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Well, guys, I've found my way into being the designated "Guns & Gear Geek" at RedState--I have another Gear Review scheduled for Wednesday, and I need to ask you guys for advice. Bear in mind, I'm trying to write for folks who aren't necessarily Gun People, so I'm trying to be "accessible" without being "Dumbed Down" and patronizing.
First Gear Review, if anybody's interested in other work to comment on technique, was at Watercooler 2/22 Open Thread: Guns and Gear Review on FAB Defense's AGF-43S AR folding grip.
Here's where I am so far... What would you guys want elaborated on more if I were writing these for here?
----------begin draft----------
Today, we've got another Guns & Gear Review in store--and a rather long one. This was originally planned as a two-parter, but it seemed cruel to leave everybody hanging for an entire month...
Guns & Gear Review: Backup Iron Sights by Matech and Diamondhead
[intro on Back-Up Iron Sights not yet written]
reference links on sights:
Diamondhead Polymer Diamond Rear Sight (with NiteBrite)
Matech <broken link removed> .
SIZE and WEIGHT: The Diamondhead is about 2-5/8" by 1-1/4" folded and weighs 1.5oz. The Matech is about 2" by 2-3/8" by 1" over extreme dimensions folded; it takes about 1-13/16" of rail to mount (specifically, the very last slot on a flat-top AR upper) and weighs 0.2oz.
ADVANTAGE: Matech.
Comparison of sights mounted on AR15. Diamondhead is to picture left, Matech to right.--author photo
MATERIALS: The Matech is solid metal, while the Diamondhead is largely polymer. Very durable polymer, but I've been starting to see just a little wear on one of my sights from when I haven't been as careful as I should be stuffing the upper back into its box.
ADVANTAGE: Matech, though Diamondhead does offer a metal version.
MOUNTING: The Diamondhead uses a simple fixed bracket that has to be slid down the mounting rail from an end then have a screw put through a slot in the rail and threaded into a bolt; the screw-head and slot are big enough to use a dime or other expedient object as a screwdriver. The Matech uses a clamp where you can open it wide, hook one side over the rail then rotate it down into position and screw the jaws shut; the bad news is the tightening mechanism is a smooth-sided Allen-head screw, and who carries Allen wrenches or hexdrivers at the range or on the battlefield? If it was up to me, I'd want a knurled set-screw head so you can finger-tighten it without an Allen wrench.
ADVANTAGE: Matech, with reservations. On "Full Metal Milspec" builds I would be okay with a stock Matech, but for builds optimized to best fit me personally where I used this sight I would replace the factory part with a knurled set-screw.
DEPLOYMENT: The Diamondhead uses a push-button release, while the Matech you hook a finger under the sight and flip it up past a friction lock. This takes some getting used to, and weaker hands may not be up to it. Funny story on the Matech... certified genius, potential MENSA candidate (except that most MENSAs I've met are snooty douches I wouldn't want anything to do with anyway), can correctly assemble an AR15 lower from only text instructions on a hotel-room bed with just an armorer's vise, a screwdriver, a hammer and a few punches... can NOT figure out how to pop-up the Matech sight. So at one point while writing this review I was sitting studying the sight over lunch at my favorite BBQ shack--another regular who's a crusty old Vietnam SOG vet sees me fumbling, comes over, picks it up and flips up the sight, then sets it down commenting about how it brought back memories, him having done the same his first time using one. (Bear in mind, in his day the sight was fixed as part of the carry handle... flattop AR's and pop-up sights must have been even more getting used to for him at first than me.) Which led to an interesting hour of war stories--most Vietnam vets I've met don't open up and talk about things easily, but I think in my case I think it was helped by appreciation of my being a History major who wants to tell the story right, "tell both the good and the bad and let the chips fall where they will."
ADVANTAGE: Dealer's Choice - this really is a matter of personal preference, though I prefer the pushbutton.
WINDAGE ADJUSTMENT: The Diamondhead uses a flathead screw--a dime or penny might barely engage, but for positive contact you really need a screwdriver. There are indexing marks on back of both sight and base, but it's not really convenient to adjust on-the-fly, like a range with shifting winds or out hunting. The Matech, on the other hand, has a windage knob at right rear where each click moves it a given distance left or right--I have not been able to find technical data on how many Minutes of Angle adjustment you get per click, but it's a lot more field-friendly than the bench-only arrangements of the Diamondhead.
