Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1536266
picture. It might not be a huge diffe- rence, but it definitely makes aiming feel a bit more open and the sight picture a touch brighter. The COA measures in at a tidy 45 x 28 x 30 mm. Pop it onto a Glock slide next to an ACRO, and you'll im- mediately notice the COA sits neatly within the slide's edges – no aw- kward overhang like the ACRO. It's also a bit shorter and has a more ag- gressive, almost futuristic vibe. Plus, the designers were smart enough to recess the front lens a bit more, gi- ving it some extra protection from bumps and scratches. The control buttons are now tucked away on the left side of the body, making accidental presses a thing of the past. Instead of that vertical slot on the side with the big alum- inum cap, the COA features a slick drawer that slides in from the right side at the bottom and is secured with a small screw. It sips power from a CR2302 battery, which Aim- point says will keep you running for an incredible 50,000 hours on set- ting 7 (you've got a total of 12 bright- ness levels to play with: 1-4 for NVG use and 5-12 for daylight). That's some serious battery life, Aimpoint trademark! The zeroing turrets have been mo- ved too. You'll now find them on the right and left sides at the rear, lower part of the housing. It's a more stre- amlined and less obtrusive setup. Honestly, just looking at it, the new COA is a significant step forward in terms of modern design. It's just pla- in better looking than the somewhat blocky ACRO, especially the Gen I. Inside, you've got a crisp 3.5 MOA red dot (with a 650 nm wavelength) projected onto that front lens with over 80% light transmission, so your view stays nice and clear. The COA's smart electronics even have a built-in Auto Step Down feature that will automatically dim the dot after two hours of inactivity if you're on brightness level 9 or higher. Plus, they've included an Unwanted But- ton Press Safety – if you acciden- tally bump a button, it'll activate settings that you can adjust for a quick four seconds before locking in. Pretty clever! Now, here's where things get really interesting: the COA uses a bran- d-new mounting system called A-CUT. This promises an incredibly stable, secure, and robust attach- ment unlike anything we've seen before. What's the catch? It requires a specific cut in your pistol slide. Ri- ght now, it's exclusively available on Gen5 Glocks: G19, G43X, G45, G47, and G48. Aimpoint and Glock have teamed up closely, and Glock is re- leasing these models with the COA pre-installed in an A-CUT slide stra- ight from the factory. The way it mounts is pretty ingenio- us. The front of the optic's housing slots into a recess in the slide, and it sits snugly on stabilizing cuts that match up with corresponding profi- les on the optic's base. For ultimate stability and a rock-solid connection, a rear sight is screwed into the slide with two screws. What's really cool is that because of this direct moun- ting (ACROs required MOS adapter plate, while the COA sits right in the slide cut) and the COA's smaller ove- rall size, you can actually use stan- dard Glock sights in a co-witness www.fragoutmag.com