Mr. GunsNGear reviews the most expensive LPVO, or darn near it. With an MSRP of $3,245 (which was actually my Basic Training Platoon number, so I think I have to buy one now) the VCOG SCO tops the ATACR, the Elcan 1.5-6, and the Razor III on cost.
But, it is a VCOG. If you need a VCOG and its nigh indestructible design, then you want a VCOG cost be damned.
That’s where the cost orginates. The VCOG couldn’t be more overbuilt, it could have H&K or Volkswagen stamped into its 7075-T6 housing and it would remain unchanged. That housing and the rest of the selected components are mighty.
They have to be, durability in the hands of the Marine Corps is a different kind of durability.
Now Mike does a great job in the video, so hit play on that if you have time on lunch or with whatever you are doing, but I want to address the cost/benefit/need equation on this VCOG.
The Army, in its wisdom, has taken the route of durable ‘enough’ with its optical selections recently. None of the Tango 6’s, Vortex’s, or even the CompM4 were built like this thing is. The CompM5 was Aimpoint’s first 7075-T6 optic, its a bear of a material to work with and it lent the ACOG the strength to build the legend.
You’ll notice, if you check materials, that 7075 is mostly used in simple optical housings, red dots, the ACOG, and so forth. Things with very few moving parts. The more complex the optic, like LPVOs, the more likely it is that other easier to work materials are used. Trijicon stuck with 7075-T6 forging. With that forging and adding other excellent components, like the glass and the Larue base, the SCO offers the truest successor to the ACOG for durability in the age of LPVOs.
Do you, Jane/Joe Civi, need this level of durability for the fighting rifle you keep bedside or in a safe? Probably not.
Is it cool? Absolutely.
When I buy this thing, since I have to, as the prophecy of USMC training platoon and MSRP have aligned, it will probably end up on my equally overly durable LWRC M6 SPR (I think they should have won the M27 contract, their gun was cooler) with its Surefire can and light and sit there being very very durable. Because overbuilt pleases me and entertainment is a need unto itself.
