So my AccuPower 1-8 finally arrived last Friday and I was able to mount it using a Vortex Precision Cantilever mount. Today I was able to take advantage of the fantastic albeit windy day and zero the optic and get some quality time behind the glass. Unfortunately I forgot my "good" ammo at home as I had managed to source some MK262 ammunition to feed my LWRCI DI rifle, so I had to zero the rifle with Hornady 55gr soft-point ammo and some bulk Russian junk.
But before we get into the fun stuff time for some quick specs on the AccuPower. It is a First Focal Plane (FFP) scope meaning that as you increase the magnification the reticle actually gets longer, this means that the reticle is accurate at any power. Where a Second Focal Plane (SFP) means the reticle is the same size no matter what magnification the scope is on so the reticle is only accurate at the magnification it was zeroed on. Now from my currently understanding FFP scopes are more expensive to manufacture but someone more knowledgeable in scopes would have to explain that.
Personally I would not call this a Low Power Variable Optic (LPVO) I would call this a Medium Power Variable Optic (MPVO) as theoretically this scope could get a shooter out to 800 yards using the old maxim of 1X magnification for every 100 yards you want to shoot. The scope uses a 34mm tube which I personally am a fan of since you get an increased amount of light into the tube versus a 30mm tube and this is handy making the eye-box at 8 power just a little bit bigger. The scope however is big and heavy weighing in at 25 OZ which adds quite a bit of heft to any rifle.
The version I chose is the MOA reticle with red illumination, the red is the best version from what I have read as apparently the Green illuminated version is not very bright, there has been no issue with the Red Illumination on my scope and it is most definitely "daylight bright". Once the scope was mounted and I went to zero it minimal adjustment was needed to get the scope on target approximately 4 MOA to the right and 3 MOA adjustment up had the scope zeroed almost perfectly.
To zero the scope I used the the already mentioned Hornady 55gr soft-point ammunition that I have gotten good results with in the past. The groups were shot using my shooting bag as support in the set up seen below. The junk Russian bulk ammo was used for fun after the test groups were shot and scope zeroed.
I know a very very scientific set up ensuring maximum stability and repeatability
The best group I was able to shoot today was about 1 inch wide or 1 MOA since I zeroed at 100 yards. Keep in mind there was a 18MPH crosswind as well so my ghetto yard-sign/target was blowing in the wind also.
The scope has very clear glass IMHO, not quite as clear as say Vortex Razor HD glass but very close and for myself personally getting the FFP reticle and an extra 2X illumination makes it worth the small trade off. The turrets are uncapped and to make adjustments the turrets just have to be pulled up and the clicks are very positive. Once adjustments are made the turret is then pushed down locking it in. The illumination dial also has an off setting in between each intensity setting, for outside middle of the day I had it set to 11 the maximum brightness. Indoors or in darker situations I generally set it to about 7 as the 11 setting actually is too bright and washes out the reticle a bit.
Here is a picture of the scope on 11 brightness and 1X magnification, my cellphone camera does not do a good job picking up the illuminated reticle so it is actually much brighter in person. I have read on some forums of people complaining that the center dot of the scope is not bright enough to really work as a red dot for close up work. If you look at the reticle the "outside ring" of the reticle actually acts like a giant red dot on the target making aiming while say clearing a house very easy at least based on what I experienced when doing a walk through with the scope in my own house. It is also not a "true 1x" there is no such thing in a variable power scope it is just the nature of how optics work as well. That being said the "eye box" at 1x is huge and you can use the bindon aiming concept at this magnification quite easily.
Here is the reticle on the full 8 power, I was not able to get a good picture of it at the range as the wind was moving everything around too much making getting a clear photo basically impossible. The reticle really "scales up" very well on the FFP and the center X is very easy to see and enabled me to make transitions on the steel plate rack at the range very quickly and easily even on the very small 3 inch plates.
You can see the lever on the magnification ring here as well as well as the turrets. The adjustment arm on the Trijicon is actually smoother feeling than on the Razor HD as well making going from 1x-8x easier. The built in tab on the magnification ring also makes changing magnification easy as well as you are not forced to buy the throw arm.
In short I love the scope and am very happy with it, I look forward to getting many more rounds down range this summer with this set up as I was only able to shoot about 250 rounds today. The FFP reticle is great as well as the glass quality the only downside to the scope is the weight, but IMHO if you want an MPVO that can do anything an AR15 or even an AR10 is capable of. The $1699 MSRP and $1450 street price put this optic in a very competitive price range currently and right now I feel it is the best MPVO currently on the market in this price range.
