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Slightly obscure sight for professionals in the US based on what I see posted and discussed, but I found it's not just affordable, but between good and spectacularly good. Thought I should share. 

If anyone else has experience with one, do tell what you've found, good or bad.

Why do I have weird sights?

I have been on RDSs for decades. Got big into them in the 90s, and lived off a series of Aimpoint 2000s, an EOTech (before I was an early hater after much failure in class and the field) and did a little work with an Elbit Falcon, an OEG, early Japanese PDPs, and more. 

A few years ago my eyes started showing my age, and I tried a stint with all magnified stuff. Had a couple LPVOs (still have one gun topped with a USO 1-4) but found myself a little slower when under 50 yards. Tried someone's Aimpoint/Magnifier setup and decided it was the way to go. Been seeking the optimal configuration since then. 

Because, my eyes still suck. Aimpoints are as close to useless to me as makes no difference and I own none myself now. MRO is worse, and I have burned through a number of others seeking our a good, functional sight. Some have been sold here, some are in my spares case in the basement. I have avoided mini-reviews of them all to badmouth them, but now want to tell you how much I like the one I've had mounted to my primary carbine for a bit, because I am so pleased with it. 


Nothing. Nothing to disclaim. Not paid by anyone for this, paid real money for the sight, etc. But feel free to mock my poseur conclusions and observations all you want. 


The stupidly-named Tru-Dot RDS® is a lower price version of the M5 currently being issued to the IDF in bulk. Think of it as the competition to the Aimpoint PRO in that regard. The Tru-Dot RDS is in fact intended to be for the LE market, and is only sold in the US so it's totally the "Meprolight PRO."

Retail is usually $350-400, but some people get them for under $300 so it's in line with other discount major-brand prices, or a deal, depending on where you buy. Sometimes sold with BUIS, magnifiers, etc as package deals so look closer if the price seems high. 


Overall Layout and Controls:

It is a square HUD style sight, not dissimilar in shape to an EOTech. But don't be confused, it's not holographic, and not a knockoff of the EOs. 

It's awful black. Probably wait a few more months to make sure it remains awesome, then mask and paint the sides at least. 

A LOT of reviews compare it to this only, but that's because they are Americans who don't pay enough attention to the market, and only look at brand history. Sure, it's the first Meprolight battery powered, RDS of note but you have to think of the Israeli arms industry like ours was before WW2. Makers come and go, but the government sets the tone for what they want. 

This is clearly to me the next step in their home-grown red dots. From the Elbit Falcon, to the MARS, to the M5, they have:

  • A relatively low, square body with integral mounting hardware
  • Take an AA battery, loaded front right
  • The window raises up in a small footprint above the sight
  • Zeroing adjustments are large slotted screws suitable for a coin, top and left, well forward
  • The control is on the left side, towards the rear
  • Throw levers, adjusted by a simple captive hex nut inline with the cross-shaft, on the opposite side

Think of it like the current occupant of Lake City. It is just who won the contract, but the plant is basically the same. So this is not a Mepro, it's "the next generation of battery-powered IDF sights." 

The other thing is, I thin the dot quality is awesome on all of them. I only got rid of my Falcon as it's huge, heavy and takes a weird battery. And yes, if you weren't sure I was crazy and untrustworthy: yeah, one of my favorite guns has a MARS with IR mounted to it all the time.

An embarassingly bad photo of the TruDot RDS next to a MARS; the adjustments, battery in a bulge, etc. all point to a familial heritage.

Anyway, it has a large and very rectangular FOV that seems to be oversized at first, but the overall size of the sight is smaller than some of the competition such as hooded EOTechs. It just uses the space better. 

You can, for example, lay the gun down on either side on a flat surface and it's actually flat. Not resting on the sight. Despite the apparent size, it doesn't actually stick out. No controls or levers stick out either, so it is comfortable to carry slung, doesn't snag on gear or bang into doorways as you pass, etc. 

