I must say, I was DAMN impressed. And he really liked the scope, especially with the dot turned on. He commented favorably as well regarding the clarity and brightness of the dot.
He was also able to take some pictures of me shooting – since I’ve had so many requests for pictures of my handsome mug from the ladies here, I figured I’d better have my best side facing towards the camera:
Note the new haircut, new $600 Fujinon spotting scope, and extra 20 pounds brought on by my bourbon fetish.
After the test we had some fun with my new 9mm AR – it is an SBR, cut to 8.5”, with a Magpul stock, SOCOM magblock to accept Sten mags, and an EOTECH holosight on top. A WHOLE lot of fun. It is slated for a suppressor as well. At 50 yards it can do pretty damn well (4” groups with cheap 115 grain ammo). One thing I realized is that for ranges of around 50-75 yards, I really do prefer the EOTECH. No eye relief issues, very fast, love the reticle. However, I started to miss the 4x magnification of the Mueller.
Speaking of reticles – I mentioned at the beginning of my review that the reticle of the scope I was testing is NOT the final design. However, I have some pictures of one of the candidates for the final reticle design, as well as a description. Rich at Mueller wanted something simple, yet effective. A reticle that will allow for close-in shooting and fast target acquisition, but also will allow for ranging and bullet drop up to 500 yards using standard 55 grain FMJ .223 ammo. And he didn’t want something that was too busy. Here is the reticle that is garnering the most attention and consideration:
The one on the left is what you would see when the illumination system is off. The dot is 1 MOA and is zeroed at 100 yards. The top of the post is 200 yards, and the three hash marks below it are 300, 400, and 500 yards compensated for the bullet drop of a 55 grain FMJ round. Also, the width of the 300, 400, and 500 yard hash marks correspond to a 16” torso width, so it acts as a range-finding reticle against human sized targets. The reticle on the right is what you would see when the illumination system is on. The circle from top to bottom is equivalent to 32” at 1x at 100 yards. About the size of a human torso vertically from waist to top of head. This illuminated reticle is similar to the EOTECH reticle which I love so much. I like this reticle design because it is simple, not “busy” or cluttered, and has some nice extras like the ranging torso hash marks as well as the bullet drop hash marks. Simply, effective, and does not interfere with the field of view.
My final impressions: Overall I am very satisfied and happy with this design. Sure, it needs a few changes to make it “perfect” in my book – the raised post for the magnification ring, the smaller travel on said ring for going from 1x to 4x, and inclusion of the new CQB reticle. But I feel that Meuller is very close to producing an optic that many casual (read: non-combat users) shooters will enjoy immensely. As for pricing – Rich hopes to know by the end of the week what the expected MSRP will be. I can tell you that it will definitely be a LOT less than the US Optics, S&B, Leupold, and IOR offerings out there that are similar to this optic. However, it is worthy to note that none of those optics has the new illumination system that the Mueller will have.
Feel free to comment, email me with questions, or post them here. I’ve already boxed up the scope to send to a fellow member (he is a NYPD officer who is a weapons expert, range officer, and lady-killer extraordinaire (his words, not mine) who will do a review next week, and will also get NYPD SWAT members to run it through it’s paces. Then it is off to another member who is a 3-gun competitor and who will also be testing it with a good friend of his who is US Army Special Forces and just returned from Afghanistan.
Oh, just got an email from Rich at Mueller – he’s been testing the longevity of the battery on the #4 illumination setting and so far he’s at 57 hours and going strong.