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GDITurbo77

Considering an optic for my Stag 15

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So I picked up some basic MBUS flip up irons when I purchased my rifle so I can shoot it. Now I'm interested in adding an optic and maybe a flashlight. I'm looking at 2 different Red Dots right now.

Sig Sauer ROMEO5 1x20mm Red Dot Sight https://www.opticsplanet.com/sig-sauer-romeo5-x-compact-red-dot-sight-1x20mm-2-moa-red-dot-0-5-moa-adj-aaa-m1.html

Vortex SPARC AR II 1x22mm 2 MOA Red Dot Sight https://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex-sparc-ii-1x-2-moa-red-dot-sight.html

I'm also considering adding a magnifier as well so I'm covered both close and medium range. Looking at this one.

Vortex VMX-3T Magnifier with Flip Mount https://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex-vmx-3t-magnifier-with-flip-mount.html

For the light, I was considering a Streamlight. Maybe this...

Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount HL-X Long Gun Light https://www.opticsplanet.com/streamlight-protac-railmount-hl-x-1000-lumen-fixed-mount-long-gun-light.html

Looking for some constructive criticism about the choices or maybe point me in the right direction. It will be mainly for home defense and range days.

 

 

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My first red dot setup was the Vortex Strike Fire 2 with the Vortex VMX-3T Magnifier that you referenced. Works great for range shooting. Not sure if the Vortex magnifier will work well with the smaller red dots like the Vortex Sparc or Romeo5. The magnifier can be flipped out of the way if you are just using the red dot on it's own. With home defense I don't think the magnifier is necessary. 

I eventually went with a Holosun 510C on another setup. It's lightweight and has a low profile. It has a larger FOV compared to the Sparc and Romeo5. No magnification just plain 1X red dot and works for me out to 100 yards with out issues. The Holosun does have the always on feature it will wake up when it detects motion which would be handy for home defense. Does the Sparc or Romeo5 offer that feature? 

Ever thought about a 1-6x scope with a lighted reticle? That's another setup that you may want to consider but prob not for a home defense. 

Another word of advise. Optics Planet may have decent prices but they have had really bad issues with fulfillment. Not sure if the last 18 months were just due to overwhelming volume but it seemed like anything I ordered based on their expected ship time was always way later than they advertised. I still have a charging handle that's been on back ordered since 12/2020 and they even asked me if I would like to cancel but I applied their rewards bucks to order so I am still waiting for it. YMMV but I don't bother ordering anything from them anymore. I can always find the same prices elsewhere. I'll try attaching pics of what I got so you have an idea what it will look like installed.

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16 minutes ago, My1stGlock said:

My first red dot setup was the Vortex Strike Fire 2 with the Vortex VMX-3T Magnifier that you referenced. Works great for range shooting. Not sure if the Vortex magnifier will work well with the smaller red dots like the Vortex Sparc or Romeo5. The magnifier can be flipped out of the way if you are just using the red dot on it's own. With home defense I don't think the magnifier is necessary. 

I eventually went with a Holosun 510C on another setup. It's lightweight and has a low profile. It has a larger FOV compared to the Sparc and Romeo5. No magnification just plain 1X red dot and works for me out to 100 yards with out issues. The Holosun does have the always on feature it will wake up when it detects motion which would be handy for home defense. Does the Sparc or Romeo5 offer that feature? 

Ever thought about a 1-6x scope with a lighted reticle? That's another setup that you may want to consider but prob not for a home defense. 

Another word of advise. Optics Planet may have decent prices but they have had really bad issues with fulfillment. Not sure if the last 18 months were just due to overwhelming volume but it seemed like anything I ordered based on their expected ship time was always way later than they advertised. I still have a charging handle that's been on back ordered since 12/2020 and they even asked me if I would like to cancel but I applied their rewards bucks to order so I am still waiting for it. YMMV but I don't bother ordering anything from them anymore. I can always find the same prices elsewhere. I'll try attaching pics of what I got so you have an idea what it will look like installed.

I believe the Romeo 5 has the shake to wake feature.

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1 hour ago, GDITurbo77 said:

Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount HL-X Long Gun Light https://www.opticsplanet.com/streamlight-protac-railmount-hl-x-1000-lumen-fixed-mount-long-gun-light.html

Looking for some constructive criticism about the choices or maybe point me in the right direction. It will be mainly for home defense and range days.

 

 

Streamlights are reliable lights for the price. I actually use them for my handguns. Great bang for the buck. That model you referenced has some great reviews and 1000 lumens is plenty. 