Body is made of plastic (no idea what kind), which is supposedly one of the cost saving features of this model. They do sell a "Pro" model for upwards of $800 (well, list price) which is supposedly an M5 to the T, but I have never seen one with my own eyes. It looks like this: 

And is apparently all or more aluminum, covered in rubber here and there, and the control is a different (worse!) shape, but it is basically the same sight otherwise. Or... not? Some insist the IDF-issue sight has plenty of plastic and both passed the same drop test but I find it hard to tell what is true. 

IDF promo image at announcement of the M5 adoption in 2015. They have a real PR wing over there!

The "discount LE model" I have is very light, but seems sturdy enough and I have no worries just looking at it and using it.  

The hood is bolted on and while they were supposed to be all plastic but for a first 200 limited edition ones, mine is pretty new and not limited edition and has an aluminum hood. Maybe they improved them? 

Seems to overall be bolted together, as there are a few screws about, so not all clips and glue, which is encouraging. 

Next to the battery cable cable tiedown is another wire tether point. I guess leftover IDF part or requirement, but seems useful to have so I don't mind at all. 

Some specs, but maybe some are only for the Pro: 

  • Sight window:  33mm x 20mm.
  • Overall size: 118mm x 60mm x 69mm.
  • Weight: under 300 grams 10.6oz
  • Complies with MIL-STD 810 (pressure, temperature, shock, rain, humidity, fungus, salt fog, etc. etc.)

The manual is a bit thin and the mepro sight is too into marketing instead of a simple comparison so it's sometimes hard to tell what features are on which model. 



Mounts to any Picatinny rail with two throw levers. Came from the factory set up right to fit on all my quality guns. There's a simple adjustment bolt on the opposite side if you need it. 

The throw levers are very nice, get very out of the way when closed and don't snag on anything but are easy to get a finger under to remove if you actively try. 

Levers open. See above for closed. 

There is a single fixed crosslug on the bottom of the main body of the unit. It's pretty snug. Not too tight, but you better get it all lined up or it isn't going on the rail. It is more nicely rounded than a lot I have seen, not sure why but it seems like a good idea. Serial is on the bottom, and aside from the M logo molded in there are no other identifying marks on the unit. 

Different colors in the photo below are different materials. The mounting bits are aluminum and steel parts sticking through the plastic case, pretty complexly sometimes. 

I have lightly tested return to zero (take off, drop onto grass and gravel from 4 feet, put back on) and it is perfect as far as I can tell. But I have yet to really, truly abuse it as I paid good money for it and want to keep it. 



Two big adjustments, with curved bottoms for coins (or cartridges I guess?) on top and left. Clearly labeled with which way to turn them. 

0.5 MOA clicks, and quite clear clicks. Didn't do a full box test but I suck at zeroing (always have) so it took a while, and so there was plenty of going too far and coming back where I could check the repeatability. 


Sight Picture and Dot Quality: 

Ignore the dot in the photos; it is way smaller than that, but very sharp. Only thing I have used that's sharper is a Singlepoint but that's not really the same thing at all. So, about the best dot I have ever used. As I mentioned above, basically the same very good quality and style as the Falcon and MARS, so whatever technology they are using has not changed a lot, and is probably derived from aircraft HUDs. 

I suck at photos through scopes so I have no useful ones to share. Stole this from TFB. It's close to the real size of the dot, but the artifacts and blooming don't really occur to me:


 The dot is clear and visible all the way to the bottom so if you really snug down to the stock you can keep shooting, but it does disappear a bit before the other edges. At the left edge it turns into a comet and then fades away, just sort of disappears at the very, very far right or top edges. These are both extreme; your head should not be over there anyway. 

In the video here the dot is inaccurate and does NOT look this big or translucent, but the disappearing is accurate.

2017-07-17 01.01.02
Sight is "bottom-third" cowitness on ARs but looks more like bottom 1/4 or lower. It's now my favorite way to do this with a back-up iron sight, as it's just barely useable with any AR-height irons without dismounting, and otherwise is comfortable and has a good view over the sights so you can leave the front up.

