Thread: Aimpoint Comp M3 vs Eotech 512

I recently worked a trade deal for a Daniel Defense M4 v3 from the friend of another forum member here (Thanks Demasoni and Justin). I have an Aimpoint Comp M3 on my other AR carbine and am looking to get a red dot for the DD carbine. I like the Aimpoint, but have also heard good things about the Eotech 512 and it is less money than the Aimpoint.

I am interested in feed back from anyone who has experience with both and pros and cons as to which one you may prefer and why.

Thanks for any input.

Battery life.

Aimpoint.

Originally Posted by coctailer

Battery life.

Aimpoint.

Thanks. I knew that battery life was better on the Aimpoint, but how much better? One thing I did hear was that when the Eotech was turned off it was still drawing a little battery power. Is that true?

Originally Posted by Cougfan2

Thanks. I knew that battery life was better on the Aimpoint, but how much better? One thing I did hear was that when the Eotech was turned off it was still drawing a little battery power. Is that true?

Put it this way: You can turn on an M3/ML3 to a setting where you can easily see the dot in a well lit house, and the battery will last for 5 years.

The other benefit is that the aimpoint series are a more durable/reliable sight. Eotechs have a reputation for being problematic. Some people have great luck though and never have a problem. Others seem to have constant issues with them.

Myself, I find the reticule on the Eotech a little distracting....single dot is MUCH faster for me to pick out and use.....

I like the 1moa dot on the eotech and 4 bucks a year for batteries isnt really a deal breaker for me

Originally Posted by Schwabdl

I like the 1moa dot on the eotech and 4 bucks a year for batteries isnt really a deal breaker for me

Yeah, but reaching for your weapon under stress only to find out that your batteries burned out while sitting in the safe is a deal breaker for me.

I do like the eotech reticle though.

I'm an eotech fan.
64 days of continuous use is plenty for me. The downside to the aimpoints battery life is that there's no indicator when it's dying. It just wont work one day.

As far as reliability goes, the eotech is every bit as reliable as the aimpoint. For every issue with an eotech, I can find equal amounts of people having the same problem with their aimpoint.

There's also the issue of SHTF safety. The aimpoint has always thrown me off because the red dot is visible from both ends of the site, whereas the eotech is only visible from the users end. I've seen way too many paintball/airsoft matches go horribly awry because seeing a bright red dot is a pretty good giveaway as to your location.

Nevermind. Not worth it.

I really like the battery life of my ACOG...

Originally Posted by swoop

I really like the battery life of my ACOG...

No doubt. I miss my TA-33.

I pick the 512, cheaper, cheaper batteries, long battery life. Large field of view. Plus all EOTechs have a rebate now.

Try both, see what you like better. I prefer aimpoints and this is why

+ battery life that rivals the life of tritium, mind boggling
+ more robust, I've heard of plenty of EOTechs that took dumps at carbine courses but never an aimpoint. Could possibly be fixed by buying a better mount than what the EOTech comes with, aimpoints do not come with mounts (well okay the new ones do, but the with mount version is more expensive). Anyway, both are very robust but I think aimpoint has the edge in this category.
+ better reticle (imo anyway, the EOTech reticle is too busy for me)
+ always-on capability. Doesn't need no stinkin' auto-off feature to save battery life. You don't have to worry about pressing any buttons when you need your rifle to defend yourself.
+ a wheel with tactile feedback is much faster for selecting dot brightness than the EOTech buttons
- cost, unless you get the consumer level aimpoints they tend to be more expensive than eotech, especially when you factor in a mount
- battery type, wish there was one that took CR123 so I could have common batteries for all my electronics. Not much of an issue though considering the life of the battery

My favorite aimpoint is the T-1 or H-1 micros. They only come with a 4moa dot size but that is plenty small imo. Still smaller than a silhouette target at 400yds (my effective range without magnification) and larger dot = faster to find for close up work. They are extremely lightweight and low profile so you can put them on anything and they have an excellent field of view because you have less optic blocking your view. For me, this thread would be Aimpoint T-1 vs. Eotech XPS.

Originally Posted by MrNiceGuy

There's also the issue of SHTF safety. The aimpoint has always thrown me off because the red dot is visible from both ends of the site, whereas the eotech is only visible from the users end. I've seen way too many paintball/airsoft matches go horribly awry because seeing a bright red dot is a pretty good giveaway as to your location.

There is no bright red dot, just some very dim glow and only when viewed at specific angles. It is barely visible even on the highest brightness settings while in complete darkness. Aimpoint says 10 meters visibility, maybe my night vision isn't the best but 5 meters is about the max I can see the glow from the front. Remember also that you probably won't be using those higher settings at night too. Seems unlikely the paintballers were using real aimpoints.

I think if you are using a standard A2 front sight and you want a lower 1/3 co witness go with the Aimpoint, if want an absolute co witness go with the Eotech. The Aimpoint "tube" is smaller then the Eotech's screen and the A2 takes it all up when going with an absolute co witness. At the end of the day it's whatever works best for you though.

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm kind of leaning towards sticking with the Aimpoint. The comments about the Eotech riticle got me thinking. It is a little busy. I might try a 4 moa dot though as I have the 2 moa dot on the Comp M3 that I have now. Old eyes.

You may also be interested in checking out one of these optics:
Trijicon Tri-power:


Trijicon reflex:


They are p cool. I haven't used either much personally, but I liked them a lot when mucking around with ones owned by other people. Seems like a lot of people only think about magnified optics when they think of Trijicon. They make red dot/reflex competitors too!

Problematic Eotech's!!!!

Originally Posted by MrNiceGuy

I'm an eotech fan.
64 days of continuous use is plenty for me. The downside to the aimpoints battery life is that there's no indicator when it's dying. It just wont work one day.

I've had a 552 rev f and a few aimpoints. I found the eotech fractionally quicker to get on target and didn't find the reticle distracting. It was particularly non distracting on those occasions when it failed to appear after switching on. Happened three times over the course of about a year, L3 replaced it with a new one, which i promptly sold on ArfCom. I have zero confidence in eotechs now. I use just aimpoints. You can leave it on and just replace the battery ($7) every 2 years if you're the nervous type.
Good luch actually getting 64 days of continuous on. Pat Rogers ( google if you don't know) reports getting about 170 hrs/7 days in real world use.

As far as reliability goes, the eotech is every bit as reliable as the aimpoint. For every issue with an eotech, I can find equal amounts of people having the same problem with their aimpoint.

er, ok. Go on then.

There's also the issue of SHTF safety. The aimpoint has always thrown me off because the red dot is visible from both ends of the site, whereas the eotech is only visible from the users end. I've seen way too many paintball/airsoft matches go horribly awry because seeing a bright red dot is a pretty good giveaway as to your location.

Bollocks. You just made that up. Unless of course you were playing in absolute pitch blackness. And I don't believe you were.

As I said, able to get the reticle on target a fraction faster with the Eotech as
i could see target and reticle before getting a perfect cheek wield due to the large, flat "screen".

I disliked the buttons and the fact that to alter brightness i had to stick my hand in front of my face, obscuring my view. The aimpoint I can twiddle whilst maintaining eyes on target.

Originally Posted by Martini_Up

Problematic Eotech's!!!!

Actually, yeah, they have issues, especially with the battery compartment. Why do you think that they switched to a transverse mounting with the XPS/EXPS models?

Ofcourse, thats not working out too well either. Reports are coming in that batteries are now breaking open in the battery compartment making the sight inoperable.

Over on lightfighter.net, one officer who's department purchased 145 of the new XPS eotechs has had quite a few failures due to that very reason. Want to know how many of the 145 ended broken? 132 of the 145 are now broken.

Others are posting similar accounts.

Like I said though, some people get one that works no matter what kind of abuse they put it through, but many people are experiencing failures with them.

As for the remarks about Aimpoints and being able to see the dot from the front, I did a little experiment. I took my ML3, took it off my carbine (gotta love Larue), turned it up to full brightness, and turned it around and went into a blacked out room. Sure enough, I could see the red dot, but that was at full brightness.

So I tried it at the brightness level that I normally leave it on (setting 6 IIRC), and tried again. Couldn't see the dot from the front.

Originally Posted by itgoesboom

As for the remarks about Aimpoints and being able to see the dot from the front, I did a little experiment. I took my ML3, took it off my carbine (gotta love Larue), turned it up to full brightness, and turned it around and went into a blacked out room. Sure enough, I could see the red dot, but that was at full brightness.

So I tried it at the brightness level that I normally leave it on (setting 6 IIRC), and tried again. Couldn't see the dot from the front.

My experience with my Comp M3 as well. Anything higher than setting 6 is really unusable in a blacked out room. I think a Comp M3/Larue cantilever mount combo w/4 moa dot just went on my Christmas list. And yes, you gotta love Larue. Not cheap, but simply the best.