EOTECH 512 Holographic Weapon Sight

This is the second EOTECH optic I have owned. Also have the EOTECH MPO II which is the EXPS 3-4 optic with G23 3x magnifier. The EOTECH 512 is incredibly accurate and allows for rapid target acquisition. May use with a magnifier if you so choose. Just make sure you get a flip to side mount if you run in combination with this optic. The AA battery operation is a plus...you don't need to special order batteries when they go bad. And they are cheaper. My only gripe is the switches. They are at the rear of the sight instead of the side. Sure you can buy a different model at an added price, but in my opinion this should be a standard feature. In addition, if you don't have a ton of rail space this optic is rather long. However, it remains light weight because the battery case is composite, not aluminum or steel. Would still highly recommend this product. Unbeatable quality and no extra mounts required like the Aimpoint products. Great price. Have since returned mine for the EOTECH HWS II...only because I prefer the look of the shorter optic. If you don't need a magnifier buy this optic, you won't be disappointed!

If you have ever looked through an EoTech then you will know they’re amazing. This sight displays a reticle (a circle with notches at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock and a dot in the middle) that can only be seen looking in one direction it also moves independently on the glass. A ruff explanation at best but this review is primarily to describe quality. This sight is super fun for distances as far as your naked eye can see, and if you throw a magnifier behind it you can easily shoot at longer distances. As of now the durability of this sight is amazing, I have had no problems with it not working when I need it (outside of batteries). I also have an AimPoint M3 and for the money the EoTech seems to be a better deal. The only thing AimPoint has that this doesn’t have is the rubberized sleeve (to prevent scratches) and lens covers. The lens cover is the only real plus to me though, I’ve read some reviews on the aftermarket EoTech lens covers and they seem to be behind AimPoint on that front. Despite that, this sight is still amazing. Though it may seem expensive to those who have never looked through or owned one by my standards it’s definitely worth the money for a cool and great functioning setup. Additionally I would say that after many ruff outings and hours of use my sight still looks and functions like new.

This is my first higher-end red dot sight so I really can't compare it to any others but I can say for the price I am very satisfied with the quality and utility. I have it mounted on an M&P 15 Sport and used the included knurled thumb bolt to make it easier to move to other weapons. Sighting in was very simple as it was almost dead-on from 50 yards right out of the box. A few windage adjustments and I was hollowing out bulls-eyes. It is a little bulky and seems like it could take a beating. I like the fact that it uses AA batteries which are cheap and easy to find. The reticle is bright and very sharp. I really like the 1 MOA dot for accuracy and the 65 MOA ring is great to help get on target quickly. The only negative I can think of is the lack of any kind of cover for such a pricey optic. I know a lot of the cheaper ones even come with a little sleeve. I did purchase a ScopeCoat for under $20 and it fits perfectly.

I just received my scope today, and being a red blooded American, I immediately mounted it and shot a hundred or so rounds off. This thing was surprisingly accurate. Maybe my expectations for HWS are set low (I've had other red dot sights that are just "okay"), but this thing is scary accurate. At 25 years, I was shooting two inch groups from the bench. Shoulder fired, these became six inch groups. This thing is solid, and allows a true read on the target. I only had to adjust it two clicks to the right once I took it out of the box, and this thing is spot on. Well worth the money, I've had three scopes on my AR-15 which I didn't like, including a really decent hunting scope, but this is the best all around solution for accuracy, target acquisition and weight. One thing - not related to the product, is that I couldn't spend the 5-6 hundred on the EOTech magnifier, so I went with a cheaper, L&M Tactical magnifier. While that product leaves a lot to be desired, it still shot good groups with a cheap, Chinese magnifier - which I think is a testament to the trueness and accuracy of this product. I would recommend these to anyone with an AR considering a light, versatile and accurate (not at 200 yds, but in the 25-75 yard range) optic solution.

