I’m ready to add a red dot sight to my M4 but want to keep the use of my iron sights. My handle is removable with a picatinny rail underneath but then I will have to at least replace the rear sight. I’ve seen the cantilever mounts for red dot sights but not sure if that is the answer or how solid a cantilever mount would be. Your suggestions would be appreciated, especially the most economic way to have both.
Thanks in advance for your help to a rookie M4 shooter. I really enjoy the website but have to catch up on the acronyms and shorthand used.
You can go one of several well-established options. You can either run your irons permanantly up and co-witnessed (preferably in the lower third of the optic) or you can run flip-ups. A lot of guys prefer a fixed front and a flip-up rear.
On my AR, I personally use a Troy flip-up rear with a same-plane aperture, and an Aimpoint Comp M series in a standard LaRue mount, and a fixed front.
If I ran a fixed rear it would be a LaRue with a same-plane, and I would probably mount my Aimpoint on a cantilever just to get the optic out a little further.
Both configurations work really well.
Personally I’m a fan of permanently affixed iron sights. I run an LMT rear sight and an Aimpoint CompC in a LaRue cantaliever mount and it worked great at the Vickers/Hackathorn low light class. I shot the entire daylight portion of the first day without the Aimpoint turned on.
I would rather not have to flip any levers if my optic bites the dust on me while I’m trying to line up a shot, but there are lots of HSLD guys who run the folding sights without issue.
The LaRue mounts are good stuff, especially the cantaliever mounts. Rock solid, return to zero nicely, and you’d likely break the optic (and the upper reciever) before you would break the mount.
The most economical way to have a rear sight is to chop your carry handle to leave only the rear area where the actual sight is. Lots of guys chop their carry handles to get a rear sight. The LMT sight is, in fact, modeled to provide a sight that is essentially identical to a chopped carry handle.
As Freddie Blish told us at the low light class, you don’t necessarily need the military grade sights if you aren’t working with night vision or diving. I used my CompC (which I got dirt cheap) with a PVS 14 that Mr. Blish kindly loaned to me during the course without problem. He just dialed my sight to the lowest setting and it worked just fine with the night vision optic. The only thing I can’t do is dive with it, but seeing as how I can barely swim, that’s really not an issue for me.
Really, Aimpoint stuff can’t be beat. I tried an EO-Tech for over a year and just couldn’t get into it. I liked it for 3-gun and whatnot, because it was fast and I had lots of time to turn it on and have it set at the proper brightness level. But… If I ever had to get the thing up and running fast, or with gloves on, those little buttons would piss me off.
Contrast that with an Aimpoint (I currently have a Comp ML3 in a Larue cantilever mount) which you can leave on all the time and replace the battery every year or two with no worries. They don’t typically break, and they hold zero really well. Also, the non-pixelated reticle is much easier to see for me anyway. One knob turns it on and adjusts the level, and it’s easy to turn.
I run a Larue fixed BUIS, and have had a fixed LMT, as well as ARMS and Troy folding sights in the past and I’d say I really like the Larue best, with the Troy second. The LMT was great aside from the huge knobs and the high price. It was also really heavy. The ARMS is nice for what you can get them for, but the Larue is king.
I tend to look at everything from a functionality standpoint. One valuable lesson I learned in the grunts was that form doesn’t mean squat without function. I buy the stuff that’s absolutely the most reliable, and then I don’t worry about it anymore.
Yet another recommendation for the Aimpoint in a LaRue mount and a fixed BUIS from LaRue.
If you prefer a flip up BUIS, I go with the Troy.
If you are going to run the Aimpoint only, with no plans to utilize the magnifier, I would go with the Aimpoint in a straight ADM or LT mount and a fixed rear sight. If you are strapped for cash, or just like not throwing things away, your carry handle can be cut down to make a more than serviceable fixed rear BUIS.
If you plan to use the magnifier, I would use a cantilever mount from ADM or LT and a Troy flipup rear. I would use the LT Aimpoint magnifier pivot mount. The Troy locks in the upright position when it is deployed so it could be used as a fixed rear BUIS for those times when the magnifier was not attached to the gun.
My choice was an Aimpoint M3 w/ LT-150 mount. Troy BUIS.
Honest question. Why the seemingly large dislike for Eo-techs?
I can only speak for myself. but…
I don’t like the auto-shutoff
I don’t like the way you turn it on
I find the body to be more fragile than it should be
I find the reticle to be unnecessarily busy
I dislike the mounting system
YMMV:D
I see… any pluses?
Some people like the reticle & find it faster at close range. That’s the only one I know of.
Actually this forum is the most pro-EOTech that I’ve seen. Nothing but hate for them on AR-15.com and a few other sites. At any rate it probably stems from the fact that the older pre-Revision F EOTechs had some power issues and were less durable. The Aimpoints have a better reputation as the earlier EOTechs were more failure prone and they used more power and still do compared to the Aimpoint units. The EOTechs have a auto-shutdown feature and the batteries only last about 200 hours instead of something like 500,000 hours on the Aimpoint. (That’s the what I recall reading anyway.) I’ve also seen some people gripe about how the EOTech mounts compared to the Aimpoint, but that’s actually one of thier strengths if you ask me. Basically the Aimpoints are generally considered superior in almost all areas except one, and that’s target aquisition. The EOTech is faster to aquire targets with than the Aimpoints are.
I’ve got a EOTech 553 with ARMS throw lever mounts and I like it quite a bit. However for my Colt 6920 build I am considering the Aimpoint Comp M3 or M4 rather than using my existing EOTech. I’m right handed but I’m left eye dominant. That’s been somewhat of a problem with some sights and scopes even when keeping both eyes open. Before I buy an Aimpoint I’ll need to check them out and see if I can use them with my right eye/both eyes open and get results as good as the EOTech.
Personally I am not bothered by the reticle, and like the window better than the aimpoint tube . I also like that Eo-tech is an American product. Having said that I still have been debating on whether not to buy another. I thought I would ask since I have not had the chance to fully test my Eo-tech and it seems that most on here have.
I do appreciate the input
Eotechs are a sight I really want to like. I have a couple, they are nice. I’m very one eye dominant due to limited vision in the other, so I really like the huge viewing window, and the big reticle with the nice small dot in the center.
What I dislike are the mounting options, the battery life, the ergonomics of simply using the unit, and the bulk of the unit. Still, I think they are a very neat unit.
As a side note, I really like having an aimpoint a little farther away from my face (due to vision) and prefer that little bit of extra space the cantilever mounts give me.
+1 
That about covers it. Spontaneous inop, scheduled and otherwise. Zero. Mount. Spontaneous dismount.
More problems observed with a small sample of Eotechs than in a much larger sample of Aimpoints, which have been exceptional.
Aimpoint ML3, ARMS 40 rear and Samson flip sight on the gas block
For me I rather go with Eotech than Ampoint. Acquire sight is much faster with Eotech.
I just went through the same decision-making process for my M&P 15. I chose the Aimpoint CompML3 2MOA, ADM AD-68 standard-height mount, and Troy rear folding battle sight, all from G&R Tactical.
It’s a chunk of change, for sure, more than half again the cost of the rifle itself, but I’m convinced it’s worth every penny.