So I have been playing with the Trijicon RMR, the Vortex Viper PST, and of course, the A2 rear peep.
Using the RMR at the range was interesting. The bright amber dot was easy for the eye to acquire and really grabbed the attention of the shooter. At 300 yards though it covered man sized targets completely. The 7MOA dot is the smallest product trijicon offers in the dual illuminated version. The triangle reticule would offer a more precise aiming point, but holding over for targets at 300 would have the same problem I had. The dot covers the whole target. Depending on the event, this might not matter. Inside of 200 I have a really light, trouble free outdoor optic. I like it.
The reticule did show some bloom (and it was a cold, *cloudy*, wet day at the range) but when the small peep of my A2 rear sight was utilized it became a sharp round dot.
The Vortex viper was spot on and amazing to work with. Targets at 300 and 400 yards were easy as pie to hit. The precise 1MOA dot in the center only helped with the simple point and shoot setup. The only problem is that my rifle, when equipped with the Vortex, becomes quite heavy. It is a versatile setup, but depending on the course to be run the weight might hinder the shooter. A event that my local match planner likes to incorporate is the “carbine crusher” where the shooter makes a hit on steel in three different positions. A position change is required after every hit. A heavy rifle would be a hindrance here because the stage is run until the timer runs out so you never stop shooting and changing positions. Bummer.
So the two options I am working with both have their advantages and disadvantages. Irons permit a nice middle ground. Hits at all reasonable ranges, light weight, and it has a degree of precision. An interesting piece of information I found on the peep sight is worthy of sharing: The A2 rear peep is parallax free just like your fancy red dot.
This makes teaching new shooters on irons REALLY simple. What a revelation. Look through the rear peep, put the front post on the target, squeeze the trigger. There is literally nothing to align but the target and the front sight post. I tried this with a new shooter last week and he was getting hits at 300 repeatedly from the bench and this was a first time AR shooter with very little center-fire rifle experience.
Have a good week!