ADVANTAGE: Matech, bigtime.
RANGING and ELEVATION: The Diamondhead is completely dependent on front-sight-post height and manual hold-over to adjust for elevation and range. Once zeroed, the Matech has a lever on its left front where you can dial in range-to-target in 50-yard increments from 300 to 600 yards, along with a 200-yard setting for closer-in work.
ADVANTAGE: Diamondhead up close, Matech at distance. "Horses For Courses."
RETICLE and VIEW: The Diamondhead has two separate apertures of different sizes, each in diamond shape and at the center of a diamond-plus-crosshair. In turn this reticle is in the middle of a diamond-shaped frame which gives you even more points to index front-sight centering from, even more if you're using a Diamondhead front sight. (On my AR, which while shorter overall has the same 20" sight radius as a full-length M16 rifle, the diamond frame of the front sight lines up just inside the inner diamond of the reticle.) The Matech uses a tiny "peep" aperture, but at 3/8" across the framing around it shouldn't block a lot of the average user's field of view. I would personally like an outer ring around it, but given that the Matech was designed to be used with combat optics where the "glass's" frame provides the same effect I can understand its absence and think they made the right choice for the intended application.
View through the sights. Diamondhead above, Matech below. Same Diamondhead 1451 front sight is used in both for comparison.--author photos
ADVANTAGE: Again, it's a Horses For Courses situation. If you have horrible 20/400 all-but-blind eyes like mine the Diamondhead may be more agreeable to you than most others. The Diamondhead also has glow-in-the-dark night-vision markings the Matech does not.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Both solidly-engineered and -built pieces of hardware. The Matech's place in the National Stock Number system is well earned, and both it and the Diamondhead have earned their places on my Standard Parts Lists--on a rifle sufficiently lightweight but expected to need rapid transitions between one's area of advantage and the other's I could even see myself mounting both sights on the same rail, though given an engineer's free hand without patent issues in the way I would want to adapt a hybrid sight combining the Diamondhead dual-reticle and frame with the Matech base. Will be buying both again!
The author was not compensated for this review, and paid for his review samples out-of-pocket.
First Gear Review, if anybody's interested in other work to comment on technique, was at Watercooler 2/22 Open Thread: Guns and Gear Review on FAB Defense's AGF-43S AR folding grip.
Here's where I am so far... What would you guys want elaborated on more if I were writing these for here?
----------begin draft----------
Today, we've got another Guns & Gear Review in store--and a rather long one. This was originally planned as a two-parter, but it seemed cruel to leave everybody hanging for an entire month...
Guns & Gear Review: Backup Iron Sights by Matech and Diamondhead
[intro on Back-Up Iron Sights not yet written]
reference links on sights:
Diamondhead Polymer Diamond Rear Sight (with NiteBrite)
Matech <broken link removed> .
SIZE and WEIGHT: The Diamondhead is about 2-5/8" by 1-1/4" folded and weighs 1.5oz. The Matech is about 2" by 2-3/8" by 1" over extreme dimensions folded; it takes about 1-13/16" of rail to mount (specifically, the very last slot on a flat-top AR upper) and weighs 0.2oz.
ADVANTAGE: Matech.
Comparison of sights mounted on AR15. Diamondhead is to picture left, Matech to right.--author photo
MATERIALS: The Matech is solid metal, while the Diamondhead is largely polymer. Very durable polymer, but I've been starting to see just a little wear on one of my sights from when I haven't been as careful as I should be stuffing the upper back into its box.
ADVANTAGE: Matech, though Diamondhead does offer a metal version.
MOUNTING: The Diamondhead uses a simple fixed bracket that has to be slid down the mounting rail from an end then have a screw put through a slot in the rail and threaded into a bolt; the screw-head and slot are big enough to use a dime or other expedient object as a screwdriver. The Matech uses a clamp where you can open it wide, hook one side over the rail then rotate it down into position and screw the jaws shut; the bad news is the tightening mechanism is a smooth-sided Allen-head screw, and who carries Allen wrenches or hexdrivers at the range or on the battlefield? If it was up to me, I'd want a knurled set-screw head so you can finger-tighten it without an Allen wrench.