man, at first I was all bent out of shape because the reticle was blurry as all get out- I thought to myself that murphy had struck again but this time on my first ever, brand new EOTech... I read some previous reviews talking about not being able to get the reticle to come in crisp as you often see in photographs. come to find out that I have a severe astigmatism- so much so that I cannot discern the little notches on the 12,3,6,9 o'clock portions of the outer ring. thankfully once I put on my glasses (that I almost never wear) the reticle cleared up and was as I imagined when I bought this. it was well worth the fight to get my wife to agree to such a needed purchase. the low light settings are fantastic, and full brightness during sunny conditions is more than enough. the weight isn't that terrible as people often reference the weight in a negative way. I paired this baby up with a primary arms extended eye relief magnifier and they work together like PB and J. as a side note to the clown who wrote the unneeded, pious review stating that Steven Paddock used this in the Vegas tragedy, because of your biased agenda and message to the rest of us amazon shoppers, I was that much more driven to buy this product! thank you for your review!!!

The product works, exactly as advertised but therein lies the fault. There are some things about this sight that it can't do, which Eotech doesn't specifically address nor advertise, yet are being misrepresented on Youtube and various internet forums. I would like to address those misrepresentations for others contemplating buying this. First off it's pros: you do not have to align a front and rear sight to use it which allows for quicker aiming on-the-fly. So technically, it has the same qualities as a 1x red-dot scope. Also, it's an illuminated reticle with multiple brightness levels, so you can see your sights clearly in the dark as you would during the day. It's made of very durable materials suitable for a battlefield. EoTech- they're a good company with excellent quality control which is to be expected from the cost of an expensive product. If you use proper sight picture, the sight is 100% accurate. Some cons now: it's not perfect. You still need proper sight picture to use this. Just like in other red-dot sights, even though the reticule is visible at different viewing angles, it will 'ghost'. There is a slight deviation of 3-4 Minutes of Angle (MOA) when viewing the reticule from the far left to the far right. As you may know, 1 MOA is a approx. 1-inch deviation in bullet placement at 100 yards. So you must ask yourself if that is important for your type of weapon if you don't plan on using proper sight picture. I'm using this on a shotgun so I don't really care about 3-4 MOA but I would have liked to have known about the ghosting reticule in advance. EoTech simply states that if you use proper sight picture and see the reticule over something and pull the trigger, that the bullet will hit that exact spot. Technically true, but there's no mention of the ghosting reticule... anywhere in the instructions or otherwise. Also, the reticule is not visible from certain angles- it is not like a TV screen- so your eye must be positioned behind the viewing port to see the reticule. A major misconception about this sight is that it acts like a Head's Up Display (HUD). The view port is too small to view with both eyes, something expected from a HUD, which this definetly is not. And this is somewhat strange, perhaps perculiar to holographic sights- but the further back you place the sight from your eye, the larger the reticule appears in the viewing area- so your viewing angles will be even more restricted at increased distances from your eye. At closer distances the reticule appears smaller and takes up less off the viewing space. For these reasons it is not a HUD like some people are describing it -like a video game or whatever- a misrepresentation that has been repeated on youtube and various internet forums. The next con is yet another thing that seems peculiar to holographic sights- that if you are near-sighted and need corrective lenses, like I do, then the reticule will appear fuzzy at any distance. It does not matter if you are 1 millimeter away from the glass- it appears fuzzy without glasses. So if you are thinking about buying this because you have bad vision and think a holographic sight will solve your problems then I can tell you it doesn't work that way. With corrective lenses it will appear as advertised. The last con is the cost which I'll let the buyer consider for themselves. I hate to give this only 4 stars- but there is too much hype and misconception being circulated about holographic sights and what they are capible of. The things I heard, especially about EoTech- that it was the perfect answer to aiming problems- influenced me to buy this and those things were not true. I would have preferred hearing the cons directly from EoTech but of course they are not going to outline every con of their expensive product like I have for you. I like the holosight better than iron sights for sure, but it is not the perfect solution I would expect for the cost. If you want to compare apples to oranges then this sight shares the same pros and cons as a much less expensive 1x red-dot scope with an illuminated reticule. Know exactly what you are buying. A lesson learned.

