Customer Reviews

EOTech 512.A65/1 Tactical HOLOgraphic Weapon Sight

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have used an EOTech 512 for several months now. I am not in the military or law enforcement. I am not an "operator" or whatever the current catchphrase is among the mall-ninja crowd. I am just a casual shooter. That being said, I do expect good performance out of the equipment that I buy. This model did not disappoint. I have found that it is simple to use, and accurate. It holds it's zero through long shooting sessions and banging around out in the boonies. I have yet to replace the batteries in mine, but I also don't leave it on when I am not using it. It has held up to the recoil of 7.62x39 and 6.8 SPC with no problems. I know, they aren't noted for their heavy recoil, but that is all I have used it on. The sight gives me faster target acquisition than an Aimpoint M3. But as others have noted, the battery life is nowhere near that of the Aimpoints. 600-1100 hours versus 5 years. In all truthfullness, that isn't as big of an issue for me. AA batteries are cheap and easy to find. Rechargable ones can be had with the charger for less than a pair of the batteries that the standard Aimpoints use. The only real problems I have had with the 512 are the length and the location of the controls. Because it uses regular AA batteries, it is longer than other EOTech sights. This makes it a bit more difficult to mount on something with limited rail space, especially if you want to mount a night vision device or magnifier on the rail with it. I was unable to mount this and a magnifier on a standard AR 15 flat top receiver. The control buttons are located on the rear of the scope. That is just fine if you are not planning on mounting anything behind it. But if you wanted to use a magnifier or anything else, it becomes difficult to reach the controls.

Despite the shortcomings I and the others have noted, I still really like these sights. I like the 512 enough that I purchased the next model up in the series, the 552. If you are looking for a very reliable, easy to use "red dot" style sight, I would highly recommend these. The large ring and small 1 MOA dot make it much easier aim at smaller targets than the standard 4 MOA dots found on other sights. I give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

The 512 model (Rev F) is supposed to contain new parts that solve the short battery life issue, however my experience shows that the 512 still has problems with battery longevity. Using alkalines for storage, they will be completely dead within a year even if you don't use the sight. Meanwhile, my wall clocks and remote controls run the same alkalines for 3-5 years without needing a replacement. There is a significant amount of standby current draw with the 512, translation: it saps a LOT of juice even when it is shut off.

The 512 uses a pair of AA batteries, so you can run Lithium, NiMH rechargeable, or alkaline although you will get better life out of the Lithium or NiMH. There are lots of reports about EOTechs with corroding battery terminals, terminal springs that fail, and in my experience I found lots of debris behind the lens. EOTech's customer service is excellent and they replaced the sight without any problems. Some people have a fetish with batteries and will replace them every 3-6 months like a smoke detector.

The EOTech mount utilizes one thumbscrew and a bar that clamps onto your Picatinny or Weaver rail. This thumbscrew has a tendency to come loose, so make sure you crank it down with a coin or screw driver.

The reticle is a 65 MOA circle with a 1 MOA center dot. When magnified, the center dot remains a true dot although the entire reticle is pixilated. It's only fuzzy if your vision isn't corrected to 20/20 when looking through it.

The innovative holographic design makes it easy to use for both-eyes-open shooting, although there is a huge debate between EOTech and Aimpoint users

The reticle is fast to use but can get busy on certain targets. A simple dot would suffice, although some would argue the 65 MOA circle speeds up acquisition.

Bottom line is that EOTech needs to figure out how to extend the battery life to compete better with Aimpoint. The reticle is unique and works well, but the rest of the sight needs some improvement.

Pros: Fast and easy to use reticle, accepts AA batteries, simplified mounting system, has a protective hood for the optics

Cons: Short battery life, under 1000 hours, not as durable or rugged as an Aimpoint Comp M2/3/4 based on waterproof depth rating and the amount of abuse it can take.

Overall: 4/5 stars, I like the reticle and the sight, but I also like the Aimpoint's battery life (10,000 hr for M2, 50,000 hr for M3)

The HWS is a sweet design, the fact you can use it with a cracked or broken screen is very nice. And while I have yet to see one with a bullet hole through the glass I have used one with mud on it and it worked fine. The open design makes pick up feel very quick. I can make hits with the EOTech faster than with an Aimpoint at close range when using a timer.

