by UnaStamus on Thu Jul 24, 2014 1:35 am
There is a lot of misinformation about the use of EOTechs, and a lot of it comes from what people visibly see groups like SOCOM or SWAT doing, but not what happens behind the scenes.
As a way to explain this, I have to tell a long-winded story. Three years ago, our SWAT commander approached me and asked me to put together a price sheet for replacement CQB optics for the SWAT rifles. The current optics were all Trijicon RX01 1x24 reflex sights. The tritium had all worn down to the point where it was basicallyl worthless in all but pitch black. I put together a price sheet and included several points about why I recommended Aimpoints. Our agency only had experience with Trijicon, because Trijicon makes military optics, and Trijicon optics don't need batteries. Magic happiness. A neighboring county SWAT has AA battery powered EOTechs, and those are constantly dying and having battery issues (battery bounce). So, by our SWAT commander's understanding, all battery-powered optics are the work of satan. All we knew was Trijicon, so we got more Trijicon. Trijicon RX34 1x42 reflex sights.
Fast-foward to 2012, and on the patrol division side we got money for optics and I demanded the Aimpoint PRO due to simplicity and reliability. We got the PRO. To this day, 2.5yrs later, most our optics are still on the original battery and going strong. We leave our optics constantly on at setting 7 when in storage in the cars.
Fast-forward again to 3 months ago and the SWAT guys are all just fed up with the Trijicon Reflex sights because the dual-illumination technology washes out very easily since it's not adjustable. People are losing their reticles. It took years of frustration before they finally acknowledged that they were buying an antiquated optic from the start. Which, by the way, I told them three years ago. I was against it from the start, and I saw this train wreck coming. Well, now our SWAT guys all have experience with the Aimpoints on the patrol rifles, so now all SWAT rifles (HK416, HK UMP40, HK G36C) have Aimpoint Micro T1 optics and are happier than fat kids at an Old Country Buffet.
Our SWAT team was using Trijicon and kept using and "liking" Trijicon because they literally did not know any better. They had no experience with anything else, so they assumed that what they had was good since they had been making it by with it.
So here's my point- many tactical groups and professional gunfighters/door kickers/etc actually have very little functional knowledge of the equipment they use beyond being able to turn it on and off. I would not say that SWAT guys prefer EOTech, because I know a ton of SWAT guys from around MN, IA and WI that all run Aimpoint. Officers/operators who know what they are doing and know about these products will use whatever they like the most, so long as they are approved to use them. What winds up happening is just like with my agency and our SWAT team, where you have one or two people that actually know what they're doing, or actually have some kind of product knowledge. Guys like me will institute optics and weapon usage based on personal knowledge. Others may do it out of bias. For a long time, there were a lot of people running EOs because the one guy with the clout liked the reticle, so now everyone is obviously going to like it since the one guy that has all of the power likes it, and all you peons don't know anything so just like what I tell you to like...
It's a two-way street because a lot of Aimpoints and Trijicon ACOGs have been adopted simply because they're in the military parts distribution chain.
Now, on another site a guy was trying to decide and someone posted that EO was what all of the SOCOM/SOF community was using. That was wrong to a degree, but there was some truth. SEALs held on to EOTechs for a long time, but that's because a couple people with all of the buying power bought the optics, and the optics were now the only thing in the supply chain. NSWC/Crane and NAVSPEC have since parted ways with L3 Communications (EOTech) contracts, but optics are still around and in use.
In asmuch, the current US Army M68 CCO (Close Combat Optic) is the Aimpoint CompM4. Before that it was the CompM3, adn before that the CompM2. Before that it was the Trijicon RX01 Reflex. A lot of people use this stuff simply because it's what is in the system and available.
Keep in mind that a majority of cops and military personnel know jack squat about guns and optics. A lot think they do, but they don't. I was in that category before I decided to actually get educated and pull my head out of my anus. There are solid cops like Dave@huldraarms and 10-32Solutions who do in fact know their stuff about guns and optics and gear. However, for every one of those guys, there are 20 or 30 ignorant cops who only know what they told by someone else that one time at that range or in the Army/Corps.
I was at a carbine instructor course recently and we had several cops that had EOTechs. They were typical cops that didn't know a whole lot, but they all liked the reticle. None of them could tell you the signifigance of the 65moa circle surrounding the 1moa dot, or who you use the reticle in CQB to account for mechanical offset. It didn't matter because they liked the way the reticle looked. I have actually decided that most like the reticle because it's ginormous and easy to put onto the body of a target. However, this comes in as a problem because under stress and time constraints, we start to see people without the proper training start to aim with the whole 65moa circle, and their groups look like a shotgun pattern.
So my point is simply that it comes down to what you personally ultimately know about each optic, and what you like the most. Personally, I have nothing good to say about EOTurds because I've seen a lot of them crap the bed. However, I cannot discount or discredit the accounts of people who have had positive experiences with them. Aimpoints are durable, they're simple, and the battery life is outstanding. The PRO is annoying because it's an absolute co-witness versus the preferred Lower-1/3, but it's not a major problem. On the opposite hand, EOTechs have their followers, and for legitimate reasons.
Whatever you decide, don't make your decision based off of what _____ SWAT or ______ SOF unit uses. There are reasons why they use those optics, they're not necessarily legitimate. Do your own research.
