Aimpoint PRO vs ACO

This makes a lot of sense, Aimpoint did invent the initial dot optic in 1975, and it was massive. Times have changed, and technology has shrunk, and Aimpoint is still currently making brilliant optics. Aimpoint provided a number of the earliest dots to units such as Delta Force, who famously used them in the Modelo Prison raid. Aimpoint accumulated an enormous uptick in popularity after the US Army moved from iron sights into optics, and picked the venerable Aimpoint M4 sight. Ever since then the civil and the law enforcement marketplace has adopted the Aimpoint red dot as it is favored red dot sight.

Aimpoint has created red and more dot sights to the civilian and police marketplace, including red dots, red dots for searching, the Aimpoint Guru And obviously the subject of our review, the Aimpoint ACO. To Who ACO is designed For? The Aimpoint ACO is Aimpoint’s second debut into the spending budget or beginner red point dot. The Aimpoint Guru was their first starter optics, and now the ACO is coming in only a little cheaper and made for a more special purpose. The ACO was created almost mainly for a civilian shooter, for shooters who plink or target shoot, for game competitions, and also for basic home defense.

First & Unboxing Impression. ACO or Aimpoint Carbine optics is quite basic, also comes in a basic box, without lenses cover, with a brief instruction guide, battery, lens fabric, battery, and an extremely basic, but effective mount. If you have ever seen or used an Aimpoint, you will not find anything here. It is a great sight, it just oozes quality. The optics are made of anodized aluminum and finished in a matte gray. The optic looks fairly professional on a rifle. The finish is applied equally and does not scratch when used intensively. The controls are one dial located on the battery compartment; you flip it on, adjust the brightness levels and flip off it all with one dial.

The dial clicks into position, and it does not glide. The unit runs on a simple 3-volt battery that’s streamlined and keep the view pleasant and light. The battery life on the view is low for an Aimpoint, although impressive generally. The battery life will last 10, 000 hours of placing.

Main Differences Between Pro & ACO.

First, whenever you compare ACO lifetime to the Guru, that has over three years of battery life, or a 30, 000 it appears somewhat poor. But ten million hours in a great deal of time, change the battery, and you’re ready to go. The batteries are small enough which you can store them in a grip on a AR 15.

Total The ACO and Pro are simple to compare and contrast, they’re similar. The principal distinction is the ACO and Pro are specially designed for general purposes. The ACO is specifically made for the civilian shooter, and for a sporting rifle like the AR 15. The PRO is designed particularly for cops in departments on a budget. The changes are slight, but differentiate between the demands. The ACO does have nine distinct brightness settings, such as one ultra bright setting versus PRO 6 daylight & 4NV. The Aimpoint Carbine optic isn’t compatible with night vision, one of the differences in between the Pro and ACO.

The conventional plinker and AR shooter likely doesn’t require night vision compatibility, therefore it isn’t worthwhile. In exchange, the ACO does have three higher daylight brightness values in the Aimpoint Pro. The Aimpoint Carbine Optic has a mount that is simple, and it’s fairly different from the Pro mount. The ACO bracket does give you absolute co-witness with conventional height AR 15s. The ACO bracket doesn’t possess a distancer like Pro, and ACO has a nut to tighten or remove from the Picatinny rail. The ACO is like the Pro with regards to its capacity to use all the Aimpoint AR-15 accessories, such as additional mounts, and magnifiers.

Zeroing Aimpoint ACO for a field test. The Aimpoint Carbine optic is easy to zero and has ½, moa adjustments. This is about a half inches adjustment at one hundred yards. Since dots are not for precision shooting, you do not desire ¼, moa adjustments. The half MOA adjustments do things fast when zeroing. The Aimpoint’s dot is just two MOA, which can be small and nice for easy shooting at 1 or 2 hundred yards. The dot stays crisp irrespective of the brightness setting and doesn’t rise or enlarge as the point becomes brighter. There also seems to be zero wash out in any setting, at least none I could discover. When combined with Aimpoint magnifier the dot does lose some of its sharpness. This isn’t exclusive to Aimpoints, or the ACO, but a common issue with red dots and magnifiers.

Field Shooting Test

In the area, we mounted the ACO to a brand new SIG 556R rifle, which employs the 7.62 x 39 millimeter round. I had also mounted standard Magpul MBUS sights.The optic perfectly co-witnesses with the MBUS sights.

25 Yards

We started at ranges of 25 yards with standard Ivan silhouette targets. We scored hits only when they struck the summarized torso, or pelvis area, or from the T-zone of the head. This was a task any shot could do easily, however, was our warm up. We then practiced transition between targets while firing double taps into the chest or pelvis area.

Transitions

Transitions went smooth, and the dot was simple to find as we transitioned from target to target, and we never lost the dot due to blur, and it never became a hunt for the dot. Headshots into the T-zone call for a dot, which the smaller 2 MOA dot provides. The 556R fires a beefier round compared to the standard 5.56, but the recoil wasn’t a problem with the dot. It stayed put, and at eye level, making quick-fire accurate. The Aimpoint ACO performed brilliantly, and also its ease was valued greatly by shooters.

Ending Words

The biggest downside is to get an entry-level optic the price is only around 60 bucks lower than the Aimpoint Guru, and the Guru comes along with a far better bracket. The Aimpoint ACO is an optic, and if you desire a few more daylight settings, the ACO is for you.

However, the Guru is better built in my opinion, and it’s worth the additional 60 bucks to go PRO in my humble opinion. No matter the ACO is an excellent optic and performs how you ‘d expect an Aimpoint to carry out.