EOTECH® is a technology manufacturer specializing in optics and scopes for law enforcement organizations, military, and sporting applications. EOTECH® gets its roots from the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM) at the University of Michigan. ERIM was responsible for creating some of the military’s first remote sensing and holography technology for small firearms. This blog is dedicated to everything you need to know about EOTECH® before you buy their products.
What’s the EOTECH® Advantage?
EOTECH® has earned its reputation as a high-quality, dependable, and technologically advanced optic company. In 1996, they introduced the first Holographic Weapon Sights (HWS) designed for small arms. Building from their experience working with ERIM, the founders of EOTECH® were on the ground level of weapons optic; much, in the same way, Leopold was for rifle scopes. EOTECH® has since worked to create intuitive, durable, reliable, and technologically advanced optics.
The EOTECH® HWS has won numerous awards from the Optic of the Year Award like the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence for its high performance in every intended application. The EOTECH® advantage is essentially a list of features that all EOTECH® products have built into them. All features discussed below are in the HWS and VUDU® optics.
Unwavering Focus
The HWS provides an enhanced HD view of both the reticle and your target. What sets the EOTECH® holographic sight apart from many competitors is the ability of the reticle to adapt to your perception of the target. This feature allows you to focus on the reticle and the target without losing the field of view. It also prevents you from having to take your eye off the optic, giving you an advantage over your target.
Field of View
The field of view on EOTECH® is a wide rectangular window that increases your peripheral vision, instead of inhibiting it. With the wide field of view, you’re able to keep both eyes open when you look through the window, keeping your awareness up instead of blocking your field of view. You’ll have much faster target acquisition and situational awareness with every optic you buy from EOTECH®.
Ultimate Stealth
Not only does the HWS provide a better, bigger, and wider window, it has stealth qualities to it as well. For example, the HWS is built with a non-reflective sight window and holographic reticle visible only to you. EOTECH® ensures that nothing on the optic will ever give your position away to an enemy combatant with no mirrored or metal-coated surfaces. You can rest easy that EOTECH® optics will keep you as hidden as you want to be.
Never Out of the Fight
This is the part of the optic that I mean when I say technologically advanced. For example, the window can be obscured or cracked and the reticle will still function properly. I don’t know of any optic, including Leopold or Vortex that has a more advanced reticle technology than EOTECH®. This feature provides you with the ability to use this in snow, rain, mud, or fog and not have your reticle obscured.
Own the Night
EOTECH® applies the same technology from their daytime optics as they do their night vision compatible optics. EOTECH® holographic sights allow you to use NVGs or any other night vision technology through the HWS without any complication or reflection. EOTECH® night vision optics come with multiple brightness settings with HD quality vision. EOTECH® even incorporated technology to avoid an enemy from seeing your optic as the window glows green for you. This is an incredible advantage that most people don’t have.
How to Spot a Fake EOTECH®?
Unfortunately, it’s a thing to counterfeit EOTECH® optics, mainly the HWS right now from overseas markets. It makes a lot of sense, it’s just highly illegal and outrageously unethical. The good news is that EOTECH® is on the ball with identifying and reporting counterfeit products to the authorities. You should always try to stay updated and go to their counterfeit page to get the most up-to-date info you can. The list below includes different ways to identify a fake EOTECH® HWS.
How to Spot a Fake:
• No EOTECH® manufacturing sticker or serial number
• Uncommon batteries – The counterfeit products often, but not always, require several small, hearing-aid-style batteries
• Interchangeable red and green reticle colors
• Highly reflective optics
• A visible LED light positioned inside the sight cavity
• NV push button that switches the LED to a different color instead of to a night-vision mode
What to Look For in Your EOTECH®?
EOTECH® has shown that most of the counterfeit products are coming from China and the Korean markets along with EBay. These markets don’t have the type of regulation that we require, so they are able to cut corners and use subpar materials without ramifications. Counterfeit products will not be able to handle the shock from any small to medium size gun (Pistol, rifle).
You’ll notice that your zero for your scope is impossible to maintain and there will be limited anti-reflective technology put into it. An EOTECH® optic is 100% waterproof, shockproof, and fog proof, whereas, a counterfeit will not be able to ensure any of the common features. A counterfeit EOTECH® will not have the holographic technology (Unwavering Focus) that makes an EOTECH® so impressive.
