I owned and used a RMR for several months. I had some good intentions behind the RMR for my primary optic, but after a few range session I sold it. Despite it’s bomb-proof construction, the dual illuminated RMR 7MOA dot was a no go for my rifle for several reasons. Initially I was really excited about this combo for my rifle, but in practical use the flavor soon wore off.
Built Like a Tank
I received the 7MOA amber dot RMR with the RM34 co-witnessed mount. I was happy with the size and weight of the optic. The RMR is a machined from a one piece aluminum forging… TOUGH! I have always been interested in the fiber optic tritium combo sights due to their theoretical reliability. I am sure the RMR is plenty durable and would probably survive longer than the COMP M4 over the course of their respective lifetimes. Despite the light weight and bomb proof construction I found that the dual illuminated RMR had restricted my ability to use my rifle at longer distances.
Bloom and Fisheye
One thing that was quite distracting was the starburst effect of an overhead sun. The dot became a unusable starburst when light conditions overhead were at full sun. I have seen others use electrical tape to occlude part of the fiber optic collector but then you have to peel the tape off to get a good bright dot when you go indoors. When shooting at 200 yards, the 7MOA dot was beyond obstructive in full sunlight and just plain too big otherwise. This was my first red dot type optic so I didn’t realize just how big the dot was going to be. The dot’s size hampered my ability to shoot at anything 200 yards +
The Tritium backup power worked as advertised. In a dark environment the dot was moderately easy to pick up. When used in a dark room with a flashlight the tritium had no oomph to allow a quality sight picture. Total washout. I had the same problem from a dark interior room to outside daylight. You really have to search for the amber dot despite it’s large size. I would suggest constantly deployed iron sights to augment this unit.
Another thing I did notice was a ever slight fisheye lens effect present on the RMR. It also seemed to have a slight 1.1 to 1.2 magnification… very hard to explain and hard to see when first using the product but noticeable over a few months. The last picture on the string here really shows just how large 7MOA is… way wider than an A2 front sight!
Wrapping Up:
I really wanted the RMR to be my go to optic. Small, lightweight, nothing to break… but the bloom (and washout aiming outdoors from indoors) made it somewhat unreliable in practice. With no consistency of dot brightness or dot shape this was not suitable for my rifle. Handguns and shotguns might not be affected by the size or bloom as much, but for a practical rifle I simply could not use it past 200 yards. Perhaps the triangle green version now released would be far better suited… but I don’t see how the triangle version would do much better with bloom or changing light conditions. If you want to try an RMR for a rifle… I would say try the electronic version with the 3.25 MOA dot instead. Otherwise the Dual Illuminated RMR is only suitable for close range applications.
