I think I may have found my perfect close combat and standoff optic.
Last night the guys from Trijicon's Rep Company brought the toys out to demo for us. We were mainly there for the TANS (Night Vision) and ATWS (Thermal) weapon sights, but they also brought a selection of Accupoint and ACOG models as well as their RDS. Also in appearance were an FN AR and FN SCAR (5.56mm). Let me apologize for the lack of real photos. I was not in a position to be able to photograph some of the items.
We started the demo at 1530 hrs and ran it until 1900 so we got to experience the gamut of lighting conditions. I gave the TR24G a good look over in the daylight and was very impressed with the clarity of the glass and the speed of target acquisition on 1x. I really don't think my Aimpoint is much faster. This demo was started right after our live fire training session so the strengths limitations of my Aimpoint setup were fresh in my mind.
The reps offered to allow me to run the TR24G on my M4, but I didn't want to pull the LMT BUIS off of it. The SCAR was an acceptable substitute for this purpose. Parallax was not apparent at 1x unless I got my eye WAY out of line with the ocular lens. Eye relief was acceptable. I was looking at this with the possibility of mounting it on my AR10. In the daylight the green triangle was bright and very fast to pick up. It stood out well even against the green foliage on the berm.
While we still had some light I took a look at the TANS and ATWS. The TANS was what we were there to see. I was happy to learn the the limitations of the NV systems I have previously worked with were mostly overcome with this generation of optics. Even in full daylight the TANS was fully functional. The autogating worked well and there was no flaring or shutdown. The sight picture during the day was exactly as it appeared at night.
The ATWS that was in appearance was a non-firing prototype. The specifications and detailed information on it is restricted. It was an interesting toy to play with though. It performed as advertised and is weapon mountable just like the TANS. Later in the evening I was able to mount it up to the ACOG. This would be the absolute tits for night ambushes, but I didn't see a whole lot of use in a law enforcement application. Thermal has come a LONG way and it is amazing that they are this compact, but the TANS still offered much more detail.
After dusk the TANS was lashed up to a LMT carbine equipped with a TA31 and a Surefire suppressor. The demo was uneventful. It worked exactly as intended.
Once everyone had their fun with the TANS, I went back to the SCAR with the TR24G on it. By now we had no daylight and only very faint light from the maintenance building 200 yards to our rear. I shouldered the SCAR and was amazed to see the green triangle glowing brightly. The tritium was actually providing so much light that the outside of the fiber optic light collector was glowing. This is something to keep in mind when operating at night. The problem is easily solved by closing the shield around the ocular housing. The SCAR was equipped with a Surefire M900 light unit. Using the light I was quickly able to engage close range targets. The triangle was in no danger of being lost against the brightly lit target.
At the end of the session. I grabbed the TANS from the LMT and locked it onto the SCAR. This brought to light the only weakness of the green triangle. With the gain turned up on the TANS the reticle became dark and a little difficult to pickup. Reducing the gain on the TANS to it's minimum allowed the triangle to still stand out. Even with the TANS at it's brightest the triangle was still distinct enough to be able to engage targets with precision. In reality if speed is a concern at close range I would rather run with the TANS removed and use a weapon light. This better supports "both eyes open" and allows you to blind the target.
I did not get to spend a lot of time with the SCAR. Coming from the M4 to the SCAR, the recoil impulse felt strange. It was a sluggish double push feeling and was nothing like the fast cycling from my suppressed M4 or the LMT carbine. One of the other officers present commented that it felt good to him so it's apparent that some may like this. The controls are very M4 like in that I did not need any instruction and was able to pickup, load, operate and clear without fumbling in the dark. The folding stock was interesting, but i kept feeling like I was going to break it. Not wanting to tear up their only demo gun I was gentle.
Once all the fun with the optics was done we turned our attention to the Heavy Barrel FN AR. Up to that point the closest I had gotten to one was reading a gunrag article about it. I was underwhelmed by the appearance.
The FN AR comes with an assortment of stock parts in an effort to allow you to fit it to your frame. In my case it would definitely require some fitting. It was not comfortable for me to shoot. Operation was straightforward. The bolt release was in a somewhat strange location and not conductive to fast reloads. When you insert a magazine you must reach forward to the back of the handguard on the right side and locate the small lever. Pushing down on this lever released the bolt. The safety is a standard cross-bolt just like a Remington 870.