Which Models are Counterfeited the Most?
The EOTECH® Models 551, 552, and 553 are the most common models that are counterfeited by scrupulous people around the globe. The biggest differences in most EOTECH® optics are the clarity of the lens, the anti-reflective coating, the holographic reticle is symmetrical, and the weight is normally lighter than a counterfeit. To ensure you’re not buying a counterfeit EOTECH®, buy from licensed dealers.
How Do I Know If a Seller is Licensed?
The easiest way to ensure your getting the real deal is to go to https://www.eotechinc.com/ and search for a store that is closest to you. You can do this by clicking on your desired product or go to the store locater page. EOTECH® will show you the stores that are licensed to carry their gear. Any store that shows up on the list will sell you authentic EOTECH® optics and gear.
How Do I Zero in My HWS Optic?
I remember I used to feel bad if I didn’t know how to sight in an optic, but with the advances in technology, it’s become more difficult. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know how to sight it in, because most people need help figuring it out. From my experience, if you follow these steps, you’ll be able to zero your optic in within 10 min or so. Below are the steps to follow to ensure your optic is zeroed properly:
Make sure your firearm is unloaded and verified safe.
Insert laser sighting device into barrel and project a dot onto a wall at 21 feet (7 yards).
Turn the EOTECH® on and adjust the brightness settings so the center dot is dimmer than the laser bore projected dot (the center dot on the EOTECH will not be used in this process).
Adjust the EOTECH® to the projected laser on the wall and align the bottom of the outer circle at the 6 o-clock hash mark position while looking through the EOTECH®.
Complete the zero with live fire at 50 yards using the center dot for point of aim.
How Do I Zero in My HWS With Iron Sights?
As every soldier who’s ever served in a combat tour or every police officer who’s been on the force for a decade can tell you, technology will fail at some point in time when you need it most. I can’t tell you how many times, our technology failed when we were lost in the middle of Baghdad or Basra. Anytime we were doing good it worked perfectly, for whatever reason.
Note: When adjusting to iron sights, you are moving the image to the fixed point of aim so your adjustment dials on the sight are in reverse or mirrored.
With that being said, it’s important to always have a backup when technology fails and you need to still fire at your enemy. The good news is that all EOTECH® optics are designed to be used in conjunction with the weapons iron sights on any standard AR15 style rifle. Below is the list to follow to zero in your optic with iron sights:
Make sure your firearm is unloaded and verified safe.
Flip-up the iron sights and set the rear sight on the small aperture. You must do this process utilizing the front and rear iron sights, it will not work without a rear sight.
With your EOTECH turned on, look through the rear peep sight with the front post in view.
After obtaining a sight picture, adjust the EOTECH so the 1 MOA dot sits directly on top of the front post.
Once this is achieved, the final zero should be verified using live fire.
What About the EOTECH® Warranty?
My experience with EOTECH® customer service has been great with the only time that I needed them to fix the seal on the window of my optic. Luckily it was covered by warranty. However, mine was only 2 years old and it was clearly of no fault of my own. Things can fall into the grey area where you might not be covered by your warranty. I am one of those firm believers that if I pay $600 for something like an optic, I want it covered forever.
This warranty does not apply to the following:
• Theft, loss, neglect, or vandalism.
• Abuse, misuse, improper installation and modification, alterations, abnormal use, or accidents.
• Cosmetic damage that does not affect the product’s use, operation or performance, as determined by EOTECH.
• Any defect or damage caused by repairs or services not performed by EOTECH.
• EOTECH products not in the Holographic Weapon Sight or Magnifier product families, specifically, but not limited to, Vudu riflescopes; Laser Battery Caps (LBC); or L3 Insight branded products.
Unfortunately, that’s not how capitalism works and people also lie to companies to take advantage of their commitment to service. The official warranty for EOTECH® a 10-year limited and a 2-year product warranty. Both warranties affect any manufacturing defects in material and workmanship (including electronics) under normal use. That means as long as you’re using the optic on top of a rifle and not throwing it off buildings, you’ll be covered if the reticle goes out on its own.
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *