Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Just wondering........
I have had aimpoint red dots etc in the past but am back to iron only. The new stuff looks great but I have been reluctant thinking back to having to remember to turn them on & off. Also batteries..........It is bad enough keeping ammo handy. How hard will it be to get batteries?

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Both options, sadly. Most of my stuff has cheaper dots and I get plen-t of batts from Hong Kong. I do it because I know my eyes will only get older, and targeting something a little further than pistol range is a pain, especially in the dark with a flashlight.
If a dot needs to be dismounted and trashed, so be it. That's where the relative cheapness comes in to play.
BTW, a laser boresight has been a blessing to me. My experience has been successful dial-in without needing a shot. Of course, a shot would be good-I just didn't have the time to do so before necessity called. The job got done, and I can pretty much say that iron sights and I would've failed.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

The best is a raised rail like on my AK where I can choose either Iron sights or Optics. :wink:

Battery power does help aide the eyes and if you stick with Lithium, it'll last many hours of use. If you check the EOTech battery usage, I think it's good for 200+ hours. The cheap China knockoffs only last a few hours at best - so leave it on overnight and your batteries are toast. :confused_ma:

Soooooo, if going with Powered/Lighted optics - go for the best and stick with Lithium. Just my 0.02 cents worth. :bear_tongue:

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Do you only have one rifle? It's hard to answer this question without knowing your situation. Most of my rifles are scoped with normal glass or have iron sights... But I also have a rifle equipped with an EOTech and a surefire m900. I would not put battery powered optics on every rifle I owned that would be silly. So I guess I'll choose Undecided.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

FWIW, a dead red-dot is still a scope. Same for the low-light tritium jobs. I wouldn't completely discount them but I have never put one on my weapons, either.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

If the battery powered sight is your only sight, then I say no. However, if your battery powered sight is set up correctly to cowitness with your iron sights, then there is no reason not to use them.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Try a few models out before you buy if possible.

Get the best quality you can afford.

And pratice on the range with iron sights and the optics
just in case something happens...be proficent with it
bolth ways.

There's some really nice optics out there that
are worth it.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

No of course not :wink: LOL

I have a few. But I have just been leary of getting into anything that has to be turned on & off & the battery is something I wondered......How hard will they be to find?

I have used them years ago in IPSC & admit I like them.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

If it's part of the budget, then yes. People spend too much on optics IMO. In the dark of night in the house, I'm watching the red dot from the laser inside the weapon's light beam. Out to 100 yards daylight, then red-dot in the scope. Longer than that and BUIS.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Some (?many?) electronic sights have an auto-shutoff feature where they shut down after xxx minutes of non-use (no buttons pushed) to save battery life. I know that my Eotech has that feature.

As to exotic batteries....go with a sight using standard batteries (like AA). Not some oddball silver lithium nicad rechargeable disposable custom unit out of eastern kazahkkyrgistanoville.

As with any battery powered device, if you fail to replace the batteries BEFORE they run out of juice, your device will be useless. I guess you could trea it like a smoke detector, replacing batteries 1-2x/year.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

If your EOTech runs out of batteries, you flip up your Troy Irons and keep going.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

And then there's.........

http://www.defence.gov.au/opfalconer...Goggles_lo.jpg

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

I did not know they now had auto shut off.
Good feature.....
Yes it was years ago when I had Aimpoints

I should have included one more in the poll....
Non electric scopes only ;)

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

I don't know if my EoTech has it or not, but I'm not sure it's a good feature to have. Determining inactivity period by the number of minutes passed since the last push of a button is not a very good way of doing it. I never adjust my settings after turning it on, and I expect it to stay on until I turn it off. What if that X number of minutes limit happens to be reached when you're in the middle of shooting zombies during your SHTF scenario? Having your sight shut off on you wouldn't be a good thing, even if you have BUIS.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

You didn't say what kind of gun or use you intended....

For recreational shooting (including pest-shooting and hunting, if it's legal) electronic sights can be entertaining.

On a self-defense gun (which is inherently a short-range gun) I wouldn't recommend anything except tritium sights. The iron sights work against any background except darkness, and the tritium works in the dark.

-end-

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

You know that is basically how I feel.
I am getting old & when I really think of SHTF scenarios I want basic as basic can be.
All my guns are ultimately defense guns although I shoot & reload for the fun of it too.
Gun range = AR-15, 12 Ga 870, & 22lr in rifles
45acp,9mm,22lr in pistols

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

It's too bad that only Trijicon has scopes that use ambient light reticles/dots. They are way to pricey for me.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

I voted undecided since there was no choice for both. There is a place for both NV, EOTech and ACOG. Love the ACOGs though don't have one.... yet.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

No vote here. My view is lasers, red dots, illuminated reticles are okay for play, but I would be nervous if I had to rely on any of them when my life is on the line. You never know if they will light when you need them. Generally unnecessary, IMO. I prefer irons or low magnification (1-4x) combat scopes for CQB...

And yes, I own an EOTech, Reflex II, ProPoint. They have all been taken off the rifles and now sit in my safe.

Now, high-quality 3rd gen night vision scopes and/or goggles (which I can't afford)...YES.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Guns run on AMMO.
Look into some tritium sights for all of your "important" guns.
Trijicon makes some tritium illuminated scopes, called ACOG they are
reasonably priced glass.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Please don't take this wrong, but your all looking at this so wrong.



When the SHTF, you won't get the battery that runs your scope.


Duh.....


I think that the OP was looking for someone to touch on this topic.


Come on, when the SHTF you can't go to WalMart for your $hit!!!!!!!!!!!


Optics only, unless things are OK, BUT...........

GRP

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Born and raised on "iron sights". I do have a cheap light on my shotgun though.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

For me this is the $200-$400 range, not the $800-$1,500 range.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

Thousand dollar glass in this economy is a BARGAIN.
A case of domestic match grade ammo is more than a grand..
Dont sweat the small stuff.

Re: Battery powered optics yeah or nay
 

I dont know but for myself in this economy?
If I wanted to blow another grand it would be on another weapon not an optic but thats me & I reload :)