As of today, the Trijicon SRS (Sealed Reflex Sight) is the newest red dot sight on the market. Trijicon took a hard look at the 1x magnification sight market and did what it took to get on top. The state of the art in red dot sights (RDS) has been the Aimpoint CompM4. A great sight, but no doubt long in the tooth. Looking at the feature list, it's easy to see how Trijicon took on the CompM4.
The bullet points:
- 1.75 MOA red dot
- 38mm objective lens- The SRS has a huge viewing window, nearly eliminating the tube effect
- Runs for 3 years on an average setting and uses the solar panel to power the optic in place of the AA battery when in sunlight
- Automatic plus 10 individual brightness settings for the red dot, 1-3 are night vision compatible
- Sealed, ruggedized case
- No tools needed- sighting adjustments can be made with a shell case and the Bobro self-adjusting mount snaps into place with a locking lever
- 3.75 inches long
I had a few hours on the range with the new optic last week and found one of the greatest features of the SRS is the near elimination of tube effect. That's the feeling that you have to look through a tube to see the red dot reticle and the target area past it. The SRS's tube is far shorter that the CompM4 and it's field of view is about 2.5 times more. What's more, looking at the sight from the cheekweld, the outside walls of the sight are thinner, allowing you to look through the sight with one eye and see what's past it with the other easily. End result- way more situational awareness than looking through at narrow tube. more
The 1.75 MOA dot is small enough to engage targets out past 100 yards with precision. I was able to hit clay targets on the backstop from 100 yards with ease, 300 yards should be an easily lift for the tiny dot.
Trijicon thought hard about making sure the battery powered optic is running when you need it. They set it up to run from the solar panel on top when there's sunlight available, leaving the battery unmolested 'till the sun goes down. Once it gets dark, only then does it draw on the battery. The optic's power should last a few years this way. I ran the red dot in the SRS at normal levels after pulling the battery completely out of the unit. It ran like a champ on nothing but the sun.
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At first glance, the unit looks big and chunky. Short, but sort of stout. It wasn't 'till I put it up next to the Aimpoint CompM4 and an EOTech that I realized the shape hides the fact that the thing was actually smaller than it looks. The stubby appearance belies the measurements and the thing is actually roughly the same size or smaller than its 1x magnification competitors.
Trijicon tells me, and I can't wait to verify, that they've built and tested the SRS to meet or exceed the durability of the ACOG.
The only place the SRS cedes any ground is in weight. With batteries, it's about an ounce heavier than a CompM4. Now, an ounce isn't a lot, but with all the effort that's gone into lightening up the soldier's load it's still an ounce in the wrong direction. But, all things considered, the ounce is something worth giving up to get the reliability, accuracy and situational awareness of the SRS.
Trijicon tells me they are going to have the sight in the hands of retailers after SHOT Show 2012 for well under $1000. I'm guessing that the number will be close to what the CompM4 is selling for, seeing how they've clearly set their sights on taking out the Aimpoint.
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