So those of you annoyed you still have a fixed FSB, this can help solve that without taking it to a gunsmith to replace the front sight. The low height is not a mistake as the IDF-issue BUIS for the Tavor variants are higher, so it is an absolute co-witness to most of their guns. It also just also works on their many M16/M4 type carbines still issued. 

Reportedly, some other guns like the ARX-100 also have tall BUIS, and this is absolute cowitness on them as well so may be a nice choice for some of those guns as well. 

Lens is reportedly glass, and I have no way to prove or disprove this. It is (apparently) untinted. Not the blue tint of many RDSs, but not any tint I can see, through it or even at a funny angle since you can see down into the sight so across more of the lens. Know how you can see that window glass is green when you look at the edge? No color visible here.

Some additional thoughts on dot quality under the controls section... now!



There's one dial on the left side/rear. Apparently, the first prototypes had a lever (guessing basically like the MARS) but the IDF made them change it. The M5 (and pro) has circular wheel as shown above with little notches, but this one is a sort of rounded square/diamond shape which I find very easy to identify by feel, and to turn. If I had seen the other, I suspect I'd prefer it, and one review that did see them both agreed.  

Yes, it has "only" four settings (well, 5 if you count Off) and that's gotten some reviews to give a minus, but it is great to me. I have found they work well, once you get used to just using the sight, not tweaking and playing with it.

The dial is almost foolproof, and being a physical switch means you can set it and forget it. So, none of the pushbutton style of auto-off/on where it resumes at whatever setting it wants. No looking through the sight to get the setting juuuust right before you go through a door.

And if worried you bumped it off, or you need to change to another setting before you go into the dark or step outside, you can reach down, twist and count clicks. Tactile and simple is the way to go for combat tools. 

Settings are marked 0-4. Zero is off, 4 is night vision. You can use the night vision with bare eyes on the darkest nights once acclimated, assuming you can see the targets, which could be nice I suppose but I haven't done that with it.  

So far I pretty much use 2. It is visible even on the brightest days. In fact, the shooting-into-the-sun I mentioned I had it on 3 — the lowest normal setting — for the usual red dot sight "appears smaller to the eye" thing, so I could shoot far away more accurately. Still totally visible.  

So, no worries about brightness for me at all. Having a higher setting is a nice to have though.  In the dark, you can get a ring or bloom around it at the high settings, but it only bugs me for more precision work, when you have time to turn down to 2 (or 1) anyway. For quick work, the dot pops up at you enough I don't notice the other bits, so it doesn't practically matter.

I have not, so far, bumped it while carrying. It is un-guarded, but I suspect the IDF requirement to make it a wheel is because the lever could be bumped, and they'd presumably have fixed this more if it didn't work. 


Battery and Life: 

A single AA battery goes into a waterproof (has a gasket at least), cable retained, screw-on port on the front right. Appears to be physically separate from the interior, so water—or acid explosions—won't get to the device electronics. 

Naturally, like everything, came stone dry. I put a tiny amount of dielectric grease on the threads and gasket as I always do. Battery cap and threads appear to be plated heavily, and even dry it didn't make horrible grinding noises like most screw on battery caps before this. The battery contact in the cap is a similarly heavily plated shiny white metal. Copper(?) spring is at the bottom of the battery bay. 

Typical tactile graphic of which way to put it in is on the right side of the case. As usual. Positive up if you didn't figure that out from the spring positions. 

Throw away the battery it comes with in the box. It is a cheap Industrial Alkaline (made in USA!), whereas the unit is designed for Lithiums. Even says so in the manual. Some folks are reporting bad battery life with these, but appear to be using shitty batteries so... 

With Li primary cells the unit reportedly runs about two years at high power. But, it will effectively go longer as it auto shuts off after 10 minutes of being left alone, like in your gun safe. Then a motion sensor turns it back on. Instantly. And by "motion" we mean breathing on it.

