I am purchasing my first AR and have decided on a RR Predator Pursuit. I plan on just doing target shooting at the range but don’t have the money for a decent scope. I want to go ahead and start with iron sights until I can save up for a scope. Thinking of an A2 style for the interim. Any good brands or ones to stay away from?
Hello,
Take a look at LMT’s L8A Rear Sight, it’s a nice unit.
http://www.lewismachine.net/product.php?p=65&cid=2&session=2afd80275cdd61251edd7e55e10691ea
Get a Troy flip up BUIS, if you get a carry handle or the LMT unit above it will be no good to you with you get your scope.
With a flip up sight, you can use it in conjunction with a magnified optic if the optic has a QD mount like a LaRue, Bobro, or American Defense.
For budget folding rear BUIS the Magpul is about as affordable as you can get.For an affordable fixed rear BUIS the Daniel Defense looks darn good.
I personally use the MI SPLP on the 20" A4 SPR’s and have had excellent service from it…plus it fits nicely under large optics.Otherwise all my carbines have LMT L8A BUIS.
One item I purchased just for the heck of it,was a Vortex Strikefire RDS.Originally was going to put it on my Remington 870…but it worked out so well I decided to use it on my BCM upper for range work.Heck of a deal for $150.00 with the ring mount…Maybe a somewhat lower end RDS by some folks standards but has nice features and functions 100%…not to mention the folks at Vortex bend over backwards trying to assist the customer.
HTH
i used these or chop off carry handles for my non-scope guns, but if you’re planning on putting a glass on there you might as well get a rear folder. Troy’s are really nice- they’re plenty rigid yet fold down low enough for a low-mounted scope to clear.
Thanks for all the advice. I will go and check out all those mentioned. What about for a front sight? Flip up or A2 attached to gas block?
For the price of good back up irons you can get a a decent scope to start with.
your choice… i always encourage fixed FSBs- handguards don’t always go on straight, and they can bend/break. a lot of people use the front folders and dont seem to have any trouble… personally, its more rare for me to have a handguard that is/stays straight and doesn’t get bent/broken.
I guess I phrased the front sight question wrong. The upper I am getting has a gas block with picatinny so would this work well? Upper left one. It looks to be noting special but will probably get the job done just fine.
http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=323
Again why not just go with a Troy flip up front sight.
In my experience a fixed front sight base doesn’t interfere with a magnified optic, it just seems to disappear, but why not just use a flip up so you have an unobstructed view.
if you’re not running an FSB, you might as well go with a folder… they’re obviously more likely to break than a fixed (no moving parts) front BUIS, but the good names produce pretty stout stuff. i’d go with front and rear Troy folders.
I’m going to guess it would be a better option to get an A2 FSB or a magpul BUIS. He can save almost $100 going with the latter two options and put that towards a scope, instead of a sight he uses for a few weeks until he upgrades.
One thing you will have to watch is that the folding front sights for “rails” do not work with most railed gas blocks.
Midwest Industries makes the MCTAR-FFG which is a dedicated gas block folding sight and is what I have on my A4 SPR’s.So I have more to say/bias about Midwest Industries sights than any of the others available.
That said,the FFG is durable,holds in place well and is nicely priced when compared to some others.Feature I really like about the MI sights is they lock into position and the low profile of the bases.
Only complaint I have with the FFG is that it uses a allen head bolt(same on the rear) to secure the sight in place.I wish MI would make a thumb nut or at least a slot head screw for the sight.What I did was take and cut a shallow slot in the allen head to allow me to use a flat head screw driver to tighten or remove the sight in the field with a muli tool for example.Otherwise no complaints.
GG&G makes a nice spring loaded front sight for gas blocks but is not as low profile as the MI FFG.
Samson Manufacturing has a pretty nice front sight for gas blocks.It has a somewhat bulky squared profile when mounted though.
Yankee Hill Machine has come out with a set of new folding sights I believe they call them QDS or some such.They are setup as same plane but they have a riser adapter that will allow the front sight to be used on a gas block.I have not handled the YHM sights yet so I cant comment otherwise.Interested in see some in person though.
I’ll further add that if the gas block riser holds well it will open up being able to use say a Troy or similar sight on the gas block.Only concern I have is that it creates a second attachment point to the sight…just something else to loosen,maybe. Im very interested in getting my hands on one of those to eye ball.
Those are the sights Ive looked at and used so far.
The reasons I went with the Midwest Industries SPLP and FFG combo was price,features,function and availability.
YMMV HTH
get the Troy folding.
This says it all
It seems to be the common theme…
i have had great luck with the yhm folding rear Buis and as well as with MI front and rear BUIS. also have a MATECH I held onto after OIF. The Matech mounting clamp snapped, but LWRC sent me a replacement bolt and clamp at no charge. I would recommend any of these three. price is right (all less than #120), quality and durability have been good. I try to save a little cash here and there to buy more ammo.