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Rifle Scopes ARD - Do you use one? Why? Why Not?
- Thread starter Spencerhut
- Start date
I use one on my coyote rifle. They say they coyotes will pick up on reflections. But the ards do block some light.
I use them/ like them. I like the more compactness vs the length of a sun shade Here is another thread recently started about them
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-rifle-scopes/237258-ard-sunshade.html
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-rifle-scopes/237258-ard-sunshade.html
Got em but we never seem to use them. I always find myself just putting a slit in a MRE package and laying it between the cover and objective or grabbing a handful of grass and putting it in the bell (not the best idea and be careful not go grab anything hard enough to scratch the lenses) or I just thrown a section of cammo net veil over the scope. All seem to work in a pinch so the ARD just sits in the gun room with all the other gizmos I have accumulated over the years. Not against the ARD at all, I just never use it on the fly and 99% of my application is short notice deployment.
Sully
Sully
Why spend the money on them? Extra weight and my steel and paper targets are not shooting at me or spooked by any reflections.
We placed an order with US Optics and everyone wanted the ARD with their scopes. I was just curious what folks opinions are on the ARD. I followed the crowd and got one too.
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I have and carry a 2" honeycomb ARD in a small padded camera lens zip pouch . It is lanyard inside my pack .
It's stays there because Every once in a while it's worth it's weight in gold for when the sun is low in early or late afternoon & shinning strait @ your Obj. lens .
Plus, those short 2" honeycomb ARD are about equal or better than a Long 6" sunshade Tube for shading .
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Only when I'm counter sniping counter snipers
I have the short Tenebrex ARD and yea it works pretty good at cutting down direct setting sun glare AND protects the scope bell and lens when Im humpin around in thick heavy brush
I have the short Tenebrex ARD and yea it works pretty good at cutting down direct setting sun glare AND protects the scope bell and lens when Im humpin around in thick heavy brush
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That and as a sunshade sometimes. The USO ones aren't too bad --they're deeper but more open and thinner than the plastic ones. Goes in the sunshade though.
They have ups and downs like everything else I guess.
Well, I'm glad to hear THAT! I've had steel shoot back at me! Once while shooting steel plates out at 100 yards from beside our cabin, we heard "BANG!" "thunk"....."BANG!" "thunk"...."BANG!" "thunk". Damn bullets were coming right back to us and hitting the cabin! Apparently, we should have been using ARDs.
FWIW, if the light source is in the field of view an ARD won't help. ARDs only work when the light source is "off-axis".
I have one on my little 2x7 leupold hunting scope- the king the slips between the objective and the scope cap - I can't find a sunshade for that model and my tree-stand faces the sun just wrong on the last weekend of hunting season. A few years ago, I put the scope on a buck of a lifetime and just saw grey. After moving around a bit I found a sliver of shade and was able to drop him.
A very narrow set of circumstances indeed.
A very narrow set of circumstances indeed.
had one screwed into an aim point for a deployment, I didn't like it at all. Found it to be distracting, everybody said you'll get use to it but I never did.
I use them mainly to protect my lenses. I tend to shoot in brightly lit conditions, so they don't get in the way.
There's a line between two different type of shooters on this site and this is a 'topic' that will pretty much depend on which side of the line the answer is coming from.
When I used my rifle scope as part of an observation tool in order to track troop movements, things of interest or it was time to play ball - I always used something that would be considered an ARD due to the fact that you cannot always setup so that the sun didn't reflect light off of your glass, or were there long enough to where it eventually would.
If you're using your rifle to go to the range, competition or to shoot in your backyard, they have no purpose as they cut light transmission and add some minimal weight.
However, if you are ever going to be in a position where a reflection off your optic would cause you problems (i.e. daytime coyote hunting, being somewhere you're not supposed to be, hunting in general), then I suggest some form of ARD be it the $100 plastic one or cardboard/tape with a cut out or a pair of panty hose rubber banded over the objective.
FYI - best ARD I ever had was the panty hose off a chick in Kosovo name Lule.
I also brought a visual aid to class:
When I used my rifle scope as part of an observation tool in order to track troop movements, things of interest or it was time to play ball - I always used something that would be considered an ARD due to the fact that you cannot always setup so that the sun didn't reflect light off of your glass, or were there long enough to where it eventually would.
If you're using your rifle to go to the range, competition or to shoot in your backyard, they have no purpose as they cut light transmission and add some minimal weight.
However, if you are ever going to be in a position where a reflection off your optic would cause you problems (i.e. daytime coyote hunting, being somewhere you're not supposed to be, hunting in general), then I suggest some form of ARD be it the $100 plastic one or cardboard/tape with a cut out or a pair of panty hose rubber banded over the objective.
FYI - best ARD I ever had was the panty hose off a chick in Kosovo name Lule.
I also brought a visual aid to class:
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well DUhhhh .. I know it wont work if you look directly @ the sun .
But the USoptics short honeycomb is tough enough on the gauge/thickness, to throw in the Pack and take a beating .
And 'does come in Real Handy' when you got the Sun Low and your pulling the trigger in that direction .
Other than that . it stays in the pack for a Sun Shade when I need it. & it does the job of a Long thread-on, Sun-shade tube in a much smaller and robust package .
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Mine stay on, all the time. Yes alone they drop the light, but the other device behind it brightens things back up albeit yellow, but that's the price of not having to re-learning your gear,... quickly. The add is, they deflect barrel heat a little as well. Use something long enough and you will find out how to over come most of it's short comings.
From reading most of the responses sounds like many, only want to learn their gear under stress, if ever,... now where did I put my meds?
From reading most of the responses sounds like many, only want to learn their gear under stress, if ever,... now where did I put my meds?
Aimpoint came with ARD installed and it does reduce the image quality noticeably. At my age I'll most likely loose it if I take it off and "put it somewhere".
OFG
OFG
The Trijicon SRS has an ARD built into the lens cap, and it was the only lens cap out there right now I guess since the front of that beast is a little funky. The SRS is on the wife's backup gun and we've both shot it a bit, no Ill effects and the ARD seems to protects that giant lens.
Damn, that is lazy!
Honestly I forgot it was on there until this thread. If I take it off, will it be like looking through a whole new scope? I'll never miss again?
I have one on a SS 10x that tops my Savage 17HMR for varmit hunting. Also have one on my USO ST-10, which tops my custom .308, but have never gotten around to taking it off because it hasn't hindered the light gathering of the objective enough to where it bothers me.
Realistically, no one "needs" one, unless maybe you're in theater. However, like most have said, they do provide a slight advantage over a sunshade being smaller, lighter, and more easily stored.
Realistically, no one "needs" one, unless maybe you're in theater. However, like most have said, they do provide a slight advantage over a sunshade being smaller, lighter, and more easily stored.
Better to have it in your kit, than not if and when you need it. Besides protects the front lens and makes your scope look like a wicked hubble observation optic, "tools" at the range admire that extra length
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