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
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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.
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.
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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