Optics for a M1A Socom

Major Kong

Major Kong

Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
856
Eotech, Aimpoint or a Leupold Scout? What's your preference for long eye-relief optics and why?
 
Interested in everyone's answers. Just traded into a .308 Bushmaster ORC and am lost in a sea of optics! :eek::confused:
 
IIRC, Jeremy Horton has/had a SOCOM, you might give him a shout. He has a forum here, and I think his cell # is posted somewhere.
 
Depends on your setup, but if it were mine, i'd go with a Trijicon AccuPoint.
 
I like the millet or night force. Stay away from an eotech. If you don't want magnification for some reason just get an aim point m3 or m4. Superior in every way to eotech.
 
I was going to suggest the burris scout scope as well I had one on a marlin 1895 guide gun in 45/70 and it worked really well.
 
First off millet is nice but in no way considered mid or high end. For the money they are excellent. Just don't expect the quality level of Trijicon or Burris XTR which are true mid level scopes. These are the minimum I would put on a gun you plan to blast a lot of ammo through. The millets, Konus, leatherwoods, etc, are good, but with lots of shooting in a 308, they loose their zero and things internally generally loosen. Vortex makes a 1-4x scope that for the money is hard to beat. Eotech is excellent, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It has a magnifier, but if you are going to magnify, better go with one that does that.

it really depends what price range you want to stay in. you did not provide much info.

What is planned use? Type of shooting and max to min range? 3 gun stuff?
what is upper limit that you can afford?
 
Cobalt said:
it really depends what price range you want to stay in. you did not provide much info.

What is planned use? Type of shooting and max to min range? 3 gun stuff?
what is upper limit that you can afford?
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I haven't really set a price range. I don't have an unlimited budget but I've decided that I'm going to get good optics for this rifle. I have a couple of Primary Arms red dots mounted on .22s that work just fine but for a .308 I'd like to mount something a little more durable.

I sold a FNAR heavy barrel to buy this with the intention of moving into a more portable "battle rifle". With the 16" barrel I don't have any plans of shooting long range, I just want clear reliable optics on it. I don't have any experience with a long eye relief magnified scopes like the Burris or the Leupold and I didn't intend to put a magnifier on the Aimpoint or Eotech. I did a quick search on the Burris and see that it gets good reviews. I'll add it to the mix.

Thanks for the responses to this point.
 
I am planning to put a Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x32 on my XCR M (if I can ever find one in stock). A 1-4x is good but I wanted a bit more magnification for a .308. They are a bit spendy, but bulletproof.
 
Nightforce is certainly high end.

As for not shooting long range, the typical calculation is 1 power for every hundred yards starting at zero(conservative imo). So a 4x scope will cover 300 yards very well. The 1-4, or 1.5-6 power scopes are nice because the 1 power or 1.5 power makes it easier to acquire targets in CQB mode with both eyes open like if a pig is charging you at 30 yards. There are tons of good 1-4 and 1.5-6 power scopes. Nikon's 223 is a good one for not a lot of money. Optics planet has lots of options. It really all ends up being money related.
 
I have two scout scopes on different rifles, a LWRC A3 in 6.8 SPC and one on a SOCOM, both I have SWFA Super Sniper 1-4x Iluminated Donut Reticle scopes. Ive gone through Eotechs, a burris, a leupold and the millet(all three 1-4X). The SWFA HD glass is head and shoulders above the rest. Its a first focal plane which gives the mil holdovers terrific functionality. I use the scope in conjunction with a BOBRO quick release mount. Its the best ive found so far. Ive replaced my larue mounts with them.
Hope this helps.
 
Never seen an SWFA in person, but if it matches a leupold at a much lower price and can hold up to the multi jolt of a 308, then that is good. I know konus and millet have a hard time handling recoil. At least the ones I had did and they were tactical versions.
 
strong said:
I have two scout scopes on different rifles, a LWRC A3 in 6.8 SPC and one on a SOCOM, both I have SWFA Super Sniper 1-4x Iluminated Donut Reticle scopes. Ive gone through Eotechs, a burris, a leupold and the millet(all three 1-4X). The SWFA HD glass is head and shoulders above the rest. Its a first focal plane which gives the mil holdovers terrific functionality. I use the scope in conjunction with a BOBRO quick release mount. Its the best ive found so far. Ive replaced my larue mounts with them.
Hope this helps.
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Thanks, I'll take a look at that. I've got a SWFA Super Sniper on another rifle and have really been happy with it.
 
I bought an aimpoint with the lowest rise scope mounts I could find and still found that I could not get a good cheek weld on my SOCOM 16 so I went back to the iron sights. I'd love to have optics but not without a good cheek weld.
 
thelastbestplace said:
I bought an aimpoint with the lowest rise scope mounts I could find and still found that I could not get a good cheek weld on my SOCOM 16 so I went back to the iron sights. I'd love to have optics but not without a good cheek weld.
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they sell pads to mount to the stock to solve that. It is a common problem with M1a's. There is one that screws into the stock and can be adjusted up or down to suit your fit better
 
I can personally vouch for vortex scopes. They are crystal clear. Also, I would avoid leupold. Their new scopes have so many parts made over seas that they can no longer hold the "made in America sticker they used to have. I tried one of the new VX-3s and I can honestly say it is one of the worse scopes I have used. The warranty is nice but quality is slipping big time.
 
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