All of that said there are some substantial downsides to EOTech's design. The first being battery life, the AA models say they run up 1100 hours with lithium batteries, which is closer to around 800 in my experience. The others have even more reduced run times. All models also have an auto shut off of either 4 or 8 hours. This is easy to circumvent by occasionally hitting the up or down arrow, but something that is a none issue with a modern Aimpoint. Because of the nature of the battery box recoil on certain weapons will sometimes cause the batteries to loose contact and the sight will shut down. My major problem with the EOTech is that they do break, and when they do getting through to L3s customer service is all but impossible. I've seen more broken EOTechs on one deployment that the total number of broken Aimpoints I've ever seen total.

All in all I do like the sight and have several, but for real world operations the modern Aimpoint sights like the M3, M4 or T1 are hard to beat.

Scope was ordered and received in a timely manner. Scope meets and exceeds all expectatons. However, the scope cover was not shipped. When Optics Sales was contacted, first I was told that it wasn't part of the order, that you needed to order the kit. When I pointed out I did order the kit, I was told we are out of covers and we will mail it to you. 30 days later I am still waiting. As I have expressed to the folks at Optic' don't advertise what you don't have in stock just to snag a sale. Am in the serice and about to deploy, could have made the purchase elsewhere withouot the hassel and will in the future. The new word in todays world is customer service. Didn't happen here.

Irecieved the product in a timley manner and it works fine, but it was to include a scope cover and was not in the package. I called Optic sale and have only recieved the run around for five weeks now. I WILL NOT DO ANY FUTURE BUSINESS WITH [...]

Honestly, this sight is truly amazing. I've let several people try it out and they were all as impressed as I was. I've tried a few different tube style red dots and there is no comparison. I can't imagine anything having faster target acquisition. As soon as you can spot the target, you're ready to shoot. It's literally that fast.

Another nice thing about it is the fact that there is no per-user adjustment. I zeroed it for myself, but my wife and dad got the exact same accuracy without further adjustments. In fact, my wife's first time shooting ever was on my AR15 with this sight. She was averaging 3" overall groups at 50 yards with both eyes open. Again, this was her first time shooting any firearm, ever.

I know it's expensive, but it's seriously worth every penny. I had a hard time justifying this purchase. I spent at least two months mulling over the pro/cons/alternatives. The first time I took it out, however, I was sold. The fact that my wife was so comfortable with it was just icing on the cake. Please, don't waste a dime on any of the cheap knock-offs or low-cost red dot alternatives. This is all you'll ever need.

Nothing wrong with the actual product. This is a review of the seller- they continue to advertise something they do not have. They will play games with you. You will never see a realtree scope, just a black one they try to convince you to keep. When you return the item they will not be able to find it in the system. you will have to use the A-to-Z guarantee to get your money back.This is in regards to opticsale.

This is a really great weapon sight. It is very fast and easy to aquire your target and engage. The 65 moa ring is great for moving targets. love the fact that it take AA batteries as are much cheaper and readily available. If you dont have or plan on getting night vision this is a great sight for a reasonable price.

I purchased this in hopes of achieving holographic bliss! Unfortunately, the site was blurry. I wear glasses, and perhaps that was the catalyst. These sights adorn military rifles, so they have to be up to snuff. I ultimately ended up with an Aimpoint Comp M3 and adore it. I still wish I could have had a sight with readily available batteries like this 512. Long story short, if you peer through this site and see nothing but clarity, it's a perfect weapons optic.

This sight is pretty dang nice. I have never been in law enforcement or the military so I can't tell you anything about tactical performance. I know I have an astigmatism and my weak eye is my targeting eye. Being able to target with both eyes made shooting way easier. My groups at 50 years are so much tighter, it's amazing. My 100 yard groups look like my pre EOTech 50 yard grouping. The sight performs well with MY AK-47. The 7.62 x 39 doesn't really need magnification in my opinion anyway because of it's ballistic shortcomings. So for home defense and plinking, this sight is a dream. I love mine.