A sight magnifier is an optical telescope that can be paired with a non-magnifying optical sight on a weapon to create a telescopic sight. [1] [2] They work with the parallel collimated reticle image produced by red dot sights and holographic weapon sights. [3] [1] They may synonymously be referred to as a red dot magnifier, reflex sight magnifier, holographic sight magnifier, or flip to side magnifiers.
Sight magnifiers are optical telescopes that provide increased magnification to a shooter's view when they are engaged. They are commonly mounted behind red dot and holographic sights that produce a collimated reticle image. Most have mounts which allow them to flip to the side when not in use, though immobile mounts exist as well. [2] This the user to switch between a non-magnified image and a telescopic magnified view for more distant targets. [2]
Magnifiers typically are 3× telescopes but can range from 2–6× or more. They are used by police and special operations forces who may use the non-magnified optic for close-quarters combat and utilize the magnifier to engage farther targets. [4] Hunters may also use them as the increased magnification can aid in target discrimination when prey are difficult to spot in brush or vegetation.
Magnifiers offer several advantages and disadvantages compared to other firearm sights. Use of the magnifier is very quick and is easier than rotating the housing of a traditional telescopic sight. However, there typically is no option to make fine increases or decreases in zoom, as one would be able to with a standard telescopic sight. [4] Weight may become an issue as well. While the non-magnified optic and the magnifier may each be lighter than other optics, when combined with mounts a magnifier setup may be significantly heavier and/or unbalanced compared to traditional telescopic sights. When flipped to the side, the magnifier may also snag on obstacles. [2] [1] The same may apply to cost with the combined cost for optic, magnifier, and mounts may be greater than the cost for a variable power telescopic sight. [5] [1]
A magnifier is mounted onto a firearm, usually on a Picatinny rail, in line with the primary non-magnified optic. When not in use, the magnifier may be flipped to the side (usually the right) so the shooter sees through their non-magnified optic alone; when flipped in line, it will magnify the view through the non-magnified optic. This will also have the effect of magnifying the sight so the red dot or holographic reticle will appear larger as well. When flipped in, the user will also have to account for parallax and eye relief. The non-magnified optic and the magnifier is placed so that the user will have the correct amount of eye relief when looking through the magnifier. [2]
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects show a larger parallax than farther objects, so parallax can be used to determine distances.
The Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG) is a series of prismatic telescopic sights manufactured by Trijicon. The ACOG was originally designed to be used on the M16 rifle and M4 carbine, but Trijicon has also developed ACOG accessories for other firearms. Models provide fixed-power magnification levels from 1.25× to 6×. ACOG reticles are illuminated at night by an internal tritium phosphor. Some versions have an additional daytime reticle illumination via a passive external fiberoptic light pipe or are LED-illuminated using a dry battery. The first ACOG model, known as the TA01, was released in 1987.
A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle. A magnifying glass can be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the sun's radiation to create a hot spot at the focus for fire starting.
A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscope, to provide measurement references during visual inspections. Today, engraved lines or embedded fibers may be replaced by a digital image superimposed on a screen or eyepiece. Both terms may be used to describe any set of patterns used for aiding visual measurements and calibrations, but in modern use reticle is most commonly used for weapon sights, while graticule is more widely used for non-weapon measuring instruments such as oscilloscope display, astronomic telescopes, microscopes and slides, surveying instruments and other similar devices.
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a reticle – mounted in a focally appropriate position in its optical system to provide an accurate point of aim. Telescopic sights are used with all types of systems that require magnification in addition to reliable visual aiming, as opposed to non-magnifying iron sights, reflector (reflex) sights, holographic sights or laser sights, and are most commonly found on long-barrel firearms, particularly rifles, usually via a scope mount. The optical components may be combined with optoelectronics to add night vision or smart device features.
A milliradian is an SI derived unit for angular measurement which is defined as a thousandth of a radian (0.001 radian). Milliradians are used in adjustment of firearm sights by adjusting the angle of the sight compared to the barrel. Milliradians are also used for comparing shot groupings, or to compare the difficulty of hitting different sized shooting targets at different distances. When using a scope with both mrad adjustment and a reticle with mrad markings, the shooter can use the reticle as a ruler to count the number of mrads a shot was off-target, which directly translates to the sight adjustment needed to hit the target with a follow up shot. Optics with mrad markings in the reticle can also be used to make a range estimation of a known size target, or vice versa, to determine a target size if the distance is known, a practice called "milling".
