Which Airsoft OPTIC? | Airsoft Accessories 1/3 | AATV EP217

This week on AATV we start our Airsoft Accessories series with a look at which Optics we think are suitable for playing games.
All Airsoft replicas shown are unloaded, unpowered and are inert. They are entirely safe to handle.
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Host:
Tom 'Anvil' Hibberd
Gareth 'Gadge' Harvey
Camera:
Jo Horsefield
Production & Editing:
Black Dog Media
anvilairsoft.com
You can find us on Social Media @:
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/ aatv_airsoft

[@derdersoft]

Excellent video. Good food for thought. Particularly as regards the mounts. Have a nice prism scope (bad astigmatism which makes most red dots a no-no) and was going to attach it with a twenty quid special claw mount. Might have to find a better solution.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Mounts are pretty much just as important as the optic itself. Good point on the prism scope, we should have mentioned that.

[@quick2angerslammer]

Excellent episode! We had a discussion a couple of years ago about "real" optics vs cheap and came to the conclusion that a well priced optic with a warranty is 100% worth it. I picked up a Vortex Crossfire and now im watching 70-80m shots consistantly hitting tagets with my KC02! It makes the nearly 1k in upgrades worth it!!

[@callsigngibbon9257]

I usually take the time to zero all my sights, I do enjoy actually aiming, short dots will always be my favourite!

[@silly_ghillie]

Agreed with everything in this video! Really good info for buyers in this.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Thanks.

[@TriggaPleas]

Feyachi red dots from Amazon are really good, I watched several YT reviews about people using them for real steel shooting and they held up very well! 30-50GBP clean crisp dot and very low to no parallax. Comes with a mount and hex keys, lens caps, killflash, microfibre cloth and batteries all in a nice hard-case. I went for the V30 and its stood up to plenty of knocks and a fair bit of rain.

[@scissorfuzz1760]

Vortex just works so well. I was able to get my hands on a real eo tech, that is FANTASTIC, big big difference. The price is a little outrageous though. best bang for your buck is vortex for sure. Have never gone wrong with any of them. Great to see another video Tom and Gadge!

[@airhorn9066]

Great video guys. Very helpful and informative as usual!! 👏🏻

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Our pleasure

[@Matias-dr3ys]

I bought a theta optics eotech and the glass is really blurry but otherwise its good. Havent played with it yet though. I also have a comp M2 copy on my car-15 and its awesome. No blurry glass and it reticle has good visibility and it holds zero really well. Both were about 50 euros.

[@IronPhysik]

I really like using my Aimpoint PRO with a vector optics 3x Magnifier behind it for optics and then for lights I run a Fenix 1000lumen PD35TAC flashlight on a scope ring its super basic, but really gets the job done. on my DMR I run a Vector-optics "Marksman 3.5-10x44" rifle scope, its a great budged scope with good glass quality (you can identify people at 1km, and read car number plates out to 200m) sure, its not the best, but it really gets the job done and was only 180€

[@franciscojavieramezcuafern1209]

Max 4x for airsoft

[@stevenwhitehead4015]

Mk 1 eyeball

[@MBKill3rCat]

Personally I use real optics and have no interest in 'airsoft optics', but still clicked on here because it's almost guaranteed that, it being an AATV video, I'll still enjoy it and learn something. Miss the regular uploads, but still click like an addict whenever you upload.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Thanks for the kind comments. 3 more parts to this series coming soon.

[@MBKill3rCat]

@@AnvilAirsoftTV Good stuff, looking forward to it

[@Jesscrayons]

I've never really used optics as I just don't like them as much as iron sights but I'm tempted to pick up a vortex for cqb play

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

I want to do a video showing different sighting systems at different distances and show the speed differential.

[@bullseye375]

I have two real Eotech’s one was an og 512 I use to use and the other was gift from a pals brother, for a favour I did him which is an nv one too also, I have an Vortex AR which is a really nice red dot but dislike seeing the admirer on the muzzle end tbh, and have an Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8 on my dmr G&G as well for its 1x cqc/cqb if needed and the 8x for the dmr role as well as pid stuff.

[@MercutioUK2006]

Stay away from repro/clone optics as, for the most part, they have poor quality glass, limited eye relief/eye box and may not even hold zero. I come from a shooting background so I've *always* put decent glass on my replicas. Now, I'm not trying to assert the idea that you should spend ridiculous money on Leupolds in order to compete your USMC loadout but doing some research on suitable optics is absolutely worthwhile. Hawke, Vortex, Primary Arms.......I never understood spending £1k on a gun and £50 on a scope. LVPO or a Short-dot for airsoft ranges is more than adequate, and a 30mm scope tube (or even larger) for light transmission is an added bonus.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Thanks. Some good points there.

[@deancosens5710]

Out of curiosity, what are you guys thoughts on flip magnifiers and the like? I'm a bit short sighted so tracking longer shots and identifying targets in difficult light conditions can be a pain, so I've been wondering about getting one.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Similar to everything else. Worth getting a decent one like a vortex as the optical quality on the cheap clones is applying. As they look through the red dot in front the quality of that is important too.

