Re: My new passenger seat partner
LEO's are lucky. If I were able to I would ride with half my safe in the front seat... because I can...LOL.
KSP you have to decide what the rifle is for. I know I'm preaching to the gospel and please don't take offense as it's one gun buddy giving advise to another. Chances are if you ever had to use it on a call you'd probably be engaging the delinquents at 100 yards at most, which would fit the bill for a red dot. If you were engaging targets out at further ranges (300+) I would go with an Acog. Are you still going to be able to hit something out past 300 with a red dot? Sure but probably not as accurate. Are you going to be able to hit something at or inside 100 yards with the Acog. Sure...but in some cases it can take away your ability to quickly do so. I don't have to stress that every second counts with our officers who don't get enough credit for what they do (or anyone who puts their ass on the line for county and law abiding citizens (OK... preach done!)) but if it were me and my rifle I would probably put a red dot on it. Now again I haven't been to your part of KY, but in urban environments (I.E. busy cities or neighborhoods) typically there aren't very long shots. Especially for police officers because you guys are called directly to the threat. For instance in my town (St. Petersburg/Tampa, FL.) this is the case. My neighborhood has winding streets and probably the longest shot I would have is 75 yards, which something like my Saiga 12 could handle quite easily. If I put an Acog on any rifle for that distance would probably do me more harm than good, unlike the red dot. The longest street around me is a few miles long, which except in extreme cases would I ever have a rifle with me on that road. It would be pretty difficult to explain PD to the police from 4-500 yards away. Not to mention with a red dot you do have the ability to put on a removable magnifier at anytime, basically giving you the best of both worlds. With the exception of it being a little heavier (unless you went with the AP Micro) vs. the compact Acog units it really does enable someone like yourself who has to use their rifle (hopefully not) the ability to engage close/far targets quickly and accurate. I believe too if you searched around a bit you could find some used red dot/magnifiers and possibly save some coin as well vs the Acog. I know it sounds biased, but I've owned both (various aimpoints and several cogs) the Aimpoint (or Eotech) won. Anyways this is my honest opinion and I hope this helps a bit for you in your optic debate because it really is an important decision for you! Take care!