I am currently running the Aimpoint T-1(4moa)/3x magnifier in larue mounts setup on my 16" weapon
Love the T-1(even though I now lust after a 2moa version) and both of the LaRue mounts. Their magnifier mount is solid in both use and standby positions. I think this a very important.
However
while I realize that it is accepted as the top of the line, the optics in the Aimpoint magnifier are not that great
Are they better than a lot out there? yes
Durable? yes
But bright/clear/crisp-----hardly
I am a little bit of an optics snob when it comes to image clarity/color rendition/brightness and the like. I run Swaroskis EL binos and rangefinders, so my standards are most certainly high
Are there other magnifiers out there (regardless of price…high or low) that will offer a better image than the Aimpoint 3x? Additionally, a 5x would be ideal
The pinnacle would be to be able to fit a 5x magnifier with better image quality into the LaRue mount.
With the reqs you’re speaking of I think you’d be better off getting a variable power optic.
Have you considered this? Do you have anything against them? I haven’t seen the 2 moa t1 with a magnifier but when I was running an aimpoint with an aimpoint magnifier it seemed to be the red dot that wasn’t crisp more so than being the magnifiers fault.
I have owned both an Eotech FTS 3x and an Aimpoint 3x. The Aimpoint was worlds better due to field of view, eye box and eye relief.
I haven’t see a decent magnifier at 3x or any other magnification. All the others on the market seem re-branded versions of the same stuff.
Eotech has a new magnifier being released, its an updated 3x. They did make a 4x for a while, and legend has it the optics were very good. You can find them used every so often, but very hard to find in the FTS mount.
I have spent a great deal of time with traditional magnified optics (I am a varmint shooter)
even with that experience, the very few drills I have run with a 1x-4x (at less than 25 yds)are not nearly as fast as with the T-1, so I do not feel like the 1x-4x (or even the 1x-6x swarovski) is a viable choice for me. Aimponts are just faster up close (for me) and that matters (again, to me)
I did have an EOTech 55something with the 4x fts magnifier. the optics were decent (again, not great) but the FTS mount flopped around like crazy in the standby position…totally unacceptable for me.
I’ve not tried the Aimpoint magnifier, but I do use a G23.FTS on my rifles using various optics, including an Aimpoint T-1. I’m not not a huge fan of the 4MOA T-1, and a magnifier, while giving a nice clear target picture, turns the T-1’s red dot ino a pretty indistinct blob. Presumably the 2MOA version will be better…that magnifier works well with my 2MOA Aimpoint PRO.
Something to consider…Eotech announced a new magnifier at SHOT, the G33, available in April for $589. It reportedly has a wider field of view and 2.2 inch eye-relief, and according to Cheaper-than-Dirt, magnifies the target without magnifying the reticle (don’t know how they do that). It also has a diopter-adjustable eyepiece (the G23 isn’t adjustable), and an improved “slap-to-side” mount that is supposedly slicker than the A.R.MS. flip-to-side mount on the G23. It’s also more compact, needing only 3.9 inches of rail space.
