least it seems to. One should be able to shoot MOA with a quality setup thusly.

Third, realistically the 16" 5.56mm is a 200ish sporting rifle and will kill deer and such like lighting inside that range. If you have good vision and you should, a good red dot with a 2 MOA dot will allow to hit a dinner plate at a quarter mile easily with a hard hold. What more do you need?

So, I think that a 1-5x illuminated reticle telescope is the most versatile optic on an AR15, however most of my shooting is with a red dot because it just seem to be more handy.

My JP Precision rifle is mounted with a fixed 10x target telescope and their fancy muzzle brake. With a hard hold you can see the bullet hole appear in the target. For other than bench or field position shooting with a tight sling it is not much of an advantage.

So...2 MOA red dot or 1-5X illuminated telescope...probably no real difference in hitting targets in the field. YMMV

Byron

I've thought about contacts but I've gone this long without them...Dee says I'm stubborn. Duh!

I pretty much agree with all that and it confirms much of what I was already thinking. I'm really struggling with spending over a grand on a rifle scope right now (as bad as I want that Trijicon 1-4....most amazing optical view I've ever seen) because I really want to focus on building my other rifle. I bought a Vortex Viper 1-4X24 30mm with an illuminated reticle. It was just under $500 and I can't find any negative reviews on it at all. Back door farm gun is probably the best way to describe this guns purpose...typical 200 yard varmint, deer, hog and interloper gun. It shoots just under to just over an inch with several good factory loads and my handloads and I don't see much use for more than 4X but I 'might' on the gun I'm building. I figure this scope gives me the best of both worlds...an etched reticle and illumination and if the world comes to an end and the scope companies are all gone and the zombies try and take over and the electronics fail...well, I still have a traditional scope. We'll see how it works out and I'll see what I can learn from this and hopefully it's not another you shouldn't have ventured far from Leupold lesson!