Raytheon ELCAN Optical Technologies, also simply ELCAN, is a Canadian optics and electronics manufacturing company owned by American defense contractor Raytheon, currently based in Midland, Ontario. ELCAN produces optical devices geared towards both civilian and military markets, and their products are sold through Armament Technology Inc. based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and associated channel of dealers.
A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligned together with the target, or optical devices that allow the user to see an optically enhanced — often magnified — target image aligned in the same focus with an aiming point. There are also sights that actively project an illuminated point of aim onto the target itself so it can be observed by, such as laser sights and infrared illuminators on some night vision devices.
Aimpoint AB is a Swedish optics company based in Malmö, Sweden that manufactures red dot sights.
A finderscope is an accessory sighting device used in astronomy and stargazing, typically a small auxiliary refracting telescope/monocular mounted parallelly on a larger astronomical telescope along the same line of sight. The finderscope usually has a much smaller magnification than the main telescope, thus providing a larger field of view, useful for manually pointing the main telescope into a roughly correct direction that can easily place a desired astronomical object in view when zooming in. Some finderscopes have sophisticated reticles to more accurately aim the main telescope and/or even perform stadiometric measurements.
EOTECH is an American company that designs, manufactures, and markets electro-optic and night vision products and systems. The company is headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan. They produce holographic weapon sights for small arms that have been adopted by various military and law enforcement agencies as close quarters battle firearm sights.
Sir Howard Grubb was an optical designer from Dublin, Ireland. He was head of a family firm that made large optical telescopes, telescope drive controls, and other optical instruments. He is also noted for his work to perfect the periscope and inventing the reflector sight.
A magnifier is a device used for magnification.
The C79 Optical sight is a small arms telescopic sight. Elcan names it as the SpecterOS3.4x, but in Canadian service, it is typically referred to as the C79 or the C79A2. A variant, the M145 Machine Gun Optic is in use by the US military. It is 3.4×28, meaning 3.4x magnification, and a 28mm diameter objective lens. A tritium illuminated reticle provides for normal and low-light conditions sighting. It can be mounted to a variety of rifles and light machine guns using the M1913 Picatinny rail mounting system or the similar "Diemaco" rail system found on small arms produced by Diemaco/Colt Canada. It is manufactured by Elcan and can be found on military service weapons around the world. Similar rifle sights are the Sight Unit Small Arms, Trilux (SUSAT) and the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG).
The PSO-1 is a 4×24 telescopic sight manufactured in Russia by the Novosibirsk instrument-making factory and issued with the Russian military Dragunov sniper rifle. It was introduced on 3 July 1963 together with the Dragunov sniper rifle.
A red dot sight is a common classification for a non-magnifying reflector sight that provides an illuminated red dot to the user as a point of aim. A standard design uses a red light-emitting diode (LED) at the focus of collimating optics, which generates a dot-style illuminated reticle that stays in alignment with the weapon the sight is attached to, regardless of eye position.
A reflector sight or reflex sight is an optical sight that allows the user to look through a partially reflecting glass element and see an illuminated projection of an aiming point or some other image superimposed on the field of view. These sights work on the simple optical principle that anything at the focus of a lens or curved mirror will appear to be sitting in front of the viewer at infinity. Reflector sights employ some sort of "reflector" to allow the viewer to see the infinity image and the field of view at the same time, either by bouncing the image created by lens off a slanted glass plate, or by using a mostly clear curved glass reflector that images the reticle while the viewer looks through the reflector. Since the reticle is at infinity it stays in alignment with the device to which the sight is attached regardless of the viewer's eye position, removing most of the parallax and other sighting errors found in simple sighting devices.
A holographic weapon sight or holographic diffraction sight is a non-magnifying gunsight that allows the user to look through a glass optical window and see a holographic reticle image superimposed at a distance on the field of view. The hologram of the reticle is built into the window and is illuminated by a laser diode.
A collimator sight is a type of optical sight that allows the user looking into it to see an illuminated aiming point aligned with the device the sight is attached to, regardless of eye position. They are also referred to as collimating sights or "occluded eye gunsight" (OEG).
A prism sight or prismatic sight, sometimes also called prism scope or prismatic scope, is a type telescopic sight which uses a roof prism for its image-erecting system, instead of the series of relay lenses found in traditional telescopic sights. The use of prisms makes it possible to construct a shorter and lighter sight, or with an offset between the eyepiece and objective axes.