Since writing my initial review - I have taken this sight to the range 6+ times. I can actually shoot groups @ 50 yards (150 feet) where the holes in the paper are actually touching each other. I am not talking about just doing this once and a while - I am talking about actually shooting out the bulls-eye on my target. I swear to God, it feels like my rounds are guided to the target by a magnet! I haven't had to adjust my sight since I sighted it in the first time - I just instinctively shoot high (aim a tad higher than the target) when shooting at targets beyond 100 yards or more. I am very satisfied with this purchase: the HWS really is the gold standard when it comes to red dot sights. below is my initial review: it covers everything from my experience buying the cheap EOTech knockoffs to co-witnessing your sights (the right way) to the rail adapter on the HWS. Please read if you are considering purchasing the HWS because I present you with a lot of specifics about how to set this sight up the proper way. ******* I made the mistake of purchasing one of the mislabeled EOTech clones for my 6.8mm SPC M4A3 only to realize that the old adage, "you get what you pay for," applies specifically and directly to weapon sights. What this experience taught me is that I really like the EOTech design. You can't get a better sight for an AR-15/M-4 design than EOTech because these sights were specifically designed to work with that platform/firearm. The Chinese knockoff was a disaster - it couldn't stand up to recoil and had a cheap plastic battery compartment. I sent it back, grew a pair and bought the real deal (512 HWS). I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I paid $365 for mine, new, right out of the box. I took it to the range yesterday and the thing was already sighted in for my rifle (I had to make some fine adjustments for targets at the 100 meter range but I was impressed). The EOTech sights do come looking a little grainy compared to other reflex sights that use LED projectors. I called the company (just to make sure I didn't get a defective unit - very good customer service by the way) and they said the granular look of the reticule comes from the lasers in the sight. This was their (L3's) explanation: LED's are good BUT they are not as good (in terms of accuracy, durability and exactness) as lasers. Most cheaper units (like ATN, the EOTech knockoffs, AimShot and NcStar) use LED reflection to produce a sight picture - the trade off is that there is no compensation for the angle of reflection (producing an image that does not adjust or reflect evenly). This is why the red dots on those sights often look like an oval or have edges that look blurred and distorted. This is also why those red dot sights are notoriously difficult to sight in (and remain sighted in after several hundred rounds are put through your weapon). Aimpoint and L3 have corrected this problem by using lasers but the trade off is that this design is more expensive. A lot of people say the price difference is due to the little sticker on the side of these products - they don't know what they are talking about. Let them find out the hard way. If you are a serious shooter - L3 and Aimpoint should be the natural choices you gravitate towards. I've been involved in the sport (competitive shooting) since I was honorably discharged from the military. Over the course of that time, I've purchased Barsaka, Bushnell, ATN, EOTech Knockoffs and some other cheaper brands. If I had ponied up the money right from the jump - I would have actually saved money and time because I wouldn't have wasted the expense, rounds and time sighting in 6 other sights (all costing around $100). Co-witnessing your sight: Many people talk about co-witnessing their red dots with their Iron sights. This seems redundant and pointless. The entire point of a red dot sight was to reduce the amount of time it took to accurately sight-in on a target. If you are still using your Irons (both back and front in conjunction with a red dot in between), you take the same amount of time to sight in as if the red dot wasn't even there (because you are doing the exact same thing). True Co-witness with a red dot is using the front sight as a lower referent point (meaning the pin of the front sight) to center your red dot both horizontally and vertically. L3 built this sight with that exact purpose in mind. This sight is built 1.6 inches above the rail, which means you can still see the front sight in the sight picture but it appears exactly low enough to not obscure your target (you want to be able to see above and below your point of aim - this is the main problem with "irons"). This consideration is something most amateurs don't account for when they "Co-Witness" their weapons the wrong way. With EOTech sights, your front sight pin should line up with the "tick" at the 6 O'Clock position on the reticule circle. That's why I described your front sight's pin as a reference point, not as a point of aim. It's an easily (and quickly) referenced position to place your aiming reticule when shooting so you can instinctively shoot your zero every time. Another Consideration: Lastly and maybe most importantly, there is a huge difference between the rail adapter on my EOTech and that of the rest. The attachment profile (when you take it off and then put it back on) leaves a 1 MOA differential @ 100 yards. This means - at a 100 yard target - your error in point of aim will be 1 inch off your original sight in. On most of my other sights, due to defects in the design of the adapter, I had as much as 20 MOA in differential - meaning my shot was almost 2 feet off when I reattached my Baraska sight. Consequentially - cheaper sights mandated that they stay permanently attached to your weapon in order to remain accurate (and even when I did this - I would lose zero if I dropped my weapon or "nudged" the sight the wrong way). You really don't