Aimpoint PRO

Over the years, I've been asked a lot of questions by folks about what optic or scope they should put on their rifle and how much should they spend.  My default answer is stick with a reputable name brand and plan on spending at least half of the cost of the rifle you purchased.  There's no need for a nine-hundred dollar scope on a stock Ruger 10/22, and there is something wrong with a $39.95 Tasco on a beautiful new Weatherby Mark V Accumark in .338 Lapua.

Sometimes that rule of thumb for optics and scopes isn't always accurate.  When we picked up our Ruger SR-556c last spring, I decided to drop a four-hundred dollar optic on it which is barely one-fourth the cost of the rifle, but I'm positive we ended up with great deal, not a cheap optic.  We've had terrific experiences with the Aimpoint 9000L's on our Ruger Mini-14's, so the new Aimpoint PRO seemed like a terrific choice and came ready to mount-up right out of the box.

While you can easily get the specifications from Aimpoint, the total package is a solid unit of Aimpoint's products including the QRP2 mount with a spacer that places the optic at the ideal height that makes for a proper mounting and gripping of the rifle while even allowing the shooter to co-witness with the Ruger SR-556c's folding Troy Battle Sights.

Aimpoint claims a thirty-thousand hour, three-year-plus battery life with their advanced circuitry and a single three-volt lithium battery, so you can just turn it on and leave it on for when things go bump in the night.  We like the two MOA dot size as our experiences with four and five MOA dot sights have found us wanting for a smaller, more precise dot.  The range of adjustments makes for varying dot brightness settings that are visible from the darkest nights to the brightest days.

I've tried firing a series five shot groups... removing and reinstalling the PRO using the QRP2 mount with the ratcheting, torque setting knob in the same rail position... and have found that it maintains zero without a problem.  Currently, I have a little over fifteen-hundred rounds through the rifle over four-plus months with the optic mounted on it in cool, hot, and very wet weather.  I haven't tossed it in the neighbor's pond to check the water proofing, but it's done well in a heavy down-pour and even a light, misting rain while the barrel's steaming away.

One little touch I like is the stickers that allow you to record when you last changed the battery.  The gals and I tend to write on batteries with a fine-point black or silver Sharpie so we know when batteries were last installed in various pieces of equipment and hardware.

Another nifty feature is that the included flip-up lens caps have a clear, see-through rear lens cap that lets you see the red-dot even when both lens caps are down.  I've tried shooting several times with the lens caps down, both eyes open of course, it's amazing how easy it is to put hits on target which both eyes open when viewing just the red dot with the dominant eye and the view of the target with just the non-dominant eye.

There are a lot of good offerings and opinions out there when it comes to finding a good optic for your AR, but so far I think we'll be putting another one of these on our next AR too.  If you're looking for a quality, reasonably priced optic for your battle rifle, home-protection rig, or Zombie-slayer build... the gals and I think you can't go wrong with the Aimpoint PRO.