My son-in-law ships to Iraq in a few weeks. They are allowed to put their sight of choice on their M-4, but they have to pay for it. Any advise as to which sight to go with? He thinks he will be in and around Bagdhad, so the fighting, if any, will be urban.

Also, which holster do you recommend for the Sig sidearm the military issues? Shoulder or hip?

Thanks,

Jordan

For Iraq/urban fighting it is hard to beat the issued M68 (aimpoint). They are tough as hell which counts for a lot and they are fast. I hope your son will not need it. I last left there in the winter of 2008 and we were starting to really turn things over to the IA/IP and doing very little in the way of combat operations.
For Afghanistan, the issued ACOG is pretty good, but I would rather have the Trijicon TR24 Accupoint.
What unit is your son-in-law attached/assigned to that he is being issued a Sig? I've heard of some CID guys carrying them, but I've never seen one. Most of the special ops guys and the ODA guys have either Glocks or 1911's over there.
In any case, I wish the best for your son-in-law.

Wes

I'd go with an ACOG or a Eotech with magnifier. As far as holster I get a Blackhawk serpa and accesorys to match. They make a kit for the M9/92FS just buy the components seperatly as needed.

For Urban use I like the Eotec and the 4x magnifier. Get the one that uses the 123 Lithium batteries. That way the sight and the weapon lights use the same batteries.

Also be sure to get the Eotec that is NVD compatable.

I wish him well, and thank him for his Service.

WESR:

He is a reservist out of Utah with an MI unit. Not sure which one.

Thanks for the advise all.

if it were me going into combat it would have a acog on it. If not an aimpoint

As for holsters, what does he normally carry? I'd go w/the same system I use/train w/here in the states. How has he learned to transition from rifle to pistol?

I'm thinking thigh rig.

Jordan

I spent numerous years in SF and was able to use and evaluate numerous sight options for the M4/M16A2/M16A4s. I settled on the EOTech M552. It takes AA batteries which are readily available worldwide. I never had a set of AAs go dead, most were only about half drained when I changed them out. The EOTech proved to be the fastest in CQC (CQB to the newer guys), especially when co-witnessed to the iron sights. Set the EOTech as far forward on the rail as possible and then you can use both eyes open in CQB, much, much faster that way. The 1 moa dot also provides excellent accuracy at longer ranges. The ability to instantly adjust the reticle britness given changing light condditions is also an excellent feature (i.e. going from the bright outside light into a dark building).

I did not find the 3X booster sight to be of any real value given the shorter ranges of urban/CQB (under 200 meters for certain). However, the ability to put the ANPVS M14 on the rail behind the EOTech made it an excellent night vision sight.

On the M16A2/A4s I found the 1 moa dot quite effective using holdover to 500 meters. I zeroed the iron at the standard 300 meters and then adjusted the EOTech so the 1 moa dot just sat on the top of the front sight. This gave a 250 meter zero with the dot.

I still have my EOTech and it is mounted on my "go to" AR which is built on a receiver with the carrying handle. I use a C.R.T.C. mount which puts the EOTech low over the front handguards (round A2s). As the mount is elevation adjustable I filed a small flat on the top of the handguard to get the mount base low. The co-witness sight picure is perfectly centered.

I can use the sights but with the EOTech I mostly just look over the top of the rear sight, put the dot where I want to hit and pull the trigger. It is very, very fast and very, very acurate.

As to the holster it depends on if he will be mounted or dismounted. For dismounted I preferred the issue Bianche M9 holser. I had a pistol belt hooked to the bottom of the body armor and the holster was on that. The holster gave good protection to the handgun yet it was reasonably fast to get out. I have 2 leg holsters and while they have the "cool" factor they really aren't all that "cool" on a long dismounted patrol. If mounted he will probably want a holster that attaches to the body armor. There is not a lot of maneuver rom in Hummers or MWRAPs with all that body armor on and a leg holster or side hoster proves to hang up or bang on the armor a lot.

Larry Gibson

Good rundown Larry-I agree with the exception of preferring the Trij Reflex-dual illum model, no batteries, good reticle (donut or chevron) and tough as nails. I had an M68 short out after a hard rain, but mine was the only one of about 20 to do so.

I preferred to have my sidearm separate from my armor, so I could easily have it at hand when un-armored. The issue hloster works well, leave the flp on it unless you want it to be worn and battered from the maneuvering, inside and outside of a vehilce. Urban ops are tough on gear to be sure, so protection is as important as functionality.

I recommend he pick up about a dozen magpul Pmags for his AR, as many units do not have them yet (or ever, maybe) and they are head and shoulders better than every other AR mag I have used.

Tell him to think about seeking hard cover all the time-hopelfully his tour will be quite mundane....

Thank him for his service.

i have operated over there several times and the eotech is a good sight, however the only drawback that i saw was once the sight got wet from rain the target looks blurry. but in Baghdad it pretty much only rains from about the end of November to February. the acog/rco is a good sight as well but i don't like the chevron sight, if you could get one with just cross hairs that is what i would take. if you do get the chevron sight i recommend putting tape or spray painting the fiber optic on the top of the sight to blacken the chevron.