Seriously; I left the carbine on a table for a week and kept making sure it was shutting off, and then turning on. It is hard to touch the gun, much less pick it up without the sight turning on. In your rack or gunsafe it will be saving power; in a car or your hands, it is ON all the time so that 2 years may matter. But OTOH, any damned time you bring it to the eye, the dot is on, at the level you set it. This has been claimed on other devices (e.g. my MARS turns off, but not ON!). But it 100% works on the Tru-Dot RDS. 

I have not encountered a low battery state, but it supposedly tells you when low with two blink modes - This MAY be a Pro model feature only but electronic features are cheap so I'd be surpised: 

  • 4 blinks (I guess when it turns on?) means there are about 50 hours of battery left
  • Continuous blinking while active means about 5 hours of battery left.

I cannot confirm this as I almost cannot get a battery dead enough for it to not power the sight. I put a series of dead batteries in the sight — batteries that won't power a small LED light more than a few seconds and the sight works fine.

I finally found one dead enough the sight wouldn't come on at all. An Amazon Basics rechargeable in a lost pile, not charged for a year at least. I put it on the charger for literally 5 seconds and... the sight works. For several minutes at least. At full brightness. 

It doesn't take many milliamps to run this thing. 


Precision and Parallax:

Dot is reported to 1.8 MOA, seems about the size of any 2 minute dot so small but a distinct circle vs a pinpoint. I guess I believe them. Since it is sharper-edged with no bloom, I can shoot better than most sights I have had lately. When last at the range I shot a 15 shot 8" group at 200 with it prone offhand, and the dot was probably at "two positions" from parallax due to use of a clip on 2.5x magnifier for half of them (magnifier is centered in sight, I usually shoot bare eyes more lower third).

So, no parallax issues I can confirm, unlike that junky Aimpoint T1  . IF parallax issues sare present, they seem to be very small (1-2 MOA) and are more vertical than horizontal. I have tested this, robustly. Not just by eye, but firing.

I took a series of shots with my head adjusted so the dot appears in the middle, high, low (cowitness), upper-right corner, and far left. All were in a suitable group. I got a bit of vertical stringing indicating some vertical deviation but a very small amount and the largest deviation I could get was only at the very edges, where it was hard to even get my head to.

At any normal dot positions (center third of the viewport, say) there is no discernable real world parallax, and the deviation is too small to worry about under the expected use and demanded accuracy of the platform. 


Glare, Flash, Protection:

No killflash included or available, but supposedly it has anti-glare coatings and the lens is angled to not glare at you target. Meh. I'd rather have a killflash to make sure. Someone make one! 

Internally, there is no issue. Have shot essentially straight into the sun with it, and no problem; my glasses (hell my eyes!) had more glare issues than the sight. Even when I get a thumbprint on the glass, it doesn't glare. Dunno how they did that.

Aimpoint Comp M68s (and many others) can be useless without a killflash in the same situation. I actually was side by side with a friend with a Comp M3 and he was having to stop shooting or shade the sight with his hand to do things where I was not having any issues. We'll get him a killflash soon. 

I DO wish it had a big rubber add on hood for extra protection, and to keep rain off the lenses but that's theoretical; haven't had it rained on yet and seems sturdy actually. The M5 and pro model have rubber coating as well as more aluminum, but hardly any more lens protection and no killflash. Dunno if it matters practically. It is also black, so if someone made a brown rubber cover I would buy one immediately. 

Remains to be seen if I break it, but I have never heard of a broken one yet.  

Totally pleased. If it holds up, perhaps my favorite sight ever. Very accurate and fast at close range, easy to use at long ranges, such that my groups are half the size they were recently. 

Will buy more to replace other RDSs on other guns when I get the money, and time to mount them. 


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  • mceclip0
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Original Post


How has it held up in the sun?  I have one on my M6A2 and it works.  I was looking at a sight to leave down at my parents house and these have AA's and was thinking one of these because it is simple.  I also have two of these one with my wifes gun but my go to rifle have Aimpoint COMP M4. 