[@pr248]

I very recently bought a visionking 1.25-6x26 LPVO for my GBBR. Not used it in anger yet but for the price, its solid with decently clear glass. Hopefully it will help me better pick my shots. I did have a repo ACOG on it, but the eye relief is dire and I couldn't get comfortable with the eye pro I use.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

I’ve yet to come across a decent repro ACOG

[@MercutioUK2006]

I''ve got the same thing on an AEG, it's perfectly functional and cost me something like £50.....not 100% sold on the German-post style reticle but it works.

[@teaandmedals7677]

I run an ACOG M150 on a GBLS, lovely optic, Not entirely practical with 4x zoom although the difference between clone Acogs and the real deal is night and day !

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Totally agree

[@teaandmedals7677]

@@AnvilAirsoftTV cheers, keep up the content when you can :)

[@lordcaoliki2168]

On the point of holographics, anything under £70 will be useless, the Holy Warrior holographics are fantastic.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

I’ve got a selection of holy warrior in at the moment for testing. Looking forward to trying them out and revising my opinion.

[@Existing-Courage192]

⁠@@AnvilAirsoftTVi would love a video on that. Maybe compare them to other optics at the range?

[@stewbacca117]

The clone Eotechs out here are actually pretty good compared to the ones I had in the UK, the 552 and 558 models I have come from Hangzhou apparently, and in my experience don't kill the batteries (barely changed them in any of the ones I have thus far) and hold zero pretty well. The downside is in the tropical sun they can wash out a bit, and running one of them on the VFC HK53 GBBR recently I finally shook the rear window loose on one so it went apeshit with the reticle position as the window it reflects off was bouncing all over 😂 Aside from zoomy boy scopes on the PSG-1 and FAL I have Aimpoint T1 style dots or the ACRO on everything else. 👍

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

I’ve got some Holy Warrior clones in to test at the moment. They are substantially better than anything I’ve handled before outside of a real one.

[@stewbacca117]

@@AnvilAirsoftTV that sounds like the same name for the brand here I've heard, although they don't seem to label them here as such, just going by what the shop guys tell me.

[@bbbros.]

Great video, tons of useful info as always! You turned my entire Airsoft group onto the Vortex optics. Great solid entry point and that warranty is hard to beat. Been looking for a 30mm optic mount like the one you've got for your Strike Force. What brand is the one you've got there with the spirit level?

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

It’s a clone Geissele I got from Dave’s Custom Airsoft in the UK. Vortex do a decent one themselves now.

[@bbbros.]

@@AnvilAirsoftTV found it! Thanks for info. Been looking for a clone like this. Having that hidden level in the back is very clever.

[@46templar]

Sorry im thick but about red dots paralax? and you dnt need to look down optic im very confused Tom?

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

I show the parallax error in the video. As you move your head behind the optic the dot also moves a little even though you haven’t moved the optic itself. With red dots sights you keep both eyes open and look at the target placing the reticle or dot on the target. You don’t look through them like a magnified optic.

[@46templar]

Tom i now understand mate and thank you as i had to watch that bit 3 times to understand

[@Alcatraz2k]

Great vid. Have you tried a HAMR?

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

I’ve not. Looks like they’ve been discontinued now.

[@Kefuddle]

Personally, after some experimentation, I have found optics to be of little use to me, in airsoft. I seem to enjoy using the irons more as aiming is a bit of an academic exercise anyway. I do have an LDS replica for my Ares L85A3, but it looks the part but does not seem to add much. However, I also have a Konus PTS2 (3x) for my Sig Air Canbrake air rifle. The difference in quality between the excellent Konus and the very mediocre Ares LDS is significant and the Konus was £50 cheaper. The added benefit is the Konus has ocular focus (which the LDS does not) which is good for my 56 year old eyes that need reading glasses. Maybe add Konus to the list of low end decent optics?

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

I may be a rare case as I spend a lot of time on a known distance range and understand the ballistics of BBs. Optics work for me but I also don’t shoot very much during the games I do so want to make the most of the opportunity. There is a lot of very poor optics in airsoft that are worse than using irons.

[@Kefuddle]

@@AnvilAirsoftTV I probably need to pay more attention to those things. But I usually end up cornered and panic firing anyway :D

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

:)

[@_e_6456]

Task force black was mentioned, I want to try make a TFB loadout however I'm struggling to justify the RAV vest (cant fork out £200 for something I'll use with one loadout) are there any other vests that were used that are a bit more affordable?

[@_e_6456]

I have pretty much everything else (minus the L119) though

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Have a look at a helivest. Blackhawk made them. Then wore a chest rig / PLCE vest or similar over the top. There are clones of the helivest about. Though if you really want to do TFB well it’ll get expensive regardless.

[@ArenBerberian]

Honestly, you don't have to get everything exactly right, as long as you look more or less in the right vein of TFB you will be fine. Im in the same boat as you and don't really want to buy the RAV Perecelete (Tbh I've heard its not even that great and a bit heavy/uncomfortable), so id rather just but any decent OD molle vest which looks about right. The CONDOR EXO PLATE CARRIER GEN II OLIVE DRAB looks almost the same and is half the price of the replica RAV, but I think I will just stick with my old ops vest or PLCE webbing for now. We aren't reenactors in the end, for airsoft its more than acceptable.

[@robsmith2625]

I need an acog but not a real one. Can someone recomend one please

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

They are all pretty terrible if you get one just for looks then it doesn’t really matter.

[@DgR1716]

Noice

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

Thanks