Trijicon Reflex, polarizing filter opened.
Trijicon Reflex, polarizing filter closed.
Basically the Reflex will become an OEG(occlued eye gunsight) if you're using the polarizing filter with it closed completely.
Yes, if you do not use a polarizing filter the dot is not very intense and will likely wash out when using during bright sunny days or against light colored objects. Putting the polarizing filter on and leaving it open adds a bit of contrast that helps use the sight in about 80% of all situations you'll encounter and closing down the polarazing filter or adjusting it isn't needed all that often unless you're really wanting to see that dot. The camera had a bit of a problem seeing the dot and I'm gonna try retaking the pictures to get more realistic results that reflect what I've seen as a shooter, will try taking outdoor pictures if that's what it takes.
During the day time turning the polarizing filter so it's closed almost literally makes that dot "jump out" right at you, just last monday I was drilling the 10-12 inch steel plates all the way out to 300 yards with my 4.3MOA NSN Reflex.
I've seen the triangle reticles on the Reflex 2 and they do impress me a bit, something interesting that a member over at AR15.com had done was he ordered a special Reflex2 with the triangle reticle installed upside down. His reason for this was that he had zero'd the sight so that 300 yard zero was right at the bottom point of the triangle making hold over MUCH more easy for shooting long ranges and so that closer ranges were just so simple as "plastering" that reticle right over the target.
One thing that I like about the Reflex is that it seems overly rugged, my Reflex has sustained a couple whacks after the AR15 has been dropped during transportation or some rather unintentional handling mistakes where it simply got dropped. The thing just kept on ticking and still hits on target. The only thing that worries me is if somehow I managed to catch the polarizing filter and give it a real stiff whack, it's thin aluminum housing my snap off and be left threaded into the sight. This stupid Reflex is simple and I really like it because of that, I was interested in the C-more systems sights but after a couple negative reviews I decided against it(reports of wandering zeros) and I also don't think a C-more would have survived some of the hits my Reflex has taken. While an Aimpoint is likely just as rugged as the Reflex I didn't like the idea of needing batteries not to mention I simply couldn't get a Aimpoint for as cheap as I got my reflex, at the time the Aimpoints were around 450-500 after purchasing the sight and one of the popular mounts where as my Reflex I purchased for 315 delivered with mount, dust cover, polarizing filter, and the sight.
Some people REALLY DISLIKE the colored tint of the Reflex but it doesn't bother me. In fact I really like the effect of the tint at night when used in conjunction with a tactical light, the effect is like a "super ghost ring" where the entire area in front of the muzzle is painted bright white by the tactical light and then there is the targeted area which is tented blue by the screen of the Reflex and then right there in the center a bright orange dot is leaping right out at you. The different contrasts really makes shooting just about as instinctual as it gets in my opinion.
One other thing of note, I do believe that the Reflex does have a MINOR amount of parrallax depending on how you use it. Really there's three ways to use it:sighting through with just one eye using it like a scope where you line up the dot with the primary sighting eye, using it with both eyes open and merging two target pictures at once while imposing the dot sight, and closing down the polarizing filter so that it's an OEG where one eye superimposes the dot image onto the image of the target viewed by the other eye. Sitting down at the bench and carefully shooting with the 3 different styles and watching what my groups did I could see small shifts at 100 yards between the 3, for a battle sight it's accurate enough and doesn't bother me in the least for shooting out to 300-400 yards. But for an action rifle match or a 3 gun match I'd only consider using the sight after careful evaluation of what type of targets and distances are to be expected, a scope with a bit of magnification and a more precise reticle is much better suited to that sort of shooting.
As for the Aimpoint, I do in fact believe their claims of a truely parallax free system. As for C-more, I'm not so certain because the Trijicon Reflex and the C-more really do work on a similar principle only one design uses ambient light(trijicon) while the other(C-more) uses artificial light emitting from a diode.
