MG34 said:
Good points ,my guys with EOTechs like them espescially in the city where we are currently deployed ,however on OP Medusa (all phases) there were no issues with engaging targets out beyond 300m with them as I didn't allow it. The max effective range of the C7 is 175m give or take to still have good terminal effects with our issued ammunition,it's around 75m with the C8,beyond the effective ranges of the rifles and carbines is C9, GPMG and 60mm territory. Unfortunately this has been lost on alot of folks in leadership,who allow troops to bang away at enemy forces well beyond the effective range of their weapons,it's a morale issue I suppose. Most of the effective "target neutralization"we did was with the 60mm,25mm and C6,the riflemans's job is to support those weapons and ensure their security .
I agree.. When we first went in, we were engaged at 25 m or less, I ended up taking my ELCAN off and using my iron sight. But there were cases when we were being fired at from ranges greater than 200m (TIC on way to Wilson) and our bird gunner was hitting targets with his ACOG better then our SGT with his ELCAN.
Our SGT even refused to take an Eotech for himself sighting that we may end up engaging past it's useful range, and we did during some tics. He also refused to take a C8 because of the drop in mussle volicity due to the shortened barrel, which was pointed out to us by the PPCLI's that we did hand over with.
But you are absolutely right, the C7s / C8s primary role is to protect the support weapons and LAVs, theres no question there.
MG34 said:
The ACOG is a wonderful piece of kit I have one on my C7A2 right now I would recommend them as a total replacement for the POS Elcan if I were the king of the CF,but that ain't gonna happen soon.
but an adequate BUIS is still needed as any optic will fail.
I agree again. As I said above, I ended up using my iron sight the first day of Op Medusa, and I wish I had spent the money on an actual metal ironsight that could be adjusted better... oh well, hind sight is 20/20.
MG34 said:
In a controlled range setting I have engaged targets out to 400m with an EOTech but would never attempt it in the heat of battle. As for the real estate the sight takes up once again the CF in all it's wisdom has totally screwed the pooch as far as small arms go,the EOTech is intended to be a long eye relief optic,meaning it should be mounted as far forward as possible,on a weapon equipped with an adequate rail interface system this is easily done, not so on the C7/C8 family. The best option would be to have the rail system issued but once again when pigs fly. I know of at least a dozen troops over here who have forked out the cash to get the rails or some method of mounting the EOTech to it's best advantage,it's unfortunate that troops are having to go out of pocket,but that is the reality of the situation.
Yeah... I was one of those troops who forked out mass amouts of money to improve the C7A2.
I spent about $300 on rails, mounts, vertical grip, sling, etc. to improve the weapons useability, not including all the extra junk like drop bag, chest rig (yeah, I'm a kit monster). Anyway, the A2 is definitely in desperate need of a rail system on the forestock.
And again I agree, the mounting of a CQB sight like the Eotech is key. The SF guys we ran into, who used CQB sight similar to the Eotechs, had theirs mounted on the forestock as opposed to the flat top mount. They also had BUIS's and usually an ACOG or another type of magnified sight system.
Either way, the deficiencies in the system, I'm sure, will come out in AAR's and I hope they will be taken seriously as it is the kind of stuff that saves lives.
MG34 said:
Batteries dieing in the optics is a chain of command issue,I have my guys swapping out batteries prior to every operation regardless if the optics were even turned on, we have never had a shortage of AA batteries in theatre yet, it's a simple " Prep for Battle" step.
That's how I see it from my experience in Panjawai and other places
We definitely didn't have a battery shortage in my boat... And we did have sufficient batteries and changes before operations, it was those odd ball TICs we got into that guys would notice they're Eotechs, flashlights (with the IR cover on), PACs and MNVG had been left on and were out of juice. I made it a point to check my battery operated gear regularly after the first night TIC we had and my MNVG were dead... freaked me out a little.
The way I see it, sights are a personal choice. I really didn't like the Eotechs, but I found the CQB sight on my section mates ACOG (optional feature) was very usefull. Where some guys swore by the Eotech... Meh.. what ever works I guess.