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So I ended up going with the Vortex Strikefire II/VMX3T Magnifier combo. I got a decent price on it over the Romeo 5/Juliet combo. I guess my next question is, can I leave my MBUS flip-up sights on there as BUIS? Or will they interfere with the mounting of the Magnifier/RDS? I'm not sure how far down the rail you typically mount the optics but I assume you would want it closer to the stock.

 

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4 hours ago, GDITurbo77 said:

So I ended up going with the Vortex Strikefire II/VMX3T Magnifier combo. I got a decent price on it over the Romeo 5/Juliet combo. I guess my next question is, can I leave my MBUS flip-up sights on there as BUIS? Or will they interfere with the mounting of the Magnifier/RDS? I'm not sure how far down the rail you typically mount the optics but I assume you would want it closer to the stock.

 

You will need to position the dot and magnifier so that you have the correct eye relief for the way you mount your gun with whatever stock position you have selected. If you you have a close head position - i.e. nose to charging handle, there may be room for the BUIS behind the magnifier. If there isn't and you really want BUIS you might be able to fit a set of 45° offset BUIS under the rear of the magnifier.

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14 minutes ago, Mr.Stu said:

You will need to position the dot and magnifier so that you have the correct eye relief for the way you mount your gun with whatever stock position you have selected. If you you have a close head position - i.e. nose to charging handle, there may be room for the BUIS behind the magnifier. If there isn't and you really want BUIS you might be able to fit a set of 45° offset BUIS under the rear of the magnifier.

I know the Strikefire II  comes with a forward cantilever mount. Will that make it better or worse?

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1 minute ago, GDITurbo77 said:

I know the Strikefire II  comes with a forward cantilever mount. Will that make it better or worse?

It is irrelevant. The eye relief you are tuning is between the back of the magnifier and your eye. Typically the red dot will be mounted as close in front of the magnifier as possible. It is the position of the magnifier relative to your eye that will determine the position of everything else and whether you have room on the rail for BUIS behind the magnifier.

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1 minute ago, Mr.Stu said:

It is irrelevant. The eye relief you are tuning is between the back of the magnifier and your eye. Typically the red dot will be mounted as close in front of the magnifier as possible. It is the position of the magnifier relative to your eye that will determine the position of everything else and whether you have room on the rail for BUIS behind the magnifier.

I'll have to see when I get it I guess. I thought I read that this particular combo was good for eye relief.

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9 hours ago, GDITurbo77 said:

So I ended up going with the Vortex Strikefire II/VMX3T Magnifier combo. I got a decent price on it over the Romeo 5/Juliet combo. I guess my next question is, can I leave my MBUS flip-up sights on there as BUIS? Or will they interfere with the mounting of the Magnifier/RDS? I'm not sure how far down the rail you typically mount the optics but I assume you would want it closer to the stock.

 

No prob there. I can co-witness with my BUIS. If I want to use it I flip my irons up. That's what  got on my setup. My rear site is mounted on the last possible point on the rail and the flip magnifier right in front of it. I just flip it out of the way to co-witness with the dot. 

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On 8/10/2021 at 9:40 PM, My1stGlock said:

No prob there. I can co-witness with my BUIS. If I want to use it I flip my irons up. That's what  got on my setup. My rear site is mounted on the last possible point on the rail and the flip magnifier right in front of it. I just flip it out of the way to co-witness with the dot. 

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or not while mounting the magnifier. The optical end of the magnifier has to be like 1 inch from my eye for me to see the total field of view. I tried to mount it in front of my rear iron sight and the field of view was so tiny I could hardly see through it. Does that seem right?

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1 hour ago, GDITurbo77 said:

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or not while mounting the magnifier. The optical end of the magnifier has to be like 1 inch from my eye for me to see the total field of view. I tried to mount it in front of my rear iron sight and the field of view was so tiny I could hardly see through it. Does that seem right?

Does the magnifier flip to the left side? If not did you mount it backwards? 

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7 minutes ago, My1stGlock said:

Does the magnifier flip to the left side? If not did you mount it backwards? 

I had the option of mounting it either way so I mounted it so it flips to the right. It's easier for me that way. I ended up mounting it over top of my rear iron sight. That means I can co-witness with the RDS only and not with both the RDS and the magnifier. If I push the magnifier far enough down the rail to clear the rear sight when it's flipped up, the FOV is non-existent. I need to push it as far back on the rail as I can to be usable. But then I have to flip the magnifier out of the way to access the BUIS.

20210812_231620.jpg

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14 minutes ago, GDITurbo77 said:

I had the option of mounting it either way so I mounted it so it flips to the right. It's easier for me that way. I ended up mounting it over top of my rear iron sight. That means I can co-witness with the RDS only and not with both the RDS and the magnifier. I have to flip the magnifier out of the way to access the BUIS.

