Ann Arbor, MI (February 16, 2021) The G43/G45 magnifiers developed by EOTECH® were initially launched to the world at SHOT 2020 and first deliveries were expected to begin in the 2nd quarter. These optics offer vast improvements over the G33 in overall length and eye relief. What wasn’t planned were the three massive hurdles that were dished out in 2020.
First, COVID19’s middle finger to the world forced businesses to go remote, limiting key areas of final development such as product qualification and testing. Also, the pandemic severely disrupted the supply chain process and the ability to receive consistent components. Add to the mix, political and civil unrest, which unfolded during the summer, drove firearm and accessory sales through the roof. As a result, part suppliers struggled to keep up with the demand. As if the dumpster fire wasn’t big enough, L3/Harris provided kerosene in the form of additional production delays and shifts in product focus. Inevitably, L3/Harris pulled development funding altogether to make the company’s year-end bottom line more attractive to their shareholders.
In August 2020, EOTECH was re-born after a well overdue divestiture from big corp. The last five months were spent unscrewing much of the in-place structure and focus. From that, new commitments to product development and customer service became a top priority, and to fix the delayed launch of the magnifiers.
“The new magnifiers are a key component in our product line and provide major benefits to those who use them in tandem with our holographic sights,” said Mark Miller, Product Manager. “It was crucial to get them into production and to our customers but not at the sacrifice of quality and performance. Testing and validation took some time but it ensured the end product was worthy of wearing the EOTECH brand.”
As of February 1, 2021, both G43 and G45 magnifiers have begun shipping with volume ramp-ups to occur in the next few weeks. For more information on the magnifiers and other EOTECH products, please visit www.eotechinc.com.
In Hand
I actually handled one of the new G43’s yesterday at my LGS, Gerbrand Defense, and I my say that I continue to enjoy the miniaturization of certain optical techs. In the past, the RDS/Holo & Magnifier combination took up the real estate and the weight of an LPVO, while limiting the functionality to something like an Elcan SpecterDR.
Which is to say, very functional but with things it cannot do that LPVO’s can. Granted, it holds a couple advantages still too, NOD use and unrestrained eye relief (magnifier flipped away) chief among them. The new 43 seems to deliver everything the 33 did in about 2/3’s the space with perhaps a little additional clarity, eye relief, and field of view. Those all still feel narrowed like any other magnifier, but they felt improved.
Anyway, shop away. It’s tax season and President Biden is rearing to give out cash, buying something they don’t want you to have with it seems appropriate.
