Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1365706
3.5 MOA dot was perfectly visible when shooting with NVGs. Same sit- uation with gas masks. The MRDS was zeroed for 100 meters (almost flat), best for CQB or low-visibility shooting. Combo of two sights is a bit tough to work. The MRDS was for distances of up to 100 meters or night shooting and the ACOG was for day use when 4x zoom became handy. ACOG has ballistic compen- sation reticle dedicated for ammu- nition and barrel length. In some instances, the compensation was not matching the ammunition or the conditions (e.g. elevation) during the ops. BRC was more like a hint for us. The DBAL-A2 laser pointers had removed lenses from the IR illumi- nator for maximum IR beam. This allowed us to have an IR flashlight essential for our tactics. It kept us concealed during the missions. We spend dozens of hours training "room clearing" without visible light. This lead us to "sleeper's way" – catching very serious bad guys in his pajamas without making a nose. Our home-made end plates are vis- ible in the photos. Beloved Magpul, sorry for ripping you off. In 2010 we would die for shorties… For 2011 deployment we were far better prepared. After the first tour in A-stan we came up with a list of items recommended to improve our operations. One of the points of the list was the optical sights with magnification. We were overpow- ering our brain cells which sight would be perfect fit for operations scenarios in theater. We were con- sidering Elcan Specter DR 1-4x, Tri- jicon ACOG 4x32 and EOTech HWS with 3x magnifiers. It wasn't an easy call as each of them has its pros and cons. At first we thought about ACOG: fiber optics for reticle illumination, clear and simple crosshairs and great optics alas fixed magnifica- tion not so perfect for short range engagements. Of course, the MRDS could be mounted on top of it but the mount is very high and not easy to use in shooting stances where the gun must be 90 degree canted to the left or right. The MRDS place- ment makes it really easy to smash it on the wall or hull of IFV. The EOTech 552 HWS with mag- nifier was a "prefect-balance" op- tion. It is great for mid-range and long-range engagements and the magnifier might be quickly flipped to the side when magnification is not needed. The main problem with such a combo is bulk. Old 552's we were using at that time were real- ly long on the front. Also, we were very sceptical about attaching the HWS on the handguard which were quite loose, and the sights weren't perfectly stable. Shooting with a 552 and magnifier mounted on the upper was possible but ridiculous- ly uncomfortable. During the dy- namic entry, the magnifier flipped to the side and could be caught on the door frame accidentally. Also, it was just a triple zoom and the op- tics were the poorest one. Also, the combo was really heavy, and we will still try to save some weights. The final sight tested by us was the Elcan Specter DR 1-4x. Initially, we were skeptical about it, because of the blocky and clunky shape. And it was on the heavy side too. But Specter had great optics and changeable magnification. We also like the illumination of the reticles. In 1x mode the reticle is a simple red dot and when turned to 4x it has a ballistic compensation reticle. It appeared that it might be far-front mounted and that increased the speed of engagement. The eye re- lief in both 1x and 4x was the same and distance of the eye pupil from the sight wasn't changing. The next great thing was the backup iron www.fragoutmag.com