Also I think I might try it on my ARX-100 that I have sitting at the house.  Seems like it will be good to go. 



Still loving it. Still haven't been rained on, frozen, etc. so nothing new to report really. No battery change required yet. 

Just yesterday was shooting it at only level 2 in what seemed annoyingly bright conditions with no problems at all, and I semi-regularly am shooting basically into the sun at dusk (due to the way the range is oriented) and have never once had any glare or dot loss issues. 


Since I took the family picture yesterday, wasting bandwith by posting it: 


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  • mceclip0
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First: continue to be pleased as punch with this sight, and while not yet a long term test (been only 4 months!) still on the first battery, not broken in shooting, some carrying around, much banging around in the trunk, etc. If it could break, I'd have likely broken it by now.  

To function check something that had been vexing me on the SBR upper (but is now fixed) fired the gun enough and fast-enough last weekend to make it hot. And, no issues. Dead accurate, brightness good. 

I have also borrowed other's guns since then again and damn I cannot shoot Aimpoints anymore. But the clarity of this really puts me back in the game for RDS+magnifier for a few years, till my eyes degrade further and I try LVPOs all around. 

And... the MARS kills batteries when off. So that's maybe not super long term and I need a small laser and another Mepro Tru Dot for that, or to find a deal on an MOR for the SBR as I assume they are the same sort of dot tech and I can see it. 


MikeB. posted:

I skimmed through your post and probably missed it, but, who makes that magnifier on the top rifle, one with the A2 FSB?

Nope, didn't mention. That one is home built and accidentally disguised. The 2.5x Hensoldt Panzerfaust scope (the core of the old LT Poor Boy or whatever it was called), which I got as normal surplus, took apart and removed the reticle and adjusted for adequate focus, locked up, stuck in a weirdly large mount for a shitty old-school IR laser I used to have, and hand filed then tapped to fit the base for a GG&G Multi-Flex that goes to the Aimpoint magnifier. Did all that because I liked the size and weight, didn't have such options back when I made it, and used to run my NOD behind the RDS, but really don't anymore so should probably change it to something else someday.

Aside from the weird paint color, the "ring" being huge, etc. the back is also largely obscured by the rubber eyecup from an OLD Aimpoint magnifier, the one that screws into the Electronic Sight. Oh, and the rubber bit is on backwards, so only had a bit of rubber eye protection, mostly just covers the magnifier tube. It fits. Don't ask why. 


All in all: I prefer the EO magnifier. Man that's nice glass and is a similar size and weight to what I wanted all along. Just wish it flopped the other way. Unless I massively fucked up, it seems to only go left, cannot be set to go right without the lever interfering with other stuff so that's the only real downside. Wish they had made the lever flush with the base. 

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Done! I remember now, I felt it might interfere with the charging handle. But I have (slightly) extended charging handles on everything now, and playing in dry fire just now after switching, I think it's more of a fear than actual situation, so I left it flopping right. Glad you asked.  

Still wish they had a smaller lever. 

And, that they didn't use PHILLIPS screws to hold the sight on. May have to change those screws out sometime. At least the factory-applied loctite was working, they were very firmly attached still unlike some things I own today, so that's nice. 


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  • mceclip0
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Yup, that's it. 

Agree, once I get my precision rifle zeroed /again/ I need to go do some drills with the carbine and make sure this all makes me happy, doesn't snag on gear, etc. It does have a lever lock, so the risk is snagging and slowing me down, not of ditching the optic by accident. 

Oh... I am big on getting out the hacksaw and files aren't I? Will have to look into that. I think I am more annoyed with how much it sticks OUT though. Especially with the snazzy, tiny, low-profile levers on the Mepro, it looks positively stone age. And I might ask why it's not levered on the flopped-over-optic side, as that's where we've chosen to have a lump when we need it. Seems just a... not bad but "not great" design. Maybe sometime I'll see if there's an aftermarket option here. 

Went to the range today, and while waiting for dark did some exercises with the carbine in this config. Set it up with lots of mag changes, lots of distance changes, to try out all the stuff involved here. 