The rifle was equipped with a TR23 5-20x50 Accupoint. Based on the performance of the TR24G I was expecting more. The TR23 was useless without illuminating the target. Once we got some light on our far target (70-80 yards) we were able to get down to business. The Reps had brought a box of Wolf 7.62x51. My partner loaded up a magazine and pulled the trigger. CLICK. He assumed that he didn't get a cartridge loaded. Much to our surprise when he cycled the action, a live round was ejected. I grabbed the round and showed him the light primer strike. He got back on the gun and pulled the trigger on a fresh round. CLICK! At this point the Reps told us that they had a problem with the Wolf ammo as well. We swapped out the Wolf with some Lake City ball ammo they had brought along and the weapon functioned properly. Firing from an unsteady platform (wobbling table) on a 70 yard target with a poor cheek weld resulted in approximately 1.5" five shot group for both my partner and I. Not a definitive accuracy test, but definitely adequate for a police patrol rifle. I would really like to see what this rifle would be capable of once fitted to the shooter and under better circumstances.
Out of curiosity I grabbed one of the Wolf 7.62x51 rounds and dropped it into my M700. It fired with the first pull of the trigger. When I ejected the casing I noticed that the primer had unseated about .05" or so and had a nice FP indent. This told me two things. First, that is the last Wolf cartridge that I will fire in my M700. Second, the FN AR may be a little picky with ammo, especially some of the military surplus ammo out there.
Other news is that Trijicon will be producing their own line of mounts and rings including a MARS/MCCAN type rail system.
Unfortunately since my M700 is not equipped with a forward rail I was unable to test the TANS on it. We attempted to hold the TANS in front of the SN-3 and get an idea of function, but that proved to be more difficult that it first appeared. A slight misalignment produced problems. Attempting to have one person hold the TANS while adjusting the focus and gain just did not work well.
Hopefully in several months I will have a TANS for a longer term evaluation, but that is up to people above my pay grade.
Last night the guys from Trijicon's Rep Company brought the toys out to demo for us. We were mainly there for the TANS (Night Vision) and ATWS (Thermal) weapon sights, but they also brought a selection of Accupoint and ACOG models as well as their RDS. Also in appearance were an FN AR and FN SCAR (5.56mm). Let me apologize for the lack of real photos. I was not in a position to be able to photograph some of the items.
We started the demo at 1530 hrs and ran it until 1900 so we got to experience the gamut of lighting conditions. I gave the TR24G a good look over in the daylight and was very impressed with the clarity of the glass and the speed of target acquisition on 1x. I really don't think my Aimpoint is much faster. This demo was started right after our live fire training session so the strengths limitations of my Aimpoint setup were fresh in my mind.
The reps offered to allow me to run the TR24G on my M4, but I didn't want to pull the LMT BUIS off of it. The SCAR was an acceptable substitute for this purpose. Parallax was not apparent at 1x unless I got my eye WAY out of line with the ocular lens. Eye relief was acceptable. I was looking at this with the possibility of mounting it on my AR10. In the daylight the green triangle was bright and very fast to pick up. It stood out well even against the green foliage on the berm.
While we still had some light I took a look at the TANS and ATWS. The TANS was what we were there to see. I was happy to learn the the limitations of the NV systems I have previously worked with were mostly overcome with this generation of optics. Even in full daylight the TANS was fully functional. The autogating worked well and there was no flaring or shutdown. The sight picture during the day was exactly as it appeared at night.
The ATWS that was in appearance was a non-firing prototype. The specifications and detailed information on it is restricted. It was an interesting toy to play with though. It performed as advertised and is weapon mountable just like the TANS. Later in the evening I was able to mount it up to the ACOG. This would be the absolute tits for night ambushes, but I didn't see a whole lot of use in a law enforcement application. Thermal has come a LONG way and it is amazing that they are this compact, but the TANS still offered much more detail.
After dusk the TANS was lashed up to a LMT carbine equipped with a TA31 and a Surefire suppressor. The demo was uneventful. It worked exactly as intended.