have to worry about this problem with L3 products or Aimpoint red dot sights - you can take them off and reattach them without losing zero (within 1 MOA differential). In conclusion: Look, I know this review has gone on forever. I am trying to help you avoid the mistakes I've made (and save you some green). These are considerations and conclusions I've come to after several years of experience with all different types of reflex/holo/red dot products. L3 designed their weapon sights to survive shock, explosions (within reason) and the tender loving care of combat. The ringing endorsement of the Special Operations community in the US military should seal the deal with all reasonable people because green berets and navy SEALs know how to put products, like a weapon sight, through it's paces. If these weapon sights are good enough for the Special Operations Community - they are good enough for anything I could possibly use them for. I hope you make the right choice. Sincerely, Mat

As a regular Amazon buyer I utilize the reviews to make my decision on purchases. I typically skip the 5 star ones, check out he 4 stars and concentrate on the 2 and 1 star ratings. Typically if there is an issue with a product, this is where I'm going to find it. I understand that there are just some people in this world that you can never make happy and these people complain just to complain. At just over $400 I know its not the cream of crop as far as optic system are concerned but I do feel I should be getting a decent product, especially when it is marketed to Law Enforcement and Military. I feel that I am a reasonable person and understand that when you mass produce a product you are bound to have a certain number of defective units and a few unlucky people are bound to be unhappy by this. I was one of the unlucky few that received a defective unit and was sad that my new EOTech sight was broken to begin with, however my frustrations do not lie solely with the fact that I received a bad product out of the box. My main frustrations are with EOTech and their support, so much so that I may never purchase another EOTech product again. This did not come from years of frustrations but simply 1 hour of communications via email with their support people. I'm not sure what has happened to this company, maybe they have always had poor support or maybe they are like most companies these days and have changed their companies focus to maximize profits and don't really care about support. Here is what happened to me, and you as the buyer will have to make your own judgment. I work for one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States and just like most of my fellow brothers and sister with a family, I had to alter my budget in order to drop over $400 on something that was not typically in my regular budget. After two months of wanting a nice new EOTech for my rifle I was finally able to afford this purchase. I chose Amazon simply for this exact reason, they are the absolute best in my opinion when it comes to ordering just about anything you can mail order, and with my Amazon Prime account I got my sight in 2 days, which happened to be the day before I had scheduled firearms training. This item came as advertised, it had its cool little plastic box (which in my opinion, other than for shipping purposes, was a waist of money as the optics will forever live on my rifle) and everything seamed in order. It came with batteries, an allen wrench and a screw adaptor to swop out the standard allen bolt to allow for quick removal of the optic system. I quickly ripped open the outer cover of the plastic case, like a child opening presents on Christmas morning I might add, pulled out the optics and opened the battery compartment. As I peered through the optics the image appeared to be a beautiful red laser soccer ball, absolutely zero definition to it at all. If you are familiar with laser holographic sights, it was if the laser brightens was cranked to the max while being indoors and looking through prescription glasses that were not yours. Knowing instantly that my sight was damaged I began making excuses as I tried to make it work. I adjusted the brightness over and over. I made it so low that I could barely see the image and though I could now see a circle with what looked like a dot in the center it was barely noticeable. I was never able to get rid of the profound blurriness, see the four has marks at the top, bottom and both sides or just get a solid dot in the center. I also observed that when I adjusted the brightness to the lowest setting to where I could make out a circle and maybe a dot at the center and turned the unit off and back on the brightness reset to the max setting thereby producing the soccer ball effect. I performed this function several times and each time the brightness reset itself to the max setting. As I quickly began to realize that I received a bad unit, the complete disappointment and sadness began to set in. I had utilized this sight numerous times and knew what the sight picture should look like and if you don't know what it's supposed to be like all you have to do is Google it. After quickly going through the 5 stages of grief I accepted the fact that my sight was broken. This was at worst annoying as I was not going to be able to use my new toy at firearms training in the morning. I had zero concern as I knew Amazon would make sure I was properly taken care of, which makes this next part a little off. For some reason, I felt I would contact EOTech and see what they had to say. I had read my Amazon reviews and noticed that others were complaining about the same problem. I guess as human nature goes I figured if told them my story they would apologize for the defective unit, address the list of concerns I presented in my email and replace my broken optics with one that they personally tested via overnight delivery. I'm not sure about the overnight delivery