A couple people had expressed interest in this topic, and I have a bit of extra time for a couple days, so here goes:
Bona fides: I am a former infantry NCO and sniper, hunter, competitive shooter, reloader, hobby gunsmith, sometimes firearms trainer and currently work in a gun shop, mostly on the paperwork/compliance side. Back in the day, was a qualified expert with every standard small arm in the US inventory circa 2003 (M2, 4, 9, 16, 19, 249, 240B, 21, 24, 82 etc.), and today hang around the 75th percentile of USPSA classifications. I've shot Cap-and-Ball, Trap and Sporting Clays badly; Bullseye and PRS somewhat better and IDPA/USPSA/UML/Two-gun with some local success. Been active in the 2A community since the mid-90s, got my first instructor cert in high school, and have held a CPL for almost twenty years now.
I certainly don't claim to be an expert in every aspect of firearms, there's huge areas that escape my knowledge base, but if you've got questions I'll do my best to answer.
Technical questions
Gun control proposals for feasibility
Industry
Training
Wacky opinions
General geekery
Some competition links (not my own) just for the interested.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U5IhsWamaLY&t=173
https://youtube.com/watch?v=93nEEINflXE
https://youtube.com/watch?v=utcky0zq10E
Jump in the discussion.
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Notes -
What are the best AR-15 optics for close range shooting and hitting targets up to 300-400 yards away? Either one that does both, or a pair to get. $2000 budget, but would prefer less than that if the quality is still there.
Friends who were in Iraq and Afghanistan spoke highly of ACOGs and Aimpoint Pros in the late 2000s, but it has been well over a decade since they were in the military and none really shoot recreationally. Have been major advancements since the late 2000s in AR optics available on the civilian market?
I'd also be interested in plates and carrier recommendations, something that could stop the most common versions of 5.56, 7.62x39, 5.45x39 loads that militaries use. Whole lot of sketchy information on plates, spalling, etc out there. Again <$2000 budget.
I'll take a crack at answering the body armor & plate carrier question. Now, speaking as someone who is fully committed to the LARPer8r lifestyle (plate carrier, NODs, the whole kit and kaboodle), a plate carrier is largely useless to civilians in 99% of cases. Even in a potential civil war, it's largely useless if you're not a full-time front-line fighter. Your use case just never involves "okay hang on let me go grab my plate carrier out of my trunk before the ambush" because it's vastly more important that you be able to ditch your gun and blend in with the civilian population as quickly as possible.
That having been said, running around in a plate carrier and shooting at things is a lot of fun so don't think I'm saying don't buy one. I'm just saying it's not practical gear, it's fun gear. Nothing wrong with that, like I said I own one.
My personal carrier is a First Spear Strandhogg, which I like because I run hot and it is one of the more comfortable plate carriers if you run hot. A lot of people swear by the JPC 2.0 and that's also a fantastic option. Anything made by First Spear, Crye, LBX Tactical, or Spiritus Systems is going to be good to go. Buy with confidence and don't look back. In terms of plates to put in your plate carrier, avoid steel plates. They're the ones that can spall, which is what you've heard about. Spalling is an effect where a bullet impacts the plate, and fragments, shooting shrapnel straight up and down the surface of the plate. Imagine what is directly above and below your plate carrier. Now imagine those surfaces are impacted by shrapnel traveling at a significant fraction of the speed of sound.
No steel.
Plenty of manufacturers will advertise an "anti-spall" coating that's supposed to make it so your junk and jugular don't get perforated by the aforementioned shrapnel, but there's a perfectly good other option out there that doesn't run that risk. Ceramic. There's a reason that all of the big names in armor make ceramic plates. Hesco and RMA are the two biggest producers of civilian body armor on the market. Your stated threat (commonly used intermediate cartridges) will be stopped by either level IV or level III+ armor. Level IV is an industry specific term and you have to be careful here. Body armor actually has a government certification process under the National Institute of Justice, or NIJ. NIJ certification is the gold star for plates. Unscrupulous manufacturers will sell NIJ compliant armor, which is not the same thing. However, the current NIJ standard (0101.06) does not include something equivalent to III+, it goes I, II, III, IV in order from least protection to most. Level III will not reliably stop M855, one of the most common loads of 5.56. Thus manufacturers came up with III+, which is lighter and thinner than comparable level IV armor, and can stop M855, but isn't quite as protective as level IV. Reputable manufacturers will sell III+ and people trust them because their other plates are all NIJ certified.
Personally I have RMA level IV plates and I'm very happy with them. But if you buy any level III+ or IV plates from a good manufacturer, you'll be fine. I will say that Hesco has had some recalls due to failed NIJ audits in recent years, so you might want to stick with RMA. Their plates are a little thicker and heavier on average than Hesco's, but they also have a rock-solid reputation. If you're looking for cheap and serviceable, the RMA 1155 is a level IV plate that costs $159.99 a plate, or they have III+ for $284.99 – $374.99 per plate. They also always have a 10% off code "RMAPROTECTS".
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The most flexible for your use would be an LPVO (low-powered variable optic). On one-power, this will be nearly as fast as a red dot, plus it gives you the option of magnification up to 6,8, or 10 power. You can get solid ones for under $500, good ones for a grand, and some of the best for ~$2K. A lot of the very nice ones are also very heavy, so YMMV. Vortex, Trijicon, Steiner, etc. are good options, Leupold LPVOs are underwhelming. I haven't tested the Eotech Vudu line, but they get good press.
The ACOGs are very nice, but not as flexible. You get a fixed magnification, which slows you down at close range and depending on optic, may limit your range. A standard 4X one will get you out to 400 yards just fine, but most people prefer higher magnification. Aimpoints are simple, rugged and reliable. They're not distance sights.
I had to duck out of this question for another person here, I'm just not up on civilian-available body armor, or what's good.
What do you think of "red dot plus flip magnifier" for mostly-short-range shooting? Worth thinking about, or too messy?
Trying to decide if it's worth getting a variable optic or just buying the matching magnifier for my current dot.
Personal opinion incoming, plenty of people disagree with me on this. I don't find that combo to be all that worthwhile.
It does give you the option of the fastest target acquisition (red dot), plus a bit of magnification. But the magnification is usually only 3X, which isn't going to add all that much range. Plus, it's awkward when folded off to the side, the combo weighs more than a LPVO, and for comparable optical quality, is twice as expensive.
If you're gonna combo and don't mind the weight and cost, I'd say the LPVO with an offset reflex dot is a better way.
Here's an article that covers a bit of this stuff.
https://www.arbuildjunkie.com/offset-red-dots-on-the-ar-15-with-steve-yeti-fisher/
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Thank you for the response and recommendations. What about AR optics for indoors and pretty close range shooting for three gun matches and the like?
Red dots all day, errday. Holographic if you're about that life, but functionally the same thing.
Zero magnification, little to no parallax, best speed.
There's any number of good ones out there, from the premium Aimpoint and Eotech to solid offerings from Primary Arms, Holosun, Vortex etc.
If you don't need ruggedness, and want the best features for the least money, I'm gonna recommend Holosun. They really are the innovators in red dots, you get stuff no one else* has for a very reasonable price. If you operate operationally on operations in an operational environment, these are probably not for you, but you wouldn't be asking me anyway. My "burn em down" competition rifle has a 510C for the main optic, and it is just hilarious to use. It's the closest thing to a video game reticle you can put on your gun currently.
For a more SHTF build, get an Aimpoint or something similar. Reliability will be more important than features.
*solar panels, swappable reticles, different color reticles, auto-brightness (doesn't work, but they have it) etc.
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