Reflex/Red Dot magnifiers

[JEVapa]

Writing this for yous guys for SA. I just had a dude on TacSwap offer me a G33 magnifier as a trade for my Team Wendy helmet. I laughed and said no thanks. Got me to thinking why he would offer that POS for a $1300 helmet (not asking that much that but that's what they are new). It occurred to me that he's placing the retail for those hunks o' shit as the trade value against the helmet (which BTW, has real value). A G33 has an MSRP of $519 with a mount. I worked at L3 when we owned that company...that's all I'll say.

The G33 itself is 100% Chinese. Costs maybe $40 to make. Maybe. The only thing that's US made is the skin, mount, and the knobs IIRC. The paint job for the tan and laser etch too. Their others are Chinese; one might be Philippines but I don't remember.

My suggestion is to find a mgnifier from another company that's around $150-$200. Still Chinese or Filipino, but way cheaper. Just as good though. In fact, outside of Aimpoint-ish, almost all magnifiers are Chinese or Filipino. It costs too much to be made outside Asia, especially the states. The quality doesn't vary between them and the G33 IMO. Below say $130ish, and definitely below $100, you start running into complete GARBAGE.

Brand recommendations IMO: Bushnell, Sig, Vortex, PA (their higher end ones), and Holosun. Meprolight, Trijicon, and Aimpoint (not the $1000 magnifier-that's stupid), are good "higher end" magnifiers that are still cheaper and better than the G33. This my opinion only and not medical or ophthalmologic advice.

 

[CS Boomis]

My kid has been up my rear wanting a magnifier behind his 510. This is some very timely beta. Thank you!

 

[JCann]

I agree totally. I haven’t been impressed with the glass quality of most magnifiers, be it 3x or 6x. For my purposes and a red dot I would rather run my Razor LPVO 1-6x24

 

[KurtM]

Only thing I run behind my EXPS3-1 is a light amplifier. Never saw the point of a magnifier behind a red dot. Dots are fine out to 3-400 yards and 3X doesn't really help that much, but that's just me.

 

[HoLeChit]

My kid has been up my rear wanting a magnifier behind his 510. This is some very timely beta. Thank you!

I have a holosun magnifier that I used behind my 510. Might still have the box. Been considering selling it, haven’t used it in a year.

Unless @JEVapa decides he wants to trade his brain bucket for it. We prob wear the same size.

 

[JEVapa]

I have a holosun magnifier that I used behind my 510. Might still have the box. Been considering selling it, haven’t used it in a year.

Unless @JEVapa decides he wants to trade his brain bucket for it. We prob wear the same size.

I’m good

 

[CS Boomis]

I agree totally. I haven’t been impressed with the glass quality of most magnifiers, be it 3x or 6x. For my purposes and a red dot I would rather run my Razor LPVO 1-6x24

I have a hard enough time keeping this infernal red dust off of two lenses. Two more wouldn’t likely improve my game unless I was a lense cleaner rep.

 

[JEVapa]

I have a hard enough time keeping this infernal red dust off of two lenses. Two more wouldn’t likely improve my game unless I was a lense cleaner rep.

I use the bottom of my tshirt

 

[KurtM]

Ok I finally realized the value of a magnifier!

 

[Ndenway]

Ok I finally realized the value of a magnifier!View attachment 7815

If that's one of uncle sugar's secret tax agent deer ticks,

You'd better get you a good microscope so you can see if you've been poisoned with lyme or rocky mountain for lack of paying taxes on unreported income.

 

[genesis]

Thats a real cool story. Eotech g45 is "assembled" in usa, and sucks. The g33 is 100 × better. The vortex is probably the better of the magnifiers, although none are amazing. Its a flawed concept, imo, unless your sole use is a night vision build.

 

[Hathcocked]

I picked up an old “fell off the back of the truck” L3 in the ARMS mount and run it behind my AEMS on a Scalarworks mount and it has been solid…primarily because it has the height to cowitness the 1.93” height of the scalarworks. The usefulness I have found is when putting the first precise shot on a boar in a group. The extra magnification helps me pinpoint my shot placement with 5.56 to drop it immediately.

 

[JEVapa]

Thats a real cool story. Eotech g45 is "assembled" in usa, and sucks. The g33 is 100 × better. The vortex is probably the better of the magnifiers, although none are amazing.

The Vortex is as Chinese as the G33 as is the G45. The G45 comes in a kit where they assemble, align/collimate, and purge. Then do final assembly, (skin, knobs, mount) and environmental testing (shock, temp, vibe, immersion). None are better than the other outside of the G45 going through qual in the states instead of China.

Its a flawed concept, imo, unless your sole use is a night vision build.

IDK what that means, you'll have to enlighten me. I've used NV for 25 yrs from PVS-5 to PVS-15s and some experimental NVGs in between in the hinterland and nowhere did a magnifier on the back of my Eotech or Aimpoint come into play and I I've used an Aimpoint magnifier since 2008.

Besides, this was a PSA for those looking at getting a magnifier and not falling into hype about which one is best. Even aimpoint magnifiers aren't really any better. When they came out with their 6x, it was one of the worst optics I'd ever seen...junk. If NFO or Leupold made a magnifier in the states, I guarantee that would be best. It would also be $1000 or more. So if your looking for a magnifier, the sweet spot for buying one that's just as good as a G33 is $150-$250 and $300-$450 for "better" ones.

Anyway, any magnified optic acts as a light gathering capability. In low light scenarios and even bright daylight a magnifier can help, especially turning down the brightness and refining the aim reticle...you can get it really tiny and therefore reduce misses and increase accuracy. A 1 MOA or better aim point is much more preferred to a 4 MOA blob, especially at range.
LPVOs are great and you have to spend a little to get a good almost parallax free sight, but nothing beats a reflex in a house or out to 100m. The closest thing IMO is an Elcan 1-4x DFOV. Still some parallax but it's almost as fast as an AImpoint or Eotech.
This is just my opinion and not any kind of medical or professional shooting advice.