Trijicon Accupower 1-8 - Album on Imgur Here is the link to the full definition pictures for a better reticle view, also included are Vortex Razor HD 1-6 glass photos to compare as well
For anyone interested the specs on the rifle are:
LWRCI IC- DI rifle with a 16.1 inch 1:7 twist barrel
Elftman Tactical Match Drop in trigger
Trijicon AccuPower 1-8 Scope
Vortex Precision 34mm 20moa cantilever scope mount (manufactured by Seekins Precision"
I also purchased the scope from INGO's own Alan from AA Optics
But before we get into the fun stuff time for some quick specs on the AccuPower. It is a First Focal Plane (FFP) scope meaning that as you increase the magnification the reticle actually gets longer, this means that the reticle is accurate at any power. Where a Second Focal Plane (SFP) means the reticle is the same size no matter what magnification the scope is on so the reticle is only accurate at the magnification it was zeroed on. Now from my currently understanding FFP scopes are more expensive to manufacture but someone more knowledgeable in scopes would have to explain that.
Personally I would not call this a Low Power Variable Optic (LPVO) I would call this a Medium Power Variable Optic (MPVO) as theoretically this scope could get a shooter out to 800 yards using the old maxim of 1X magnification for every 100 yards you want to shoot. The scope uses a 34mm tube which I personally am a fan of since you get an increased amount of light into the tube versus a 30mm tube and this is handy making the eye-box at 8 power just a little bit bigger. The scope however is big and heavy weighing in at 25 OZ which adds quite a bit of heft to any rifle.
The version I chose is the MOA reticle with red illumination, the red is the best version from what I have read as apparently the Green illuminated version is not very bright, there has been no issue with the Red Illumination on my scope and it is most definitely "daylight bright". Once the scope was mounted and I went to zero it minimal adjustment was needed to get the scope on target approximately 4 MOA to the right and 3 MOA adjustment up had the scope zeroed almost perfectly.
To zero the scope I used the the already mentioned Hornady 55gr soft-point ammunition that I have gotten good results with in the past. The groups were shot using my shooting bag as support in the set up seen below. The junk Russian bulk ammo was used for fun after the test groups were shot and scope zeroed.
I know a very very scientific set up ensuring maximum stability and repeatability
The best group I was able to shoot today was about 1 inch wide or 1 MOA since I zeroed at 100 yards. Keep in mind there was a 18MPH crosswind as well so my ghetto yard-sign/target was blowing in the wind also.
The scope has very clear glass IMHO, not quite as clear as say Vortex Razor HD glass but very close and for myself personally getting the FFP reticle and an extra 2X illumination makes it worth the small trade off. The turrets are uncapped and to make adjustments the turrets just have to be pulled up and the clicks are very positive. Once adjustments are made the turret is then pushed down locking it in. The illumination dial also has an off setting in between each intensity setting, for outside middle of the day I had it set to 11 the maximum brightness. Indoors or in darker situations I generally set it to about 7 as the 11 setting actually is too bright and washes out the reticle a bit.
Here is a picture of the scope on 11 brightness and 1X magnification, my cellphone camera does not do a good job picking up the illuminated reticle so it is actually much brighter in person. I have read on some forums of people complaining that the center dot of the scope is not bright enough to really work as a red dot for close up work. If you look at the reticle the "outside ring" of the reticle actually acts like a giant red dot on the target making aiming while say clearing a house very easy at least based on what I experienced when doing a walk through with the scope in my own house. It is also not a "true 1x" there is no such thing in a variable power scope it is just the nature of how optics work as well. That being said the "eye box" at 1x is huge and you can use the bindon aiming concept at this magnification quite easily.
Here is the reticle on the full 8 power, I was not able to get a good picture of it at the range as the wind was moving everything around too much making getting a clear photo basically impossible. The reticle really "scales up" very well on the FFP and the center X is very easy to see and enabled me to make transitions on the steel plate rack at the range very quickly and easily even on the very small 3 inch plates.
You can see the lever on the magnification ring here as well as well as the turrets. The adjustment arm on the Trijicon is actually smoother feeling than on the Razor HD as well making going from 1x-8x easier. The built in tab on the magnification ring also makes changing magnification easy as well as you are not forced to buy the throw arm.
In short I love the scope and am very happy with it, I look forward to getting many more rounds down range this summer with this set up as I was only able to shoot about 250 rounds today. The FFP reticle is great as well as the glass quality the only downside to the scope is the weight, but IMHO if you want an MPVO that can do anything an AR15 or even an AR10 is capable of. The $1699 MSRP and $1450 street price put this optic in a very competitive price range currently and right now I feel it is the best MPVO currently on the market in this price range.
Trijicon Accupower 1-8 - Album on Imgur Here is the link to the full definition pictures for a better reticle view, also included are Vortex Razor HD 1-6 glass photos to compare as well
For anyone interested the specs on the rifle are:
LWRCI IC- DI rifle with a 16.1 inch 1:7 twist barrel
Elftman Tactical Match Drop in trigger
Trijicon AccuPower 1-8 Scope
Vortex Precision 34mm 20moa cantilever scope mount (manufactured by Seekins Precision"
I also purchased the scope from INGO's own Alan from AA Optics
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