part but I can say thanks to their customer support I never got that far... With my head down I typed to EOTech support explaining my situation. In addition I brought up several concerns I had about the quality of their product and its reliability as it is marked towards Law Enforcement and Military, and that I intended to utilize it in that function which could mean the difference between life and death. I would have normally simply gone with the fact that I was the unlucky winner of the bad unit, however as I conducted additional research on the optics I found that there were an alarming number of people complaining about the same thing. Now I have used older versions of this optics system in the past and I can say, they were awesome, durable, reliable and did what they were supposed to do. I had feared that the company began to cut corners and maybe changed their manufacturing process, maybe manufactured their units in China now or something like that (I do not know where they are manufactured). My email to EOTech was one that I thought was clear and concise. I explained who I was, my profession and experience with this exact optics. As I stated earlier I brought up several concerns I wanted addressed and even offered to pay more to upgrade my system if it meant better reliability. Well, I woke up the next morning to find an email from support and here is what they had to say: "Due to the nature of holographic technology, the 65MOA ring will appear to be comprised of thousands of little pixels. Unlike traditional scopes, the ring itself is not solid and will have the appearance of being fuzzy or pixelated. This is a normal phenomenon and one of the features of having a true holographic weapon sight. The clarity of the reticle changes depending on the brightness setting used. For instance: if you increase brightness and look through the sight in daylight, you will notice that the reticle appears to be less "fuzzy" and the pixels will become less noticeable. Alternatively, if you are indoors and decrease the brightness to a comfortable level, you will notice the same result. Our sights are powered by a precise laser which allows you the flexibility to use your sight in almost any lighting environment. As a test you can take the sight outdoors and pick a static target at a 50 yard distance. Keep both eyes open and focus on the target without looking through the EOTech. Once you have your target picked out and it is in focus, raise the EOTech up to your field of view while keeping both eyes open. Look through the sight while focusing on the target and you will notice the sight picture is cleaner." Besides sounding like a completely canned response that they send to anyone that complains about this optics system, this was troubling as I clearly stated that I have used the optics system in the past and knew what it was supposed to look like and how to use it. Not only did this email not acknowledge it, it did not address ONE point I brought up in my previous email. I was actually taken back that this person suggested that I did not know how to use the optics or shoot for that matter. I replied to this person advising them that I knew what it was supposed to look like and that I had used the optics system in the past. I honestly figured that the next email would have been an apology for everything and an offer to take care of the optics as I described above. But once again I was completely surprised to what I received: "It still looks like that even when you have the brightness on the lowest level? Did you happen to try the test that was in the previous email?" Now it could just be that I'm still a little upset from this ordeal and I could be over reacting to some of you, but to me this person clearly has zero experience or tact for that matter in dealing with customer service issues. I explained to her twice now that I knew the optics system and had used it in the past. I wondered if this person was actually reading my emails, (being who I am and what I do I spent a lot of time crafting detailed emails to provide as much info as I could, just like a report) and the fact that they had still not addressed ONE concern that I had from my first email. Now my next email did clearly state that I was no longer interested in exchanging that product with EOTech and that I was going to now go an purchase a competitors product simply due to the lack of customer service, however I heard nothing back. I would have expected and apology, a last try to keep me as a user or make a small attempt to defend their product at the absolute very least, but it was very clear that this person was there to collect a paycheck and didn't give a damn. Maybe they were related to the owner... This was once a great optics system and I can't believe where this company has gone. Maybe I'm being unreasonable or emotional because I feel I was disregarded, disrespected or ignored. You have the story and can make your own judgment. Buyer beware and always buy from Amazon.... ------------------------------- Update - 7/18/2014 With all I said above I ended up purchasing the same thing with the hopes of getting a good one. I spent some time researching other options and even bought an aimpoint. I think its a complete personal preference thing but I just wasn't happy with the other options. It may have something to do with the fact that my entire department uses EoTech and the same with my friends. They are a great product, just god awful support. If you buy, buy from amazon, and better yet use prime. That way if you get a bad one you can just return it without having to deal with EoTech. My new one is simply wonderful so far. I have only had it for two weeks but have put around 200 rounds through it in less than 2 hours and it was rock solid. I hate to support a company with such horrible customer service but the truth is that this product does the job and you have to use what works best for you.