 

Magnifier looks like its mounted correctly. With the dot on you can focus on the target fine? After you drop the magnifier in the view is tiny? Did you manipulate the focus ring? 

Another thing when you If you have the magnifier flipping to the right will it interfere with the ejection port?

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6 hours ago, My1stGlock said:

Magnifier looks like its mounted correctly. With the dot on you can focus on the target fine? After you drop the magnifier in the view is tiny? Did you manipulate the focus ring? 

Another thing when you If you have the magnifier flipping to the right will it interfere with the ejection port?

If my eye is 2" or less from the magnifier optic, I can see everything great. Anything beyond that and to drop off in the FOV is massive. If I position the magnifier forward enough to clear the rear sight when it's flipped up, I can barely see anything at all through the magnifier. I can just about make out the red dot but I can't see what I'm aiming at in the FOV. I positioned the magnifier back as far as I can so that it sits over top of my rear sight so I have better FOV if I'm just using the magnifier/RDS, but then I can't co-witness with the BUIS while the magnifier is down. I need to flip it up and then I can co-witness with just the BUIS and the RDS. Is that how it's intended to work?

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17 minutes ago, GDITurbo77 said:

but then I can't co-witness with the BUIS while the magnifier is down

Why would you want to? Can you even see your front sight through the magnifier? Even if you can make it out, I'm sure it is way out of focus.

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16 minutes ago, Mr.Stu said:

Why would you want to? Can you even see your front sight through the magnifier? Even if you can make it out, I'm sure it is way out of focus.

I'm not sure lol. I'm new to optics so I wasn't sure what I was and wasn't supposed to be able to do with them. The magnifier says that it can be mounted for Absolute and Lower 1/3 Co-Witness heights. That kinda made me believe it was supposed to work in conjunction with the BUIS if necessary. I'm okay with how I have it set up right now, I just wanted to make sure I was mounting it correctly.

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You don't cowitness with the magnifier AND the BUIS. Either magnifier and red dot OR red dot and BUIS OR red dot alone. IMHO.

The BUIS is just that BACK UP. Should the red dot break or run out of battery that's when you would use them.

You have to figure out what you want to do with the AR at the end of the day. You mentioned home defense and range rifle. Maybe take the magnifier out of the equation. The other option as we all joked about was another AR with a diff setup? 

What about a 3x prism scope? One piece design instead of the two separate pieces and etched reticle so even without batteries u can still acquire target. Not to be used with the BUIS. If you still want those as Stu mentioned go with 45 degree BUIS.

Vortex, Burris and Primary Arms all make one. 

https://vortexoptics.com/spitfire-hd-gen-ii-3x-prism-scope.html

https://www.burrisoptics.com/sights/ar-sights-series/ar-332

https://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-slx-3x32mm-gen-iii-prism-scope-with-acss-556-cqb-m2-reticle

Another option is a 1-6x scope. Not ideal for home defense if total darkness. But that's what flash lights are for right?

Lots of options and end of the day you can spend more on optics than the rifle itself. That's another rabbit hole.

 

 

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On 8/13/2021 at 6:27 AM, GDITurbo77 said:

If my eye is 2" or less from the magnifier optic, I can see everything great. Anything beyond that and to drop off in the FOV is massive. If I position the magnifier forward enough to clear the rear sight when it's flipped up, I can barely see anything at all through the magnifier. I can just about make out the red dot but I can't see what I'm aiming at in the FOV. I positioned the magnifier back as far as I can so that it sits over top of my rear sight so I have better FOV if I'm just using the magnifier/RDS, but then I can't co-witness with the BUIS while the magnifier is down. I need to flip it up and then I can co-witness with just the BUIS and the RDS. Is that how it's intended to work?

Sounds about right. It looks like your magnifier has an eye relief of 2.2”. You might want to adjust where you have your stock pinned so that your eye is in the right place so you can use the magnifier without adjusting your check weld. A collapsible stock makes this much easier, but NJ is awful. 
 

As for lights, the Streamlight HL-X rail mount you posted is an excellent light for the money, and might be the best value. I have one and it seems solid. Another great lower cost option is to get a $70ish Surefire G2X Tactical hand held light (not the Pro model which is low/high output, tactical has full output only) and a 1” flashlight mount. It isn’t a “gun light” per say, but it works very well. 
A good quality light is extremely important and can get switched out to another gun in the future. Even a higher end light isn’t that expensive in the grand scheme of things, when you consider how important it is and how long it will likely last. 

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