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Daylight bright illuminated scopes


barrysuperhawk

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I am looking at picking up a 1-4x scope but I have seen some conflicting info on which ones are truly, middle of summer in the desert, daylight bright. Some scopes I have seen are only bright enough for use against dark targets or at dusk, but I want to be able to turn it up and use the bloom for both eyes open close stuff, and then be able to see the reticle against a piece of white steel across a lake, with the sun in your eyes. So, what scope do you have and how would you rate the illumination, and if it's an issue, the practical battery life? Maybe if we can get enough good info, we can get a Mod to incorporate it in the low power optic reference.

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I am looking at picking up a 1-4x scope but I have seen some conflicting info on which ones are truly, middle of summer in the desert, daylight bright. Some scopes I have seen are only bright enough for use against dark targets or at dusk, but I want to be able to turn it up and use the bloom for both eyes open close stuff, and then be able to see the reticle against a piece of white steel across a lake, with the sun in your eyes. So, what scope do you have and how would you rate the illumination, and if it's an issue, the practical battery life? Maybe if we can get enough good info, we can get a Mod to incorporate it in the low power optic reference.

There are only a handful of scopes with good daylight bright illumination.

1. S&B short dot.

2. Swarovski Z6i

3. Trijicon Accupoint.

4. Meopta

There may be some new ones but these are the only I know about now that give near Aimpoint levels of brightness.

Pat

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The Burris TAC30 scope is awesome in the daytime. The Millet DMS-1 is not, you can't see it unless it's dark.

I have seen the TAC 30 wash in bright light. Good scope though just wish it were brighter. Perhaps they have improved it since then.

pat

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The Accupoint never washes out, and battery life????? Forever, as there are none. Still the best 1-4 for 0-500yds In my opinion.

It is a very good scope but I would say its great for 1-300. Past that there is no easy way to do hold overs. I guess you can just have different zeros for different stages with long targets and hold under up close. I do like the Accupoint and you can usually find them used for around $600.

Pat

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The Burris TAC30 scope is awesome in the daytime. The Millet DMS-1 is not, you can't see it unless it's dark.

I have seen the TAC 30 wash in bright light. Good scope though just wish it were brighter. Perhaps they have improved it since then.

pat

Well, the XTR can accept 2 batteries for double the Illumination, but apparently, the TAC30 can't...

My stacking batteries thread

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The Accupoint never washes out, and battery life????? Forever, as there are none. Still the best 1-4 for 0-500yds In my opinion.

It is a very good scope but I would say its great for 1-300. Past that there is no easy way to do hold overs. I guess you can just have different zeros for different stages with long targets and hold under up close. I do like the Accupoint and you can usually find them used for around $600.

Pat

Bingo...Thats what I do past 300/350 ish. For me, its faster to get my hits than trying to figure witch hash mark might be suitable for the in between distances. Its not perfect, but non are. Ive said it before, all scopes are a compromise in something. The Trijicon excells at 1-300 and holds its own out further with a little practice. I liked the Swarovski 1-6 (circle dot) real well except I hated the orange reticle, If they would offer it in Red.....ahhh

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Also forgotten is the Zeiss 1-4x varipoint. Popular in Europe but I gather more uncommon in the US.

Its also very forgiving when it comes to eye-position behind the scope. Most top level competitors here seems to be using that or the Swaro Z6i

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I have a Swarovski 1-6 and a Burris XTR. The Swaro is incredible in bright daylight. The illumination in the XTR is unusable in bright daylight. Inside a house the XTR will wash out(too bright) if turned to the highest setting.

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The SWFA SS 1-4X is not daylight bright enough, by the way. Nobody asked, but I figured it'd be better to warn you in case you were considering it. Many SWFA fans claim it's daylight bright, but it's not.

Alaskapopo's list is pretty much spot on. I ended up springing for the S&B Short Dot, but my second choice would be the almost-released Meopta ZD 1-4X RD Tactical model (the one with the BDC chevrons under the super-bright dot and with the triangular ruggedized turret adjustments).

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Barry - I'm having a great experience with my Meopta ZD, the new and improved version of the Meopta K-Dot. It has great daytime illumination on bright sunny days on its top two illumination settings. Quality wise, it's a whole lot of scope for the money in the group of optics priced a little under $1,000. I'm very glad I bought mine.

Call me if you want to take a look at it. I think you'll agree that the glass in it is fantastic and the illuminated reticle is very bright.

Nick

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I have the previous Meopta and played with the new one at SHOT. IMO, the Z6i BRT reticle is definitely better! But it better be for the price!

If you turn off the illuminated dot, you have a nice precise cross hair. I also like the "tree" design of the BRT.

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thank you for the input. So both nice, but the BRT is not 1400 dollars nicer , correct?

Trying to compare both of these, and Vortex PST vs Razor reticles, nothing available in these parts I would have to get to Denver or Salt lake to see compare reticles. The factory sites have pics but not truly representative. So I am relying on other shooters for descriptions.

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If you have the spare $$, go for it! The z6i is arguably the best 3gun optic on the market. Not only does it have a fantastic reticle with super bright dot, it has great glass and FOV, and something the Meopta can't match - 6x on the top end. I briefly had a z6i but had to sell it due to some cash flow issues, and it is simply a great optic.

If you have good eyesight/don't feel the need for 6x, the Meopta is a great optic. I would take it over the other scopes you mentioned because a very bright reticle is very important to me. YMMV

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I fell the same about a good bright reticle. Spent time behind aimpoints and would like to shoot something with a similar view if possible so I do not have to readapt from gun to gun. The Ideal scope would look like an aimpoint up for up-close, but have magnification for distant targets all in one optic.

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Scratch both the Vortex 1-4x models off your list of daylight bright scopes. I am selling mine because it is not bright enough for desert sunlight. Might be bright enough for the rest of the country but not the desert Southwest. Fantastic reticle design, though--superior to the S&B that I'm switching to because of its precise center dot. The Short Dot's approx. 5MOA dot results in poor groups until the dot is turned off to expose the precise crosshair behind it.

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I just finished my first 3 Gun AR-15 and researched, and held/looked through, a TON of optics. I had a budget of $1,000 and ended up spending $500 on a Vortex PST 1-4. It had everything I wanted in an optic for 3 Gun. I wanted to spend more $, really I did, but sometimes you luck out.

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Fastarget - I own a Meopta ZD and have looked through a couple of Swaro Z6i scopes with the BRT reticle. It's definitely a superior reticle to the Meopta's, but as some else mentioned above, it's not $1,400 nicer. Believe me, I thought hard about it, but just couldn't justify that extra cost. The 6X magnification would be great too, but there's a lot of guys finishing very well in big matches with scopes that are 4X on the top end.

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