This. Also, many people change their optics batteries on a very conservative schedule to ensure it's always there.

I'd have to sell a kid or two to participate.  You want one?  I'll give you a good deal.  

So what is your budget for an optic? Looking for an CQO, RCO, what? Glass with a variable power and illuminating? I think you can get what you're after with either a 1 to 4 or a 1 to six really.

I could see a red dot working on that M4gery I have well.  Because of the FSP.  Plus I could just get a rear flip BUIS in case of failure.  Obiously that's how it's done over and over again and is a sound set up.  It would be nice to try one that way to see if it works.  I only know that I can't stand a red dot with a Fixed Rear BUIS and FSB.  4 things to look at.  OK then.  My brain just is not cool with that.  Actually you could say 5, the housing.  My brain just can't take all that white noise.  I know you're supposed to just keep both eyes open and focus on the target, but it's so much easier for my brain without all that extra garbage in the sight picture.  And it might be the same with an FSB in the way.  Plus it obscures your target.  I know irons aren't exactly a single plain sighting system, but I'm just used to them.  I've done a lot of iron shooting in my day.  Hunting and shooting.  Some scopes, but mostly irons.  

But I think I have my go to HD / SHTF gun figured out.  I need a light for it.  And I would love a TA-33.  I do have a Lasermax I'd put on the top rail and a TA-33 and then I could say I'm starting to look like CWAR gun toter.  I know, wrong rail, wrong trigger.  I have a RRA 2 stage though.    The barrel is right though.  WOA 16" mid.  Good shooter.  I might actually mount my Colt Carry Handle scope in a flat top mount for those days I want to go magnified.  Or throw the Leupy in the Larue on there.  

I would prefer an M4 telestock, but I have to get a friends AR tool to get a stubborn tube off of a lower.  Or just buy a Colt one.  Which is what I'd rather do.  But the CAR stock isn't bad either.  Especially with that rubber buttpad.  

I'm the opposite.  I build multiple in a similar or same design so I know the feel of everyone intimately.  And, you often need a rifle that can do three or four things great in one outing.  I'm not bringing four rifles.

All my budget goes to ammo at this point.  I'd have to sell some of the stuff I got to get something new.  After I get back from vacation next week, I'm going to start selling stuff on the EE.  I got a basement full of crap that a few things might have some value.  I got some retro stuff, etc etc.  Anyways...  At this point, I don't really plan on getting anything.  Maybe Christmas.  I may be selling my M9 soon though.   But part of me wants a G17 badly.  I've got a few other guns I should sell too.  They never get shot.

I have two optics I can put on there now, they're just not ideal.  The 2 x 7 is OK for HD / SHTF, but it's heavier than I want.  And I'm trying to rig up a Colt Carry handle scope in a flat top mount, but that's more for the range than serious use.  

My ultimate optic would be a compact ACOG.  In theory.  Still not sure it's the best choice for room distances though.  And yeah, I do like the idea of a Mini RDS too.  I may have to try one  of those eventually.

That's what I responded to him earlier.  But longer winded because you said it a lot better than I did.  I agree with you though.  The only gun you got is the one in your hands.  It doesn't make any sense to me to say, hmmm...  I'd rather have that other AR right now.  Let me go get it.  As your Deer / rabbit / yote / bear / pit bull / mountain lion / prairie dog /bad guy / paper target / steel /  proceeds to do their thing.  Obviously some of them do more than others.    And some cases it might be easy to have a few with you in a truck or something.  But even hunting, you don't typically stay right at the truck, except for like prairie dog shooting.  So....  That's what I got to say about that.

My 2nd AR Build was a FN CHF 14.5" Mid-length Gas Barrel with a YHM Phantom Brake and 13" Midwest Industries Handguard.  With my Lucid HD7 RDS and its 2x magnifier screwed in I accidentally intentionally (for me) created the perfect rifle.  No recoil, no muzzle climb, no expensive optics, just a crossing of ley-lines that happened to produce a system that really, really works for me.  I painted it up using a hybrid wrapped rope and sponge technique and she never fails to give me wood.  Sometimes, we can get lucky.   Sell the M4 and Recce and put the proceeds to an ACOG for your 20" A2.  Just an idea.  Good luck!

Pics????  

I swear when I fondle the A2 20", I feel like that's all I need. (And shooting only confirms that)  But it throws POI from one load to the next annoyingly far.  Kind of a deal breaker.  I should get a new barrel for it.

I've changed a few things on mine over the years, but it's stayed pretty similar. Went from a 10" DD Lite rail to a 12", and a MK4 1.5-5x to a MK6 1-6x, and stock trigger to CMMG 2 stage, to Geisselle SSA_E. Standard low pro gas block to Syrac adjustable.
The 14.5" stainless barrel has stayed.
I think it works pretty well as a do it all carbine. Shoot up close relatively well with the scope on 1x, or throw it on 6x and add the bipod for the longer shots. Shoots good with match ammo, and decent with any other brass cased stuff I've shot through it.
I think this one is staying how it is, even though I keep eyeballing KAC URXIII rails… And a Dbal for when I finally get night vision….

You looked at the Vortex strike eagle 1-6x? Looks pretty decent for a good price. Not that the 2-7x you got is bad, but you may gain a little by having a 1x on the low end. I guess it depends on how often you shoot up close.

Hunting out west or across large fields aside, or match shooting aside (e.g. CMP etc), I think a civie has little to no need for an AR over 12.5" barrel. 10.2-12.5 makes it transport discrete and keeps the OAL and balance nice with a suppressor, which I consider basically an essential.  SHTF etc except for temporary and localized (e.g. Katrina) is still unlikely.  What you want then is something that is short, like, discrete, so it will actually be at hand when you need it.




 I am probably going to sell my 16" match upper to where 12.5 is my "long range" upper.

Very very cool.  I think those Vortex scopes are heavier than what I'd want to go.  But you're right about the 1x being a bit better for up close.  If only they'd make a 1-4 that weighed somewhere around 8 ounces in a mount.  That'd  be perfect.  

With QD mounts, and the accessories you like...plus extra uppers, any AR can be "Just Right"