ADVANTAGE: Matech, with reservations. On "Full Metal Milspec" builds I would be okay with a stock Matech, but for builds optimized to best fit me personally where I used this sight I would replace the factory part with a knurled set-screw.
DEPLOYMENT: The Diamondhead uses a push-button release, while the Matech you hook a finger under the sight and flip it up past a friction lock. This takes some getting used to, and weaker hands may not be up to it. Funny story on the Matech... certified genius, potential MENSA candidate (except that most MENSAs I've met are snooty douches I wouldn't want anything to do with anyway), can correctly assemble an AR15 lower from only text instructions on a hotel-room bed with just an armorer's vise, a screwdriver, a hammer and a few punches... can NOT figure out how to pop-up the Matech sight. So at one point while writing this review I was sitting studying the sight over lunch at my favorite BBQ shack--another regular who's a crusty old Vietnam SOG vet sees me fumbling, comes over, picks it up and flips up the sight, then sets it down commenting about how it brought back memories, him having done the same his first time using one. (Bear in mind, in his day the sight was fixed as part of the carry handle... flattop AR's and pop-up sights must have been even more getting used to for him at first than me.) Which led to an interesting hour of war stories--most Vietnam vets I've met don't open up and talk about things easily, but I think in my case I think it was helped by appreciation of my being a History major who wants to tell the story right, "tell both the good and the bad and let the chips fall where they will."
ADVANTAGE: Dealer's Choice - this really is a matter of personal preference, though I prefer the pushbutton.
WINDAGE ADJUSTMENT: The Diamondhead uses a flathead screw--a dime or penny might barely engage, but for positive contact you really need a screwdriver. There are indexing marks on back of both sight and base, but it's not really convenient to adjust on-the-fly, like a range with shifting winds or out hunting. The Matech, on the other hand, has a windage knob at right rear where each click moves it a given distance left or right--I have not been able to find technical data on how many Minutes of Angle adjustment you get per click, but it's a lot more field-friendly than the bench-only arrangements of the Diamondhead.
ADVANTAGE: Matech, bigtime.
RANGING and ELEVATION: The Diamondhead is completely dependent on front-sight-post height and manual hold-over to adjust for elevation and range. Once zeroed, the Matech has a lever on its left front where you can dial in range-to-target in 50-yard increments from 300 to 600 yards, along with a 200-yard setting for closer-in work.
ADVANTAGE: Diamondhead up close, Matech at distance. "Horses For Courses."
RETICLE and VIEW: The Diamondhead has two separate apertures of different sizes, each in diamond shape and at the center of a diamond-plus-crosshair. In turn this reticle is in the middle of a diamond-shaped frame which gives you even more points to index front-sight centering from, even more if you're using a Diamondhead front sight. (On my AR, which while shorter overall has the same 20" sight radius as a full-length M16 rifle, the diamond frame of the front sight lines up just inside the inner diamond of the reticle.) The Matech uses a tiny "peep" aperture, but at 3/8" across the framing around it shouldn't block a lot of the average user's field of view. I would personally like an outer ring around it, but given that the Matech was designed to be used with combat optics where the "glass's" frame provides the same effect I can understand its absence and think they made the right choice for the intended application.
View through the sights. Diamondhead above, Matech below. Same Diamondhead 1451 front sight is used in both for comparison.--author photos
ADVANTAGE: Again, it's a Horses For Courses situation. If you have horrible 20/400 all-but-blind eyes like mine the Diamondhead may be more agreeable to you than most others. The Diamondhead also has glow-in-the-dark night-vision markings the Matech does not.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Both solidly-engineered and -built pieces of hardware. The Matech's place in the National Stock Number system is well earned, and both it and the Diamondhead have earned their places on my Standard Parts Lists--on a rifle sufficiently lightweight but expected to need rapid transitions between one's area of advantage and the other's I could even see myself mounting both sights on the same rail, though given an engineer's free hand without patent issues in the way I would want to adapt a hybrid sight combining the Diamondhead dual-reticle and frame with the Matech base. Will be buying both again!
The author was not compensated for this review, and paid for his review samples out-of-pocket.
