My AR15 has a Troy Industries rear folding backup sight with the original A2 front sight. I’ve got an Aimpoint PRO on a LaRue cantilever.
I’m planning on getting a Vortex VMX2 3x magnifier.
What mount should I get? One that co-witnesses or absolute witnesses with my setup?
Can you even run an A2 and rear folding sights together with a red dot and magnifier or must both sights be the same? (ie folding or fixed)
I don’t know how long this thread has, but to answer your questions:
“What mount should I get? One that co-witnesses or absolute witnesses with my setup?”
This is a matter of personal preference. Frankly, I do not think you can go wrong with a 1/3rd co-witness.
“Can you even run an A2 and rear folding sights together with a red dot and magnifier or must both sights be the same? (ie folding or fixed)”
Yes, you can run a fixed front with a folding rear. The only place where you might run into issues is if you’re trying to run one sight designed for higher rail systems (like those on the HK416) and one sight for standard AR-15s. It would be wise to match the height of the optic mount to the iron sights, too.
I’m not sure what the relevance of the reflex/magnifier combination is for this particular question. They have no bearing on anything in your question.
Excuse my ignorance…
Does anybody really have their folding rear sight up all the time when aiming through their red dot and front fixed sight? (seems like a lot of sights at one time)
Isn’t the rear folding sight only meant to be used if the red Dot fails?
And thus, a 1/3 cowitness is only a 1/3 cowitness when the rear sight is up…right?
I’m confused…
I keep the rear up at all times. With a 1/3 co-witness you’ll hardly notice it.
Man, that still seems to be a lot of sights at work. Basically what you have is, sight after sight after sight. Overkill?
But as I said, I’ll be adding a 3x magnifier that won’t allow the rear to be flipped up unless the magnifier is flipped to the side via mount.
My question now is… does “1/3 cowitness” only speak in regards to a rear sight?? (ie if you didn’t even have a rear sight…there is no such thing as a 1/3 cowitness)
Personal preference.
Some people keep their folding rears up all the time, some keep them down all the time. There are valid reasons for each one. (In the former case, either the weapon came with a folding rear and they do not wish to change it out, or they swap optics to run something magnified.)
ETA: There’s no kill like overkill. Personal preference, dude. Pick one, if you like it, great. If not, change it up. It’s pretty easy.
I think you may be confused on how cowitness is achieved. Cowitness is determined by the mounting height of the optic, not the iron sights. All standard AR sights are the same height, fixed or folding. The distance the ring places the optic above the rail is what makes cowitness absolute or 1/3. By placing the optic higher above the rail, the irons appear lower in the optics view.
If you already have the Larue cantilever mount, which is a lower 1/3 height, then you need to get the 1/3 magnifier mount to match. The absolute cowitness magnifier mount would place the magnifier lower than the red dot.
Ok, now we are getting somewhere… thank you ar911d!
I will be sure to get the 1/3 magnifier to match.
After looking more online…it appears Vortex only bundles the absolute swing mount with their magnifier. So I guess I gotta find another 1/3 mag mount to match. ADM makes the higher and lower mount so I’ll have to buy the mount seperately. (oh,man!)
I know the title is misleading, but we have a Optics & Mounts subforum.
In it, one will find this stickied thread: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=17049