Anyone have experience with Eotech's?

[dc2integra]

I like eotech but one thing to really consider is the battery life. Most of our rifles with eotechs when we came back from deployment were completly dead and our aimpoints well lets just say I pretty much left mine on the whole deployment and was working when I got back.

[MrPlink]

I'm sorry brother, but you're in full-on Kool-Aid mode at the moment.

You definately should not leave your sight on 24-7 even with an Aimpoint. Instead, you install iron sights and have them cowitnessed in the lower 1/3 of your window and know that in that absolute worst case scenerio the ambient light and your irons will save your bacon...because you practiced it routinely enough to know it is true.

Even with an Aimpoint, if you leave it on 24-7 then the day you need it will be the day it actually did run out but you drank so much of the Kool-Aid you developed a false confidence and forgot to put new batteries in it when you needed to. So you had better hope your irons are not only installed, but up. Otherwise you're shooting the tube, and you'd better hope you actually practiced doing that to the point of being consistent doing it.

Battery life is not your only issue of course. I've personally had an Aimpoint T-1 short out on me in the middle of a course. It ran fine for a good while - then started blinking in an out. Most expensive and reliable sight on the market and it proved as reliable as $30 chinese knockoff. Just the math kicking in. No matter how good the QC, electronics can and will fail. That same course somebody's EoTech died for good. So the EoTech fanboys can simmer down as well.

The EoTech is an excellent sight. A great option. So is the Aimpoint. Some people are just so fanatical that they blow the pluses of their favorite completely out or proportion, and do the same to the cons of it's greatest competitor. Anything electronic can fail and battery life is only one of MANY things to consider when choosing a sight. One could argue the EoTech reticle is so much better that it alone warrants it being chosen of the Aimpoint. Many do. Many make the argument the increased window is much more effective. And it is. So honestly, when you add up all the pluses and minuses it is a wash. So you pick the one that in your mind works the best.

Personally, I'll run both. I trust both to be as good as technology can make them...and I have my irons in the up position just in case.

I guess you dont know that aimoints dont have an off button.

[B!ngo]

Not to add to the brand confusion, but I would add the Mepro red dot to your list for consideration. I have an (older) Eotech, and recently bought the Mepro 21 (http://www.meprolight.com/default.asp?catid={2D1A5EA0-9AE1-4487-8E2B-CBBF5641658B}&details_type=1&itemid={FD44627E-1FD3-4811-969B-D59CE751DD4A}) and it seems like the best of the bunch. No batteries, big and bright sight picture (30mm I believe). Pricey as well as the others and at the level of the EO, Aim, and Mepro, it may come down to personal preferences rather than features but I still recommend you take a look if you can.
B

[stangallmotor]

Thanks guys for all the feed back! I just pulled the trigger and bought the Eotech 512 on Amazon for 407.95 OTD.

I was supposed to pick up my Colt yesterday but got tied up with work and didn't have the time. Now I have to wait till Tuesday!!! Can't wait to have everything together!!!

So..... What's next?

[Discogodfather]

Check out a 3x magnifier with some kind of quick detach, it makes 50+ yard shoots much nicer.