At what point is a scope more of liability than an asset in CQC.
I have a 3 to 9 Nikon Buckmaster on my 20 inch HBAR and am wondering how close is to close to be able to use this scope or any scope for that matter at 3 power for CQC?

Thank's.

Lee

Thank's Troy. After seeing all the talk about ACOG's and ELCAN's I was under the impression that low magnification worked for CQC.
The reason I have an HBAR is that most of my use for this rifle is hunting and target shooting/plinking, but if the S ever does HTF it will become my defense weapon at which point I will put on the A3 carryhandle or  a red dot sight as you have suggested.
Does this make sense or not?

Lee

Guys in my 223 class (Tactical Carbine) at Gunsite who took top shooters on the last day shoot off were all shooting iron sights except for  1 with an Aimpoint . There were a number of red dot sights being used in the class.  Was it the quality of the shooter or the sight?  I suspect it mostly comes down to the experience of the shooter.

Quoted: The reason I have an HBAR is that most of my use for this rifle is hunting and target shooting/plinking..

Then you would be better served with a lighter weight profile barrel.  Only 2 reasons for an HBAR : Full auto shooting and HIGH precision marksmanship (i.e. CMP competition or long range varming hunting) and in both those cases you want true match-grade barrels.

Laser Sight for CQB, maybe the trijicon reflex.
on top of an M4 carbine with collapsable stock and a set of NV binoculars.  The Laser should show up in the Binoculars.

Benjamin

Laser = DEATH in CQB.
While you're looking for a little red dot, the other guy is actually pointing his firarm at you.  Open sights with a long sight plane (like a shotgun) are the best for CQB.  Perhaps something like the Super-extended SWAN sleeve can act like a long sight plane?  Either way, high mag scopes and lasers will slow you down more than anything else.

It's a bad idea to not have INSTANT access to the more durable, protected iron sights (preferably luminous) A hit, frag, slamming prone, etc, can easily break, misalign, or smear the lense of any sort of optic, causing you to do a LOT of missing before you notice the problem exists (or you get killed.) So they all have to be mounted in the STANAG sort of "see thru" mount, with a cheekpc for relatively fast, comfortable work with the optic.

Troy is right about the Aimpoint Comp M. I used one in a couple of tactical rifle classes I took last year and CQB is where the Aimpoint really shines. Real quick on target for close range drills, a double tap to center of mass and then a head shot, and it worked really well for hitting moving targets too. It's quicker because you don't have to line up the sights, you just put the red dot on target and pull the trigger.

We were also hitting steel targets from 100 to 400 yards, and the Aimpoint worked just fine. You should know the holdover for your rifle/ammo combination at the longer ranges, but 5.56mm is a pretty flat shooter so it's not that much.

Another vote for Aimpoint. My Bushmaster has a CompM mounted over the handguards and it definitely speeds target acquisition -- especially with multiple or moving targets. The red dot lines up with the iron sights (through a see-thru mount) so if Murphy visits and the battery dies or the scope breaks, etc, I have instant access to the irons.