I do tap the lever, occasionally, but it never got actually in the way of any manipulations. So, it'll do. 

Were I annoyed, there IS an LT base for the EO magnifiers, but I have used their flip-to-side bases for the Aimpoint magnifiers and I for the cost don't love the pull-then-flip action so much. 


I also notice more and more now that the MARS is nice, but does (to my eyes) bloom when over bright, and does turn into a cloverleaf when magnified. Not a lot, but a tidge. So, adding to the budget and plan (which has e.g. a  Manners stock for the precision rifle... so it's down on the list) a Tru Dot for this carbine, and an OTAL (or something?) to keep the night fighting capability. Not as slick as the dot+laser in one package, but on balance I'll probably be better off. 

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I think industry needs to take another 50-100 years to make RDS's. Because they are too damned inconsistent. 

Just got my third Tru Dot RDS. Yes, I still like em that much, have had zero issues with the two mounted so far. But the newest one has a slight halo. The dot in the center isn't bad, and I can get it effectively clear running a step or two lower in brightness. And totally no halo with the magnifier; in fact it may be the sharpest/roundest of all three when magnified. 

BUT, just to emphasize it's not Mepro having QC issues or something: 

The other day I was shooting with a friend. As often happens, I am better at shooting, so had to come out of the pits, take his rifle and finish the re-zeroing of it. He has an old m68, the Aimpoint Comp M2. Which I expect as I am getting into position to be barely usable as I ditched Aimpoint years ago after finding they all starburst horribly. All of them. A dozen examples from 2000, through to Comp M4. 

Nope. This one works fine for my eyes. Pretty circular, clear, non-haloed, not starburst dot. I shoot a group 1/4 his size with it. And I ditched Aimpoint not just because the starburst was annoying, but because my groups were opening as a result. 

So... RDS's just have minor optical differences that even good makers like Aimpoint haven't got all worked out, or just don't care about because only people with shitty eyes like me notice them? 

I'd put Aimpoints back on some of my guns, but I guess need a store with a whole lot of them in stock who don't mind me sticking batteries in all of them before buying, Yeah, that's a thing. 


Re-skimming the thread before I posted this: Magnifier works great still. No issues hitting the lever now I flipped it. Indeed, an unfounded fear. 

Finally killed the battery on my first sight. So, not much over a year of light-to-moderate use (I shot another carbine more than this one). Yes, it's left switched "on" all the time, but the auto-off means moving and car riding counts. 

That's not awful, and anything over a year means I can just set a meeting maker to change the battery every July 4th (let's say. It's a nice date and I'll be home and off work) but it's not thrilling in this day and age. And is surprisingly short for the auto-off. Implies to me it is using a non-trivial amount of power when "off" actually. 

Did you switch to lithium batteries?  That’s what I did.  I have 3 only two have been shot and I am going to post my 3rd for trade for an Aimpoint because well it was suppose to be my ex’s.  I prefer my CompM4 but my go to AR has a meprolight on it and it has been good for almost two years with 14 months of those being in the safe since I was deployed to Iraq/Syrian.  I trained some local police officers on their M4 skills (lacking is scarey)  and they liked the dot better than their Aimpoint M3s they had but it’s also new and I am running an old 10.5 LWRCi M6A2 with peq2a on it. 

If you have a need for another let me know before I post it after Labor Day.



Minor update. With SpaceTaco's (IIRC) I now own FIVE of these. Only gun with an RDS and not that is the 9mm upper as it has an Aimpoint gooseneck and they have only one crosscut so I can't mount it. To be weird, have a PDP4 on that  

Anyway, still no issues, shooting well with it, and magnifiers, to good ranges. Decent number of rounds through most of them. One is on the FAL Para, and has made me trust myself with that gun again. 

Today, dunked the first one, on the 16" gun. Not on purpose really, but it got a lot of dirt exposure, banging around, splashing and partly immersed a couple times, fully immersed in a cold stream (to a depth of MAYBE 6" and for not more than 30 seconds total as I low crawled through) but I am not gonna do that on purpose to test, so now we see. Sight (and magnifier) went fine. Both also shed the water off the lenses, and the glass was the least dirty thing I owned as I stepped up to my truck at the end. Not sure how they did that, but I enjoyed it. Never had to blow off or clean glass to shoot all day. 

Finally had an issue with the sight. Not permanent, but the shorter hood on the non-pro really showed its weakness after a few hours of rain, and snow. Got to the point I couldn't see through it too well to shoot things. Guess I'll carry that neoprene cover it comes with now, use it when weather is bad. 

G.33 magnifier was worse yet, though. Got a CB ScopeCoat for that on the way also. 

Anyway, while cleaning it, I noticed liquid wasn't coming out of a gap, and there were inviting screws so I found: 

The hood is just a hood. Bolted on cover, not part of the sealed optical system. I am sure Mepro / Mako won't sell me another hood, but even the M5 one isn't long enough. I want something more squared off, to cover as much from lens as possible. I'd be fine with low-profile covers I could flip down when I know conditions suck even.

Anyone want to work on 3D printing one? I have no modeling skills anymore, and no printer access, but I bet someone here does. Could probably make a small business of selling upgraded hoods to Mepro users. 

Finally managed to kill the batteries in one of these! Was blinking today at the range, so I got to try that. A pretty slow blink, so for a bit I was encountering the blink problem... I'll just quote myself from a forthcoming article on it, in an unrelated human-factors context: 

Blinking [h3]

Blinking is a very common signaling technique for warning and annunciator lights in many industries. However, the logic that drives the fundamental nature of blinking lights as a warning is flawed due to a change in technology.

Back when basically all annunciator lights were incandescent, there was a significant start (and stop) time. The filament took a visible amount of time to go to power, or to go dark after power was removed. A simple blink circuit applying and cutting power would not have the light turn on and off, but have it slowly build to full power, and then drop. The light would pulse between off and on.

LEDs on the other hand, turn on and off essentially instantly. When the blink cycle is “off” the light is entirely off. A problem I have encountered many times is that people glance at a panel, or the top of their phone, between the blink cycles. They can miss a bright blinking light entirely, or see the blink out of the corner of their eye, then look at it briefly and see it is off...

So, I would glance over, see nothing, adjust and then it would be on, then... it would seem to be off. Etc. Finally realized it was blinking, and just tried shooting it. It was,... okay. Once you know, you can actually shoot with it, but it's odd. If I issued these to an army, and couldn't do a better method (oh, I have ideas, if I quoted you the rest of that article section) I'd insist on a low-power-trainer so everyone gets to shoot it like that once, and maybe recall it if it comes up in battle. 

Blink, btw, is not just a notifier but is a duty cycle thing for LEDs. Most LEDs do not dim, but when you ask it to dim use circuitry to blink veryveryveryfast. Try turning on your EDC flashlight at low power, and swinging it around fast. You should see the light as dots in space instead of a continuous arc. 

Anyway, blinking at low power allows it to extend the remaining life. I stupidly shitcanned the battery instead of doing a test once I got home, but next time I'll try to remember, and see how long it goes at blink. Because many things lie. My Sordins are supposed to give a warning with 8 hours to go, but last about 4 minutes after warning, which sucks. 


  • They changed the name to just "RDS." As in Meprolight RDS. Or RDS Pro. 
  • Or, really, "RDS Pro V2." 
  • The V2 (only in pro mode) is available with red or green reticles. Like the way EO does, you have to buy the color, not  switch on the fly.
  • And three reticles. "Dot, Bullseye, 300 Blackout." What do they look like? Dunno. Why it's a secret I have no idea, but Mepro is terrible at this.  
  • Here's a photo someone took through "bullseye"  one in green. 
  • If you miss the ring on your EO, maybe this will do it for you but NO idea what diameter it is. 


Images (1)
  • mceclip0

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