The wife and I went to the local gun shop grabbing a sling for her AR as well as browsing the optics. I asked her she should really think about what kind of optic she would want and she kind of fell in love with a TA01NSN-DOC style.
Anyone have any experience/feed back for such a setup?
I run a TA31F /w a Fastfire in a Dr. mount attached on top. I love it. Red chevron for anything at distance, just pop the head up a little and you have the micro for anything up close. Very fast.
The reticle pattern is more of a personal preference thing (and I used a TA31 in the Marine Corps so I am very partial to the red chevron)
I ran the “piggy back” set up for nearly two years as a DM with my unit. IMO it is NOT the best way to go in providing close range capability to ones weapon. Look into running a MRDS or an Aimpoint Micro on an offset mount as offered by Danial Defense. Doing so will add nothing more then a slight “tilt” of your weapon to index dot/target and is a better way of running two optics at once (again IMO).
Watched a guy fight with that setup for two days in a Pat Rogers class this weekend, and finally ditch it for a loaner Aimpoint T-1 on TD3 that he immediately fell in love with. I suspect his Trijicon setup will be up for sale shortly.
IMHO it is far less than optimal.
What is a TD3?
sorry, Training Day 3.
TD1 and TD2 he ran the ACOG/Docter setup and then went to the T-1 on TD3.
Ok…but then what does it mean that Aimpoint will be offering the T1 shortly? I thought they had been offering it for some time now?
I’m not sure I understand the question, so let me be as complete as possible.
Beginning on Friday 12 December and ending yesterday, Sunday 14 December, I attended a Pat Rogers 3-day carbine course. One of the shooters was shooting a Bushmaster with an ACOG/Docter combination sight. He had trouble with the combination from the beginning of Training Day 1 when we confirmed zero at 50 yards. He was chasing the zero in the red dot, and having problems with the huge offset at close range in dealing with holdovers. These same issues plagued this shooter, an otherwise good shooter, on Training Day 2.
Pat loaned him a current-production Aimpoint T-1 in a Larue mount for Training Day 3, and the look on the shooter’s face after the morning zero told the whole story immediately. He came over two clicks and down two clicks and was right on for the rest of the day, and was clearly enjoying himself more, not having to fight his less-than-optimal optic combination that he showed up with, and was able to focus on shooting instead of worrying about his sighting system.
(For the record, I said “I suspect his Trijicon setup will be up for sale shortly.” Trijicon makes the ACOG, meaning that he preferred the Aimpoint T-1 to the Trijicon ACOG. I didn’t say anything about the T-1 being available shortly, and you can buy them right now from multiple sources)
Do you think he would have had the same trouble with a ACOG/T1 combo? Was the problem the Doctor optic, the vertical mounting configuration?
I don’t know.
The offset (I assume you mean the setup where you rotate the rifle to get to the dot optic) setup requires a bit of new muscle memory and if he hadn’t done it before he might not have done it seamlessly. Also, the whole class was at 50 yards and under, so he basically would have spent the whole class shooting with his rifle cocked.
IMHO the only reason for these methods of adding to the ACOG are if you’re stuck with an issue ACOG or if the primary function of the gun is longer range. Otherwise you wind up shooting with your “backup” optic more than your primary.
The Docter was definitely a problem when it came to zero and such. When the shooter was zeroing the T-1 he was heard to say “wow, it has clicks for adjustment!” I thought that was a pretty big condemnation of the Docter.
I’ve been agonizing over optics, trying to find a good setup for carbine courses as well as occasional hunting or SHTF “fighting” which would hopefully not be at CQB range. I think I’ve pretty much decided to go with the bread and butter CompM4 with magnifier to be added as funds permit. After sifting through a lot of pics from these courses, I’m not seeing any ACOGs.
Zeroing the Dr/Fastfire/JPoint can be a PITA, yes. Once it gets set it properly it usually holds a zero pretty well (assuming that it is mounted properly as well). Since it’s so high off of the bore you can run into problems like running out of adjustment and still being 8" off target (hence why 1 degree shims are available). The adjustment wheel that comes with these was pretty useless to me as well. What I found out through trial and error is that a half turn moves your POI 6 inches at 25m (24 at 100m!). To be fair though, these optics were really designed with pistols in mind.
I keep it zeroed at 25m and is only about 1.5 inches off at very close range.
I tried the offset mount for a couple weeks several months ago but I didn’t like it as much as the piggyback. Evidently I am in the minority on this issue though. They do have their drawbacks but I still like the setup.
This is all subjective. I use TA31 ECOS and I love it. The doctor on top was ok but I prefer it on a DD offset mount. Very fast and quite accurate. Now if everything I shot at was under 50 yards I’d do something else but as it is I wouldn’t change it for anything. Just to let you know where I shoot it’s off my back porch. We scatter targets of various sizes from pop cans to milk bottles all over a 25 acre open area from about 50 ft out to 350 yards and we race each other using a stop watch. I really like the reticle on the ECOS and the doctor works for me. I also prefer the wider field of view on the 4x’s as opposed to the 3.5x. The eye relief is not an issue for me. I’d rather keep the scope up close–but that’s just me. The right set up is whatever works for you.