Once everyone had their fun with the TANS, I went back to the SCAR with the TR24G on it. By now we had no daylight and only very faint light from the maintenance building 200 yards to our rear. I shouldered the SCAR and was amazed to see the green triangle glowing brightly. The tritium was actually providing so much light that the outside of the fiber optic light collector was glowing. This is something to keep in mind when operating at night. The problem is easily solved by closing the shield around the ocular housing. The SCAR was equipped with a Surefire M900 light unit. Using the light I was quickly able to engage close range targets. The triangle was in no danger of being lost against the brightly lit target.
At the end of the session. I grabbed the TANS from the LMT and locked it onto the SCAR. This brought to light the only weakness of the green triangle. With the gain turned up on the TANS the reticle became dark and a little difficult to pickup. Reducing the gain on the TANS to it's minimum allowed the triangle to still stand out. Even with the TANS at it's brightest the triangle was still distinct enough to be able to engage targets with precision. In reality if speed is a concern at close range I would rather run with the TANS removed and use a weapon light. This better supports "both eyes open" and allows you to blind the target.
I did not get to spend a lot of time with the SCAR. Coming from the M4 to the SCAR, the recoil impulse felt strange. It was a sluggish double push feeling and was nothing like the fast cycling from my suppressed M4 or the LMT carbine. One of the other officers present commented that it felt good to him so it's apparent that some may like this. The controls are very M4 like in that I did not need any instruction and was able to pickup, load, operate and clear without fumbling in the dark. The folding stock was interesting, but i kept feeling like I was going to break it. Not wanting to tear up their only demo gun I was gentle.
Once all the fun with the optics was done we turned our attention to the Heavy Barrel FN AR. Up to that point the closest I had gotten to one was reading a gunrag article about it. I was underwhelmed by the appearance.
The FN AR comes with an assortment of stock parts in an effort to allow you to fit it to your frame. In my case it would definitely require some fitting. It was not comfortable for me to shoot. Operation was straightforward. The bolt release was in a somewhat strange location and not conductive to fast reloads. When you insert a magazine you must reach forward to the back of the handguard on the right side and locate the small lever. Pushing down on this lever released the bolt. The safety is a standard cross-bolt just like a Remington 870.
The rifle was equipped with a TR23 5-20x50 Accupoint. Based on the performance of the TR24G I was expecting more. The TR23 was useless without illuminating the target. Once we got some light on our far target (70-80 yards) we were able to get down to business. The Reps had brought a box of Wolf 7.62x51. My partner loaded up a magazine and pulled the trigger. CLICK. He assumed that he didn't get a cartridge loaded. Much to our surprise when he cycled the action, a live round was ejected. I grabbed the round and showed him the light primer strike. He got back on the gun and pulled the trigger on a fresh round. CLICK! At this point the Reps told us that they had a problem with the Wolf ammo as well. We swapped out the Wolf with some Lake City ball ammo they had brought along and the weapon functioned properly. Firing from an unsteady platform (wobbling table) on a 70 yard target with a poor cheek weld resulted in approximately 1.5" five shot group for both my partner and I. Not a definitive accuracy test, but definitely adequate for a police patrol rifle. I would really like to see what this rifle would be capable of once fitted to the shooter and under better circumstances.
Out of curiosity I grabbed one of the Wolf 7.62x51 rounds and dropped it into my M700. It fired with the first pull of the trigger. When I ejected the casing I noticed that the primer had unseated about .05" or so and had a nice FP indent. This told me two things. First, that is the last Wolf cartridge that I will fire in my M700. Second, the FN AR may be a little picky with ammo, especially some of the military surplus ammo out there.
Other news is that Trijicon will be producing their own line of mounts and rings including a MARS/MCCAN type rail system.
Unfortunately since my M700 is not equipped with a forward rail I was unable to test the TANS on it. We attempted to hold the TANS in front of the SN-3 and get an idea of function, but that proved to be more difficult that it first appeared. A slight misalignment produced problems. Attempting to have one person hold the TANS while adjusting the focus and gain just did not work well.
Hopefully in several months I will have a TANS for a longer term evaluation, but that is up to people above my pay grade.
